Tommy Flanagan　

Known for his flawless and tasteful playing, Tommy Flanagan received long overdue recognition for his talents in the 1980s. He played clarinet when he was six and switched to piano five years later ..more

The Crusaders　

Art Blakey　

In the ’60s, when John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman were defining the concept of a jazz avant-garde, few knowledgeable observers would have guessed that in another 30 years the music’s mai ..more

Blue Mitchell　

Owner of a direct, lightly swinging, somewhat plain-wrapped tone that fit right in with the Blue Note label’s hard bop ethos of the 1960s, Blue Mitchell tends to be overlooked today perhaps beca ..more

Scott Hamilton　

When Scott Hamilton appeared in the mid-’70s fully formed with an appealing swing style on tenor (mixing Zoot Sims and Ben Webster), he caused a minor sensation -- few other young players dur ..more

Jaco Pastorius　

Jaco Pastorius was a meteor who blazed on to the scene in the 1970s, only to flame out tragically in the 1980s. With a brilliantly fleet technique and fertile melodic imagination, Pastorius made ..more

Chinami Yamaguchi　

Akira Jimbo　

Joel Ross　

Andrew Hill　

Andrew Hill was a great and even groundbreaking composer and pianist, yet the relatively circumscribed scale of his innovations might have originally caused him to get lost in the shuffle of the ’6 ..more

Itabashi Fumio　

Takashi Mizuhashi　

Wynton Kelly　

A superb accompanist loved by Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley, Wynton Kelly was also a distinctive soloist who decades later would be a strong influence on Benny Green. He grew up in B ..more

Enrico Pieranunzi　

A superior post-bop pianist influenced by Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner but long possessing his own sound, Enrico Pieranunzi is one of the top jazz pianists living in Italy. He began studying pi ..more

Agawa Yasuko　

Hideo Shiraki　

Roland Von Flue　

Zoot Sims　

Throughout his career, Zoot Sims was famous for epitomizing the swinging musician, never playing an inappropriate phrase. He always sounded inspired, and although his style did not change much afte ..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

Hiroshi Fukumura