Showing 1 - 25 of 30
Artist: Joanne Brackeen
A brilliant pianist flexible enough to play free, modal music, and standards, Joanne Brackeen has been a major player for decades. She taught herself to play jazz piano. During 1958-1959, Brackeen worked in Los Angeles with Teddy Edwards, Harold Land, Dexter Gordon, and Charles Lloyd. After marrying Charles Brackeen (they later divorced), she... [+] Read More
Artist: Charles Brackeen
An excellent avant-garde tenor who has always been a bit underrated, Charles Brackeen originally studied violin and piano. Settling on tenor, he worked in both New York and Los Angeles, meeting and marrying pianist Joanne Brackeen. In New York, he was associated with "the new thing," and in 1968 recorded an interesting set for Strata East with... [+] Read More
Artist: Joanne Brackeen Quartet
Artist: Joanne Brackeen Trio
Artist: Ahmed Abdullah
An exciting but still little-known trumpeter, Ahmed Abdullah began playing music when he was 13. He started to get notice during the 1970s, performing in New York's loft scene. Since then he has played with Chico Freeman, Charles Brackeen, and Marion Brown; led his own Solomonic Quintet; and recorded for Silkheart and Cadence Jazz. ~ Scott... [+] Read More
Artist: Dennis Gonzalez
A talented trumpeter who has recorded a consistently rewarding string of lesser-known dates, Dennis Gonzalez's playing falls between advanced hard bop and free jazz. He moved to Dallas in 1977 and started the DAAGNIM label, for which he recorded frequently with top local players. Starting in 1986, Gonzalez also made several dates for the... [+] Read More
Artist: Trio da Paz
The Trio da Paz, one of the most visible Brazilian jazz groups in the world, is formed by Romero Lubambo on guitar, Nilson Matta on bass and Duduka da Fonseca on drums and percussion. Formed in 1986 they've recorded three CD's, Black Orpheus at Kokopelli Records, Partido Out at Malandro Records and the first one, Brazil From the Inside,... [+] Read More
Artist: Clint Houston
An excellent bassist able to play stimulating lines and engage in close interplay in advanced jazz settings, Clint Houston has long been underrated by everyone except the musicians who play with him. He picked up important experience in the house band at Slugs in New York with George Cables. Houston worked regularly with Nina Simone (1969), Roy... [+] Read More
Artist: Dave Catney
Dave Catney began playing piano by ear at the age of five. In school, he studied clarinet, tuba, electric bass, and piano. After graduating from high school, he majored in music at the University of North Texas; he later studied piano privately in New York with Richie Beirach, Joanne Brackeen, and Hal Galper. Catney also wrote music and several... [+] Read More
Artist: Stan Getz
One of the all-time great tenor saxophonists, Stan Getz was known as "The Sound" because he had one of the most beautiful tones ever heard. Getz, whose main early influence was Lester Young, grew to be a major influence himself and to his credit he never stopped evolving.
