There has always existed an important relationship between sound and words in the sonic world of jazz musicians. Singers and instrumentalists have influenced one another throughout the history of jazz, from Louis Armstrong to Billie Holiday to Miles Davis, and that interaction has colored the quality of their improvisation. Today, jazz musicians have sought out new kinds of relationships between sound and word through lyrics, poetry, literature, and dramatic narrative. Whether through the explicit use of narrative in music or the use of the literary impulse as a springboard for improvisation, the power of words has taken on new meaning in contemporary jazz. Four world-renowned jazz improvisers come together to perform and talk about the different ways that the impulse of words propels their music. Soprano saxophonist/composer Jane Ira Bloom, modern vocalist Jay Clayton, drummer/ percussionist Jerry Granelli, and slide guitarist David Tronzo.

Jane Ira Bloom is a soprano saxophonist, composer, and a pioneer in the use of live electronics and movement in jazz. She is the winner of the 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship in music composition, the 2007 Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award for lifetime service to jazz, the Jazz Journalists Association Award and the Downbeat International Critics Poll for soprano saxophone, and the Charlie Parker Fellowship for jazz innovation. Bloom was the first musician commissioned by the NASA Art Program and has an asteroid named in her honor by the International Astronomical Union. She has received numerous commissions composing for the American Composers Orchestra, the St Luke's Chamber Ensemble, and Pilobolus Dance Theater, integrating jazz performers in new settings. She has recorded and produced 13 albums of her music and holds degrees from Yale University and the Yale School of Music. Bloom is currently on the faculty of the New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music in NYC.

Jay Clayton is an internationally acclaimed vocalist, composer, and educator who has performed and recorded with leading jazz and new music artists, including Muhal Richard Abrams, Steve Reich, Julian Priester,Gary Bartz, George Cables, Jane Ira Bloom, Jerry Granelli, Urszula Dudziak, Bobby McFerrin, Jeanne Lee, Norma Winstone, and the a cappela group Vocal Summit. Her current musical projects, covering both standards and originals, integrate poetry and electronics. Her work reflects the diversity of her art and her live performances, which range from duo to sextet. Her performances are unique events that draw from all of these collaborations. She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, CAPS and Chamber Music America.

Jerry Granelli grew up in San Francisco, where he studied with Joe Morello and drummed for pianists Denny Zeitlin and Vince Guaraldi (he's on A Charlie Brown Christmas and the Charlie Brown TV soundtracks). He pioneered world jazz fusion and electro-acoustic percussion during the 60s, established the music department at the Naropa Institute in Boulder in '76, and has had a continuous teaching career since then in Boulder, Seattle, Halifax, and Berlin. In the early 80s, he performed and recorded in a trio with Ralph Towner and Gary Peacock for ECM. He has recorded as a leader for Evidence, Intuition, ITM, Koch, Love Slave, and other labels, as well as performing and recording with longtime musical associates Mose Allison, Jay Clayton, Jane Ira Bloom, Glen Moore, Anthony Cox, Dave Friedman, and Jamie Saft. He has collaborated on projects with Bill Frisell, Robben Ford, Julian Priester, Charlie Haden, Kenny Garrett, and Buck 64.

David Tronzo has been voted among the “Top 100 Guitarists of the 20th Century” and the “Top Ten Jazz Guitarists” by Musician Magazine, as well as “Best Guitarist in NYC” by the New York Press. His unique playing style has resulted in an innovative body of extended techniques for the slide guitar: fluid single lines, finger-behind-the-slide chords and harmonic slaps, using plastic cups, rags, pencils and wires. Tronzo has toured extensively worldwide with such artists as John Lurie, John Haitt, Reeves Gabrels, Jerry Granelli, Michael Blake, Spanish Fly, and the Tronzo Trio. His slide guitar can be heard in Robert Altman’s film Shortcuts and in Morco Brambilla’s Excess Baggage. He has also recorded and toured with Wayne Horvitz and the President, John Cale, Marshall Crenshaw, Paul Simon, Daniel Lanois, Mike Manieri, David Sanborn, and countless others.