Miles Davis (May 26, 1926 — September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter with a recording career that spanned nearly five decades. In the late 1940s, Davis collaborated with Gil Evans and Gerry Mulligan on the nonet sessions that became the Birth of the Cool LP (1957). He later formed his first great quintet […]
John Coltrane (September 23, 1926 — July 17, 1967) was an American post-bop/jazz saxophonist and composer who released more than fifty studio and live albums between 1957 and his death in 1967 at age 40. Coltrane first recorded under his own name in 1957 after apprenticeships with Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Hodges, and Miles Davis. That […]
Herbie Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz and funk keyboardist active since the late 1950s. His 1962 Blue Note debut, Takin’ Off, includes his signature piece, “Watermelon Man.” In 1963, he joined Miles Davis‘s Second Great Quintet with Ron Carter and Tony Williams. Hancock’s profile rose with the 1964/65 albums Empyrean Isles […]
McCoy Tyner (1938–2020) was an American jazz pianist, active for six decades. He earned his earliest credits on 1960 albums by Curtis Fuller, Freddie Hubbard, and Art Farmer’s Jazztet. During his four-year stint with John Coltrane (1961–65), he cut six titles for Impulse! In 1967, he made his Blue Note debut with The Real McCoy. […]
Thelonious Monk (October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his improvisational style. His compositions “‘Round Midnight” and “Straight, No Chaser,” became jazz standards. Monk’s musical approach was a blend of percussive attack, dissonant chords, and sudden silences. His improvisations featured flat ninths, whole tone runs, and […]
Charles Mingus (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz double-bassist, composer, and bandleader, active from the 1940s to the 1970s. He worked with Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, and Max Roach while shaping a style that fused bebop, gospel, blues, hard bop, and classical form. His music balanced structure and improvisation across post-bop, […]
Sonny Rollins (born Sept. 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist whose seven-decade career spans bebop, hard bop, and post-bop, marking him as one of the music’s most influential improvisers and composers. Rollins began recording as a sideman in 1949 with pianist Bud Powell and singer Babs Gonzales. Between 1951 and 1953 he appeared […]
Art Blakey (October 11, 1919 — October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader from Pittsburgh. For 35 years, he led the Jazz Messengers, a revolving-door band with some of the leading names in post-bop. Blakey co-founded the Jazz Messengers in 1954 with pianist Horace Silver, trumpeter Kenny Dorham, saxophonist Hank Mobley, and […]
Eric Dolphy (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist from Los Angeles. He gained national attention in 1958 as a member of Chico Hamilton’s quintet. Dolphy launched his career as a leader in 1960 with Outward Bound on Prestige Records, the first of thirteen albums he recorded for […]
Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 — June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer. He was a chief proponent of avant-garde free jazz, as heralded on his popular 1959 Atlantic release The Shape of Jazz to Come. On this and the 1960/61 albums Change of the Century and This Is Our […]
Chick Corea (June 12, 1941 – Feb. 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader with a six-decade career that spanned the early 1960s to the late 2010s. He emerged as a backing player for Mongo Santamaria, Sonny Stitt, Blue Mitchell, Herbie Mann, Hubert Laws, and Cal Tjader. As a solo artist, Corea […]
Freddie Hubbard (1938–2008) was an American jazz trumpeter who released seven post-bop albums on Blue Note (1960–67), followed by stints on Atlantic (1967–70), CTI (1970–74), and Columbia (1974–77). He went electric on the 1970–71 albums The Black Angel, Red Clay, and Straight Life and embraced jazz-funk on the 1974–76 titles High Energy, Liquid Love, and […]
Horace Silver (September 2, 1928 — June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader. He gained prominence in 1950 when his trio teamed with Stan Getz. In 1954, Silver co-founded the Jazz Messengers with drummer Art Blakey. Their first studio recordings, issued as Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers, featured Silver’s composition […]
Donald Byrd (1932–2013) was an American post-bop trumpeter who apprenticed with the Jazz Messengers and played on multiple mid-Fifties albums by Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean, Gigi Gryce, Pepper Adams, Kenny Burrell, and John Coltrane. In 1959, Byrd released Off to the Races, his first of twenty-seven albums through 1976 on Blue Note. He embraced jazz-funk […]
