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

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

Joe Henderson　

Joe Henderson is proof that jazz can sell without watering down the music; it just takes creative marketing. Although his sound and style were virtually unchanged from the mid-’60s, Joe Hender ..more

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

Jon Batiste　

T-SQUARE　

Al Di Meola　

Guitarist Al Di Meola first rose to prominence as a blazing jazz fusion artist before his playing matured and he began to conquer other styles, such as acoustic Latin music. Born on July 22, 1954 i ..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

Stacey Kent　

New York native Stacey Kent never anticipated a career in jazz music： she was a Sarah Lawrence graduate with a degree in comparative literature. But her childhood days spent listening to the tradit ..more

Vijay Iyer / Linda May Han Oh / Tyshawn Sorey　

Charles Lloyd　

Saxophonist Charles Lloyd is a forward-thinking musician’s musician whose supreme improvisational talents and interest in cross-pollinating jazz with rock as well as non-Western styles of music dur ..more

Eric Alexander　

A fine straight-ahead jazz saxophonist, Eric Alexander grew up in the state of Washington. He initially attended Indiana University, studying classical music as an altoist. However, he soon discove ..more

Freddie Hubbard　

One of the great jazz trumpeters of all time, Freddie Hubbard formed his sound out of the Clifford Brown/Lee Morgan tradition, and by the early ’70s was immediately distinctive and the pac ..more

Jacob Collier　

Sun Ra　

Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial. He did not make it easy for people to take him seriously, for he surrounded his adventurous music with costumes and mytholo ..more

Ryo Fukui　

Eric Dolphy　

Eric Dolphy was a true original with his own distinctive styles on alto, flute, and bass clarinet. His music fell into the avant-garde category yet he did not discard chordal improvisation ..more

Kenny G　

A phenomenally successful instrumentalist whose recordings routinely made the pop, R＆B, and jazz charts during the 1980s and ’90s, Kenny G’s sound became a staple on adult contemporary and smooth j ..more

Nat King Cole　

For a mild-mannered man whose music was always easy on the ear, Nat King Cole managed to be a figure of considerable controversy during his 30 years as a professional musician. From the late ’40s t ..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