Mark Ruffin
Mark Ruffin is an Emmy Award-winning jazz correspondent for Artbeat Chicago on WTTW-TV (he’s actually garnered two!), jazz editor for Chicago Magazine, music editor for the alternative weekly N'Digo, and a producer of jazz recordings and events.

Many Chicago-area radio listeners know him as a former jazz host on Chicago Public Radio. Mark has also served on-air stints at several other Chicago radio stations. He was the producer for the first five years of the nationally syndicated Ramsey Lewis radio program.

A former musician and songwriter, Mark has written more than five hundred articles on jazz, broadcasting and African-American culture. His work has appeared in a variety of local and national publications, including the Chicago Sun-Times, Down Beat, Jazziz, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Playboy, and dozens of others.

His recent productions include the latest album from be-bop guitar legend George Freeman, titled At Long Last, George on High Note Records, and a benefit concert for the late Art Porter, starring Brenda Russell, Jeff Lorber and Peter White, where he was also honored as Father of the Year by the organization Real Fathers/Real Men.

He has also received the Excellence in Television Award from the Chicago Association of Black Journalists for his work on WTTW's Artbeat program.

Neil Tesser
Neil Tesser has written on and broadcast jazz in Chicago for more than 30 years. Jazz critic for the Chicago READER and author of The Playboy Guide to Jazz, he was Playboy's jazz critic from 1991-2002 and the first jazz critic for USA Today, and has also served as a monthly columnist for Jazziz Magazine and jazz critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.

A fomer adjunct professor in jazz history at Northwestern University, and a charter member of the programming committee for the Chicago Jazz Festival, he has also served two terms as National Trustee to the Board of NARAS (the Recording Academy), and serves on several of that organization's national committees, including the Executive Committee. In December 2005, he received an "Award Of Honor" from the Chicago Music Awards.

In 2001 Tesser received a Deems Taylor Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for his liner notes to two Rhino Records reissues: Coltrane Jazz and Coltrane Plays the Blues, two classics originally pressed by Atlantic in the 1960s. These awards are granted each year by ASCAP, the world's largest performing-rights organization.

Author of liner notes for nearly 200 albums - one of which, the Stan Getz reissue The Girl from Ipanema, received a Grammy nomination in 1985 - Tesser previously hosted nightly jazz programs at Chicago Public Radio (1980-1996) and WNIB-FM (1974-1976). His broadcast credits include arts commentaries for the NPR series Future Forward and for all-news WBBM-AM.