George Washington Benson is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
Nancy Sue Wilson was an American singer and actress whose career spanned over five decades, from the mid-1950s until her retirement in the early 2010s. She was especially notable for her single "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" and her version of the standard "Guess Who I Saw Today". Wilson recorded more than 70 albums and won three Grammy Awards for her work. During her performing career, Wilson was labeled a singer of blues, jazz, R&B, pop, and soul; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer". The title she preferred, however, was "song stylist". She received many nicknames including "Sweet Nancy", "The Baby", "Fancy Miss Nancy" and "The Girl With the Honey-Coated Voice".
Ravi Coltrane is an American jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced pianist Luis Perdomo, guitarist David Gilmore, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi.
Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal jazz, folk, and blues musicians. The Bach Guild was a subsidiary label.
Michael Kevin Daugherty is an American composer, pianist, and teacher. He is influenced by popular culture, Romanticism, and Postmodernism. Daugherty's notable works include his Superman comic book-inspired Metropolis Symphony for Orchestra (1988–93), Dead Elvis for Solo Bassoon and Chamber Ensemble (1993), Jackie O (1997), Niagara Falls for Symphonic Band (1997), UFO for Solo Percussion and Orchestra (1999) and for Symphonic Band (2000), Bells for Stokowski from Philadelphia Stories for Orchestra (2001) and for Symphonic Band (2002), Fire and Blood for Solo Violin and Orchestra (2003) inspired by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, Time Machine for Three Conductors and Orchestra (2003), Ghost Ranch for Orchestra (2005), Deus ex Machina for Piano and Orchestra (2007), Labyrinth of Love for Soprano and Chamber Winds (2012), American Gothic for Orchestra (2013), and Tales of Hemingway for Cello and Orchestra (2015). Daugherty has been described by The Times (London) as "a master icon maker" with a "maverick imagination, fearless structural sense and meticulous ear."
Emily Remler was an American jazz guitarist, active from the late 1970s until her death in 1990.
Steven Epstein is an American record producer. He has won 16 Grammy Awards, two Latin Grammys, and nominated 35 times. He has won Grammy Awards for Classical Producer of the Year seven times. While he is primarily known for his work in classical music, Epstein has Grammy nominations and wins for albums in musical theater, musical show, crossover, soundtrack, and spoken word for children.
Manchester Craftsmen's Guild (MCG) is a nonprofit art, education, and music organization established in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1968.
Timothy Wesley John Brady is a Canadian composer, electric guitarist, improvising musician, concert producer, record producer and cultural activist. Working in the field of contemporary classical music, experimental music, and musique actuelle, his compositions utilize a variety of styles from serialism to minimalism and often incorporate modern instruments such as electric guitars and other electroacoustic instruments. His music is marked by a synthesis of musical languages, having developed an ability to use elements of many musical styles while retaining a strong sense of personal expression. Some of his early recognized works are the 1982 orchestral pieces Variants and Visions, his Chamber Concerto (1985), the chamber trio ...in the Wake..., and his song cycle Revolutionary Songs (1994).
Leon Lee Dorsey is an American jazz bassist, composer, arranger, producer, and educator known for his well-received debut for Landmark Records. He teaches at the Berklee School of Music in Boston.
Sheryl Bailey is an American jazz guitarist and educator. She teaches guitar at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Quartet San Francisco is a non-traditional and eclectic string quartet led by violinist and String Masters co-founder Jeremy Cohen. The group played their first concert in 2001 and has recorded five albums. Playing a wide range of music genres including jazz, blues, tango, swing, funk, and pop, the group challenges the traditional classical music foundation of the string quartet.
Brian Keane is a multi Emmy and Grammy award-winning American composer, music producer, and guitarist. Keane has been described as “a musician’s musician, a composer’s composer, and one of the most talented producers of a generation” by Billboard magazine.
Brandee Younger is an American harpist. Younger infuses classical, jazz, soul, and funk influences to the harp tradition pioneered by her predecessors and idols Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. Younger leads her own ensemble, performs as a soloist and has worked as a sideman for such musicians as Pharoah Sanders, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Bill Lee and Reggie Workman, and other popular artists including Lauryn Hill, John Legend, Common, Ryan Leslie, Drake, Maxwell, The Roots, Moses Sumney and Salaam Remi. Younger is noted for her work with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, who was featured on her 2019 release, Soul Awakening. Currently, she actively records and tours with drummer and producer Makaya McCraven, following the release of his 2018 recording Universal Beings.
Brazilian Dreams is a live album by Cuban jazz performer Paquito D'Rivera. It was recorded at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between April 26 and 29, 2001, and released by MCG Jazz on August 27, 2002. The album features guest performances by the American vocal group New York Voices and trumpeter Claudio Roditi. In the United States, it peaked at number 22 on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart.
Panamericana Suite is a live album by Cuban jazz performer Paquito D'Rivera. It was released by MCG Jazz on November 2, 2010. The album was produced by Jay and Marty Ashby, and features eight songs performed with several guest performers such as Brenda Feliciano, Dave Samuels and Diego Urcola, among others. Recorded live at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in April 2008, the album earned the Latin Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album.
Richard Gordon Flauding is an American arranger, composer, songwriter, and classically trained guitarist who has recorded several contemporary jazz and pop music albums and received an ASCAP Plus Award. His commissions include arrangements for guitar and orchestra, jazz ensembles, big band, contemporary jazz instrumentals, as well as choral and symphony productions. He has written, arranged, and recorded in many styles, including jazz and classical, and conducts professional and amateur jazz ensembles.
Live at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild is an album by the Count Basie Orchestra that won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 1997. The orchestra is led by Grover Mitchell and features four songs with New York Voices.
Terry Robb is a Canadian fingerstyle guitarist, composer, arranger and record producer living in the United States. He plays electric and acoustic guitar, and is associated with the American Primitive Guitar genre through his collaboration with steel string guitarist John Fahey. He is a member of the Oregon Music Hall of Fame and Cascade Blues Association Hall of Fame, and was honored with the eponymous "Terry Robb" Muddy Award for Best Acoustic Guitar in 2011. His original compositions draw on the Delta blues, ragtime, folk music, country music and jazz traditions.
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.
