Wills McKenna, Peter Maunu, Ishmael Ali, Bill Harris

BlueStem Jazz.

media release:  Wills McKenna is a saxophonist, flutist, and multi-instrumentalist based in Chicago, IL.  He has played in a wide range of projects, from straight-ahead jazz to improvised music to rock oriented groups. He is a member of the Wills McKenna Quintet, Je’raf, Bison Bison, and Gramps The Vamp, and plays regularly for singer-songwriter V.V Lightbody. A former student at both the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY and the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA, Wills brings his technical prowess on his instruments into every musical situation and explores the intersection between free flowing stream of consciousness playing and melodic restraint.   

Peter Maunu is the archetype 21st Century musician -- a master at using technique and technology to forge great art.

The creative breadth and beauty of Peter Maunu's textural guitar work can best be appreciated by examining his musical roots. He began his career as a classical violinist and concert master, earning a scholarship to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music while still in his early teens. After hearing the groundbreaking work of Hendrix and The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows", Peter became fascinated with the sonic possibilities of the guitar and it soon commanded much of his interest. His orchestral approach to playing has always infused his guitar work.

Peter's musicality and command of many styles has led to recording and live performances with an eclectic group of artists including Airto, Billy Cobham, Jean-Luc Ponty, Heart, L.A. Express, The Pointer Sisters, Wang Chung, Lou Gramm and Bobby McFerrin. In the late 70's, he and several Bay Area friends -- Mark Isham, Patrick O'Hearn, Terry Bozzio -- formed the pioneering instrumental alliance Group 87, which released two ahead-of-its-time albums. Maunu's longtime involvement with composer Mark Isham has encouraged his experimental side, leading to Peter's many contributions in film music. His solo album "Warm Sound in a Gray Field" is a showcase for his adventurous compositional style. 

"I like exploring and really getting inside the subtle sonic possibilities of a device," Peter says. "We all have little sanctuaries within ourselves where we often go. I might feel like making a violent racket one day, and on another day my mood might call for a beautiful ambient drone. Other times, I force myself to go down a path I've never been before. I let the emerging sound dictate the creative process and take the time to explore where it might lead me."

Adam Shead is an American multi-disciplinary artist of Armenian descent living in Chicago, Il whose practice spans the realms of music, painting, photography, and poetry. Throughout his work Shead hopes to create a sense of spatial presence in which the codification of experience is dismantled in the search of personal truth. Through this pursuit of truth Adam hopes to provide a reprieve while simultaneously challenging himself and his audience through active participation in invention, compassion, trust, and grace.

Shead can be heard performing regularly throughout Chicago at such venues as Constellation, Hungry Brain, Elastic Arts, and Experimental Sound Studio; performing alongside such muscians as Jason Stein, Damon Smith, Josh Berman, Steve Swell, John Dikeman, Jasper Stadhouers, Angel Bat Dawid, Matt Piet, James Falzone, and Mary Oliver. Adam has recorded music for Amalgam Records, Ears & Eyes Records, Scripts Records, and Impermanent Records. In 2016 he was selected as Artist in Residence for the Birdsell Project’s summer season. Adam has performed at renowned festivals such as Edge Fest, DOEK festival, and Homebody Festival. Shead holds a Bachelors of Music in Percussion Performance from Columbia College Chicago as well as Masters of Music in Contemporary Improvisation and a Graduate Certificate in World Performance Studies from the University of Michigan

Ishmael Ali is a first generation Filipino-Arab-American cellist, guitarist, improviser, composer, and electronic artist currently residing in Chicago. His work centers on exploring sound through improvisation, experimentation, collaboration, as well as a wide array of idiomatic approaches in an ever-changing, always-growing list of projects with diverse focuses and influences.Though varying drastically from group to group, a common thread in his work is the juxtaposition of seemingly disparate elements to create something new: both foreign and familiar.

In addition to performing, Mr. Ali  is a co-founder and audio engineer at the recording space Marmalade in Chicago and was the founder and director of the now inoperative music and art space, Orotund Music. He continues to work as an organizer and promoter through the music series OBTC.