Jamshied Sharifi is an American composer, conductor, musician, and record producer. Born in Topeka, Kansas to an Iranian father and an American mother, Sharifi was exposed to music at an early age, learning Jazz and Middle Eastern music through his father and European classical and church music through his mother. He began to study classical piano at age five and quickly developed a thirst for musical instruction and a desire to improvise. At age nine he began studying guitar and drums, and at age ten added flute.
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer.
Percy Heath was an American jazz bassist, brother of saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert Heath, with whom he formed the Heath Brothers in 1975. Heath played with the Modern Jazz Quartet throughout their long history and also worked with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Thelonious Monk and Lee Konitz.
Laszlo Gardony is a Hungarian-born American jazz pianist and composer. Gardony performs as a solo artist and leads his own trio, quartet and sextet. He is also a featured sideman with several other groups.
Lionel Loueke is a guitarist and vocalist born in Benin. He moved to Ivory Coast in 1990 to study at the National Institute of Art.
Earl Harvin is an American drummer, percussionist and multi-instrumentalist who has lived in Dallas, Texas and Los Angeles and is now residing in Berlin, Germany.
Shai Maestro is an Israeli jazz pianist.
Gilfema is a jazz trio consisting of Lionel Loueke (guitar), Ferenc Nemeth (drums), and Massimo Biolcati (bass).
Tia Fuller is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator, and a member of the all-female band touring with Beyoncé. Fuller is currently a faculty member in the ensembles department at Berklee College of Music. Fuller was a Featured Jazz Musician in Pixar's animated film Soul. For the film Fuller plays an alto saxophone with a Vandoren mouthpiece for the character Dorothea Williams. The appearance of Dorothea Williams is influenced by Fuller, and the character's speaking lines are voiced by Angela Bassett.
Assaf Kehati is an Israeli jazz guitarist, composer, bandleader and educator based in New York, New York.
Avishai Cohen is a New York City–based jazz musician and composer originally from Tel Aviv, Israel.
Nicolas Vatomanga Andrianaivo Rakotovao, known as Nicolas Vatomanga is a Malagasy saxophonist, flutist, bandleader and composer. His music combines elements of jazz, blues and traditional musics of Madagascar, including: the hira gasy of the Centre, the beko from the South and the salegy from the North of the Great Island.
Gil Dor is an Israeli guitar player mostly known for his long term collaboration as an accompanist, arranger, producer and co-composer with international concert and recording artist Achinoam Nini, also known as Noa.
Jonathan Kreisberg is an American jazz guitarist.
Gilad Hekselman is an Israeli-born jazz guitarist. He has performed with Anat Cohen, Mark Turner, Dayna Stephens, Aaron Parks, Jeff Ballard, John Scofield, Ari Hoenig, Chris Potter and Joey Alexander.
Dekel Bor is an Israeli jazz guitarist and composer.
Steinar Sønk Nickelsen is a Norwegian jazz musician from Bærum, known from several bands and album releases.
Gaël Horellou is a French jazz saxophonist and composer.
Ori Naftaly is an Israeli-born guitarist, composer and music producer. After founding the Ori Naftaly Band in Israel, he moved to Memphis, Tennessee and established the Southern Avenue band.
Benaia Barabi is an Israeli singer, songwriter, composer and musician. Barabi has collaborated with many well-known Israeli musicians and artists and was declared as "Discovery of the Year" for 2019 by ACUM.
