Arturo Sandoval is a Cuban-American jazz trumpeter, pianist, timbalero, and composer. While living in his native Cuba, Sandoval was influenced by jazz musicians Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1977 he met Gillespie, who became his friend and mentor and helped him defect from Cuba while on tour with the United Nations Orchestra. Sandoval became an American naturalized citizen in 1998. His life was the subject of the film For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000) starring Andy García.
Stanley Clarke is an American bassist, 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.
Alwin Lopez Jarreau was an American singer and songwriter. His 1981 album Breakin' Away spent two years on the Billboard 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R&B sound. The album won Jarreau the 1982 Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In all, he won seven Grammy Awards and was nominated for over a dozen more during his career.
Arif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for over 30 years, as producer, arranger, studio manager, and vice president, before moving to EMI and serving as vice president and general manager of Manhattan Records.
The Rippingtons were an American contemporary jazz group, mainly relating to the genres smooth jazz, jazz fusion, jazz pop, and crossover jazz. Formed in 1985 by guitarist and band leader Russ Freeman, their career has spanned more than three decades. With a revolving door of musicians, Freeman has been the only consistent member. They have inspired many other bands including "The Stolen Cat Club."
Moonlighting is the debut album by the contemporary jazz ensemble the Rippingtons. It was released in 1986 on the GRP label, and reached number 5 on Billboard's Jazz chart.
This is also the first appearance of the Jazz Cat on the album cover by artist Bill Mayer. The Jazz Cat has since been on the cover of every Rippingtons album.
Shelton "Shelly" Glen Berg is an American classical and jazz pianist and music educator. He is the dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida and the school's Patricia L. Frost Professor of Music.
Russ Freeman is a smooth jazz guitarist who is the founder and leader of The Rippingtons.
David Bryan Benoit is an American jazz pianist, composer and producer, based in Los Angeles, California, United States. Benoit has charted over 25 albums since 1980, and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards. He is also music director for the Pacific Vision Youth Symphony and the Asia America Youth Orchestra. Furthermore, crediting Vince Guaraldi as an inspiration, Benoit has participated both as performer and music director for the later animated adaptations of the Peanuts comic strip, such as the feature film, The Peanuts Movie, restoring Guaraldi's musical signature to the franchise.
John Proulx is a jazz pianist, vocalist, educator, and composer based in Los Angeles, California. His singing style has elicited comparisons with a young Chet Baker. He is a recording artist with four albums to his credit. His most recent album, “Say It” came out in 2018 on the ArtistShare label, and features Chuck Berghofer on bass, Joe LaBarbera on drums, Larry Koonse on guitar, Bob Sheppard on sax, with special guest, Melissa Manchester and string quartet arrangements by Alan Broadbent. As an educator, John has taught jazz piano and voice at Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona, and Azusa Pacific University. He has a Bachelor’s degree in jazz piano performance from Roosevelt University in Chicago and a Master’s Degree in jazz vocal performance from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Currently, John is working for a jazz piano teaching website, pianowithjonny.com where he creates online courses and videos for the subscription-based community.
Eric Marienthal is a Grammy Award-nominated Los Angeles-based contemporary saxophonist best known for his work in the jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, and pop genres.
Luis Villegas is an American guitarist who released an album called Cafe Olé in 1996, which was nominated for the Best New Album award at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards in 1999. Villegas's style combines new-age music, flamenco, and jazz. He is known for using a technique of playing fast, intricate lines by using the fingernail of his right index finger in place of a guitar pick. He also had a small role as a member of a band in the film Collateral starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. He is currently a member of the group Heavy Mellow, along with founder Benjamin Woods and percussionist Mike Bennett.
John Rule Beasley, better known as John Beasley, is a jazz pianist, bandleader, and producer of music for film and television.
David Hughes is a Jazz fusion/Smooth jazz electric and acoustic bass player and composer of Swedish/Scottish origin. He is based in Los Angeles, California, since 1994.
The Best of The Rippingtons is a compilation album by the American jazz group The Rippingtons, released in 1997 by the GRP label. The album is a retrospective of their previous GRP albums, and also includes two previously unreleased tracks.
Michael David Garson is an American pianist, who has worked with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Duran Duran, Free Flight, The Smashing Pumpkins, Melissa Auf der Maur and The Pretty Reckless.
Omar Akram is an Afghan-American producer, composer, and pianist. In 2013, he became the first Afghan-American to win a Grammy Award for Best New Age Album for his fourth studio album, Echoes of Love. He is also an inspirational writer who contributes to The Huffington Post.
Neil Larsen is an American jazz keyboardist, musical arranger and composer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Sarasota, Florida before relocating to New York and then, in 1977, Los Angeles.
Gregg Field is an American record producer and musician, who has worked with many well-known artists. He is a recipient of multiple Grammy and Emmy awards.
Lenny Castro is an American studio percussionist from the Los Angeles area.
