Born in Bali, Indonesia, Joey Alexander has been performing professionally since 2013 when he was invited by Wynton Marsalis to perform at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Gala. Alexander subsequently moved to New York City and released his debut album, My Favorite Things, in 2015 on Motéma Music, followed by three more on the label and another on Verve. Alexander’s albums have netted three GRAMMY Award nominations – one for Best Jazz Instrumental Album and two for Best Improvised Jazz Solo. Over the course of his astonishing career, Alexander has performed with Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding for International Jazz Day 2016 at the White House for President Barack Obama, at the Arthur Ashe Learning Center for President Bill Clinton, and at the Grand Ole Opry, Apollo Theater, Carnegie Hall and major jazz festivals and night clubs around the world. He has also been the subject of profiles on “60 Minutes” and in The New York Times. Origin is Alexander’s first album for Mack Avenue Records and will be released in May.

Pianist, composer and music director John Beasley takes pride in being a musical chameleon and has an amazing track record to show for his versatility. Beasley grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana  and by the time he was a teen was playing trumpet, oboe, drums, saxophone and flute. His interest in jazz was sparked after hearing a Bobby Timmons recording. Beasley was offered an oboe scholarship to Juilliard but by that point his career had taken off and he was soon touring with Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard. Since then, his list of collaborators has grown long and varied, including Steely Dan, Barbra Streisand, Queen Latifah, Chaka Khan and James Brown. Beasley also has performed on film scores for Erin Brokovich, Finding Nemo and The Godfather III. He has released numerous albums, including Positootly!, which received a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Instrumental Jazz Album. In 2013, Beasley formed MONK’estra, a 17-piece band that celebrates Thelonious Monk’s classic compositions with a contemporary twist incorporating Afro-Cuban rhythms, modern jazz, hip-hop and traditional big band instrumentation.

Brian Blade is a native of Shreveport, Louisiana who established himself as a versatile, accomplished drummer early in his career, appearing on albums by the likes of Joshua Redman, Kenny Garrett and Bob Dylan. Blade released his first album, Brian Blade Fellowship, at the age of 27 in 1998 and followed two years later with Perceptual, both on Blue Note. Always an in-demand sideman and collaborator, he continued to find work with a varied bevy of artists, including Chick Corea, Bill Frisell, Herbie Hancock, Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, Daniel Lanois and Wayne Shorter. Ten years after releasing his first album, Blade returned with Season of Changes in 2008, this time on Verve. A year later he released the solo Americana, singer/songwriter effort Mama Rosa for the label. Blade is a member of the acclaimed Wayne Shorter Quartet alongside bassist John Patitucci and pianist Danilo Pérez. His latest release is 2017’s Body and Shadow, marking the fifth album in Brian Blade & the Fellowship Band’s 20-year history.

Five-time GRAMMY Award winner Terence Blanchard has attained a unique position as an accomplished jazz artist, bandleader, film composer and educator. As a teenager, he studied with Ellis Marsalis at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. While attending Rutgers University, he was offered a position in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, where he served as musical director. Blanchard has composed for every Spike Lee film since Mo’ Better Blues, including Lee’s latest project Chi-Raq, and has scored dozens of other films and television shows throughout his career. In 2006, he appeared in and composed for Spike Lee’s documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. Blanchard’s corresponding recording, A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina), received a GRAMMY Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album in 2007. In 2012, Blanchard composed the original score for the George Lucas film Red Tails and composed incidental music for the Broadway revival of A Streetcar Named Desire. A year later, he composed his first opera, Champion, about prize- fighting boxer Emile Griffith. His latest Blue Note Records release is the electric fusion and R&B infused Breathless, which features his band the E-Collective and vocalist PJ Morton. From 2000 to 2011, Blanchard served as Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance.

Kris Bowers is one of the most creative young pianists and composers on the scene today. A native of Los Angeles, Bowers received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School and came to prominence in 2011 as the first-place winner of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition. He has performed or recorded with Ambrose Akinmusire, Mulgrew Miller, Terell Stafford and Ben Williams, among others, and performed in the 2016 International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert at the White House. Bowers is also an accomplished film and television composer whose work appears in the critically acclaimed series “Dear White People” and Shonda Rhimes’ “For The People,” as well as the recently released film Green Book, starring Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen.

Dee Dee Bridgewater’s exuberance, creativity, undeniable confidence and joyous spirit have earned her a place as one of the premier vocalists in jazz. Early in her career, Bridgewater spent two years as lead vocalist for the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, followed by two years as Glinda the Good Witch in the Broadway production of The Wiz, for which she received a Tony Award. Her subsequent portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Day won her a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress. Bridgewater received Horace Silver’s blessing to record an album of his music with vocals. The resulting Peace and Love brought her worldwide attention. A Doris Duke Artist, Bridgewater won her third GRAMMY for Eleanora Fagan (1917-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee.