Getz had the opportunity to play in a variety of major swing big bands... [+] Read More
Artist: Ryo Kawasaki
Jazz fusion guitarist Ryo Kawasaki was born in Toyko, Japan, on February 25, 1947. Although he originally planned on becoming a scientist, Kawasaki put an end to his studies early on and concentrated solely on guitar, playing with a variety of Japanese jazz groups throughout the '60s. During the early '70s, Kawasaki had relocated to the United... [+] Read More
Artist: Eddie Gómez
Eddie Gomez is a brilliant bassist whose flexibility and quick reflexes make him an ideal accompanist (although his own albums tend to be a bit erratic jazz-wise). He grew up in New York and was with the Newport Festival Youth Band during 1959-1961. After studying at Juilliard, Gomez played with Rufus Jones' sextet, Marian McPartland (1964),... [+] Read More
Artist: Freddie McCoy
Soul-jazz vibraphonist Freddie McCoy was never a hit with the critics, spending most of his time laying down coolly funky grooves and covering contemporary R&B and pop tunes (or doing original material in a similarly accessible vein). However, his albums later became underground collector's items among acid jazz and rare-groove enthusiasts.... [+] Read More
Artist: Stevens, Siegel & Ferguson
The jazz trio Stevens, Siegel & Ferguson first came together during the summer of 1990 in New York City, while its future members were each teaching at the same music workshop. Comprised of Michael Jefry Stevens (piano), Jeff "Siege" Siegel (drums), and Tim Ferguson (bass), the band has toured in both the U.S. and Europe and has either played or... [+] Read More
Artist: William Kanter Woods
William Woods, the son of violinist Leonid Kanter, who played in big bands and orchestras, grew up in the New York metropolitan area and began playing the piano at age nine. His first ambition was to be a concert pianist, but an interest in improvising led him toward jazz. He was in a rock band while attending high school, and also played in the... [+] Read More
Artist: Jane Blackstone
Based in New York for most of her adult life, Jane Blackstone is a subtle yet swinging jazz vocalist/pianist whose influences range from Annie Ross and Sheila Jordan to Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald. The late Betty Carter has also been cited as one of her influences, although Blackstone is much more accessible and isn't... [+] Read More
Artist: Cecil McBee
One of post-bop's most advanced and versatile bassists, Cecil McBee has played with an enormous variety of artists, and is just as capable in a solo or group improvisational context as he is at offering thoughtfully advanced background support. McBee was born May 19, 1935, in Tulsa, and played clarinet as a high schooler before switching to bass... [+] Read More
Artist: Olu Dara
Although he didn't record under his own name until 1998, Olu Dara enjoyed a reputation as one of the jazz avant-garde's leading trumpeters from the mid-'70s on. Early-'80s records and performances with the David Murray Octet and the Henry Threadgill Sextet revealed Dara to be a daring, roots-bound soloist, with a modern imagination and a big... [+] Read More
Artist: Talib Qadir Kibwe
Born to West Indian parents and raised on New York's Long Island, Kibwe began playing trumpet at the age of eight. After a brief encounter with the drums and a few years away from music, he took up the flute at 17, then saxophone. From 1971-1975, he attended New York University, earning a double major in Music and Psychology. During those years,... [+] Read More
Artist: Ravi Coltrane
Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane is the son of John and Alice Coltrane. John Coltrane passed away when Ravi was two. While he had a musical upbringing by his mother and began playing fairly early, he did not commence a jazz vocation until he was in his early twenties. Coltrane was able to hone his chops playing with Elvin Jones' group before meeting... [+] Read More
Artist: T.K. Blue
Born to West Indian parents and raised on New York's Long Island, Kibwe began playing trumpet at the age of eight. After a brief encounter with the drums and a few years away from music, he took up the flute at 17, then saxophone. From 1971-1975, he attended New York University, earning a double major in Music and Psychology. During those years,... [+] Read More
Artist: Stefano d'Anna
Born in Palermo, Italy, has performed and/or recorded among the others with: Salvatore Bonafede, Paolino Dalla Porta, Fabrizio Sferra, Mauro Schiavone, Enzo Carpentieri, Harvie S, Emmanuel Bex, Ben Monder, JoAnne Brackeen, Pietro Ciancaglini, Pietro Lussu, Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard, Francesco Puglisi, Pietro Iodice, Fulvio Buccafusco, David... [+] Read More
Artist: Ed Sarath
Both as a performer and as an educator at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, flügelhornist Ed Sarath has brought a distinctively open-minded sensibility to jazz and creative music as taught and practiced in the Midwestern United States. Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Program in Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation at the... [+] Read More
Artist: Ronnie Boykins
Boykins is best known for his work with pianist/bandleader Sun Ra, although he had played with such disparate musicians as Muddy Waters, Johnny Griffin, and Jimmy Witherspoon prior to joining Sun Ra's Arkestra. He was a regular member of Sun Ra's band from 1958 until 1966, and occasionally thereafter. His percussive bass style inspired and... [+] Read More
Artist: Alvin Fielder
A founding member of the AACM, drummer Alvin Fielder dropped off the radar before re-emerging in the '80s and '90s as a solid, veteran free improviser. Fielder was born November 23, 1935, in Meridian, MS, and began taking piano lessons at age six, but didn't really fall in love with music until 12, when a drummer friend turned him on to Max... [+] Read More
