Contemporary jazz keyboard player Alex Bugnon, nephew of trumpeter Donald Byrd, grew up going to the Montreux Jazz Festival in his hometown in Switzerland. He attended the Paris Conservatory of Music for two years, then moved to the U.S. and went to the Berklee School of Music, meanwhile performing as an accompanist to gospel groups. He spent... [+] Read More

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Bob James' recordings have practically defined pop/jazz and crossover during the past few decades. Very influenced by pop and movie music, James has often featured R&B-ish soloists (most notably Grover Washington, Jr.), who add a jazz touch to what is essentially an instrumental pop set. He actually started out in music going with a much... [+] Read More

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Chick Corea has been one of the most significant jazzmen since the '60s. Not content at any time to rest on his laurels, Corea has been involved in quite a few important musical projects, and his musical curiosity has never dimmed. A masterful pianist who, along with Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett, was one of the top stylists to emerge after... [+] Read More

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Several venues have already been completely funkdafied with the funk/jazz sounds of the four person group; Da Phatfunk Clique. In September of 1998, violinist Darrell Looney began collaborating with bassist Brian Ellis on what would become the group’s 1999 release – Pandemic Love. The sound is unique as the violin is the lead instrument.... [+] Read More

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One of the many jazzmen who started out playing hard bop but went electric during the fusion era, Joe Sample was, in the late '50s, a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders along with trombonist Wayne Henderson, tenor saxman Wilton Felder, and drummer Stix Hooper. The Crusaders' debt to Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers wasn't hard to miss -- except... [+] Read More

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Joe Zawinul belongs in a category unto himself -- a European from the heartland of the classical music tradition (Vienna) who learned to swing as freely as any American jazzer, and whose appetite for growth and change remains insatiable. Zawinul's curiosity and openness to all kinds of sounds made him one of the driving forces behind the... [+] Read More

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The former pianist and music director for George Benson, Jorge Dalto continues to fuse pop, jazz and Afro-Latin influences. The leader of the InterAmerican Band, which featured his wife, Adela, on vocals, during the mid-1980s, Dalto has continued to build on his internationally-flavored sound. His recent collaborations with his wife have blended... [+] Read More

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Pastor Marvin Winans rose to fame as a member of the Winans -- not just the well-known First Family of contemporary black gospel, but the actual quartet of that name which laid the foundation for the family's veritable gospel empire beginning in the early '80s. Winans never really chose to devote his focus to a solo career, preferring instead to... [+] Read More

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Keyboardist/singer/songwriter/arranger/musical director Patrice Rushen has had an outstanding career with several Top Ten R&B hits, including "Haven't You Heard," "Forget Me Nots," "Feels So Real," and "Watch Out." "Forget Me Nots" was the basis of Will Smith's "Men in Black" from the blockbuster movie of the same name on Big Willie Style. R.... [+] Read More

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