Hank Roberts is an American jazz cellist and vocalist. He plays the electric cello, and his style is a mixture of rock, jazz, avant-garde, folk, and classical influences. He emerged with the downtown New York City jazz scene of the 1980s and is associated with its post-modern tendencies.

William Richard Frisell is an American jazz guitarist. He first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of contexts, notably as a participant in the Downtown Scene in New York City, where he formed a long working relationship with composer and saxophonist John Zorn. He was also a longtime member of veteran drummer Paul Motian's groups from the early 1980s until Motian's death in 2011. Since the late 1990s, Frisell's output as a bandleader has also integrated prominent elements of folk, country, rock ‘n’ roll and Americana. He has six Grammy nominations and one win.