Dr. Sybil Kein is a Creole scholar, writer, musician, and composer. Her poetry is housed in the National Archives, Library of Congress. She has been “named” cherche associe at the Sorbonne, Paris for her work on Creole culture, music, and language. Along with many journal essays, her body of work includes six CDs which represent the first recordings of Louisiana folk songs and 19^th century classical music by Creole composers. Dr. Kein’s books include Gumbo People (1981 & 1999), The Louisiana Poems (Lotus Press, 1986), The History and Legacy of Louisiana’s Free People of Color (LSU Press, 2000), How to Speak Louisiana French Creole: An Introduction (Gumbo People Products, 2006), Maw-Maw’s Creole ABC Book (GPP 2007). Her musical compositions and recordings include the jazz musical Didn’t He Ramble!: Lil Louie in New Orleans (book and songs), Orchestral Suite from Didn’t He Ramble! (performed by the New Orleans Civic Symphony, May 2004), and selected movements from The Light of Day: Suite for Choir, Flute, and Piano (performed by Xavier University Concert Choir, April 2007).

A Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of Michigan, Dr. Kein has recently worked as Creole Translator and Dialect Coach for the Screen Gems production Bolden, an upcoming film about the early days of jazz in New Orleans.

Bruce Boyd Raeburn, Ph.D., Curator, Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University, is a specialist on the history of New Orleans jazz and jazz historiography. He is a contributor to The Oxford Companion to Jazz and other publications, did the liner notes booklet for the Mosaic boxed set, “The Atlantic New Orleans Jazz Sessions,” and has served as an historical consultant with on-camera interviews on various media projects, including “Ken Burns’ Jazz” and Don McGlyn’s “Louis Prima--The Wildest.” Dr. Raeburn has also worked as a drummer in New Orleans for the past thirty-four years, performing and recording with artists such as James Booker, Earl King, Clark Vreeland, The Pfister Sisters, and Shot Down in Equador, Jr.

A former New Orleans resident who now lives in New York City, Ned Sublette has worked in music as performer, writer, producer, and musicologist. He has played the stage at the legendary CBGB’s, and Willie Nelson has record his compositions. Cofounder of the record label Qbadisc, Sublette co-produced the public radio program Afropop Worldwide for seven years. He is also the author of Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo, and most recently, The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square (Laurence Hill Books, 2008).