crossover jazz

British synth player, born December 10, 1958. Enjoyed success on the underground dance scene in the early 80's before breaking into the mainstream with "19", an international smash which spent five weeks at number one in the UK. In the latter half of the 1980s he specialised in tv soundtrack work. He made the theme tunes for Top of The Pops and Saturday Live, popular British entertainment shows. Paul now records mainly under the pseudonym Jazzmasters. Early tracks of note include the popular 'Rain Forest' and 'King Tut', both were big dance hits in the U.S.

James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 2, 1942 in St. Matthews, South Carolina) is an American avant-garde jazz and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer's distinctive guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging." His singing has been called "raggedly soulful." Ulmer began his career playing with various soul jazz ensembles, and first recorded with organist John Patton in 1969. After moving to New York in 1971, Ulmer played with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Joe Henderson, Paul Bley, Rashied Ali and Larry Young.

Chuck Loeb is a skillful guitarist capable of numerous styles of music, most notably jazz. Loeb's own solo projects have generally been commercially successful crossover jazz, which has "contemporary" or "smooth" jazz. He started playing guitar when he was 11, discovered jazz when he was 16, took lessons from Jim Hall, Pat Metheny and Joe Puma, and attended the Berklee College of Music. Loeb freelanced in New York (with Hubert Laws, Chico Hamilton, Joe Farrell among others) and then in 1979 joined Stan Getz's group for two years.

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Norman Connors (born March 1, 1947 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, producer, and headliner, who has led some influential jazz and R&B groups. He had some big R&B hits of the day, especially in the area love ballads and songs with a positive statement in both titles and lyrics. Connors became interested in jazz as a child, and began playing drums early, once sitting in for Elvin Jones at a John Coltrane performance he attended while in middle school.

Read more about Norman Connors on Last.fm.