Bennie Maupin is best-known for his association with Herbie Hancock and his atmospheric bass clarinet playing on Miles Davis' classic Bitches Brew album. Maupin started playing tenor in high school and attended the Detroit Institute for Musical Arts, playing locally in Detroit. He moved to New York in 1963, freelancing with many groups,... [+] Read More

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A virtuoso tuba player, Bob Stewart's solos explore his instrument's full range and show its ability to serve as both lead and support within the jazz ensemble. He rivals Howard Johnson in terms of demonstrating depth, facility, and imagination on tuba. Stewart began playing trumpet at ten, and studied trumpet and tuba at the Philadelphia... [+] Read More

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Although he was one of the finest baritone saxophonists to emerge from the bop era, Cecil Payne has been underrated and frequently overlooked throughout his long career. Payne, who played guitar, alto, and clarinet (and spent 1943-1946 in the military), first played baritone with Clarence Briggs' band in 1946, giving up alto around the same... [+] Read More

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Multi-reedist and composer Gianluigi Trovesi is a major force in the modern Italian jazz scene, having led his own recording dates and been an integral part of the allstar Italian Instabile Orchestra. Born in 1944 near Bergamo, Italy, Trovesi studied harmony and counterpoint with Maestro V. Fellegara, earning his degree in clarinet in 1966.... [+] Read More

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The most prominent baritone saxophonist of his generation, Bluiett combines a blunt, modestly inflected attack with a fleet, aggressive technique, and (maybe most importantly) a uniform hugeness of sound that extends from his horn's lowest reaches to far beyond what is usually its highest register. Probably no other baritonist has played so... [+] Read More

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Julius Watkins was virtually the father of the jazz French horn. He started playing French horn at the age of nine, although he worked with the Ernie Fields orchestra on trumpet (1943-1946). In the late '40s, he took some French horn solos on records by Kenny Clarke and Babs Gonzales, and spent 1949 as a member of the Milt Buckner big band.... [+] Read More

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Leo Parker was the proud owner of a big, beefy baritone sax tone and a fluent technique that struck a great match between the gritty, down-home feeling of R&B and the advanced harmonies of bebop. At first, he studied alto in high school, even recording with Coleman Hawkins' early bebop band at age 18 on that instrument in 1944. But upon joining... [+] Read More

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A powerful baritonist in the tradition of Pepper Adams, Ronnie Cuber has been making excellent records for over 20 years. He was in Marshall Brown's Newport Youth Band at the 1959 Newport Jazz Festival and was featured with the groups of Slide Hampton (1962), Maynard Ferguson (1963-1965), and George Benson (1966-1967). After stints with Lionel... [+] Read More

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Steve Weisberg gained a little bit of attention in the mid '80s due to his erratic, if somewhat humorous, recording, I Can't Stand Another Night Alone in Bed with You for Carla Bley's Xtra Watt label. Weisberg began piano lessons when he was seven, studying classical music until he discovered jazz when he was 15. After high school, he attended... [+] Read More

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There have been few French horn soloists in jazz but, even if there had been dozens, chances are that Tom Varner would rank near the top. He started on piano at age ten and a few years later switched to French horn, discovering his predecessor Julius Watkins' recordings when he was 17. He graduated from the New England Conservatory and, in 1979,... [+] Read More

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