MACK is a quartet assembled by Anders Griffen.

Matt Lavelle

Matt Lavelle has been active in New York City music since 1990 playing trumpet, flugelhorn, bass and alto clarinets, and as a composer, conductor, painter and writer. His journey in music began with Hildred Humphries, a veteran swing era saxophonist who played with Count Basie and Billie Holiday. Lavelle has played in ensembles led by Sabir Mateen since 2002, and in 2005 began studies with Ornette Coleman. He was a member of the Bern Nix quartet from 2010 to 2017, and was instrumental in the return of Giuseppi Logan, leading to a recording in 2010. As a leader, Lavelle has recorded 12 albums - including those with his 12 Houses Orchestra, and the first solo alto clarinet album in jazz history - and he is heard on 40+ recordings as a sideman. Lavelle has played with Ornette Coleman, William Parker, Bern Nix, Giuseppi Logan, Sabir Mateen, William Hooker, Warren Smith, Henry Grimes, Eric Mingus, Bernard Purdie, Julian Priester, Roy Campbell, Daniel Carter, Jemeel Moondoc, Mat Maneri, Ras Moshe, Hilliard Greene, Steve Swell, Matana Roberts, and Charles Downs, among many others. He has performed extensively in New York and Europe, including headlining the Umea festival in Sweden in 2011.

Anders Griffen

Anders Griffen is an accompanist and composer playing drums and trumpet with diverse songwriters, jazz musicians, instrumentalists, choreographers and various creative artists. Anders developed a foundation in jazz in the 90s participating in jam sessions around New York City, which led to invitations from his elders to play on various gigs where he worked with Joe Shepley, Eddie Bert, Don Friedman, Bill Crow, Victor Gaskin, Henry Warner, and Roy Campbell. From 1995-2002 he toured and recorded with tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe in bands with Bernard Santacruz, Steve Neil and Bertha Hope, and he was one of the main drummers on the Antifolk scene from 1998-2003 where he collaborated with Regina Spektor, Kimya Dawson, Diane Cluck, Ish Marquez, and Jeffrey Lewis. On 40+ records, and concerts across the States and abroad -- including Lollapalooza, Primavera Sound, and The End of the Road festivals, a Peel Session on BBC Radio 1, and on Jazz with OT with legendary jazz radio personality, Oscar Treadwell -- Anders is known for blending a range of styles while providing sensitive accompaniment with subtlety and finesse.

Chad Fowler

Chad Fowler is an American saxophonist, flutist, composer, improviser, and record label owner. A "musician of profound skill and sensitivity" according to pianist Matthew Shipp, he grew up in Arkansas, where he developed an early interest in musical improvisation, initially through bluegrass jams. Fowler's musical journey took him through various genres, including metal and punk, before he focused on the saxophone and improvisation. He rejects traditional jazz education, favoring a more personal and expressive approach to music. Fowler's work often blends singable tunes and sonorous harmonies with free improvisation, a style influenced by saxophonist David S. Ware and bassist William Parker, who is a frequent collaborator. He owns the Mahakala Music label, through which he releases his work, such as the recent Embracing the Unknown, featuring Ivo Perelman, Reggie Workman, and Andrew Cyrille.

Ken Filiano

Bassist, composer, improviser, teacher Ken Filiano performs around the world, collaborating with leading artists in multiple genres, fusing the rich traditions of the double bass with his own seemingly limitless imagination. A “creative virtuoso” (JazzValley), Filiano has performed and recorded with a veritable who's who in multiple genres, from Anthony Braxton to Pablo Ziegler. He leads two quartets, Quantum Entanglements and Baudolino's Dilemma, and co-leads the Steve Adams-Ken Filiano Duo, TrioPlex (with Cooper-Moore and Michael TA Thompson), and the Marilyn Lerner-Ken Filiano-Lou Grassi Trio. He is an integral member of Ingrid Sertso and the late Karl Berger's CIO Ensemble, and of groups led by Taylor Ho Bynum, Joe Daly, Melanie Dyer, Vinny Golia, Jason Kao Hwang, Bill Lowe, and others. He was a key member of groups led by the late Roswell Rudd, the late Diane Moser, and the late Connie Crothers. Ken was on the faculty at Mansfield (PA) University, is a frequent guest teacher at School for Visual Arts and Hunter College (New York City), and is a Guiding Artist and Advisor at Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY.