Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser", "Ruby, My Dear", "In Walked Bud", and "Well, You Needn't". Monk is the second-most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington.
Richard Arnold "Groove" Holmes was an American jazz organist who performed in the hard bop and soul jazz genre. He is best known for his 1965 recording of "Misty".
James Witherspoon was an American jump blues singer.
Christine Anu is an Australian singer-songwriter and actress of Torres Strait Islander origin. She gained popularity with the cover song release of the Warumpi Band's song "My Island Home" in 1995. Anu has been nominated for many ARIA Awards, winning several, as well as five Deadly Awards, among others. In August 2024 she released a new album and single of the same name, Waku: Minaral a Minalay.
John Arnold Griffin III was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of his death. A pioneering figure in hard bop, Griffin recorded prolifically as a bandleader in addition to stints with pianist Thelonious Monk, drummer Art Blakey, in partnership with fellow tenor Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and as a member of the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band after he moved to Europe in the 1960s. In 1995, Griffin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.
John Douglas Surman is an English jazz saxophone, clarinet, and synthesizer player, and composer of free jazz and modal jazz, often using themes from folk music. He has composed and performed music for dance performances and film soundtracks.
Rodney Whitaker is an American jazz double bass player and educator.
Ronald Mathews was an American jazz pianist who worked with Max Roach from 1963 to 1968 and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He acted as lead in recording from 1963 and 1978–79. His most recent work was in 2008, as both a mentor and musician with Generations, a group of jazz musicians headed by veteran drummer Jimmy Cobb. He contributed two new compositions for the album that was released by San Francisco State University's International Center for the Arts on September 15, 2008.
Manolo Badrena is a percussionist most noted for his work with Weather Report from 1976 to 1977. He has made contributions to over 100 recordings that span jazz, world music, pop, and Latin music. Badrena has played with The Zawinul Syndicate, the Rolling Stones, Mezzoforte, Joni Mitchell, Spyro Gyra, Art Blakey, Bill Evans, Steve Khan, Carla Bley, Talking Heads, Blondie, Michael Franks, Ahmad Jamal, Hugo Fattoruso, and others.
Linda George is an Australian pop, jazz fusion and soul singer from the 1970s. In 1973, George performed the role of Acid Queen for the Australian stage performance of The Who's rock opera, Tommy. She won the TV Week King of Pop award for "Best New Female Artist". Her cover version of "Neither One of Us", peaked at No. 12 on the Australian Singles Chart and her 1974 single "Mama's Little Girl" reached the Top Ten. From 1972 to 1998, George also worked as a session singer and later became a music teacher. Her last CD recorded in the late 1990s would be available in 2012.
The Melbourne International Jazz Festival is an annual jazz music festival first held in Melbourne, Australia in 1998. The Festival takes place in concert halls, arts venues, jazz clubs and throughout the streets of Melbourne.
John Kenneth Pochée, OAM was an Australian jazz drummer and bandleader. As drummer, bandleader and organizer he played a major role in the history of Australian jazz.
Joe Chindamo is an Australian composer and pianist.
High Pass Filter were a live electro-dub band formed in Melbourne, Australia. The band was active from 1995–2006 and supported many major touring artists such as Beastie Boys, Blues Explosion, Tortoise, Fugazi, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, The Boredoms and Mad Professor.
John McAll is an Australian pianist, composer, arranger and producer, with experience ranging from jazz, pop, blues, rock contemporary classical, afrobeat and theatre.
Alex & Nilusha is a collaborative project led by percussionist Alex Pertout and vocalist Nilusha Dassenaike which embraces an authentic cross-cultural contemporary sound created and based in Australia but informed by many locations around the globe, including their profound personal Latin American and South Asian roots. They have presented their project in concerts, jazz clubs, festivals, on radio and television in Australia as well as in Singapore, Sri Lanka, Mexico and Cuba.
Alison Wedding is an American singer and composer based in New York City.
Allan Zavod was an Australian pianist, composer, jazz musician and occasional conductor whose career was mainly in America.
Stephen John Magnusson is an Australian guitarist. He is known for his work as an improviser and has worked with the Australian Art Orchestra, and Elixir and Katie Noonan, Charlie Haden, Meshell Ndegeocello, Ricki Lee Jones, Sinéad O'Connor, John Cale, Gurrumul Yunupingu, Paul Grabowsky, Vince Jones, Christine Sullivan, Megan Washington, Paul Kelly, Mike Nock, Barney McAll, Enrico Rava and Arthur Blythe among others.
The Australian Art Orchestra (AAO) is one of Australia's leading contemporary ensembles. Founded by pianist Paul Grabowsky in 1994, it has been led by composer/trumpeter/sound artist Peter Knight since 2013 and led by pianist/composer/producer Aaron Choulai since 2023. The Orchestra explores relationships between musical disciplines and cultures, imagining new musical concepts that reference how 21st century Australia responds to its cultural and musical history.
