Joachim Kuhn　

Although not a free jazz musician, per se, Kuhn has been an avant-gardist; he began attempting a fusion of contemporary classical elements with jazz very early in his career. Kuhn ..more

Jutta Hipp　

Jutta Hipp had a strangely brief career, dropping out of music altogether shortly after emigrating to the United States. She studied painting in Germany and played jazz during World War II. When ..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

Joe Pass　

Joe Pass did the near-impossible. He was able to play up-tempo versions of bop tunes such as Cherokee and How High the Moon unaccompanied on the guitar. Unlike Stanley Jordan, Pas ..more

John Zorn　

The one word virtually everyone can agree on in any discussion of the work of composer John Zorn is prolific in the strictest sense of the definition. Though he didn’t begin making records until ..more

John Coltrane　

Despite a relatively brief career (he first came to notice as a sideman at age 29 in 1955, formally launched a solo career at 33 in 1960, and was dead at 40 in 1967), saxophonist John Coltrane was ..more

Julie London　

A sultry, smoky-voiced master of understatement, Julie London enjoyed considerable popularity during the cool era of the 1950s. London never had the range of Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vau ..more

Julian Lage　

Jazz guitarist Julian Lage is somewhat of a child prodigy -- playing his instrument at the age of five and performing in public a year later. Shortly thereafter, Lage began playing with such ren ..more

Jackie Mclean　

Jackie McLean has long had his own sound, played slightly sharp and with great intensity; he is recognizable within two notes. McLean was one of the few bop-oriented players of the early ’50s ..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

Jim Hall　

A harmonically advanced cool-toned and subtle guitarist, Jim Hall was an inspiration to many guitarists, including some (such as Bill Frisell) who sound nothing like him. Hall attended the Cl ..more

Jimmy Smith　

Jimmy Smith wasn’t the first organ player in jazz, but no one had a greater influence with the instrument than he did; Smith coaxed a rich, grooving tone from the Hammond B-3, and his sound and ..more

Jeff Lorber　

With a smooth sound bringing together elements of funk, R＆B, rock, and electric jazz, keyboardist Jeff Lorber helped pioneer a genre of fusion later formatted under such names as NAC and contempora ..more

Jason Lapierre　

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