The Milligan-Eagles Project featuring Billy Kilson specializes in original contemporary jazz with a focus on improvisation, interaction, and interplay. Inspired by such post-Bitches Brew ensembles as The Gateway Trio and Tony Williams Lifetime, The Milligan-Eagles Project featuring Billy Kilson references a wide-variety of musical influences from funk to rock, from straight-ahead to free jazz. International in focus, the trio features Ottawa's Wayne Eagles on guitar, Toronto double-bassist Mike Milligan, and the renowned New Jersey-based Billy Kilson on drums.

The roots of this collaboration date to 2001. At that time Wayne Eagles was the Concert Manager at Carleton University in Canada's national capital, and brought the Dave Holland Quintet back to perform for a second time (they had visited previously in 2000). Already friendly with the members of the Quintet (plus Mike Milligan has known Dave Holland for many years), and being great admirers of Billy's work, Wayne and Mike approached Billy about a recording project. Billy was very supportive and we continued to correspond while schedules fell into place. The members of The Milligan-Eagles Project featuring Billy Kilson have an interesting combination of shared influences and individual experiences to share a comfortable musical bond, yet still surprise one another.

Wayne Eagles and Mike Milligan have worked together for about 5 years in a variety of situations, both live and in the studio. Finding they had a unique composing chemistry and an ability to be honest with one another, through this friendship they have found an interesting musical communication that embraces their diverse influences. Among their collaborations have been Wayne's last CD (released 2000), several jazz festival appearances, and a Bitches Brew Tribute Band.

The Milligan-Eagles Project sessions were overseen by Geoffrey Mitchell, a recording engineer known for - among other things - his work at the National Film Board's Music Studio in Montreal. The CD was released in March 2005 on the TetraArtist label, along with a CD Release performance featuring the incredible Adam Nussbaum on drums.

Visit the official Milligan-Eagles Project Web site here: http://www.milligan-eaglesproject.com

Bitches Brew Tribute Band

Paying homage to the music of late-sixties, early-seventies era Miles Davis, THE BITCHES BREW TRIBUTE BAND performs selections from such seminal recordings as In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, and A Tribute to Jack Johnson. Long considered significant milestones in the development of jazz-rock fusion, these recordings mix a variety of styles from r&b and free jazz to atmospheric and world music textures. The impact of these Miles Davis sessions is apparent in the funk, hip-hop, psychedelic, jam-band and contemporary jazz music released since the early-seventies.

N.E.W.S Quartet (Newsom/Eagles/Wittet/Simms)

The N.E.W.S Quartet is a contemporary jazz project that focuses on unique arrangements culled from unlikely sources. These range from Jimi Hendrix and early British "jazz rock" to Dave Holland and other straight ahead jazz artists. For the Ottawa Festival appearance, expect a good dose of the former...and some added surprises.

CHUNGA

Experimental Groove. An audio clip is available on the Audio page.

Moe Tongue