Lee Morgan (July 10, 1938 — February 19, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter of the hard bop era and a central figure on the Blue Note label. By his late teens, he recorded with John Coltrane, Curtis Fuller, and Dizzy Gillespie, then became a regular in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. His work as sideman […]
Roy Ayers (1940–2025) was an American vibraphonist, composer, and producer who debuted with the 1963 UA release West Coast Vibes. Amid backing credits with Herbie Mann, Ayers cut the 1967–69 Atlantic albums Virgo Vibes, Stoned Soul Picnic, and Daddy Bug. In 1969/70, the Roy Ayers Quartet (with Sonny Sharrock and Miroslav Vitous) cut two albums […]
Cannonball Adderley (September 15, 1928 – August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era whose playing combined blues phrasing with bebop agility. After early performances with his brother Nat Adderley in Florida, he led an Army dance band and moved to New York. He launched his bandleader career with […]
George Benson (March 22, 1943) is an American jazz-funk guitarist and singer from Pittsburgh. He recorded small-group jazz and orchestrated CTI albums before a run of vocal-led Warner Bros. releases. Benson first recorded as a child and joined organist Jack McDuff, then debuted as a bandleader in 1964 on Prestige. Between 1976 and 1983, Benson […]
Roland Kirk — aka Ronald Theodore Kirk (August 7, 1935 — December 5, 1977) — was an American multi-reedist and bandleader with a twenty-year jazz career. Kirk debuted as a bandleader in 1956 with Triple Threat and followed with Introducing Roland Kirk (1961). He recorded several albums on Mercury, including We Free Kings (1962), Domino […]
Ramsey Lewis (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American pianist, composer, and bandleader from Chicago. He entered recording with bassist Eldee Young and drummer Redd Holt, reached the pop and R&B charts with “The ‘In’ Crowd,” “Hang On Sloopy,” and “Wade in the Water,” and later led electric-keyboard, orchestral, and large-ensemble projects […]
Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 — June 30, 2001) was an American tenor saxophonist with a forty-year jazz career. He emerged in New York in 1962 as a sideman for trumpeter Kenny Dorham, who provided guidance and mentorship. He soon joined Horace Silver’s band and contributed a solo to the 1963 jukebox hit “Song for […]
Yusef Lateef (October 9, 1920 — December 23, 2013) was an American reedist and composer with a six-decade jazz career. After early stints behind Dizzy Gillespie and Donald Byrd, Lateef launched his bandleader career with the 1957 Savoy Records release Jazz for the Thinker. He followed with albums such as Jazz Mood and Prayer to […]
Wayne Shorter (1933–2003) was an American saxophonist and composer who did stints with Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers (1959–64) and Miles Davis (1964–70). Between 1959 and 1970, he recorded fourteen bandleader albums for Blue Note. In 1971, he co-founded Weather Report, a jazz-funk supergroup with Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul. Background Wayne Shorter was born […]
Les McCann (September 23, 1935 – December 29, 2023) was an American jazz pianist and singer. He emerged on Pacific Jazz Records with the 1960/61 albums Les McCann Ltd. Plays the Truth, Les McCann Ltd. in San Francisco, and Les McCann Sings. His records blended energetic trio performances with gospel-inflected vocals. He expanded his reputation […]
Kenny Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist from Philadelphia who emerged as a Sixties sideman for Yusef Lateef and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1967, he teamed with trumpeter Jimmy Owens on the Atlantic release You Had Better Listen. After gigs behind Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, and Idris Muhammad, Barron cut the 1973–75 […]
Woody Shaw (December 24, 1944 — May 10, 1989) was an American trumpeter and composer. He recorded as a leader from 1970 to 1987, issuing albums for Contemporary, Muse, and Columbia, including Blackstone Legacy, Rosewood, and Stepping Stones. His sideman work spanned sessions with Eric Dolphy, Horace Silver, Larry Young, McCoy Tyner, and Dexter Gordon. […]
Ben Sidran (born August 14, 1943) is an American singer, pianist, keyboard player, songwriter, producer, and writer from Chicago. He emerged in the late 1960s after work with the Steve Miller Band, then built a solo catalog that moved across jazz, blues, soul, funk, and song-based small-group settings. His first three solo albums—Feel Your Groove, […]
