Pharoah Sanders　

Pharoah Sanders possesses one of the most distinctive tenor saxophone sounds in jazz. Harmonically rich and heavy with overtones, Sanders’ sound can be as raw and abrasive as it is possible f ..more

Hank Mobley　

One of the Blue Note label’s definitive hard bop artists, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley remains somewhat underappreciated for his straightforward, swinging style. Any characterization of Mo ..more

Chinami Yamaguchi　

Mine Kosuke　

Bill Frisell　

The defining characteristic of any given jazz musician is frequently his sound. The more control a player has over the nature of that sound, the more likely he is to project a distinctive musical pers ..more

Stan Getz　

One of the all-time great tenor saxophonists, Stan Getz was known as The Sound because he had one of the most beautiful tones ever heard. Getz, whose main early influence was Lester Young, ..more

Vince Guaraldi　

Vince Guaraldi, the widely acclaimed jazz pianist best known for his cheerful, uplifting work with Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Gang, got his start in the music biz with a record entitled ..more

Kenny Dorham　

Kenny Dorham had a deeply moving, pure tone on trumpet; his sound was clear, sharp, and piercing, especially during ballads. He could spin out phrases and lines, but when he slowly and sweetly play ..more

Chihiro Yamanaka　

Charles Mingus (Charlie Mingus)　

Irascible, demanding, bullying, and probably a genius, Charles Mingus cut himself a uniquely iconoclastic path through jazz in the middle of the 20th century, creating a legacy that became unive ..more

Horace Silver　

From the perspective of the 21st century, it is clear that few jazz musicians had a greater impact on the contemporary mainstream than Horace Silver. The hard bop style that Silver pioneer ..more

Wes Montgomery　

Wes Montgomery was one of the great jazz guitarists, a natural extension of Charlie Christian, whose appealing use of octaves became influential and his trademark. He achieved great commercia ..more

Hiroshi Suzuki　

Nicki Parrott　

Celebrated as an instrumentalist and a vocalist, Australian artist Nicki Parrott has earned acclaim as one of the most engaging talents to emerge on the jazz scene in the 21st century. Born in Newc ..more

Riyoko Takagi　

Takeo Moriyama　

Allan Holdsworth　

Guitarist Allan Holdsworth was widely considered one of the finest instrumentalists in all of jazz fusion, yet never truly received the recognition that he so rightfully deserved. Born on August 6, ..more

Level 42　

At the beginning of their career, Level 42 was squarely a jazz-funk fusion band, contemporaries of fellow Brit funk groups like Atmosfear, Light of the World, Incognito, and Beggar ＆ Co ..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

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