Jesse Paris Smith and Rebecca Foon with George Grella

Jesse Paris Smith is a writer, activist, musician, producer, and co-founder of Pathway to Paris. She has been composing, performing, recording, touring, and collaborating with other musicians and artists globally since 2004. Her compositions have been commissioned for documentary films, commercial work, installations, audiobooks, and live score performances. She was born in Detroit, and spent her childhood in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. She currently resides in New York, working on various writing and music projects, and Pathway to Paris projects and initiatives.

Rebecca Foon is a musician, activist, producer and co-founder of Pathway to Paris. She has performed and recorded in a wide array of contexts, most notably as co-founder of the modern chamber post-rock ensemble Esmerine, as a member of Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra (2001-2008), Set Fire To Flames (2001-2004), member of Colin Stetson’s, Sorrow ensemble (2015-2020) and more recently at the helm of her electro-acoustic songwriting project Saltland. In 2014, Jesse Paris Smith and Foon founded Pathway to Paris, a non-profit organization dedicated to turning the Paris Agreement into reality. Together they launched the 1000 Cities Initiative for Carbon Freedom in 2017, supporting cities in developing and implementing ambitious climate action plans.

Musician and writer George Grella is the Music editor for the Rail. His performing experience includes playing jazz, classical and improvised music at CBGB, the original Knitting Factory, and Weill Recital Hall. As a composer, he has produced chamber music, opera, electronic music, and has created music for dance and cartoons. He is an important voice in music criticism, serving as a critic at the New York Classical Review and the author of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, the first jazz title in the 33 1/3 series from Bloomsbury.