One of the most renowned German jazz musicians of his generation, Till Brönner is a GRAMMY-nominated trumpeter, vocalist, composer and arranger whose work spans straight-ahead jazz, electronica, hip-hop, rock and pop. He made his debut as a leader in 1994 with the award-winning Generations of Jazz, featuring bassist Ray Brown and drummer Jeff Hamilton. Since then, he has performed and recorded with Monty Alexander, Tony Bennett, Al Foster, Johnny Griffin, Chaka Khan, Madeleine Peyroux and Ernie Watts. His 2012 self-titled album is a stunning homage to his longtime inspiration Freddie Hubbard. Brönner’s latest release, Nightfall, finds him interpreting an eclectic mix of original compositions, jazz standards and even pop and classical tunes alongside renowned German bassist Dieter Ilg.

Terri Lyne Carrington is a three-time GRAMMY Award-winning drummer, producer and recording artist. Born in Medford, Massachusetts, Carrington received her first set of drums at age 3. At 10, she had her first major performance with trumpet legend Clark Terry and as a teenager, Carrington performed and recorded with Kenny Barron, Buster Williams, Stan Getz and James Moody. She later moved to Los Angeles to become the drummer for “The Arsenio Hall Show.” Throughout the ’90s, she performed with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock, and played alongside Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder on Hancock’s GRAMMY Award-winning Gershwin’s World. Carrington teaches at the Berklee College of Music and serves as Artistic Director of the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival. Her 2013 Concord release Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue was a much-anticipated homage to Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach that coincided with the 50th anniversary of their iconic 1963 Money Jungle album. Carrington made history with this album when she became the first woman to win a GRAMMY Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. Her latest effort is a follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2011 album The Mosaic Project, titled The Mosaic Project: Love and Soul. Like its predecessor, the album presents Carrington leading a rotating cast of superb female instrumentalists and vocalists.

Chick Corea has attained living legend status after five decades of unparalleled creativity and artistic output. Corea was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and began studying piano at age 4. His first professional gig was with Cab Calloway, followed by stints in Latin jazz bands led by Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo. Since embarking on a solo career in 1966, Corea has been at the forefront of jazz, both as a renowned pianist forging new ground with his acoustic jazz bands and as an innovative electric keyboardist with Return to Forever, the Elektric Band, and the electro/acoustic Vigil. A DownBeat Hall of Famer, NEA Jazz Master, 22-time GRAMMY Award winner, and keyboard virtuoso, his extensive discography boasts numerous albums, beginning with his 1968 classic, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs. Corea is the fourth-most-nominated artist in the history of the GRAMMY Awards, with 63 nominations. He also has earned 3 Latin GRAMMY Awards, the most of any artist in the Best Instrumental Album category. From straight ahead to avant-garde, bebop to fusion, children’s songs to chamber music, along with some far-reaching forays into symphonic works, Corea has touched an astonishing number of musical bases in his illustrious career. He continues to forge ahead, continually reinventing himself in the process.

Jamie Cullum is one of the most successful jazz artists, with more than 10 million albums sold worldwide. He has received a GRAMMY Award, 2 Golden Globes, 2 GQ Man of the Year awards, 3 Brits and 3 Sony Radio awards, among many other honors. Born in Rochford, England, Cullum first made his mark through jazz with the multi-platinum Twentysomething release, but it is his knowledge and love of all music that has helped propel him onto the world stage. The sensational musician has the ability and versatility to blur musical genres with his unique take on jazz, pop and rock, and his wide appeal has taken him from Seoul to Sao Paulo and from Hamburg to Hollywood, where he collaborated with Clint Eastwood on the Golden Globe nominated score for Gran Torino. Cullum has written for the London West End stage and presented television shows on VH-1, Sky and the BBC. He has hosted several documentaries for BBC Radio featuring such eminent subjects as Blue Note Records, Herbie Hancock, Jimi Hendrix and Quincy Jones. Cullum currently presents his own award-winning weekly primetime show on BBC Radio 2, the highest rated station in Europe. Interlude, his latest project on Island Records, shows Cullum reconnecting with his jazz roots.

Paquito D’Rivera defies categorization. The winner of 14 GRAMMY Awards, the celebrated clarinetist, saxophonist and composer is recognized for his artistry in Latin jazz and his achievements as a classical composer. Born in Havana, Cuba, D’Rivera performed at age 10 with the National Theater Orchestra, studied at the Havana Conservatory of Music and, at age 17 became a featured soloist with the Cuban National Symphony. He directed the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna for two years, and was a founding member and co-director of Irakere, which performed an explosive mixture of jazz, rock, classical and traditional Cuban music never before heard. In 1988, he became a founding member of the United Nation Orchestra, a 15-piece ensemble organized by Dizzy Gillespie to showcase the fusion of Latin and Caribbean influences with jazz. D’Rivera went on to release more than 30 solo albums. His contributions to classical music include his three chamber compositions recorded live in concert with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Among his many honors, D’Rivera is the recipient of a National Medal of Arts and has been named an NEA Jazz Master. He continues to tour worldwide with his chamber jazz ensemble, big band and quintet.

