Dexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell. Gordon's height was 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm), so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" and "Sophisticated Giant". His studio and performance career spanned over 40 years.
Wynton Learson Marsalis is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Awards, and his Blood on the Fields was the first jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He is the only musician to win a Grammy Award in both jazz and classical during the same year.
Jeff "Tain" Watts is a jazz drummer who has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Betty Carter, Michael Brecker, Alice Coltrane, Ravi Coltrane, and others.
Jason Marsalis is an American jazz drummer and member of the Marsalis family of musicians. He is the youngest son of Dolores Ferdinand Marsalis and the late Ellis Marsalis, Jr.
Lee Conrad Herwig III is an American jazz trombonist from New York City.
Vincent Dwayne Herring is an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, composer, and educator. Known for his fiery and soulful playing in the bands of Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, and Nat Adderley in the earlier stages of his career, he now frequently performs around the world with his own groups and is heavily involved in jazz education.
Frank Benjamin Foster III was an American tenor and soprano saxophonist, flautist, arranger, and composer. Foster collaborated frequently with Count Basie and worked as a bandleader from the early 1950s. In 1998, Howard University awarded Frank Foster with the Benny Golson Jazz Master Award.
Rodney Whitaker is an American jazz double bass player and educator.
Earle Lavon "Von" Freeman Sr. was an American hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist.
Clarence Seay is a jazz bassist and composer.
Eddie Henderson is an American jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of pianist Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band, going on to lead his own electric/fusion groups through the decade. Henderson earned his medical degree and worked a parallel career as a psychiatrist and musician, turning back to acoustic jazz by the 1990s.
Ryan Kisor is an American jazz trumpeter.
Victor Louis Goines is a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. From 2000 to 2007, he was director of the jazz program at Juilliard. He has been a member of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Septet since 1993. Goines has served as the director of jazz studies and professor for the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University since 2008.
Ralph Peterson Jr. was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.
Phillip Charles Bowler is an American jazz double-bassist and radio host.
Benjamin Jonah Wolfe is an American jazz bassist who has performed in groups with Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., and Diana Krall. He is currently on the teaching faculty at The Juilliard School Jazz Division.
Vincent Gardner is an American trombonist and composer.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is an American big band and jazz orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis. The Orchestra is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center, a performing arts organization in New York City.
Ugonna Okegwo is a German-Nigerian jazz bassist and composer based in New York City.
Larry Schneider is an American jazz saxophonist.
