The R. Carlos Nakai Quartet

Of Navajo-Ute heritage, R. Carlos Nakai is the world's premier performer of the native American flute. His first album, "Changes," was released on the Canyon Records label in 1983, and since then he has released over twenty more recordings with Canyon. In addition to his solo appearances throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, Nakai has worked with guitarist William Eaton, pianist Peter Kater, a traditional Japanese ensemble "Wind Travelin'Band" and various symphonies including the Phoenix, Tucson, Saskatoon, California, San Juan, Anchorage, and Arizona State University. In 1994 his third collaboration with Eaton, Ancestral Voices, was a Grammy Awards finalist in Best Traditional Folk Music. In 1995 Canyon Trilogy earned the first gold record for Native American music. Nakai holds a Master's Degree in American Indian studies from the university of Arizona and sees his role as a performer of the traditional flute not to reiterate the traditional sounds but to find new avenues of expression for the native cultures of America. R. Carlos plays: Native American Flutes/ Whistles/Conch Shell/Hoof Rattles/Hoop Drum/Zils/Kooienga Teponazbek/Trumpet/Vocals.

Will Clipman, a drummer since the age of three, has recorded over fourty albums with various artist including fourteen for Canyon Records and three solo projects for his own Bone Fire Music label. When he isn't making big medicine with the RCNQ, Will performs and records with the Nakai- Eaton- Clipman Trio, the William Eaton Ensemble, Stefan George & Songtower, and the Conrads, playing everything from acoustic world chamber jazz to electric trance groove music. Will also performs a solo show called Global Village Musical Story Theater, in which he combines his original masks and mythopoetic storytelling with a multicultural soundscape of indigenous instruments. Will plays: Drums/Congas/Djembe/Taos Drums/Udu/Alutiiq Hoop Drum/Vocals/Percussion.

AmoChip Dabney has developed a mastery of many styles in his thirty plus years of performing. Of African, Native American, and European descent, Amo (pronounced "ah-moe") has not only sought to understand those cultures but also incorporates this interest into improvisation through performance. He studied saxophone, bass, piano and composition at the Newark School for the Performing Arts and has worked with Sun Ra and his Omniverse Arkestra, O. J. Ekemode and the Nigerian All-stars and Zydeco's Queen Ida. He has appeared on over twenty albums and has released two albums of original compositions, So Many Ways and Escape from Newark on his on label, "Microchip". AmoChip plays: Soprano, Alto and Tenor Saxes/Basses/ Keyboards/ Vocals/ Percussion

Mary Redhouse, of Navajo heritage, is a talented bassist and versatile jazz vocalist who calls her style "ecospiritual" because it blends bird and animal calls, multi-octave scat lines and native chants. Mary, with her family, released a jazz album for Canyon Records, Urban Indian, and she is also a member of the William Eaton Ensemble which released Naked In Eureka also on Canyon. Mary has opened for Marlena Shaw and Jane Ira Bloom, performed with bassist Michael Formanek and guitarist John Stowell, and performs with the Larry Redhouse Quartet. She was introduced to jazz in grade school by a beatnik librarian, Beatrice Parker, and cites John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Ornette Colman and Miles Davis among her influences. Mary plays: Electric Basses/ Five octave vocals/ Keyboards/Flutes and hand Percussion.