George Brooks and Larry Coryell share a common grounding in the blues. Brooks has toured with and arranged for Etta James, Albert Collins, Sonny Rhodes and a host of other blues luminaries. Brooks’ wide ranging musical interests have seen him in collaboration with innovators from a broad musical spectrum. Brooks has been closely associated with composer /pianist Terry Riley (In C, A Rainbow in Curved Air) , avant garde leader Anthony Braxton, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and world music visionary Zakir Hussain.- He is known as the leading voice on the saxophone combining jazz and classical Indian elements in a form of highly original music. George and Larry recently returned from India where they joined forces with master Indian musicians for a series of highly successful, innovative concerts.

One of the pioneers of jazz-rock, and perhaps the pioneer in the ears of some, Larry Coryell deserves a special place in the history books. He brought what amounted to a nearly alien sensibility to jazz electric guitar playing in the 1960s. In every decade since, Coryell has been forging new musical territory while keeping his roots firmly planted in the fertile soil of jazz. As a true eclectic, armed with a brilliant technique, he is comfortable in almost every style. The list of Coryell’s collaborators reads like a who’s- who of jazz. It includes Philip Catherine, Emily Remler, John Scofield, Joe Beck, Steve Khan and John McLaughlin, as well as Paco DeLucia, Tal Farlow, Larry Carlton and John Abercrombie, Stephane Grappelli, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Cedar Walton and Kenny Barron.

Kai Eckhardt, is a bass player of extraordinary range and virtuosity. Raised in Germany and Liberia, Kai came to the Berklee College of Music in the early 1980s, where he was immediately swept onto the international scene. His recordings with the John McLaughlin Trio and Trilok Gurtu are already classics of global fusion. Kai blends the sophisticated funk stylings of contemporary jazz with a unique poly-rhythmic finger picking style, reminiscent of the African Koura (West African harp). Kai currently performs with the jam-band super group, Garaj Mahal and is a member of George Brook SUMMIT (along with Zakir Hussain, Steve Smith and Fareed Haque). In addition, Kai’s considerable talents have enhanced the work of Larry Coryell, Bob Moses, Alphonse Muzon and Steve Smith’s Vital Information. He is in great demand in both Europe and the US as a performer and clinician.