Larry Carlton　

Best known for his signature Gibson 335 guitar and his supreme technique, Larry Carlton sees no drawing a line between genres. He draws on his varied musical roots including jazz, rock, country, and n ..more

Lauren Henderson　

Lee Morgan　

A cornerstone of the Blue Note label roster prior to his tragic demise, Lee Morgan was one of hard bop’s greatest trumpeters, and indeed one of the finest of the ’60s. An all-around master of ..more

Lee Ritenour / Dave Grusin　

Lizz Wright　

Lizz Wright is a vocalist and composer who synthesizes R＆B, jazz, folk, blues, and gospel. She was born in 1980 in the Georgia town of Hahira, and her musical tastes blossomed early on. Her father ..more

Lou Donaldson　

Lou Donaldson has long been an excellent bop altoist influenced by Charlie Parker, but with a more blues-based style of his own. His distinctive tone has been heard in a variety of small-group s ..more

Louis Armstrong　

Louis Armstrong was the first important soloist to emerge in jazz, and he became the most influential musician in the music’s history. As a trumpet virtuoso, his playing, beginning with the 1920 ..more

Mahavishnu Orchestra　

One of the premiere fusion groups, the Mahavishnu Orchestra were considered by most observers during their prime to be a rock band, but their sophisticated improvisations actually put their h ..more

Mal Waldron　

A pianist with a brooding, rhythmic, introverted style, Mal Waldron’s playing has long been flexible enough to fit into both hard bop and freer settings. Influenced by Thelonious Monk’s use of s ..more

Maria Schneider　

Maria Schneider is widely thought of as a potentially great arranger who is following in the footsteps of Gil Evans (her main inspiration), George Russell, and Bob Brookmeyer. After extens ..more

Mary Halvorson　

Electric guitarist Mary Halvorson plays new improvised music that touches on various avant-garde styles of jazz and rock. Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1980, she was determined to remove categor ..more

Matthew Halsall　

McCoy Tyner　

It is to McCoy Tyner’s great credit that his career after John Coltrane has been far from anti-climatic. Along with Bill Evans, Tyner has been the most influential pianist in jazz of th ..more

Melissa Aldana　

Melissa Aldana is an award-winning jazz tenor saxophonist and leader of the Crash Trio, also featuring bassist Pablo Menares and drummer Francisco Mela. Born in Santiago, Chile in 1988, ..more

Melody Gardot　

The story of vocalist Melody Gardot is as remarkable as any who perseveres against abject adversity. Born in New Jersey in 1985, she took up piano and played as a youngster on the nightclub scene o ..more

Michel Camilo / Tomatito　

Michel Legrand　

Michel Legrand has made his fame and fortune from writing for films, but he has done significant work in jazz on an occasional basis. In 1957, he arranged a set of Dixieland and swing {\st ..more

Miles Davis　

Throughout a professional career lasting 50 years, Miles Davis played the trumpet in a lyrical, introspective, and melodic style, often employing a stemless Harmon mute to make his sound more perso ..more

Miles Davis / John Coltrane　

Monty Alexander　

Jamaican-born pianist Monty Alexander is a sophisticated, prolific performer with an urbane, swinging style informed by the bop tradition, as well as the reggae and Caribbean folk he grew up with. ..more