Houston Person (born Nov. 10, 1934) is an American post-bop/jazz-funk tenor saxophonist and record producer from Florence, SC. His catalog runs from Prestige to HighNote, alongside work as Etta Jones’s accompanist and producer. Background Person grew up in Florence, where his mother played piano and started him on lessons. He took up tenor saxophone at […]
Larry Ridley (born Sept. 3, 1937) is an American jazz bassist from Indianapolis who released the album Sum of the Parts on Strata-East in 1975. Background Larry Ridley was born September 3, 1937, in Indianapolis and began violin lessons at age five with Ruth McArthur, whose school supported African American students amid segregation. Early classical […]
Bobby Hutcherson (January 27, 1941 – August 15, 2016) was an American vibraphonist who started as a sideman for Les McCann, Eric Dolphy, and Grant Green. Between 1963 and 1977, he recorded twenty-one albums for Blue Note. Background He was born Robert Hutcherson on January 27, 1941, in Los Angeles. His earliest exposure to jazz […]
Jane Getz is an American pianist and songwriter who released an album as Mother Hen on RCA Victor in 1971, followed by No Ordinary Child in 1973. Background Jane Getz was born on September 12, 1942, in Los Angeles. Raised between LA and San Francisco, she studied classical piano from a young age but turned […]
Jimmy Owens is an American jazz-funk trumpeter, composer, and arranger who emerged as a mid-Sixties sideman of Herbie Mann and Eric Kloss. In 1967, Atlantic Records issued You Had Better Listen, billed to the Jimmy Owens/Kenny Barron Quintet. Owens played on 1968/69 albums by Gary Bartz, George Benson, Joe Zawinul, and Yusef Lateef. He also […]
Henry Franklin (born Oct. 1, 1940) is an American jazz double-bassist from Los Angeles who led the 1972–74 albums The Skipper and The Skipper at Home on Black Jazz Records, followed by the 1977 Catalyst release Tribal Dance. As a sideman, he played on 1967–69 albums by Hugh Masekela and the Three Sounds, followed by […]
Did the early back-to-back deaths of Charlie Parker and Clifford Brown open a power vacuum in jazz that allowed Miles, Coltrane, and Monk to emerges as the top three? Would Bird have been the dominant force, joined at the top by Brown, or would they have slid from prominence like Dizzy? This is a great […]
Roy Haynes (March 13, 1925 — November 12, 2024) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader from Roxbury, Mass. He established his national profile through work with Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan, Thelonious Monk, and John Coltrane, followed by major 1960s sessions with Stan Getz, Eric Dolphy, and Chick Corea. Haynes maintained a parallel bandleader […]
Julian Priester (born June 29, 1935), also known as Pepo Mtoto, is an American trombonist from Chicago. He emerged from the local jazz scene with Sun Ra, then worked with Lionel Hampton and Dinah Washington before joining Max Roach and recording the 1960 leader albums Keep Swingin’ and Spiritsville. Priester recorded extensively through the sixties […]
Sonny Fortune (May 19, 1939 — Oct. 25 2018) was an American jazz saxophonist who rose to prominence via 1972/73 backing stints with Roy Ayers, Leon Spencer, and McCoy Tyner. In 1974, he played in the Miles Davis band, appearing on Get Up With It and three live albums. As a bandleader, Fortune debuted with […]
Gene Harris (September 1, 1933 — January 16, 2000) was an American jazz pianist. He led The Three Sounds through a prolific Blue Note run in the late 1950s and 1960s, recording both trio albums and collaborations with leading horn players. After a 1970s solo career that ranged from soul jazz to jazz-funk, he returned […]
David Newman (Feb. 24, 1933 — Jan. 20, 2009) was an American jazz-funk saxophonist and flutist. He joined the Ray Charles band in 1954 and spent a decade as a featured saxophonist on recordings including “Lonely Avenue,” “The Right Time,” and “Unchain My Heart.” Newman opened a parallel bandleader career on Atlantic with Fathead: Ray […]
Blue Mitchell (March 13, 1930 — May 21, 1979) was an American post-bop/jazz-funk trumpeter from Miami. He emerged through 1950s work with Earl Bostic, Lou Donaldson, and Cannonball Adderley, then led Riverside albums including Big 6, Out of the Blue, and Blue Soul. Mitchell spent the 1960s with the Horace Silver Quintet on albums including […]
Mike Santiago & Entity were an American jazz-rock quintet that released the 1977 Chiaroscuro album White Trees. Bassist Dave LaRue later joined the Steve Morse Band and Dixie Dregs. Members: Mike Santiago (guitar), Richard Sussman (piano), Dave LaRue (bass), Ronnie Glick (drums), Tom Baker (percussion, congas, vibraphone) Background Mike Santiago worked as a guitarist and […]