Saxophonist and composer Eli Degibri of Israel has established himself as a prominent musician in jazz, gaining a worldwide fan base. He toured with Herbie Hancock’s sextet for more than two years, and went on to perform and record as a member of the Al Foster Quartet. Degibri is a recipient of the honorary Israeli Prime Minister Award for Jazz Composition and the Landau Award for Jazz Performance, which recognizes his achievements as a bandleader. His latest release with his quartet is aptly named Cliff Hangin’ as it captures the thrilling and unpredictable urgency of his playing. It received a rare five-star review from DownBeat magazine. Degibri’s next project will pay tribute to legendary saxophonist Hank Mobley.

Kurt Elling combines his extraordinary vocal talents with his bandleading, composing and arranging to produce a sound that has been thrilling audiences for more than two decades. Elling developed his idiosyncratic scat style in the clubs of Chicago, sharing the stage with the renowned Von Freeman and Ed Peterson. He signed with Blue Note in 1995 and went on to release six Blue Note albums, all of which have been GRAMMY nominated and critically acclaimed. He won the 2010 GRAMMY Award for Best Vocal Jazz Album for his Concord release Dedicated to You. Elling was named top male vocalist in the DownBeat Critics Poll for 13 consecutive years. His most recent effort is Secrets are the Best Stories, a duet album featuring Danilo Pérez.

Aretha Franklin’s musical legacy has made her a living legend. She is both a 20th and 21st century musical and cultural icon known the world over simply by her first name. The reigning and undisputed “Queen of Soul” has created an amazing legacy that spans six decades, from her first recording as a teenage gospel star to her current RCA Records release, Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics. Her many countless classics include “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “Chain Of Fools,” and “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)” along with her own compositions “Think,” “Daydreaming” and “Call Me” and her definitive versions of “Respect” and “I Say A Little Prayer.” Franklin is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor, along with 18 GRAMMY Awards, a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award and a GRAMMY Living Legend Award. Her powerful, distinctive, gospel-honed vocal style has influenced countless singers across many generations, justifiably earning her Rolling Stone magazine’s No. 1 slot on its list of “The Greatest Singers of All Time.”

With his authoritative voice and calm demeanor, Morgan Freeman is one of the most respected figures in cinematic history. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Freeman made his acting debut at age 9. He turned down a drama scholarship to Jackson State University, opting instead to serve as a mechanic in the U.S. Air Force. In 1969, he appeared onstage in an all African-American production of “Hello, Dolly!” Freeman first appeared on television on “The Electric Company.” Two years later, he moved into feature films. Freeman received an Oscar nomination for his performance as a merciless hoodlum in Street Smart, and received a second Oscar nomination in 1989 as the patient, dignified chauffeur in Driving Miss Daisy. The same year, Freeman starred in the epic Civil War drama Glory. Other career highlights include his memorable performances in Unforgiven, The Shawshank Redemption, Amistad, and Million Dollar Baby, which won him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. In 2011, Freeman was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globe Awards. That same year, he received an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. Committed to preserving and perpetuating the blues, Freeman is co-owner of the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

GRAMMY Award-winning pianist and composer Robert Glasper is defining the cutting edge of modern music. Albums with his acoustic trio and his electric Robert Glasper Experiment showcase his original blend of hip-hop and modern jazz, rhythmic experiments, and radical re-workings of classic jazz and rock material. Glasper’s 2012 release Black Radio entered the Billboard charts at number one and received a GRAMMY in 2013 for Best R&B Album. His latest release, ArtScience, finds Glasper and his group delving into collective composition, demonstrating their mastery of post-bop and contemporary styles on 12 original, self-produced tracks. Glasper’s touch can also be heard on the recent Miles Davis biopic, Miles Ahead, for which he penned original music and curated the soundtrack.

Buddy Guy is one of the titans of the blues, straddling traditional and modern forms as well as musical generations. He has worked with Muddy Waters, Little Walter and Howlin’ Wolf along with Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Rolling Stones. Guy was born in Lettsworth, Louisiana, and at age 7 he made a guitar and taught himself to play. Motivated by musicians like John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Slim and Guitar Slim, Guy took a train out to Chicago on September 25, 1957 – a date so special that it has since been engraved on all of his guitars – to make a better living for himself. Muddy Waters discovered Guy in the Chicago clubs and helped him find work at the 708 Club. Guy soon landed a contract as a guitarist with Chess Records, and recorded a string of hits from the 1960s through the ’80s, attaining great stature within the blues community. His career broke wide open in 1991 with the release of Damn Right, I’ve Got the Blues. This landmark release won Guy a GRAMMY and five W.C. Handy awards, and he recorded and toured prolifically in its wake. In 2003, Guy released Blues Singer, an acoustic album featuring renditions of some of his favorite songs. Two years later, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Guy’s latest release is Born to Play Guitar.

