Melbourne Robert Cranshaw was an American jazz bassist. His career spanned the heyday of Blue Note Records to his later involvement with the Musicians Union. He is perhaps best known for his long association with Sonny Rollins. Cranshaw performed in Rollins's working band on and off for over five decades, starting with a live appearance at the 1959 Playboy jazz festival in Chicago and on record with the 1962 album The Bridge.
Roy Anthony Hargrove was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles of jazz in 1998 and 2002. Hargrove primarily played in the hard bop style for the majority of his albums, but also had a penchant for genre-crossing exploration and collaboration with a variety of hip hop, soul, R&B and alternative rock artists. As Hargrove told one reporter, "I've been around all kinds of musicians, and if a cat can play, a cat can play. If it's gospel, funk, R&B, jazz or hip-hop, if it's something that gets in your ear and it's good, that's what matters."
Anna Marie Wooldridge, known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of delivering deeply felt presentations of standards as well as writing and singing her own material.
Nicholas Payton is an American trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist. A Grammy Award winner, he is from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also a prolific and provocative writer who comments on a multitude of subjects, including music, race, politics, and life in America.
Droppin' Things is a 1990 live album by the American jazz singer Betty Carter.
The Clifford Brown Jazz Festival is a free jazz music festival held annually in June at Rodney Square in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. The first festival was held in 1989 on the open lawn in the center of the city, and has grown into the largest free jazz festival on the East Coast. The event is held to keep alive the memory of Clifford Brown who died in a traffic accident in 1956 along with pianist Richie Powell. Pieces written by Brown and tribute pieces are often played. Some acts have been staged at the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, where a fee was charged.
Xavier Davis is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, producer, and music educator who leads the Xavier Davis Trio. In addition to performing with the Christian McBride Big Band and other groups as a side man. In 2014 he was appointed Associate Professor of Jazz Piano at Michigan State University. He previously taught at the Juilliard Jazz program at the Juilliard School for six years. He performed on two Grammy-winning albums The Good Feeling, and Bringin' It with the Christian McBride Big Band. Davis was the Musical Director for the Boys Choir of Harlem for the 1999-2000 season. He appeared on the television series Cosby as a pianist.
Rodney Whitaker is an American jazz double bass player and educator.
Scott Colley is an American jazz double bassist and composer. He has performed in bands led by Herbie Hancock, T. S. Monk, Jim Hall, Andrew Hill, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Pat Metheny, Carmen McRae, Edward Simon, Adam Rogers, Brian Blade, David Binney, Antonio Sanchez, and Kenny Werner.
Victor Lewis is an American jazz drummer, composer, and educator.
Urbanus is the seventh album by jazz vibraphonist Stefon Harris. It was released in August 2009 on Concord Records, Harris's first release with the label, his previous six releases were on Blue Note Records. The self-produced album was Harris's second with his band Blackout, the first being 2004's Evolution. It reached number 15 on the Billboard Top Traditional Jazz Albums chart and was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
Motéma Music is a jazz and world music record label in the United States. It was founded in 2003 in San Francisco Bay Area by label president and recording artist Jana Herzen. The label has received Grammy recognition more than 25 times for albums in jazz, Latin jazz, reggae, and R&B. Motema's roster includes Gregory Porter, Joey Alexander, Deva Mahal, Pedrito Martinez, Randy Weston, Geri Allen, David Murray, Monty Alexander, and Charnett Moffett, Donny McCaslin, Mark Guiliana, and Terri Lyne Carrington and many other respected artists in jazz, world and soul music.
James Maurice Hurt Jr is an American jazz pianist.
Justin Robinson is an American alto saxophonist. He has performed with artists such as the Harper Brothers, Cecil Brooks III, Abbey Lincoln, Diana Ross, Little Jimmy Scott, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band and was a member of the quintet and big band of trumpeter Roy Hargrove.
Tarus Mateen, also known as Taurus Mateen and Tarus Dorsey Kinch is an American double-bass and electric bassist, who works in jazz, pop, and R&B idioms.
Taru Alexander is an American jazz drummer, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He is a son of Roland Alexander, an American post-bop jazz tenor saxophone player from Boston, Massachusetts.
A Turtle's Dream is an album by jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln. It was recorded during May, August, and November, 1994, at Clinton Recording Studios in New York City, and was released in 1995 by Verve Records and Gitanes Jazz Productions. On the album, Lincoln is joined by pianist Rodney Kendrick, double bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Victor Lewis, plus a string section and seven guest musicians: saxophonist Julien Lourau, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, pianist Kenny Barron, guitarists Pat Metheny and Lucky Peterson, and double bassists Christian McBride and Michael Bowie.
Over the Years is an album by jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln, released in 2000 by Verve Records and Gitanes Jazz Productions. Nine of the album's ten tracks were recorded during February 18–21, 2000, at Right Track Studios in New York City, while the remaining track was recorded on April 23, 2000, at BMG Studios in New York City. On the album, Lincoln is joined by saxophonist Joe Lovano, trumpeter Jerry González, cellist Jennifer Vincent, guitarist Kendra Shank, pianist Brandon McCune, double bassist John Ormond, and drummer Jaz Sawyer.
Wholly Earth is an album by jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln. Featuring seven original songs, it was recorded during June 3–5, 1998, at Avatar Studios in New York City, and was released in 1999 by Verve Records and Gitanes Jazz Productions. On the album, Lincoln is joined by a core group consisting of vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, pianist Marc Cary, double bassist John Ormond, and drummer Alvester Garnett, plus guests Nicholas Payton, James Hurt (piano), Michael Bowie, Daniel Moreno (percussion), and Maggie Brown (vocals).