Mike Mainieri (born July 4, 1938) is an American vibraphonist from the Bronx, N.Y.C., who entered professional music as a teenager with Buddy Rich. He led the Mike Mainieri Quartet on Blues on the Other Side and Insight, then directed the large jazz-rock ensemble White Elephant amid extensive New York session and production work. Mainieri formed […]
Steve Grossman (Jan. 18, 1951 — Aug. 13, 2020) was an American post-bop jazz saxophonist from Brooklyn. He played tenor and soprano saxophone with Miles Davis and Elvin Jones, then launched a solo career with the 1974 album Some Shapes to Come, followed by the 1977–79 titles Born at the Same Time, Terra Firma, and […]
Hubert Laws (born Nov. 10, 1939) is an American flutist from Houston. He is the eldest of kin in the musical Laws family, which also includes saxophonist Ronnie Laws and vocalists Eloise and Debra Laws. Background Hubert Laws Jr. was born on November 10, 1939, in Houston, Texas. His mother, Miola Luverta Laws, played piano […]
Charles Sullivan — aka Kamau Muata Adilifu (born Nov. 8, 1944) — is an American post-bop/jazz-funk trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and bandleader from N.Y.C. He worked with McCoy Tyner, Yusef Lateef, Lonnie Liston Smith, and Carlos Garnett, then opened his leader catalog with the 1974 Strata-East album Genesis. Sullivan followed with Re-Entry and Kamau, while later […]
Charles Tolliver (born March 6, 1942) is an American trumpeter, composer, and bandleader from Jacksonville, Fla. He emerged in the 1960s through recordings with Jackie McLean, Max Roach, Horace Silver, and Gerald Wilson, then established his own groups with albums including Paper Man and The Ringer. Tolliver co-founded Strata-East Records with pianist Stanley Cowell and […]
Billy Harper (born Jan. 17, 1943) is an American post-bop tenor saxophonist and composer from Houston who emerged with Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Max Roach, and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, then recorded Capra Black, Black Saint, and a series of leader albums for Denon. Background Billy Harper was born Jan. 17, 1943, in Houston, […]
Sam Rivers (Sept. 25, 1923 — Dec. 26, 2011) was an American avant-jazz multi-reedist and pianist who released three albums as a bandleader on Blue Note between 1964 and 1967, followed by titles on Impulse!, Red Record, and other labels during the 1970s. Background Samuel Carthorne Rivers Jr. was born Sept. 25, 1923, in El […]
Hal Galper (April 18, 1938 – July 18, 2025) was an American post-bop pianist who released three albums in 1972/73 on Mainstream Records, followed by titles on SteepleChase and enja. He also played on albums by Chet Baker, Sam Rivers, Randy Brecker, Pete Yellin, Nat Adderley, Cecil McBee, John Scofield, and Phil Woods. Background Hal […]
Mwendo Dawa was a Swedish post-bop ensemble that debuted on the 1977 compilation Det Nyjazzte Från Göteborg. Their 1979 first album, Basic Line, appeared on Sonet. During the 1980s, the band released ten albums on Dragon Records, followed over the subsequent quarter-century by eight further discs on LJ Records. Members: David Sundby, Jimmi Roger Pedersen, […]
Grant Green (June 6, 1935 — Jan. 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer from who released more than 20 albums on Blue Note between 1961 and his death in 1979 at age 43. Background Grant Green was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He received early guitar instructions from his father, […]
Don Pullen (Dec. 25, 1941 — April 22, 1995) was an American avant-garde jazz pianist and organist from Roanoke, Va., who co-featured with drummer Milford Graves on a pair of 1966/67 live releases on SRP Records. Pullen played on albums by Charles Williams, Charles Mingus, and George Adams, then cut multiple bandleader titles Atlantic and […]
Herbie Mann (April 16, 1930 — July 1, 2003) was an American jazz flutist, multi-reedist, bandleader, and producer. He recorded prolifically for Atlantic through the 1960s and 1970s with rotating guests that included Chick Corea, Roy Ayers, Sonny Sharrock, Larry Coryell, Miroslav Vitous, and Duane Allman. Mann moved from bop-based small-group jazz toward Afro-Latin and […]
The V.S.O.P. Quintet was an American post-pop/jazz supergroup featuring the seasoned talents of keyboardist Herbie Hancock, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams. The band released two live double-LPs in 1977 and a third in 1979, followed by a studio album, all on CBS/Sony. Members: Herbie Hancock (keyboards), Freddie […]
J. J. Johnson (Jan. 22, 1924 — Feb. 4, 2001) was an American trombonist, composer, and arranger from Indianapolis whose catalog includes The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, J.J. Inc., and Proof Positive. He recorded with Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, and Kai Winding, then moved into film scoring with the 1970s blaxploitation productions Across […]
