A native of the Kansas City Area, award-winning composer and saxophone artist, Chris Burnett began his prolific professional start at the age of 18 years old while performing, touring and recording with Army bands from 1974-1996. His 22-year career with noteworthy professional military music organizations provided vast legitimate educational... [+] Read More

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Though best-known as a contemporary jazz performer, trumpeter Chris Botti made his initial splash on the pop music scene. A native of Oregon, he started playing at the age of ten, and while still in high school began performing professionally. After studying in the prestigious Indiana University music program under the noted jazz educator David... [+] Read More

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Though best-known as a contemporary jazz performer, trumpeter Chris Botti made his initial splash on the pop music scene. A native of Oregon, he started playing at the age of ten, and while still in high school began performing professionally. After studying in the prestigious Indiana University music program under the noted jazz educator David... [+] Read More

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A flexible and talented drummer, Danny Gottlieb studied with Mel Lewis and Joe Morello. After graduating from the University of Miami (1975), he did session work in the Miami Beach area. Gottlieb joined Gary Burton's Quartet (1976) at a period when Pat Metheny was the guitarist. When Metheny soon formed his group, Gottlieb became a charter... [+] Read More

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Bassist Mark Egan and drummer Danny Gottlieb have been longtime friends, starting with their days at the University of Miami in the early '70s and continuing during their period with Pat Metheny (Egan was in the guitarist's group from 1978-1980, while Gottlieb stayed until 1983). They formed Elements in 1982, which, from its start, also included... [+] Read More

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One of the most popular pop/jazz groups, Fattburger has been classified by some as new adult contemporary music, contemporary jazz, or smooth jazz. The San Diego-based unit has survived through many trends and still plays the same type of accessible funky music that was its original goal. Saxophonist Hollis Gentry, while in high school, led a... [+] Read More

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Mike Mainieri, a talented and distinctive vibraphonist, has had a productive and diverse career. He first played vibes professionally when he was 14, touring with Paul Whiteman in a jazz trio called Two Kings & a Queen. He played with Buddy Rich's bands for a long period (1956-1963) and then became a busy studio musician, appearing on many pop... [+] Read More

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Return to Forever was jazz keyboard player Chick Corea's jazz-rock fusion band of the 1970s. Like Weather Report and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, it was a group formed by an alumnus of Miles Davis' late-'60s bands with the intention of furthering the jazz-rock hybrid Davis had explored on albums like Bitches Brew. At the time, this was seen as a... [+] Read More

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Combining Latin and African rhythms with the light textures of MOR jazz, Special EFX emerged as one of the most prominent world fusion groups of their era. Formed in New York in 1982, Special EFX was essentially a duo comprised of guitarist Chieli Minucci and Hungarian-born drummer/percussionist George Jinda; debuting in 1985 with the album... [+] Read More

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Founded in 1974 by altoist Jay Beckenstein, Spyro Gyra has consistently been one of the commercially successfully pop-jazz groups of the past 20 years. Although originally a studio group, the band became a full-time venture in 1979 and has been touring ever since. Critics love to attack this band's lightweight and rarely changing music, which... [+] Read More

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Originally called Steps when it was formed in 1979 by vibraphonist Mike Mainieri, this group at various times has included tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker; keyboardists Don Grolnick, Eliane Elias, and Rachel Z; guitarist Mike Stern; bassists Eddie Gomez and Darryl Jones; and drummers Peter Erskine and Steve Smith, among others. Its music... [+] Read More

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Back in 1954, Houston pianist Joe Sample teamed up with high school friends tenor saxophonist Wilton Felder and drummer Stix Hooper to form the Swingsters. Within a short time, they were joined by trombonist Wayne Henderson, flutist Hubert Laws, and bassist Henry Wilson and the group became the Modern Jazz Sextet. With the move of Sample,... [+] Read More

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