World-renowned pianist and composer Herbie Hancock is one of the most innovative and influential musicians of our time. A modern music icon, he has shaped the direction of jazz, fusion, funk and hip-hop for more than six decades. From his recordings with the legendary Miles Davis Quintet to his solo jazz albums and pioneering music incorporating multiple genres, Hancock has always been on the cutting edge. He has earned 14 GRAMMY Awards including Album of the Year for River: The Joni Letters, and an Academy Award for his score for the film Round Midnight. A Kennedy Center honoree, Hancock serves as Creative Director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue. He is the Chairman of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz and a Distinguished Professor at the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA.

Zakir Hussain is a classical tabla virtuoso of the highest order and a chief architect of the contemporary world music movement. His exciting performances and masterful improvisational dexterity have established him as a national treasure in his native India, and gained him worldwide fame. A child prodigy, Hussain was touring by age 12. He came to the United States in 1970, performing his first concert at the Fillmore East in New York City with Ravi Shankar. Hussain’s contributions have been unique, with historic collaborations including Shakti, which he founded with John McLaughlin and L. Shankar, Remember Shakti, the Diga Rhythm Band, Planet Drum with Mickey Hart, Tabla Beat Science, and Sangam with Charles Lloyd and Eric Harland. Additionally, Hussain has recorded and performed with artists as diverse as George Harrison, Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Henderson, Van Morrison, Airto Moreira, Béla Fleck, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Cobham, Mark Morris, Rennie Harris and the Kodo drummers. Hussain has composed music for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Jazz Festival and 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and has scored for many films. He comprises one third of international jazz supergroup the Crosscurrents Trio, with saxophonist Chris Potter and bassist Dave Holland, which released its debut album, Good Hope, in 2019.

Al Jarreau has captivated a worldwide audience with his blend of jazz and soul music, amazing vocal skills, and scat techniques. With seven GRAMMY Awards and scores of international jazz and pop music awards, he has established himself as a legend in the music industry. Jarreau began his career as a rehabilitation counselor in San Francisco. Although he had been singing since age 4, it wasn’t until his early 20s when he began singing in local clubs with George Duke that he decided music would become his career. Jarreau relocated to Los Angeles and performed around the city. After several national television appearances, he was signed to Warner Bros. in 1975 and released his first album, We Got By, which received massive critical acclaim. In 1977, Jarreau won his first GRAMMY for Best Jazz Vocal Performance and topped many readers and critics polls. His 1981 album Breakin’ Away, which included the hit “We’re in This Love Together,” sold a million copies and made him one of the most recognized singers in music. Since that time, Jarreau has continued to release chart-topping albums that blend jazz and R&B, and tour the world performing with his sextet and with symphony orchestras. Jarreau was awarded a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star, commemorating his spectacular career.

Diana Krall is a multi-talented pianist and vocalist who is one of the best-selling jazz artists of her generation. Krall grew up in British Columbia and began taking piano lessons at age 4. By age 15, she was performing jazz classics in local bars and restaurants. Krall attended the Berklee College of Music and released her debut album, Stepping Out, in 1993. Her 1996 album All for You, a tribute to Nat King Cole, was a breakthrough success, and her follow-up album, When I Look in Your Eyes, topped the Billboard jazz charts for more than a year. It also earned Krall her first of five GRAMMY Awards. Krall went on to win the 2002 GRAMMY Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album for her seventh release, Live in Paris. On The Girl in the Other Room, Krall for the first time included some of her own compositions as well as songs written by British singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, whom she married in 2003. During her varied career Krall has toured with Tony Bennett, recorded with Ray Charles, and produced music for legendary singer-songwriter Barbra Streisand. More recently, she worked with rock icon Paul McCartney on his 2012 album, Kisses on the Bottom. Krall’s latest release is Wallflower, which features her signature renditions of songs by Bob Dylan, Elton John and the Eagles.