Joe Chambers is an American jazz-funk drummer, pianist, vibraphonist, and composer from Stoneacre, Va. He became a central Blue Note session player in the 1960s through recordings with Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter, Andrew Hill, Sam Rivers, and McCoy Tyner, while several of those sessions also featured his compositions. Chambers joined Max Roach in […]
Horacee Arnold (born Sept. 25, 1937) is an American jazz-funk drummer, composer, and bandleader from Wayland, Ky. He worked with Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Bud Powell, Hugh Masekela, and Miriam Makeba, then joined Chick Corea’s original Return to Forever lineup and the Stan Getz Quartet. Arnold led the 1973/74 Columbia albums Tribe and Tales […]
Hank Crawford (Dec. 12, 1934 — Jan. 29, 2009) was an American post-bop/jazz-funk alto saxophonist, arranger, and composer from Memphis. From 1958 to 1963, he served as musical director for Ray Charles. Crawford commenced his bandleader catalogue with the 1961 Atlantic release More Soul, then recorded for Kudu/CTI and Milestone with collaborators including Grant Green, […]
Ted Curson (June 3, 1935 — Nov. 4, 2012) was an American post-bop/jazz-funk trumpeter, composer, and bandleader from Philadelphia. Curson played with Cecil Taylor and Charles Mingus, then co-led a quintet with tenor saxophonist Bill Barron through the mid-Sixties. His leader catalog stretched from Plenty of Horn and Tears for Dolphy through Atlantic, Arista, and Inner […]
John Handy (born Feb. 3, 1933) is an American post-bop/jazz-funk multireedist from Dallas who established his career in the Bay Area and New York. He recorded with Charles Mingus on Mingus Ah Um, Mingus Dynasty, Blues & Roots, and Jazz Portraits: Mingus in Wonderland, then began his leader catalog on Roulette with In the Vernacular […]
Janet Lawson (born Nov. 13, 1940) is an American jazz vocalist and quintet leader from Baltimore who made a 1981 album on Inner City, followed by the 1984 Omnisound release Dreams Can Be. Background Janet Lawson was born Janet Ann Polun on Nov. 13, 1940, in Baltimore, Md. Her father, Oscar “Jack” Polun, worked as […]
The Hastings Street Jazz Experience was an American post-bop ensemble from Detroit that recorded the 1976 album Detroit Jazz Composers Ltd. for Midnite Records, the label operated by the Detroit Jazz Composers Ltd. organization. Background Drummer Ed Nelson formed the Hastings Street Jazz Experience in Detroit in 1972 with bassist Dedrick Glover and saxophonist/flutist Charles […]
Hadley Caliman (Jan. 12, 1932 — Sept. 8, 2010) was an American post-bop tenor saxophonist whose career began in the late 1940s with drummer Roy Porter. He worked through the 1960s with Gerald Wilson, Don Ellis, and Mongo Santamaria. As a bandleader, he made the 1971/72 albums Hadley Caliman and Iapetus on Mainstream Records, followed […]
Nat Adderley (November 25, 1931 — January 2, 2000) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer who spent much of his career performing with his brother, alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley. He first recorded as a leader on That’s Nat (Savoy, 1955) after a notable appearance at New York’s Café Bohemia. The brothers formed the Cannonball […]
Leroy Vinnegar (July 13, 1928 — Aug. 3, 1999) was an American post-bop/jazz standup bassist on the LA studio scene. He recorded extensively with Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Shelly Manne, Hampton Hawes, and Les McCann while also contributing to film and television sessions. Vinnegar led albums from Leroy Walks! in 1957 through later releases for […]
Ray Bryant (Dec. 24, 1931 — June 2, 2011) is an American post-bop/jazz-funk pianist from Philadelphia. He backed Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Carmen McRae, Sonny Rollins, and Aretha Franklin while building a parallel trio and solo career from the mid-Fifties onward. Bryant scored crossover singles with “Little Susie,” “The Madison Time,” and “Ode to Billie […]
Oliver Nelson (June 4, 1932 — Oct. 28, 1975) was an American post-bop/jazz-funk saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader from St. Louis. He began recording as a leader on Prestige in 1959 and established his best-known composition, “Stolen Moments,” on the 1961 Impulse! album The Blues and the Abstract Truth. Nelson arranged Sixties sessions for Jimmy […]
Stanley Turrentine (April 5, 1934 — September 12, 2000) was an American post-bop/jazz-funk tenor saxophonist. He emerged from Pittsburgh’s hard-bop scene in the 1950s, first gaining notice with Earl Bostic, Max Roach, and Horace Silver before making his Blue Note debut in 1960. Through the 1960s he recorded a string of organ-combo soul-jazz classics with […]
