With his huge, buoyant sound and a supple sense of swing veteran Los Angeles bassist Henry “The Skipper” Franklin has been a dependable rhythm section sparkplug for five decades. In the late 1960s and 70s he gained international prominence with a series of high profile gigs, touring and recording with resurgent LA piano legend Hampton Hawes, gigging with trumpet firebrand Freddie Hubbard, and freelancing with tenor sax giants Pharoah Sanders, Harold Land, and Sonny Rollins. He collaborated with South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela on the chart-topping hit “Grazing In the Grass” and contributed to another pop landmark, “The Secret Life of Plants” by Stevie Wonder.

When Allison Miller arrived in New York City in the mid-90s, she was looking to establish herself as a straight ahead jazz drummer with the chops and taste to accompany the city’s elite improvisers. Within a few years she attained her ambition, working regularly with singular bandleaders such as organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, reed master Marty Ehrlich and Sex Mob trumpeter Steven Bernstein. But she had also grown up loving rock, folk and funk, and her other musical passions have led her into a double musical life, touring and recording with charismatic singer/songwriters Ani DiFranco, Brandi Carlile and Erin McKeown.