Artist Index How to use Artist INDEX

Ahmad Jamal　

A sorely underexposed figure and a major influence on Miles Davis, pianist Ahmad Jamal isn’t generally ranked among the all-time giants of jazz, but he impressed fellow musicians and record buye ..more

Alan Broadbent　

An unsung hero of the acoustic piano, Alan Broadbent is a highly lyrical and melodic bebopper/post-bopper who has cited Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Tommy Flanagan, Nat King Cole, and ..more

Andre Previn　

One of the most versatile musicians on the planet, Andre Previn has amassed considerable credentials as a jazz pianist, despite carving out separate lives first as a Hollywood arranger and composer ..more

Andrew Hill　

Andrew Hill was a great and even groundbreaking composer and pianist, yet the relatively circumscribed scale of his innovations might have originally caused him to get lost in the shuffle of the ’6 ..more

Archie Shepp　

Archie Shepp has been at various times a feared firebrand and radical, soulful throwback and contemplative veteran. He was viewed in the ’60s as perhaps the most articulate and disturbing member of ..more

Art Tatum　

Art Tatum was among the most extraordinary of all jazz musicians, a pianist with wondrous technique who could not only play ridiculously rapid lines with both hands (his 1933 solo version of {＆ ..more

Beegie Adair　

Beegie Adair grew up in Cave City, Kentucky, where she began taking piano lessons at age five. She continued to study piano throughout college, earning a B.S. in Music Education at Western State Un ..more

Benny Green　

Although not yet an innovator himself, Benny Green has managed to combine the styles of Bobby Timmons, Wynton Kelly, Gene Harris, and especially Oscar Peterson in his playing; his fast ..more

Bill Evans　

With the passage of time, Bill Evans has become an entire school unto himself for pianists and a singular mood unto himself for listeners. There is no more influential jazz-oriented pianist -- o ..more

Billy Taylor　

Billy Taylor was such an articulate spokesman for jazz, and his profiles on CBS’ Sunday Morning television program (where he was a regular beginning in 1981) were so successful at intr ..more

Bob James　

Bob James’ recordings have practically defined pop/jazz and crossover during the past few decades. Very influenced by pop and movie music, James has often featured R＆B-ish soloists ( ..more

Brad Mehldau　

During the ’90s and into the 2000s, Brad Mehldau was one among a plethora of young jazz pianists who rose to prominence. He is one of the more absorbing and thoughtful practitioners within that ..more

Brian Simpson　

Bud Powell　

One of the giants of the jazz piano, Bud Powell changed the way that virtually all post-swing pianists play their instruments. He did away with the left-hand striding that had been conside ..more

Cecil Taylor　

Soon after he first emerged in the mid-’50s, pianist Cecil Taylor was the most advanced improviser in jazz; five decades later he is still the most radical. Although in his early days he used ..more

Chick Corea　

Chick Corea has been one of the most significant jazzmen since the ’60s. Not content at any time to rest on his laurels, he has been involved in quite a few important musical projects, and his musi ..more

Claudio Filippini　

Count Basie　

Count Basie was among the most important bandleaders of the swing era. With the exception of a brief period in the early ’50s, he led a big band from 1935 until his death almost 50 years later, and ..more

Craig Taborn　

Jazz pianist and keyboard player Craig Taborn began working professionally in the 1990s in a variety of musical contexts, ranging from more straight-ahead jazz to more outside music, with young jaz ..more

Dave Brubeck　

In the 1950s and ’60s, few American jazz artists were as influential, and fewer still were as popular, as Dave Brubeck. At a time when the cooler sounds of West Coast jazz began to dominate the pub ..more