nu jazz

Composer, arranger, producer, musical director and saxophonist Jason Yarde writes music that has been described as powerful, spiritual, evocative, rhapsodic, hair-raising and formidable. He composes across variety of styles (progressive jazz, classical, hip-hop fusion, free improvisation, broken beats, R&B, reggae, soul, song writing) and for a variety of media (orchestras, chamber ensembles, big band, dance, film...

Laurent De Wilde, the Mid-Atlantic piano player of the year, is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure. This school and a few others like it are called Les Grandes Ecoles and they are comparable to the Ivy League. They produce the elite in this country. And so it seemed appropriate to ask De Wilde: "What's a nice guy like you doing in a métier like this?" He replied with a very American have-a-nice-day croon: "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Read more about Laurent de Wilde on Last.fm.

SOIL & "PIMP" Sessions is an energetic Japanese club jazz band that have started to receive international recognition. The band consists of six members: Shacho ("agitator"), Tabu Zombie (trumpet), Motoharu (sax), Josei (keyboards), Akita Goldman (double bass) and Midorin (drums). The band was born out of Tokyo's club scene in 2001, when Shacho and Tabu Zombie started including live jam sessions in DJ sets. Gradually the other members were invited, the band line up was finalised and the DJ sets dropped.

Ms. Barbara Tucker was raised in full energy in good old Brooklyn, New York. Raised in the church and still attending is where Ms. Tucker found her love for singing, as well as having a little help from her entertainer Father Jayotis Washington of the well-known group The Persuasions. As an actress, Ms. Tucker has performed in various off-Broadway plays which allowed her to receive the "T.O.R." award through the American Theater for actors for most promising actress with distinguishing artiste. As a dancer, Ms.