One of the most versatile musicians on the planet, Andre Previn has amassed considerable credentials as a jazz pianist, despite carving out separate lives first as a Hollywood arranger and composer, and then a world-class classical conductor, pianist and composer. Always fluid, melodic and swinging, with elements of Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson... [+] Read More

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Arranger takes sounds of nature and the city to form orchestral vehicles for soloists like Michael Brecker. ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide

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Don Sebesky is best known as house arranger for many of producer Creed Taylor's Verve, A&M, and CTI productions; the man whose orchestral backgrounds helped make artists like Wes Montgomery, Paul Desmond, Freddie Hubbard, and George Benson acceptable to audiences outside of jazz. He has taken critical heat for this, but Sebesky's arrangements... [+] Read More

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Trumpeter and arranger Don Sickler made his initial splash in 1983, debuting with the LP The Music of Kenny Dorham. However, he then spent the next dozen years out of the spotlight, focusing instead on backing and producing artists including Freddie Redd, Larry Coryell, and Cindy Blackman. He also enjoyed a brief stint with Art Blakey and the... [+] Read More

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Self-described "rural folk piano" player George Winston was among the earliest and most successful proponents of the genre of contemporary instrumental music later dubbed new age. Although born in Michigan in 1949, he was raised primarily in Montana, the extreme seasonal changes he experienced there later greatly influencing the pastoral feel of... [+] Read More

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Story studied classical piano while growing up in Southern California and even thought about becoming a music librarian or theorist for a while. Then she heard jazz pianist Bill Evans at a New York club, and the experience changed her perspective on music overnight. Story, who had studied at Juilliard and was enrolled at Hunter College at the... [+] Read More

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A premier jazz musician in Japan, Makoto Ozone has made a successful transition to America, where he became equally prominent in this nation's improvisational community. He began on organ at four, then took up piano as a teenager. He went to Berklee in 1980 and studied composing and arranging. He was noticed by Gary Burton and later recorded... [+] Read More

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Michel Legrand has made his fame and fortune from writing for films, but he has done significant work in jazz on an occasional basis. In 1957, he arranged a set of Dixieland and swing standards for a French orchestra (recorded on Philips), in 1958 he used three different all-star groups for the classic Legrand Jazz (with such sidemen as Miles... [+] Read More

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Suzanne Ciani was one of the first and finest woman artists to make a name for herself in the world of electronic music. Ciani earned a Masters degree in composition from the University of California at Berkeley, where she studied with electronic pioneers Max Matthews, John Chowning, and Don Buchla. In 1975 she moved to New York, where she got... [+] Read More

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Yanni's grandiose keyboard style is both accessible and exciting, two elements that have led to his success in the realm of adult alternative radio. His explosive, pop-influenced instrumentals and romantic pianistic ballads have also made him a popular touring and recording artist for the Private Music label. In addition to his original... [+] Read More

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