I dedicate this gallery of my Edgefest 2007 performing musicians' photos to the organizers of this year's amazing event, Deanna Relyea, Executive Director of the Kerrytown Concert House, and Aubrey Lopatin, Operations Manager of KCH. And I offer special words of gratitude to Dave Lynch, the visionary new music lover who founded this festival in 1997 and served as its Director through 2006.

Edgefest is Ann Arbor, Michigan's annual four day-and-night festival that celebrates experimental/improvisational/new music created by international, national and local musicians. This year, seven of the eleven concerts were held in the Kerrytown Concert House, three were held in The Firefly Club, and one in the Kerrytown Shops. In addition to the major concerts, what was called Fringe at the Edge included a symposium on "Improvisation in Art and Life" at the University of Michigan, a pre-festival talk at the Ann Arbor Library, a pre-concert talk at KCH, a community New Orleans-style parade led by artists-in-residence, BassDrumBone, and six free performances by local musicians in restaurants and shops around Ann Arbor. For anyone who appreciates music-on-the-edge in an intimate, community-based setting, I'd say get your plane reservations now for Edgefest 2008! It is always held in mid-October when Ann Arbor's color is at its peak.

Regarding these photos, they feature the musicians I could see from my vantage point as an audience member, and they are obviously only of the concerts I attended. The final photo is in honor of The Trio, three world-famous musicians who started out together in the 1960s and 70s in Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). This composite image is my attempt to describe not what the musicians looked like, but how their exquisite improvisations resonated within my soul. Their two concerts on Saturday night were the highlight of my festival.

Perhaps the best way to view this gallery is as a slideshow. Click on the word "slideshow" at the top right of your screen to do so.