Anthony Tillmon Williams was an American jazz drummer. Williams first gained fame as a member of Miles Davis' "Second Great Quintet," and later pioneered jazz fusion with Davis' group and his own combo, the Tony Williams Lifetime. In 1970, music critic Robert Christgau described him as "probably the best drummer in the world." Williams was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1986.
John Lenwood "Jackie" McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator, and is one of the few musicians to be elected to the DownBeat Hall of Fame in the year of their death.
George Wallington was an American jazz pianist and composer. Born in Sicily, his career as a pianist began in the early 1940s, when he played with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker and contributed to the development of bebop. Following several years as a sideman during the late 1940s, he formed his own group, experimenting with trios and a string ensemble before settling upon a permanent quintet.
Charlie Hunter is an American guitarist, composer, producer and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass lines, chords, and melodies. Critic Sean Westergaard described Hunter's technique as "mind-boggling...he's an agile improviser with an ear for great tone, and always has excellent players alongside him in order to make great music, not to show off." Hunter's technique is rooted in the styles of jazz guitarists Joe Pass and Tuck Andress, two of his biggest influences, who blended bass notes with melody in a way that created the illusion of two guitars.
Christian McBride is an American jazz bassist, composer and arranger. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner.
Bradford Alexander Mehldau is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.
Jeffrey Lawrence Williams is an American jazz drummer, composer, and educator.
Julian Argüelles is an English jazz saxophonist.
Mark Lockheart is a British jazz tenor saxophonist who was a member of the Loose Tubes big band during the 1980s.
Ike Sturm is a bassist, composer, and bandleader in New York. He serves as Music Director for the Jazz Ministry at Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan.
Julian H. Siegel is a British jazz saxophone and clarinet player, and a composer and arranger, described by MOJO Magazine as "One of the UK's most creative saxophonists"
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".
ACT is a German record label founded in 1992 by Siegfried Loch. It is a division of ACT Music + Vision founded by Loch and Annette Humpe in 1988. ACT started as a pop music label but folded soon after it started. Loch turned it into a jazz label, at first reissuing music he had recorded for Liberty, Philips, and WEA before turning to new recordings.
Jordan McLean is a New York City-based composer, arranger, bandleader, trumpeter, producer and educator. McLean has been active in the professional music world since 1995.
Liam Noble is a British jazz pianist, composer, arranger and educator.
Lion is the 5'th album of the Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset, this time in collaboration with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra.
Victoria ("Tori") Freestone is a British saxophonist, flautist, violinist and composer. She has performed British jazz since 2009 as a band leader and sidewoman, known for her robust tenor sound and melodic invention. Her "Trio" albums, released in 2014 and 2016, were awarded at least 4 stars. The Guardian critic John Fordham described her first album "In The Chop House" as "an imposingly original sound". In 2017 Freestone was shortlisted for a Fellowship in Jazz Composition supported by PRS for Music Foundation, UK Arts Foundation. That year Freestone was also nominated in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2017 in the Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year category.
Lakecia Benjamin is an American jazz, funk, and R&B saxophonist.
Michael Blake is a Canadian saxophonist, composer and arranger. Blake is based in New York City where he has led a robust career leading his own bands. As a sideman Michael has performed with Charlie Hunter, The Lounge Lizards, Steven Bernstein/Henry Butler and the Hot 9, Ben Allison and Ray LaMontagne. The New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff wrote,"Mr. Blake, on tenor especially, is an endlessly engaging improviser, and an inquisitive one".
Benet McLean is a British jazz violin and piano virtuoso and singer.
