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

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

Hino Motohiko　

Bobby Hutcherson　

Easily one of jazz’s greatest vibraphonists, Bobby Hutcherson epitomized his instrument in relation to the era in which he came of age the way Lionel Hampton did with swing or Milt Jacks ..more

Dexter Gordon　

Dexter Gordon had such a colorful and eventful life (with three separate comebacks) that his story would make a great Hollywood movie. The top tenor saxophonist to emerge during the bop era and ..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

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

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

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

Jon Batiste　

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

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

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

Itabashi Fumio　

Jacob Collier　

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

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

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

Robert Glasper