James W “Red” Holloway was born in Helena, Arkansas on May 31, 1927 to a mother who played piano and a father who…

Trumpeter Marcus Printup, who was born and raised in Conyers, Georgia, had his first musical experiences hearing the fiery gospel music his parents…

Few, if any, free jazz saxophonists have approached music with the same degree of intellectual rigor as Sam Rivers; just as few have…

Edward “Sonny” Stitt (February 2, 1924–July 22, 1982) was an American jazz saxophonist. He was a quintessential saxophonist of the bebop idiom. He…

Cassandra Wilson became one of the top jazz singers of the ’90s, a vocalist blessed with a distinctive and flexible voice who is…

Born William Vincent Walker in Mobile, Alabama in 1947, his family moved to New York City’s Harlem while he was still an infant….

Frank Foster, a saxophonist, composer and arranger who helped shape the sound of the Count Basie Orchestra during its popular heyday in the…

Cal Tjader was undoubtedly the most famous non-Latino leader of Latin jazz bands, an extraordinary distinction. From the 1950s until his death, he…

Bobby Sanabria, a drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, recording artist, producer, filmmaker, conductor, educator, multi-cultural warrior and multiple Grammy nominee, has performed with a…

With his great ballooning cheeks and trademark trumpet’s bell upturned at a 45-degree angle, Dizzy Gillespie easily has the most recognizable face in…