Sonny RollinsWalter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (September 7, 1930 – May 25, 2026) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential of jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded more than 60 albums as a leader. His 1956 album Saxophone Colossus was selected for preservation by the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2016.
Blue MitchellRichard Allen "Blue" Mitchell (March 13, 1930 – May 21, 1979) was an American trumpeter and composer who worked in jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk. He recorded albums as leader and sideman for Riverside, Mainstream Records, and Blue Note. He is also credited as the most recorded trumpeter with jazz organ, accumulating 27 sideman recordings in the genre. Early lifeMitchell was born and raised in Miami, Florida, United States.
Miles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and painter. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. In a career spanning nearly five decades, Davis was at the forefront of several major stylistic developments in jazz, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, third stream, modal jazz, avant-garde jazz, and jazz fusion.
Dexter GordonDexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm), thus he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" and "Sophisticated Giant". His studio and performance career spanned more than 40 years. Gordon's sound was commonly characterized as being "large" and spacious, and he had a tendency to play behind the beat.
McCoy TynerAlfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938 – March 6, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1965 and his long solo career afterward. He was an NEA Jazz Master and a five-time Grammy Award winner. Tyner has been widely imitated and is one of the most recognizable and influential jazz pianists of all time.
The Man with the HornThe Man with the Horn is an album released by Miles Davis in 1981. It was Davis's first new studio album since 1972's On the Corner, his first recordings of any kind since 1975 and his first activity following a six-year retirement. The album title references his 1952 10-inch LP Young Man with a Horn. Largely pop influenced, the album fuses 1980s rock, pop and R&B with improvisational funk and fusion styles.
Jazz fusionJazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular musicgenre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars and basses, amplifiers, and keyboard instruments (including electric pianos and organs) that were popular in rock began to be used by jazz musicians, particularly those who had grown up listening to rock and roll.
Hard bopHard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospel music, and blues, especially in saxophone and piano playing.
Swing musicSwing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing represents the most famous era of jazz as a genre of entertainment, before the emergence of modern jazz. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement.
Horace SilverHorace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at school in Connecticut, Silver got his break on piano when his trio was recruited by Stan Getz in 1950. Silver soon moved to New York City, where he developed a reputation as a composer and for his bluesy playing.JazzJazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, marches, vaudeville song, and dance music. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in both traditional and popular music.
Illinois JacquetJean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet (October 30, 1922 – July 22, 2004) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo. He is also known as one of the writers of the jazz standard "Don'cha Go 'Way Mad."*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.