Toby Kasavan

TOBY KASAVAN is a composer-improviser and pianist who combines rhythm and blues, funk and hard rock with avant-garde jazz and new music.Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was part of the downtown loft jazz community. There he played with Rashid Bakr, Daniel Carter William Parker and Earl Freeman. Kasavan has also performed and/or recorded with Don Covay, Bootsy Collins, Willie Bobo, Bill Laswell, Maceo Parker, Vernon Reid , Malian vocalist Mangala and The Last Poets among others. In the 1980s kasavan began working with Funk Master Menace (a.k.a Michael Weeden).

Kasavan has presented his composition Karamaville at the Knitting Factory in NYC and at the AMERICAN CHURCH in Paris and co-curated, co-produced and performed in the Whitney Museum’s 1996 80 Fingers Duo Piano Festival.

Mark Hennen

MARK HENNEN was born in Madison, Wisconsin, June 15, 1951. He attended the University of Wisconsin and later studied with Cecil Taylor at Antioch and Bill Dixon at Bennington. In New York City he studied privately with Borah Bergman. He performs and records regularly with William Hooker, Rashid Bakr, William Parker, and Jackson Krall among others and has been a member of the Kasavan/Hennen piano duo for 13 years.

Recent Performances:
Crescent Art Center in Belfast Ireland: Collective 4tet
Queen Elizabeth Hall in London UK: Collective 4tet
The Knitting Factory: Mark Hennen Quartet w/ Jeff Hoyer Jackson Krall, Hal Onserud,
The Knitting Factory: w/ William Hooker big band
Amherst Music Festival: w/ Marco Einidi Sextet
Whitney Museum, Duo Piano Mini Festival: w/ Toby Kasavan:
Amherst Music Festival w/ guitarist Loren Mazzacane
The Visions Orchestra w/ Alan Silva

Recordings:
First Feeding: Ensemble Muntu w/ William Park, Rashid Bakr, Jameel Moondoc, Arthur Williams, 1977 Muntu Records (LP)
Brighter Lights: William Hooker w/ Alan Braufman, 1985 Hadimusic (LP)
Lifeline: William Hooker Quartet w/ Charles Compo, Masahiko Kono, 1988 Silkheart (CD)
Great Sunset: William Hooker w/ Lewis Barnes, Charles Compo, Richard Keene, 1988 (CD)
Tibet: William Hooker w/ Donald Miller, Charles Compo, 1994 Ummo (CD)
Theory of Everything: Duo Pianos with Toby Kasavan, 1992 BDE-BEDOP (CD)
Ropedancer: Collective 4tet w/ Jeff Hoyer, William Parker, Heinz Geisser, 1996 Leo Lab (CD)
Orca: Collective 4tet w/ Jeff Hoyer, William Parker, Heinz Geisser, 1997 Leo Lab (CD)
Live at Crescent: Collective 4tet w/ Jeff Hoyer, William Parker, Heinz Geisser, 1998 Leo Lab (CD)
Hear With Your Ear: Chris Kelsey’s Unacknowledged Ensemble w/ Jackson Krall, 2000 Saxofonis Music
Alan Silva Conducts Visions Orchestra: 2000 Context Studios Production
Send Me Someone To Love: w/ Toby Kasavan, William Parker, Daniel Carter
Eternal Breath, Gene of Triank: William Hooker w/ Blaise Siwula, Richard Keene, The Last Visible Dog LVD1
Space Blues: w/Jackson Krall, 2000 Stork Music
Synopsis: Collective 4tet w/Jeff Hoyer, William Parker, Heinz Geisser, 2003 Leo Records (CD)
Skyreaders: Earth People André Martinez, Doug Principato, Jason Candler, Sabir Mateen, Mark Hennen, Francóis Grillot, DJ Firehorse, 2003 Undivided Vision (CD)
Waking the Living: Earth People, André Martinez, Doug "Grand Pepper" Principato, M, Karen Borca, Jason Candler, Daniel Carter, Sabir Mateen, Mark Hennen, Francóis Grillot, Gary Miles, Matt Lavelle, Ricardo Solis, Dan Gaydos, 2001 Undivided Vision (CD)
Simple... Isn't It?: Earth People, André Martinez, Doug Principato, Jason Candler, M, Karen Borca, Daniel Carter, Sabir Mateen, Mark Hennen, Francóis Grillot, 2003 Undivided Vision (CD)
Earth Native: Rashid Bakr Quintet w/Billy Stein, Kazuto Sato, Mark Hennen, Matt Otto, 2001 Majic Records (CD)