John Abercrombie (b. 1944) is a U.S. jazz guitarist. Abercrombie was born on 16th December 1944 in Port Chester, New York. He first came to prominence with fusion-oriented recordings in the 1970s. His first album, Timeless, with Jack DeJohnette, and Mahavishnu Orchestra's Jan Hammer was an international success. He is also known for his work with Stark Reality, Billy Cobham, Ralph Towner, and the Brecker Brothers.
Celebrated pianist-composer Ahmad Jamal continues his performance schedule around the world, as he has for well over the last four decades. Noted for his outstanding technical command and identifiable sound as a piano stylist, Mr. Jamal was born on July 2, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A child prodigy who began to play the piano at the age of three, he began formal studies at age seven. While in high school, he completed the equivalent of college master classes under the noted African-American concert singer and teacher Mary Cardwell Dawson and pianist James Miller.
Mark Turner was born on November 10, 1965 in Fairborn, Ohio. He grew up on the West Coast, spent time in Boston and New Orleans, and moved to New York City in the Mid-1990's. He has been a frequent partner with Kurt Rosenwinkel for over a decade. The collective Fly with Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier is has been touring and performing since 2002.
Bob Mintzer (born January 27, 1953), originally from New Rochelle, New York, is a jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger and big band leader based in Los Angeles. After graduating from the Interlochen Arts Academy in 1970, Mintzer made his mark as a soloist, mainly on the tenor saxophone and the bass clarinet. He is also proficient on flute, EWI, and other saxophones and clarinets. He is a member of the jazz rock band the Yellowjackets...
Jaleel Shaw, alto saxophonist grew up in Philadelphia, PA, where he was surrounded by a enormous family of jazz musicians that Philadelphia has to offer. He studied with many of the strong jazz educators there, including Rayburn Wright, Robert Landham, and Lovette Hines – who is largely responsible for having nurtured the talents of Bassist Christian McBride, Organist Joey Defrancesco, Drummers Johnathan Blake & Ari Hoenig, Vocalist Bilal, Trumpeter Daud El-Bakara, and keyboardist Kamal of The Roots through his youth ensemble that is still going strong today.
Lee Morgan (10 July 1938 - 19 February 1972) was an American hard-bop jazz trumpeter. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Morgan was a jazz prodigy, joining the Dizzy Gillespie big band at 18, remaining a member for two years. In 1956 he began recording as a leader, mainly for the Blue Note label; eventually he recorded twenty-five albums for the company. Morgan's principal influence as a player was Clifford Brown, having had direct contact with him before Brown's premature death.
Taylor Eigsti is a young virtuoso from Menlo Park, California. For more information, visit www.tayjazz.com
There are 2 different jazz musicians named George Lewis's listed here, bios of both follow: 1. A New Orleans based traditional jazz clarinetist (born 1900 - died 1968), a contemporary of Bunk Johnson and Kid Ory, the streaming audio on Last.fm is all by George Lewis 1. 2. A modern computer-interfacing trombonist and composer born 1952 in Chicago who has played with numerous current artists including on Laurie Anderson's album Big Science. Bios
Tim Berne (born 1954) is an American jazz saxophone player and composer. Though Berne was a music fan, he had no interest in playing a musical instrument until he was in college, when he purchased an alto saxophone. He was more interested in rhythm and blues music--Stax records releases and Aretha Franklin, especially--until he heard a recording by Julius Hemphill. Hemphill was known for his integration of soul music and funk with free jazz. Berne moved to New York City in 1974. There Berne took lessons from Hemphill, and later recorded with him.
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.