EL MANTIS

Formed in 2021 in Houston, El Mantis weave heavy psychedelic jazz with Afro‑Cuban rhythms, free improvisation, and dramatic, operatic vocals. Their self‑titled debut appeared in 2022, followed by II on CIA Records (2024), and El Lago de los Ciegos (2025), which pushed their sound even further across genres. Originally founded by Danny Kamins, Angel Garcia, and Andrew Martinez, the group now includes Jeremy Nuncio, Chris Lopez, and Mark Medina.

“The band’s music blends psychedelic rock, free jazz, and impassioned balladry, infused with Afro‑Cuban rhythm… at points, it carries an air of hovering menace until it breaks down to a lysergic focus on microscopic detail… They evoke both the cinematic image of a village band and set the stage for almost danceable numbers. El Mantis is a band of myriad strengths, whom I need to make sure to see next time they venture up this way.”
— Ken Shimamoto, The Stash Dauber

Originally from Istanbul, composer, vocal performer, and improviser Esin Gunduz explores life’s energies as vibration, treating timbre as visceral experience. Her work spans acoustic, electroacoustic, and installation pieces across live, chamber, multimedia, and theatrical contexts, with performances from Reykjavík and Berlin to NYC and Montréal. Highlights include En‑he‑du‑an‑na‑me‑en (2020), praised after multiple UK performances; her improvising duo Senso di Voce (with oboist Megan Kyle), whose album Tierceron (featuring Henry Birdsey) came out on Other Minds in 2023; and …through itself…, a Chamber Music America‑commissioned piece due on Sonic Transmissions Records in 2025.

Gregg Prickett, musically speaking, was raised by wolves—and has ranged across what others might call genres, from rock and jazz to country, metal, aboriginal cave jazz, and pure sonics, all of which he sees as facets of the same stone. For over 27 years he has led Monks of Saturnalia, blending post‑bop, free jazz, and Mingus‑like harmonies. He was a member of Unconscious Collective, known for their jazz‑rock fusion with psychedelia and performance art, and played in the final lineup of Ronald Shannon Jackson’s The Decoding Society. Gregg is a founding member of the exploratory Trio Du Sang, the duo Saw Toothed Dolls, performs solo as Habu Habu, and is a long time performer with the independent theatre Ochre House since 2017.