Drummer/percussionist Avreeayl Ra grew up in Chicago in a house full of music: his father, Arthur “Swinglee” O’Neil, was a tenor saxophonist who mentored many young Chicago musicians, including John Gilmore. He studied drums with Kelan Philip Cohran, one of the cofounders of the AACM and has since remained a member of that organization. Ra has performed and/or recorded with Fred Anderson, Amiri Baraka, Fontella Bass, Lester Bowie, Ari Brown, Oscar Brown, Jr., Charles Gayle, Henry Grimes, Billy Harper, Joseph Jarman, Edward “Kidd” Jordan, Nicole Mitchell, Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders, Malachi Thompson, and many others.

According to the Chicago Tribune he is “an indispensable Chicago innovator, Avreeayl Ra shapes the music-making swirling around him with remarkable precision and poise… extraordinarily sensitive percussion.”