What’s on Your Playlist?
What's on Your Playlist: Tim Hagans
January 9, 2012Grammy-nominated composer and trumpeter Tim Hagans is one of the more unique and influential modern voices in jazz. Hagans’ latest album, The Moon is Waiting (Palmetto Records), features his quartet performing all original compositions by Hagans.
What’s on Your Playlist? Terri Lyne Carrington
December 1, 2011Acclaimed drummer, producer, and composer Terri Lyne Carrington has been an in-demand artist and musical collaborator for nearly three decades.
What’s on Your Playlist? Oscar Perez
September 20, 2011A look at what Pianist/composer/educator Oscar Perez is listening to...
Gordon Goodwin
April 18, 2011Gordon Goodwin shares 10 tunes off his must-have playlist
Gordon Goodwin
March 23, 2011If Gordon Goodwin never wrote, performed, or arranged music again, he'd already have made his mark. As a successful Hollywood composer, Goodwin has racked up eleven Grammy nominations (winning an award in 2006 for his Instrumental Arrangement of "Incre...
Jason Robinson
January 16, 2011An assistant professor of Music at Amherst College, critically acclaimed saxophonist and composer Jason Robinson has just released three concurrent albums showcasing an enormous breadth of creative work: The Two Faces of Janus (Cuneiform), featuring a ...
Leslie Pintchik
November 19, 2010NYC-based pianist and composer Leslie Pintchik got a late start in music; prior to becoming a jazz musician, she taught English literature (as a teaching assistant) at Columbia University. Early in her music career, she surfaced on the Manhattan scene ...
Amina Figarova
September 24, 2010Amina Figarova has been earning recognition not only as a captivating pianist, but also as, "among the most important composers to come into jazz in the new millennium" (Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes). A native of Baku, Azerbijan, Figarova studied classica...
Jeff Lorber
July 9, 2010A key figure in fusion and contemporary jazz for over 30 years, keyboardist/composer Jeff Lorber draws upon his background in RB, rock, and other idioms to create a musical voice that's distinctly his own. With the Jeff Lorber Fusion, he toured the wor...
Ali Jackson
March 24, 2010A prodigious talent since childhood, Ali Jackson is one of jazz's premier drummers, as well as a leading advocate of jazz/music education. A long list of credits includes performances and recordings with the likes of Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Wyn...
Najee
December 9, 2009Among the more commercially successful instrumentalists of the past two-plus decades, saxophonist/flautist Najee consistently connects with both jazz and RB aficionados his crossover appeal has led some to dub him the "innovator of urban jazz." Najee'...
Wayne Wallace
October 28, 2009Collaborations with the likes of Carlos Santana, Ray Charles, Sonny Rollins, John Lee Hooker, and Tito Puente, among many others, have established trombonist, composer/arranger, and producer Wayne Wallace as a powerful force in the world of jazz and b...
Seth Abramson
September 14, 2009As artistic director of Jazz Standard, Seth Abramson has played an instrumental role in shaping one of the most successful and beloved clubs in New York City. His creativity in booking offers guests an eclectic mix of both established and emerging jaz...
John Clayton
June 9, 2009Since the late '70s, The Clayton Brothers Quartet has showcased the unique talents of, and symbiotic musical relationship between, Jeff and John Clayton. An acclaimed musician and Grammy Award winner for his arrangement on Queen Latifah's 2008 disc, T...
Walter Beasley
March 18, 2009Walter Beasley has made a name for himself in the world of contemporary jazz as both an accomplished saxophonist and a respected vocalist an unusual one-two punch within such a highly scrutinized musical genre. An alumnus of Berklee College of Music (...
Steve Shapiro
February 6, 2009A respected session musician, vibraphonist, and music producer, Steve Shapiro has worked with such diverse artists as Steely Dan, Ornette Coleman, Whitney Houston, Spyro Gyra, and They Might Be Giants. Shapiro is also an accomplished composer and arra...
Ken Hatfield
January 22, 2009Guitarist, composer, and educator Ken Hatfield is a truly unique voice in the world of contemporary jazz. His distinctive fingerstyle playing and songwriting is colored by eclectic tastes, which are informed by both traditional jazz as well as classic...
David Sanborn
October 21, 2008For the past 40+ years, David Sanborn has been perhaps the most influential saxophonist in the worlds of RB, jazz, rock, pop, and crossover, spawning countless imitators. The iconic saxophonist has added his distinctive touch to recordings by such div...
Esperanza Spalding
August 19, 2008Bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding was just 15 years old when she began her professional music career, performing at a Portland, Ore. blues club. Other early gigs included stints with area jazz septets, a trio, and the fusion group, Noise for Pretend...
Diane Schuur
May 7, 2008Diane Schuur, who has collaborated with the likes of B.B. King, Stan Getz, the Count Basie Orchestra, and Ray Charles, first made major waves in the jazz world with her stirring interpretation of "Amazing Grace" at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1979. ...
Frank Macchia
March 11, 2008Composer/arranger/saxophonist Frank Macchia has collaborated with such legends as Van Dyke Parks, Brian Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, Yes, and Clare Fisher. In 2004, he was a Sundance Labs Composer Fellow and the recipient of a National Endowment Grant for...
Dana Leong
January 9, 2008Dana Leong is an accomplished young performer, composer, and producer who has been gaining recognition for his distinctive fusion of jazz, hip-hop, classical, rock, and sonic soundscapes. At the age of 27, Leong has already collaborated with the like...
Roni Ben-Hur
October 30, 2007A powerful force in the jazz scene since the 1990s, Roni Ben-Hur is widely recognized as one of the most significant guitarists, bandleaders, and educators of his time. Winner of the JAZZIZ Reader's Poll for "Best New Talent" in 2000, Ben-Hur has perf...
Spryo Gyra
September 5, 2007Since the mid-#149;70s, Spryo Gyra's infectious and danceable take on pop-jazz has made them one of the more successful practitioners of the genre. Skillfully incorporating aspects of RB, rock, and Caribbean music into their sound, the band's music is...
Alex Skolnick
June 21, 2007Having made a name for himself in the late '80s and early '90s as one of metal's most gifted guitarists, Alex Skolnick's career took an abrupt left turn when he departed the San Francisco-based thrashers, Testament, in late 1992 and refocused his ener...
Stanley Clarke
May 3, 2007An inspired and innovative player, Stanley Clarke sits alongside a select few as one of the most influential bassists in contemporary music. From his early gigs with the likes of Pharoah Sanders, Art Blakey, Gil Evans, and Dexter Gordon to his groundb...
Satoko Fujii
March 8, 2007Since emerging on the scene in the mid-'90s, pianist Satoko Fujii has quickly established herself as one of the most compelling and exciting voices in avant-garde jazz.Influenced by classical, Japanese folk music, rock, and beyond (as well as jazz), F...
Delfeayo Marsalis
January 24, 2007Few families can lay claim to a musical legacy as mythic in sweep as that of the Marsalis clan. Trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis more than lives up to the high standards set by his older and (for now, at least#133;) more widely known siblings. Marsalis h...
Jonas Hellborg
November 1, 2006Having showcased his extraordinary talents on projects with the likes of John McLaughlin, Shawn Lane, Ginger Baker, and V. Selvaganesh, Jonas Hellborg has long been held in high regard as one of contemporary music's preeminent progressive jazz and Wor...
