Rik Wright’s Fundamental Forces is an innovative collection of modern progressive jazz players who’ve developed a rich library of original repertoire that is hauntingly beautiful, thoughtful, and evocative. Their performances effectively pull together the two extremes of acoustic and electric jazz without sacrificing the crystalline character of either. This modern jazz ensemble concentrates on modern original repertoire, some unusual covers of modern popular music, and a few unique arrangements of American standards. With Rik Wright (guitar), James DeJoie (woodwinds), Geoff Harper (bass), and Greg Campbell (drums).

Slingshot Songs is a project featuring onetime Seattleite / current NYC resident Jessica Lurie (saxophone) with local leading lights Samantha Boshnak (trumpet), Beth Fleenor (clarinet), and Evan Flory-Barnes (bass), plus occasional additional cohorts. Lurie defies all boundaries, bringing her individual sound to diverse types of music while preserving their stylistic authenticity. She has performed, toured, or recorded with such heavy hitters as Bill Frisell, the Indigo Girls, Ivan Neville, David Krakauer, Fred Wesley, Allison Miller, Booker Washington Jr., Paul McCandless, Sleater Kinney, Jenny Scheinman, the James Blood Ulmer Trio, and Nels Cline.