At 20, Bronx-bred rocker Paul Nash had an ephiphany after seeing Archie Shepp and Sunny Murray at a Woodstock avant-garde festival. He quickly shifted gears and immeresed himself in jazz, creating compositions that were a combination of cool detachment and burning intensity. After obtaining a master’s degree in composition at Mills College in San Francisco, he formed the Paul Nash Ensemble, a band that included the nascent talents of drummer Eddie Marshall and trumpeter Mark Isham. By the late-1980s, Nash had returned to his home city, turning ears with the Manhattan Music Project. His cerebral creations celebrated the city of his birth, and were often crafted specifically for their performance site. In 2006, Nash passed away following a struggle with a brain tumor.