Artist Index How to use Artist INDEX

Rahsaan Roland Kirk　

Ralph Sharon　

Ralph Sharon made his professional debut with Ted Heath in 1946, then moved on to Frank Weir’s orchestra before leading his own sextet. He moved to the U.S. in 1953, where he initially worked ..more

Ramsey Lewis　

Pianist and composer Ramsey Lewis has been a major figure in contemporary jazz since the late 1950s, playing music with a warm, open personality that’s allowed him to cross over to the pop and R＆B ..more

Ray Bryant　

Although he could always play bop, Ray Bryant’s playing combined together older elements (including blues, boogie-woogie, gospel, and even stride) into a distinctive, soulful, and sw ..more

Rebecca Martin　

Rebecca Martin has been involved in the music industry in one way or another since she was a child. At eight years old, she began to perform some. Just about the time she hit her teens, she started ..more

Red Garland　

Red Garland mixed together the usual influences of his generation (Nat Cole, Bud Powell, and Ahmad Jamal) into his own distinctive approach; Garland’s block chords themselves became inf ..more

Return To Forever　

Jazz keyboard player Chick Corea’s Return to Forever emerged as one of the key jazz-rock fusion bands of the 1970s. Like Weather Report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, they were formed by an ..more

Richard Bona　

Jazz bassist Richard Bona was born and raised in the West African nation of Cameroon, going on to session dates with Joe Zawinul, Regina Carter, and Bob James as well as a two-year stin ..more

Robben Ford　

Robben Ford has had a diverse career. He taught himself guitar when he was 13 and considered his first influence to be Mike Bloomfield. At 18 he moved to San Francisco to form the Charles Ford ..more

Robert Glasper　

Rodney Franklin　

Fusion keyboardist Rodney Franklin was born in Berkeley, CA, in 1958. He began piano lessons at the age of six. After graduation, he worked with John Handy in San Francisco and toured with Fre ..more

Roland Hanna　

A talented pianist with a style diverse enough to fit into swing, bop, and more adventurous settings, Roland Hanna was one of the last in an impressive line of great pianists who emerged in D ..more

Roland Kirk　

Arguably the most exciting saxophone soloist in jazz history, Kirk was a post-modernist before that term even existed. Kirk played the continuum of jazz tradition as an instrument unto its ..more

Ron Carter　

The epitome of class and elegance, though not stuffy, Ron Carter has been a world class bassist and cellist since the ’60s. He’s among the greatest accompanists of all time, but has also done many ..more

Ronnie Foster　

Since his initial solo style favored funky vamps instead of risky improvisation, organist Ronnie Foster was frequently dismissed by jazz purists during the peak of his career in the first half o ..more

Ronnie Laws　

The younger brother of Hubert Laws, Ronnie Laws has a nice soulful sound on tenor, but has never seriously pursued playing jazz. Throughout his career, which includes early-’70s gigs with Q ..more

Rosemary Clooney　

Before the rock ＆ roll revolution, Rosemary Clooney was one of the most popular female singers in America, rising to superstardom during the golden age of adult pop. Like many of her peers in ..more

Rosemary Squires　

Rosset Meyer Geiger　

Roy Ayers　

Once one of the most visible and winning jazz vibraphonists of the 1960s, then an R＆B bandleader in the 1970s and ’80s, Roy Ayers’ reputation s now that of one of the prophets of acid jazz ..more