avant-garde jazz

Orrin Evans (born 1976) is an American jazz pianist.
Evans was born in Trenton, New Jersey and raised in Philadelphia. He attended Rutgers University, and following this studied with Kenny Barron. He worked as a sideman for Bobby Watson, Ralph Peterson, Duane Eubanks, and Lenora Zenzalai-Helm, and released his debut as a leader in 1994. He signed with Criss Cross Jazz in 1997, recording prolifically with the label. He was awarded a 2010 Pew Fellowships in the Arts.

Huey "Sonny" Simmons (b. August 4, 1933, Sicily Island, Louisiana) is an American jazz musician.
He grew up in Oakland, California, where he began playing the english horn. At age 16 he took up the alto saxophone, which became his primary instrument. He is one of the few jazz musicians to use the english horn as a solo instrument.
In the early 1960s he worked with Charles Mingus and Prince Lasha before recording his own LPs for ESP-Disk.

The avant-jazz guitarist Mary Halvorson has been making a stir in downtown New Music circles for a while now. She is noted for her collaborations with the violist Jessica Pavone, among many others. Halvorson's strong 2008 debut, DRAGON'S HEAD features her new trio, comprised of the extraordinarily fluent bassist John Hebert and drummer Ches Smith (of indie-rockers Xiu-Xiu). Together, they make a far-ranging, expansive, and even accessible sound.

Amos Leon Thomas Jr (born 1937, died May 8, 1999) was an American avant garde jazz singer from East St. Louis, Illinois. He changed his name to Leone in 1974. Thomas is best known for his work with Pharoah Sanders, particularly the 1969 song "The Creator Has a Master Plan" from Sanders' Karma album. Thomas's most distinctive device was that he often broke out into yodeling in the middle of a vocal. This style has influenced singers James Moody and Tim Buckley,among others.