James Hinkley began his studies at the Cranbrook Theatre School at the Cranbrook Institute in Michigan. Soon after, he switched his focus to music and went on to earn degrees in music performance and composition. He was one of the founding members of Daedalus, a music group dedicated to the work of living composers, and has had his own works performed in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, London and Berlin, as well as supplying the scores for six episodes of MTV's "Liquid Television". He has performed with the Baton Rouge, Toledo, and Akron symphonies, and served as principal cello for the Lima Symphony, Ohio Ballet, and the Ohio Light Opera. He currently lives on Whidbey Island, and is still active as a composer and performer in both the classical and jazz idioms.

Ted Gottsegen is the exception in today's world -- a guitarist whose first inspirations in jazz were the great orchestra guitarists of the big band era. This led Ted to dedicate 12 years of study to the art of rhythm guitar, focusing on both American and European stylists. His desire has always been to play a swinging beat. Through his experience with gypsy jazz, he has become a recognized authority on the music's history, and he has contributed to several books on the genre. He has performed with a variety of artists including Patrick Saussois, Ninine Garcia, Andreas Oberg, and Titi Bamberger, as well as Django's own direct descendents, Dallas and Loumpie Baumgartner. He is an active player in the Seattle music scene, and is a contributing editor for Just Jazz Guitar magazine.

Kevin Stevens began his career as a classical and jazz bassist in Los Angeles. After living for several years in New Orleans and New York City, he returned to the west coast, where he has since established himself in the Seattle jazz community. He is a member of the Seattle-based groups Balkanarama, the Floogies, the SuperSones, and the Djangomatics. Kevin's compositions for Billet-Deux reflect his love for Eastern European folk traditions as well as swing and modern jazz.

Troy Chapman majored in jazz guitar performance at Concordia University in Montreal and at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He spent 20 years in the Chicago music scene playing with numerous ensembles including the Lee Roland Orchestra (Big Band), the Neophonic Orchestra, and Something Orange. After moving to Whidbey Island in 2001, Troy renewed his lifelong interest in Django Reinhardt. This led to the full-time study of gypsy jazz guitar and the formation of Billet-Deux. <back

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