Charlie Haden　

As a member of saxophonist Ornette Coleman’s early bands, bassist Charlie Haden became known as one of free jazz’s founding fathers. Haden has never settled into any of jazz’s many styl ..more

Charlie Parker　

One of a handful of musicians who can be said to have permanently changed jazz, Charlie Parker was arguably the greatest saxophonist of all time. He could play remarkably fast lines that, if slo ..more

Charlie Rouse　

Possessor of a distinctive tone and a fluid bop-oriented style, Charlie Rouse was in Thelonious Monk’s Quartet for over a decade (1959-1970) and, although somewhat taken for granted, was an i ..more

Chet Baker　

Chet Baker was a primary exponent of the West Coast school of cool jazz in the early and mid-’50s. As a trumpeter, he had a generally restrained, intimate playing style and he attracted attentio ..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

Chris Botti　

Though best known as a contemporary jazz performer, trumpeter Chris Botti made his initial splash on the pop music scene. A native of Oregon, he started playing at the age of ten, and began perform ..more

Chris Potter　

Post-bop saxophonist Chris Potter quietly became one of the more sophisticated and respected stylists of the ’90s and early 2000s, both as a leader and as a sideman in several prominent groups. Bor ..more

Christian Mcbride & Edgar Meyer　

Clifford Brown　

Clifford Brown’s death in a car accident at the age of 25 was one of the great tragedies in jazz history. Already ranking with Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis as one of the top trumpeters ..more

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

Crusaders　

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

David T.Walker　

A top session guitarist since the ’70s, David T. Walker has never been an up-front soloist or flashy stylist. But his rhythm guitar and steady timekeeping skills have been heard on sessions by nume ..more

Dayna Stephens　

Jazz saxophonist and composer Dayna Stephens is an adept post-bop-influenced musician who has worked with a bevy of heavy-hitting jazz artists. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Stephens a ..more

Dexter Gordon　

Dexter Gordon had such a colorful and eventful life (with three separate comebacks) that his story would make a great Hollywood movie. The top tenor saxophonist to emerge during the bop era and ..more

Diana Krall　

With her pre-bop piano style and cool but sensual singing, Diana Krall took the jazz world by storm in the late ’90s. By the turn of the century she was firmly established as one of the biggest sel ..more

Donald Byrd　

Donald Byrd was considered one of the finest hard bop trumpeters of the post-Clifford Brown era. He recorded prolifically as both a leader and sideman from the mid-’50s into the mid-’60s, most o ..more

Duke Ellington　

Duke Ellington was the most important composer in the history of jazz as well as being a bandleader who held his large group together continuously for almost 50 years. The two aspects of his car ..more

Duke Pearson　

Duke Pearson was an accomplished, lyrical, and logical -- if rather cautious -- pianist who played a big part in shaping the Blue Note label’s hard bop direction in the 1960s as a producer. He w ..more

Dutch Jazz Orchestra