Artist Index How to use Artist INDEX

Joel Remmel　

Jim Ridl　

Joan Bender　

Before she set out to make her mark in the world of music, jazz vocalist Joan Bender had set out to study at Harvard. That dream came to a screeching halt when the possibility of an athletic sch ..more

J.R.Monterose　

J.R. Monterose (not to be confused with fellow tenor Jack Montrose) is most famous for a gig that he personally did not enjoy, playing with Charles Mingus in 1956 and recording on Mingus’ ..more

J.J.Johnson　

Considered by many to be the finest jazz trombonist of all time, J.J. Johnson somehow transferred the innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to his more awkward instrument, play ..more

Jimmy Smith　

Jimmy Smith wasn’t the first organ player in jazz, but no one had a greater influence with the instrument than he did; Smith coaxed a rich, grooving tone from the Hammond B-3, and his sound and ..more

Jimmy Giuffre　

Jimmy Giuffre has had many accomplishments in a long career that has never been predictable. Giuffre graduated from North Texas State Teachers College in 1942, played in an Army band during his ..more

Jimmy Mcgriff　

One of the all-time giants of the Hammond B-3, Jimmy McGriff sometimes gets lost amid all the great soul-jazz organists from his hometown of Philadelphia. He was almost certainly the bluesiest o ..more

Jim Hall　

A harmonically advanced cool-toned and subtle guitarist, Jim Hall has been an inspiration to many guitarists, including some (such as Bill Frisell) who sound nothing like him. Hall attende ..more

Jim Rotondi　

Trumpeter Jim Rotondi is a solid post-bop musician with a warm tone and an improvisational approach deeply steeped in the tradition of great jazz trumpeters. While the Butte, Montana native began p ..more

Jackie Mclean　

Jackie McLean has long had his own sound, played slightly sharp and with great intensity; he is recognizable within two notes. McLean was one of the few bop-oriented players of the early ’50s ..more

Jacques Loussier　

Pianist/composer Jacques Loussier demonstrated musical ability at an early age, starting to play at the age of ten and entering the Conservatoire National de Musique in Paris at 16. Loussier’s m ..more

Junior Mance　

Junior Mance is well-known for his soulful bluesy style, but he is also expert at playing bop standards. He started playing professionally when he was ten. Mance worked with Gene Ammons ..more

Joshua Redman　

Every few years it seems as if the jazz media go out of their way to hype one young artist, overpraising him to such an extent that it is easy to tear him down when the next season arrives. In the ..more

Jonathan Gee　

Johnny Griffin　

One of the all-time great tenor saxophonists, Johnny Griffin will go down in the annals of jazz as a performer easily able to negotiate the tricky harmonic changes and swift tempos of modern music. ..more

John Coltrane　

Despite a relatively brief career (he first came to notice as a sideman at age 29 in 1955, formally launched a solo career at 33 in 1960, and was dead at 40 in 1967), saxophonist John Coltrane was ..more

John Lewis　

The musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet for its entire history, John Lewis found the perfect outlet for his interest in bop, blues, and Bach. Possessor of a cool piano style that (l ..more

Joey Calderazzo　

A potentially significant pianist playing in the modern mainstream, Joey Calderazzo’s career got off to a strong start with a series of fine Blue Note albums. He studied classical piano from ..more

Joe Pass　

Joe Pass did the near-impossible. He was able to play up-tempo versions of bop tunes such as Cherokee and How High the Moon unaccompanied on the guitar. Unlike Stanley Jordan, Pas ..more