Lionel Loueke is a truly original artist and an influential voice in jazz. Born in Benin, Africa, Loueke began playing guitar at age 17. He attended the Institute of Art in Ivory Coast, studied at the American School of Music in Paris, and then moved to Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music. There, he met bassist Massimo Biolcati and drummer Ferenc Nemeth, who would become an important part of his musical family. He also began developing his artistic vision, melding African guitar tradition with jazz harmony. In 2001, Loueke was accepted to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, where he studied with Terence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter and continued to play with fellow Monk students Biolcati and Nemeth. He later toured and recorded with both Blanchard and Hancock. Loueke performed alongside Sting on Hancock’s Possibilities, and is featured on Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters. In 2007, he signed to Blue Note and released Karibu, featuring Hancock and Shorter. His latest release on the label is GAIA, which features his longtime collaborators Biolcati and Nemeth.

Legendary trumpeter Hugh Masekela has been a defining force in world music and human rights in Africa and around the globe. The iconic performer, composer, producer and activist is best known for his 1968 GRAMMY-nominated hit single, “Grazing in the Grass,” which sold more than 4 million copies and made him an international star. Born in Witbank, South Africa, Masekela began playing piano as a child and later took up the trumpet. He escaped South Africa’s Apartheid oppression and attended London’s Guildhall School of Music. Masekela later studied at the Manhattan School of Music. On his first night in New York, he visited three different jazz clubs to hear John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk and Max Roach. Masekela has collaborated with numerous artists including Miriam Makeba, Dizzy Gillespie, Harry Belafonte, Herb Alpert, U2 and Fela Kuti. He played an integral role in Paul Simon’s tour behind the classic album Graceland, one of the first pop records to introduce world music to a broader public. In the 1980s, Masekela’s hit song “Bring Him Back Home” became an anthem for the Free Nelson Mandela movement. His latest release, Playing @ Work, is a dynamic, genre-defying exploration of mbaqanga funk, jazz, and rhythm and blues, all cloaked in his indefatigable spirit and social consciousness.

GRAMMY Award winner Christian McBride’s larger-than-life sound, driving rhythm, breathtaking technique and charismatic musical personality have made him one of the most sought-after bassists in jazz and beyond. McBride began playing bass at age 9. After graduating from Philadelphia’s High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, he received a scholarship to Juilliard. He chose instead to join Bobby Watson’s band, and later performed with Pat Metheny, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Hargrove and a host of other notable jazz artists. In 1991, Ray Brown invited McBride to join SuperBass, a trio that included John Clayton. McBride later toured and recorded with Sting. An active jazz educator, McBride is Artistic Director at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass summer program and Artistic Chair of Jazz House Kids. In addition, he is co-director of the Jazz Museum in Harlem and has been the Carolyn and Bill Powers Creative Chair for Jazz at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He was also named artistic director of the Newport Jazz Festival and hosts NPR’s Jazz Night in America. McBride currently performs with 5 groups including the Christian McBride Band, the Christian McBride Situation, and Inside Straight.

A revolutionary force in music, John McLaughlin has been forging his own path on guitar since the 1960s and is still pointing the way forward. Growing up in Yorkshire, England, McLaughlin studied violin and piano before gravitating to the guitar. He played in a variety of bands in London and later joined Tony Williams’ Lifetime band and moved to New York. McLaughlin soon found himself in the studio with Miles Davis recording what would become the classic album In a Silent Way. In 1971, he formed the Mahavishnu Orchestra, which brought together rock, jazz, and Eastern music and had a massive impact on musicians and music lovers around the world. The always creatively restless McLaughlin moved on to form Shakti, in which he played acoustic guitar and further immersed himself in Indian classical music. Throughout the following decades, he worked in a variety of groups and played on dozens of albums with artists including Stanley Clarke, Carlos Santana, Dexter Gordon and Wayne Shorter. McLaughlin’s most recent album is 2015’s Black Light, which features his jazz fusion quartet, the 4th Dimension.

Pat Metheny is an incomparably versatile guitarist who has won 20 GRAMMY Awards in 12 different categories. Metheny grew up in Kansas City and began playing trumpet at age 8. He switched to guitar at age 12 and by 15 was working regularly with the city’s best jazz musicians. Metheny burst onto the international jazz scene in 1974 when he began performing with vibraphone great Gary Burton. His soon-to-become trademarked playing style blended the loose and flexible articulation customarily reserved for horn players with an advanced rhythmic and harmonic sensibility. This way of playing and improvising was modern in conception but grounded deeply in the jazz tradition of melody, swing, and the blues. With the release of his first album, Bright Size Life, Metheny reinvented the traditional jazz guitar sound for a new generation of players. Throughout his career, Metheny has redefined the genre by utilizing new technology and evolving the improvisational and sonic potential of his instrument. Over the years, he has performed with a diverse array of artists including Ornette Coleman, Steve Reich, Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall, Milton Nascimento and David Bowie. Metheny’s body of work includes compositions for solo guitar, small ensembles, electric and acoustic instruments, large orchestras and ballet pieces, with settings ranging from modern jazz to rock to classical. In May 2016, he will release Pat Metheny: The Unity Sessions.

