Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960, Beaux Bridge, Louisiana) is an American jazz saxophonist. Branford studied with Alvin Batiste at Baton Rouge's Southern University in 1978, completing his studies at Berklee School of Music, between '79 & '81. He began his professional career in the early 1980s playing with Art Blakey's big band (playing baritone), Clark Terry's band, and Blakey's Jazz Messengers.
The Master Musicians of Joujouka (until the 1990s synonymous with The Master Musicians of Jajouka, but now a separate recording group) are an ensemble of sufi trance musicians from the village of Jajouka, Morocco in the southern Rif Mountains. The music of Jajouka is a form of reed, pipe, and percussion music that relies on drones, improvisation, and complex rhythms, much of which is unique to Jajouka, often creating a trance state, induced by the intense sound and rhythm of the flutes.
John Abercrombie (b. 1944) is a U.S. jazz guitarist. Abercrombie was born on 16th December 1944 in Port Chester, New York. He first came to prominence with fusion-oriented recordings in the 1970s. His first album, Timeless, with Jack DeJohnette, and Mahavishnu Orchestra's Jan Hammer was an international success. He is also known for his work with Stark Reality, Billy Cobham, Ralph Towner, and the Brecker Brothers.