The Paul Abella Trio has made a name for itself by embracing a free wheeling approach towards its choice in song material and for finding unique ways to weave the Cajon (a Peruvian box drum) into Jazz.

Look past the off-kilter instrumentation and the oddball set lists, and you’ll see a band upholding a tradition of Jazz as subversive party music. Drawing inspiration from Eddie Harris, Medeski, Martin & Wood, The Bad Plus, and Lester Bowie, they fuse Pop melodies, Jazz harmonies, Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and Funk rhythms, jammy improvisations with punk ferocity.

Or, as one friend once said, "someone's going to have to invent a whole new genre just to describe you guys."

Alex Wing: Guitar
Preyas Roy: Vibraphone
Chris Bernhardt: Bass
Paul Abella: cajon

Saxophonist and composer Gregory Dudzienski lives a life of constant motion. After years of travel, he has become a member of Chicago’s strong community of musicians and improvisers. His original music has been featured on the Anagram Series at The Elastic Arts Foundation, the Actual Jazz Series at Cafe Mustache, and the Chicago Jazz Composers Collective At The Green Mill as well as the Is This Jazz Series at AS200 in Providence, Rhode Island, the International Saxophone Symposium in Fairfax, Virginia, and the Salerno Jazz Festival in Salerno Italy. Dudzienski was inspired during his youth by the jazz of the late 1950s and 1960s and has since then continued to be influenced by the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic language of that era. Seeking new ways to navigate the spirit of the mid-century jazz language, his music results in a modern aesthetic with strong roots in primary sources.

Gregory Dudzienski - Saxophone
Daniel Jackson Thatcher - Bass
Jeff Stitely - Drums

The Untouchable Force Band (also known as U T Funk and Universal Talent) is an old school funky R&B soul band.

As part of The WGN Band, Paul Ashford is a native Chicagoan raised on jazz, blues, and soul music in the early 1960s-‘70s. His love for music and curiosity about it as a child drew him to the beat of the drums. At age 10 Paul’s parents bought him his first drum set and he never looked back from there. That summer Paul and his musical friends formed their first band, Evans Street, and in the 1980s Evans Street won first place at the Battle of the Bands contest at Chicago’s Park West Theater. This victory led them to meet jazz greats such as George Duke, Stanley Clark and drummer Raeford Griffin. At age 15, Paul was exposed to gospel music and became the drummer for Southside Church where he played for nine years. After their Park West Theater success, other musicians contacted Evans Street and they got to record David Josiah‘s hit single with him, “Mine Blowing,” for Columbia records. When Paul was 23, Evans Street got the opportunity to be the house band for Janet Jackson at a promotional event for her album, Control. From there, Paul took his talents to the blues circuit in Chicago, performing at venues such as Big Daddy’s on Chicago’s southeast side to Kingston Mines in Chicago’s Blues Alley. He met many likeminded musicians along the way, and was asked to play for Studebaker John & the Hawks when their drummer was injured. This led to eight years of touring and traveling with John Gibraldi (aka Studebaker John). During a break at one of their sets at Kingston Mines, Paul met Jimmy Burns. “My best friend was Jimmy’s drummer, and one time he needed someone to stand in for him. I performed with Jimmy Burns at a gig in Michigan and it was like magic,” Paul said.

Glen Nelson - guitarist
Keith Lockhart - bass guitar
Rodney - keyboards
Paul ashford - drums

Paul Ashford is a native Chicagoan raised on jazz, blues, and soul music in the early 1960s-‘70s. His love for music and curiosity about it as a child drew him to the beat of the drums. At age 10 Paul’s parents bought him his first drum set and he never looked back from there. That summer Paul and his musical friends formed their first band, Evans Street, and in the 1980s Evans Street won first place at the Battle of the Bands contest at Chicago’s Park West Theater. This victory led them to meet jazz greats such as George Duke, Stanley Clark and drummer Raeford Griffin. At age 15, Paul was exposed to gospel music and became the drummer for Southside Church where he played for nine years. After their Park West Theater success, other musicians contacted Evans Street and they got to record David Josiah‘s hit single with him, “Mine Blowing,” for Columbia records. When Paul was 23, Evans Street got the opportunity to be the house band for Janet Jackson at a promotional event for her album, Control. From there, Paul took his talents to the blues circuit in Chicago, performing at venues such as Big Daddy’s on Chicago’s southeast side to Kingston Mines in Chicago’s Blues Alley. He met many likeminded musicians along the way, and was asked to play for Studebaker John & the Hawks when their drummer was injured. This led to eight years of touring and traveling with John Gibraldi (aka Studebaker John). During a break at one of their sets at Kingston Mines, Paul met Jimmy Burns. “My best friend was Jimmy’s drummer, and one time he needed someone to stand in for him. I performed with Jimmy Burns at a gig in Michigan and it was like magic,” Paul said.