Marcus Miller is one of the most influential artists of our time, appearing on more than 500 albums during his decades on the scene as a performer, composer, producer, arranger and humanitarian. A virtuoso on multiple instruments, Miller is best known for his unmistakable style on the electric bass. He has brought his distinctive sound to collaborations with Herbie Hancock, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, LL Cool J and Frank Sinatra, among many others. As a member of the Miles Davis group following the jazz legend’s return from retirement, Miller’s contributions as a bassist, composer and producer defined Davis’ style throughout the 1980s. A two-time GRAMMY Award winner, Miller works tirelessly as a UNESCO Artist for Peace to raise awareness of global impacts of the transatlantic slave trade.

James Morrison is a virtuoso trumpeter, composer and multi-instrumentalist who is one of Australia’s most renowned musicians. Morrison grew up in the Australian farming community of Boorowa and began playing piano and brass instruments at age 6. At 16, he made his debut at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Soon after, Morrison was performing at major U.S. and European jazz club and festivals with Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Cab Calloway, Woody Shaw, Red Rodney, George Benson, Ray Charles, B.B. King and Wynton Marsalis. Morrison’s diverse career also has included recording Jazz Meets the Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra, and performing with Dave Brubeck, Phil Collins and Chaka Khan. In 2000, Morrison was selected to compose and perform the opening fanfare for the Olympic Games in Sydney. He also served as artistic advisor to the Sydney Symphony’s Kaleidoscope series, which included performances by Chick Corea, Dianne Reeves and Gary Burton. In 2013, he conducted the World’s Largest Orchestra, breaking a Guinness World Record with 7,224 musicians at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. Morrison has been recognized for his arts service in Australia with a medal of The Order of Australia by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Danilo Pérez is a pianist, composer, educator and social activist who ranks among the most influential and dynamic jazz musicians of our time. Born in Panama, Pérez started his musical studies at age three with his father, a bandleader and singer. While still a student at the Berklee College of Music, he performed with Terence Blanchard, Slide Hampton, Claudio Roditi and Paquito D’Rivera. Since then, Pérez has worked with artists from Dizzy Gillespie to Tito Puente, most famously serving alongside drummer Brian Blade and bassist John Patitucci in Wayne Shorter’s renowned quartet. Pérez, who serves as a UNESCO Artist for Peace, is a vocal exponent of music as a force for building understanding and tolerance. His latest album, Children Of The Light, was released on Mack Avenue.

No band exemplifies the essence and soul of New Orleans like Rebirth Brass Band. Whether seen on HBO’s “Treme” or at their legendary Tuesday night gig at the Maple Leaf, Rebirth is a true New Orleans institution. Formed in 1983 by tuba/sousaphone player Philip Frazier and his brother, bass drummer Keith Frazier, along with trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, the band has evolved from playing the streets of the French Quarter to performing at festivals and stages around the world. While committed to upholding the tradition of brass bands, they also extend themselves into the realms of funk and hip-hop to create their signature sound. According to The New York Times, “The Rebirth Brass Band updates the traditional strutting rhythms and continuous improvisation of New Orleans parades with an infusion of funk. It doesn’t need microphones, amplifiers or anything but breath and rhythm to make a crowd jump.” The band’s 2011 release Rebirth of New Orleans received the 2012 GRAMMY for Best Regional Roots Music Album. Rebirth’s latest release is 2014’s Move Your Body. Rebirth’s infectious energy, creative depth and versatility continue to symbolize the ineffable spirit of New Orleans.

Five-time GRAMMY Award winner Dianne Reeves is one of the premier vocalists on the worldwide music scene. A native of Denver, she began her career touring with Sergio Mendes and Harry Belafonte, then signed to Blue Note in 1987. Her self-titled debut, featuring Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard and Tony Williams, was nominated for a GRAMMY. Featured in George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck, Reeves won the Best Jazz Vocal GRAMMY for the film’s soundtrack. In recent years, she has toured the world and collaborated with Lizz Wright and Angelique Kidjo for “Sing the Truth,” a musical celebration of Nina Simone. Reeves has performed at the White House on multiple occasions, including President Obama’s State Dinner for the President of China. In 2018, she was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master – the highest honor the United States bestows on jazz artists.

GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist Lee Ritenour has appeared on more than 3,000 sessions in virtually all styles of music. Ritenour played one of his first sessions at age 16 for The Mamas and the Papas. His albums in the ’70s, spanning jazz, pop and Brazilian music, were met with chart-topping success. In the ’90s, Ritenour was a founding member of the jazz group Fourplay, whose first album spent an unprecedented 22 weeks at number one on the Billboard contemporary jazz charts. Ritenour has appeared on albums by Dizzy Gillespie and Pink Floyd and received the top spot in numerous guitar polls. His most recent record is A Twist of Rit and includes John Beasley, Dave Grusin, Patrice Rushen, Makoto Ozone, Bob Sheppard and Rashawn Ross, among others.

