Stanley Clarke is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fusion bassist to headline tours, sell out shows worldwide and have recordings reach gold status.
Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as a leader. A number of his compositions, including "St. Thomas", "Oleo", "Doxy", "Pent-Up House", and "Airegin", have become jazz standards. Rollins has been called "the greatest living improviser" and the "Saxophone Colossus".
Wayne Shorter was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report. He recorded more than 20 albums as a bandleader.
DownBeat is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois. It is named after the "downbeat" in music, also called "beat one", or the first beat of a musical measure.
Pat Martino was an American jazz guitarist and composer.
Stephen Kendall Gadd is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1984. Gadd's performances on Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and "Late in the Evening" and Steely Dan's "Aja" are examples of his style. He has worked with other popular musicians from many genres including Simon & Garfunkel, Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Harry Chapin, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt, Grover Washington Jr., Michael Brecker, Chick Corea, Lee Ritenour, Paul Desmond, Kate Bush, Chet Baker, Al Di Meola, Chuck Mangione, Kenny Loggins, Eric Clapton, Pino Daniele, Michel Petrucciani, and Toshiki Kadomatsu.
Charles Lloyd is an American jazz musician. Though he primarily plays tenor saxophone and flute, he has occasionally recorded on other reed instruments, including alto saxophone and the Hungarian tárogató. Lloyd's primary band since 2007 has been a quartet including pianist Jason Moran, acoustic bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Eric Harland.
Fred Hersch is an American jazz pianist, educator and HIV/AIDS activist. He was the first person to play weeklong engagements as a solo pianist at the Village Vanguard in New York City. He has recorded more than 70 of his jazz compositions. Hersch has been nominated for several Grammy Awards, and, as of December 2014, had been on the Jazz Studies faculty of the New England Conservatory since 1980.
Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection.
Danilo Pérez is a Panamanian pianist, composer, educator, and a social activist. His music is a blend of Panamanian roots with elements of Latin American folk music, jazz, European impressionism, African, and other musical heritages that promote music as a multi-dimensional bridge between people. He has released eleven albums as a leader, and appeared on many recordings as a side man, which have earned him critical acclaim, numerous accolades, Grammy Awards wins and nominations. He is a recipient of the United States Artists Fellowship, and the 2009 Smithsonian Legacy Award.
Robert “Bob” Perkins is an American radio personality. He is a jazz program host and DJ for WRTI. His radio career began in 1964 in Detroit, Michigan. He went on to work for WDAS and while in Philadelphia, in 1997, he joined WRTI-FM Temple University Radio. He was known for his laid-back and mellow style. Perkins was also one of Pennsylvania's favorite night-time jazz listeners, in the Philadelphia area. One of his well-known sayings is "This is BP with the GM!". Meaning "Bob Perkins with the good music." He is also an accomplished radio news journalist and a First Call Master of Ceremonies for regional jazz music events. He has earned well over forty different honors and awards from major government, artistic, journalistic and community organizations. Information about his on-air schedule may be found at WRTI's website.
Miguel Zenón is a Puerto Rican alto saxophonist, composer, band leader, music producer, and educator. He is a multiple Grammy Award nominee, and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate Degree in the Arts from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón. Zenón has released many albums as a band leader and appeared on over 100 recordings as a sideman.
Ted Gioia is an American jazz critic and music historian. He is author of eleven books, including Music: A Subversive History, The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire, The History of Jazz and Delta Blues. He is also a jazz musician and one of the founders of Stanford University's jazz studies program.
Jazz Bridge is an arts services organization that was unofficially founded in 2004 by jazz singers Suzanne Cloud and Wendy Simon to address the lack of support for individual jazz and blues musicians and vocalists in crisis in the tri-state, lower Delaware Valley, Greater Philadelphia Metro area. Over the years, these women had witnessed the struggles of their fellow musicians and the desperation felt by the music community when the only available remedy to hardship was the traditional jam session to raise money. Seeking a more permanent support system, Simon and Cloud began to assemble like minded musicians and fans to form The Jazz Bridge Project, the organization's official name. Jazz Bridge saw a special opportunity to develop a unique, regional model that could provide local jazz and blues musicians/vocalists with no-cost or low-cost resources to support their activities of daily living—medical, financial, and professional—during times of personal crisis.
Snarky Puppy is an American jazz fusion band led by bassist Michael League. Founded in 2004, Snarky Puppy combines a variety of jazz idioms, rock, world music, and funk and has won five Grammy Awards. Although the band has worked with vocalists, League described Snarky Puppy as "a pop band that improvises a lot, without vocals".
The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) is an international organization of all types of media professionals who document, promulgate, or appreciate jazz. As of 2016, it has approximately 250 members, including professional journalists, students, industry associates and supporting institutions, primarily in North America but also on other continents. The mission of the association is "to promote high standards and respect for our works, to create a professional network, and to increase general interest in jazz". It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. The president of the association is jazz writer Howard Mandel.
The New York City Jazz Record is a monthly New York City based publication that includes features, reviews and concert announcements regarding jazz music. It is available in print form as well as online at www.nycjazzrecord.com. It was launched in May 2002 by co-founders Laurence Donohue-Greene and Andrey Henkin under the name AllAboutJazz-New York. The gazette’s name change switched permanently to The New York City Jazz Record as of March 2011.
Leslie Lloyd Odom Jr. is an American actor and singer. He made his acting debut on Broadway in 1998 and first gained recognition for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in the musical Hamilton, which earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in the same year. His performance was captured in the Disney+ live stage recording of Hamilton which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role in a Limited Series or Movie nomination.
Suzanne Cloud is an American jazz singer, writer, and teacher.
Bill Milkowski is an American jazz critic, journalist, and biographer. Since the 1970s he has written thousands of articles for magazines and album liner notes. He has written for DownBeat, JazzTimes, Jazziz, The Absolute Sound, Paste, Jazzthing and Guitar Club. He is the author of a biography of bassist Jaco Pastorius, a biography of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, an annotated history of jive music, a collection of interviews., and a biography of saxophonist-composer Michael Brecker.