GRAMMY Award-winner David Sánchez is recognized around the world as one of the finest saxophonists of his generation. He combines his deep knowledge of jazz and Latin music, and the traditions that mold them, with extraordinary results. Sánchez was born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and took up the conga at age 8. He started playing saxophone at age 12 and came to the United States to study music at Rutgers University. Sánchez joined Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nation Orchestra in 1990 and Gillespie became his mentor. The group toured the world, performing in 27 countries and 100 U.S. cities. Sánchez signed with Columbia Records and released seven albums, beginning with 1996’s Street Scenes, which was influenced by Puerto Rican folkloric music. In 2004, Sánchez released Coral, which earned him his first Latin GRAMMY Award for Best Instrumental Album. In 2011, Sánchez joined forces with Stefon Harris and Christian Scott for the Ninety Miles Project, which resulted in a successful album and documentary film produced in Havana with some of Cuba’s finest musicians. Over the years, Sánchez has performed and recorded with Kenny Barron, Roy Haynes, Pat Metheny, Roy Hargrove, Danilo Pérez and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. For more than a decade, he has shared his passion for music with students at Puerto Rico’s Conservatorio de Música. Sánchez continues to tour the world as a bandleader, bringing his mix of mainstream jazz with Latin influences to audiences around the globe.

Named one of the “Five Drummers Whose Time Is Now” by The New York Times, Kendrick Scott is a consummate musician whose jaw-dropping power behind the drums is matched only by his remarkable finesse. Scott was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in a family of musicians. He began playing drums at age 8 and attended Houston’s renowned High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Scott won several DownBeat student music awards, as well as the prestigious Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Award from the International Association of Jazz Education. He was later awarded a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music, where he majored in music education. Scott has toured with Herbie Hancock, Charles Lloyd, The Crusaders, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Kurt Elling and Terence Blanchard, also appearing on several of the trumpeter’s Blue Note albums. Scott has released three albums as a bandleader, including two with his group, Oracle, a collective of young musicians including John Ellis, Taylor Eigsti, Mark Moreno and Joe Sanders. In 2014, Scott performed as a member of the Blue Note Records 75th Anniversary all-star band that included Ambrose Akinmusire, Robert Glasper, Derrick Hodge, Lionel Loueke and Marcus Strickland. Scott’s Blue Note debut is 2015’s We Are the Drum, which includes six of his compelling compositions.

Wayne Shorter is one of the greatest jazz artists of all time. As a composer and improviser, he has profoundly impacted the sound of modern music for the last half century. Dozens of his more than 200 compositions are standards performed by artists around the world. Shorter grew up in Newark, New Jersey and graduated from Arts High School. He attended New York University and then served in the Army while playing saxophone in groups with Horace Silver and Maynard Ferguson. In 1959, Shorter joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, where he soon became musical director. In 1964, the same year Shorter recorded Speak No Evil – his first record as a leader for Blue Note – Miles Davis invited him to join a quartet with Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. Shorter recorded 12 albums with Davis and provided much of the material for the group’s musical explorations. In 1970, Shorter and Joe Zawinul formed Weather Report, which became one of the most influential forces of the fusion era. In 2005, he won a GRAMMY Award for Beyond the Sound Barrier. Shorter currently performs with his dynamic quartet, which includes Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade. Without a Net, the group’s latest release, documents this exceptional ensemble performing live with the Imani Winds. The album garnered Shorter the 2014 GRAMMY Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo, taking his total to 10 plus a Lifetime Achievement Award over the past 25 years.

esperanza spalding is a dynamic bassist, singer and composer who is cutting her own unique creative path. She is the first jazz musician to win a GRAMMY® Award for Best New Artist. spalding grew up in Portland, Oregon and was drawn to music when she saw Yo-Yo Ma perform on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” She began playing cello at age 5 and discovered the bass while attending Northwest Academy, a performing arts high school in Oregon. spalding entered the Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship and after her first semester was invited to perform with Patti Austin on the “For Ella” tour. She also studied with Joe Lovano, who later invited her to join his band. Upon graduation, spalding returned to Berklee as an instructor. Since then, her career has taken off with performances at the White House and the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, as well as the chart-topping releases Esperanza, Chamber Music Society and Radio Music Society, which includes a 12-piece, world-class band. In 2021, she released her eighth studio album, Songwrights Apothecary Lab, to critical acclaim.

Composer, singer, author, actor, activist – Sting has won universal acclaim in all of these roles, yet he continues to defy labels. For nearly four decades, he has remained at the forefront of public consciousness and has been widely recognized for his musical contributions, which feature elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new age and worldbeat. Born and raised in Wallsend, England, Sting moved to London in 1977 and joined Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers to form The Police. The group released five chart-topping albums and won six GRAMMY awards. Soon after the band parted ways, Sting released his first solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, featuring an all-star cast of jazz musicians including Branford Marsalis and Kenny Kirkland. Sting’s worldwide success has continued with the release of 11 additional solo albums. His most recent endeavor, 2013’s The Last Ship, inspired by the Broadway musical of the same name, draws upon his childhood memories of his hometown’s shipbuilding industry. Throughout his remarkable career, Sting has received 16 GRAMMY Awards, induction into the Rock and Role Hall of Fame, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Kennedy Center Honors Award, and a Commander of the British Empire appointment from Queen Elizabeth II. Sting’s longtime support for human rights organizations has included his involvement with Amnesty International and Live Aid, and his creation of the Rainforest Foundation to save the rainforests and protect indigenous people.

Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews grew up in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans and began playing trombone at age 4. He participated in brass band parades and became a bandleader by age 6. In his teens, he performed with the Stooges Brass Band and attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts before joining Lenny Kravitz’ horn section at age 19 for a world tour. Trombone Shorty also has appeared with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, performed with U2 and Green Day, and played himself in a recurring role on the HBO hit series “Treme.” Backatown, his Verve debut, received nearly universal critical and commercial acclaim, hitting the Billboard jazz charts at No. 1 and remaining there for nine straight weeks. Trombone Shorty is the acclaimed bandleader and frontman of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, a hard-edged funk band that employs hip-hop beats, rock dynamics and improvisation in a jazz tradition. The band performs high-energy, sold-out concerts all over the globe, and performed at the 2014 GRAMMY Awards with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Mary Lambert, Madonna and Queen Latifah. Trombone Shorty received the President’s Medal from Tulane University for his charitable work with the Trombone Shorty Foundation, which helps schools across New Orleans receive quality instruments that he personally donates.

Winner of six GRAMMY and three Latin GRAMMY Awards, Cuban pianist, composer and arranger Chucho Valdés is widely considered the most influential figure in modern Afro-Cuban music. Born into a family of musicians in Quivicán, Cuba, Valdés received his first training from his father, the pianist, composer and bandleader Ramón “Bebo” Valdés. By age 3, the young pianist was already playing back the melodies he heard on the radio. He continued his formal musical education at the Conservatorio Municipal de Música de la Habana, graduating at age 14. A year later, he formed his first jazz trio and in 1959 debuted with the fabled orchestra Sabor de Cuba. Valdés is perhaps best known for founding and directing the legendary Cuban ensemble Irakere, discovered by Dizzy Gillespie in 1977 and later signed to Blue Note Records. Valdés, who led Irakere from its founding in 1973 until 2005, has functioned as one of the most recognizable ambassadors for Cuban music and culture, pursuing a successful solo career with 25 albums to his name and collaborating with eminent artists from around the world. Valdés has received honorary doctorates from institutions including the Berklee College of Music and Victoria University in Canada. His most recent release is Tribute to Irakere: Live in Marciac, which won the 2017 GRAMMY for Best Latin Jazz Album.

Bobby Watson is one of the top alto saxophonists in the world. He grew up in Kansas City, studied at the University of Miami, and later moved to New York, where he was to become a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, one of the most important groups in the history of jazz. He later formed Horizon, the quintessential contemporary hard bop quintet of the 1980s and ’90s. Known for his extraordinary ability to play swing, hard bop, and contemporary jazz, Watson has appeared at every major venue and jazz festival worldwide and has recorded more than 100 albums as a leader, sideman or guest artist. He is also one of the most gifted and prolific composers of his generation, with more than 100 recorded compositions to his credit. Watson is the recipient of numerous national and international awards and citations, including being named #1 Alto Sax Player and Musician of the Year in DownBeat Magazine’s Critic’s Poll. Besides being an internationally acclaimed performer and composer, Watson is an esteemed jazz educator who serves as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and presents jazz workshops around the globe. His latest album, Check Cashing Day, was recorded in honor of the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

For more than a decade, Ben Williams has steadily become one of the most acclaimed and versatile bassists in modern jazz. In 2009, he won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition which helped to launch his career and gave him the opportunity to record for the Concord label. He has performed and recorded with such giants as Pat Metheny, George Benson, Stefon Harris, David Sanborn, Lauryn Hill, Wynton Marsalis, Robert Glasper, Maxwell, and Nicholas Payton. Williams has received the DownBeat Magazine Critics Poll Rising Star Award for Bass on two occasions. He recorded and released his critically acclaimed debut album State of Art and his follow-up Coming of Age with his band, Sound Effect. His latest release is I AM A MAN, features Williams reaching beyond his jazz roots to incorporate elements of R&B and hip-hop into his politically-themed compositions.