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All Musicians

Browse an alphabetical directory of selected composers, arrangers, lyricists, vocalists, bandleaders, and guest artists featured on Blue Music Group releases. Each profile provides an overview of the artist's contribution to the catalog together with links to related albums, recordings, sheet music, and other featured collaborations.

A	Rashied Ali | drummer (b. 1 July 1933, Philadelphia, PA, USA – d. 12 August 2009, New York City, USA) was an American free jazz and avant-garde jazz drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life. Rashied Ali was born into a musical family; his mother had sung with Jimmie Lunceford. His brother, Muhammad Ali, is also a drummer, who played with Albert Ayler, among others. Ali moved to New York in 1963 and worked in groups with Bill Dixon and Paul Bley. He has also recorded or performed with Pharoah... Read
B	Johann Sebastian Bach | composer (b. 21 March 1685, Eisenach – d. 28 July 1750, Leipzig) is often cited as the most significant composer of modern music. His position as the premier composer of the Baroque era is undisputed. Bach's life and career were confined to a very limited geographical space. Born and raised in Thuringia, he never went farther north than Hamburg and Lübeck, or farther south than Carlsbad. In a similarly confined way, his east-west range stretched from Dresden (east) to Kassel (west). Bach was a composer,... Read
	Ludwig van Beethoven | composer (bapt. 17 December 1770, Bonn – d. 26 March 1827, Vienna) was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis, and one opera, Fidelio. Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne... Read
	Elsa Beskow | author & illustrator (née Maartman) (b. 11 February 1874 – d. 30 June 1953) was a Swedish author and illustrator of children's books. Among her better known books are Tale of the Little Little Old Woman and Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender. Born in Stockholm her parents were businessman Bernt Maartman (1841-1889), whose family came from Bergen, Norway, and Augusta Fahlstedt (1850-1915). Beskow studied Art Education at Konstfack, University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, then called Tekniska skolan, or... Read
	Ray Brown | bassist (b. October 13, 1926 – d. July 2, 2002) was an American jazz double bassist whose career extended from the mid-1940s into the beginning of the 21st century. He became particularly associated with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, and Jazz at the Philharmonic, and his work with Oscar Peterson made him one of the most frequently heard bassists in postwar jazz. He was also a composer, bandleader, educator, manager, and promoter. Brown was born on... Read
	Alexandra Büchel | soprano (b. 1982, Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish Soprano. She received her education at University College of Opera in Stockholm, with professor Dorothy Irving and Jeffrey Goldberg. Lauded for her sky-high, crystal-clear notes combined with a rich and warm middle range and vivid acting, she has rapidly established herself as a leading performer of modern and contemporary music, which has led her to collaborations with composers, orchestras and opera houses in Sweden and... Read
C	Chris Cheek | saxophonist (b. September 16, 1968 in St. Louis, MO, USA) began playing the alto sax at the age of 12. Chris played in a variety of local Jazz and Blues bands in the St. Louis area while attending Webster University. In 1988, on scholarship, he went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts where he studied with Joe Viola and Hal Crook, eventually receiving a bachelors degree in performance. Chris moved to New York in 1992 and since then has played and recorded with a number of... Read
	Frédéric Chopin | composer (b. 1 March 1810 – d. 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era who wrote primarily for the solo piano. He gained and has maintained renown worldwide as a leading musician of his era, whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation." Chopin was born in what was then the Duchy of Warsaw and grew up in Warsaw, which in 1815 became part of Congress Poland. A child prodigy, he completed his musical... Read
	Terry Clarke | drummer (b. August 20, 1944 in Vancouver, BC, Canada) is a Canadian drummer. His natural rhythmic aptitude was obvious from an early age, and at the age of twelve, he began studying formally with the noted drum teacher and author Jim Blackley who was to remain a primary and ongoing figure in Terry's development as a musician. In 1965, Terry moved to San Francisco to work with John Handy III. He performed with him for the next two and a half years, during which time the Grammy nominated... Read
	John Coltrane | composer (b. September 23, 1926, Hamlet, NC, USA – d. July 17, 1967 New York City) was always surrounded by music. His father played several instruments sparking Coltrane's study of E-flat horn and clarinet. While in high school, Coltrane's musical influences shifted to the likes of Lester Young and Johnny Hodges prompting him to switch to alto saxophone. He continued his musical training in Philadelphia at Granoff Studios and the Ornstein School of Music. He was called to military service during WWII, where he performed in... Read
	Chick Corea | composer (b. June 12, 1941 – d. February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer. Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever. Along with Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Keith Jarrett, he has been described as one of the major jazz piano voices to emerge in the post-John Coltrane era. Corea... Read
D	Roberto Dani | drummer (b. 1 October 1969, Vicenza, Italy) started playing drums at age 7. In his early twenties, he performed and recorded with the progressive rock group, Devil Doll, before entering Berklee College of Music in 1994. His Berklee period included collaboration with trombonist Hal Crook, Mick Goodrick and Mika Pohjola, with whom he recorded Myths and Beliefs for GM Recordings. Subsequently, Dani toured with Pohjola for seven years in Europe, the United States and Japan, and recorded... Read
	Claude Debussy | composer (b. 22 August 1862, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France – d. 25 March 1918, Paris) was the eldest of five children in a modest family. His father, Manuel-Achille Debussy, owned a china shop, and his mother, Victorine Manoury Debussy, worked as a seamstress. Despite their humble circumstances, Debussy’s musical talents were recognized early on. Debussy began piano lessons at the age of seven with an Italian violinist, Jean Cerutti. His prodigious talent led him to the Paris Conservatoire in 1872, where he studied piano,... Read
	Marcel Dupré | composer (b. 3 May 1886, Rouen, France – d. 30 May 1971, Meudon) was a French organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue. Dupré was born in Rouen (Normandy, France). Born into a musical family, he was a child prodigy. His father Albert Dupré was organist in Rouen and a friend of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, who built an organ in the family house when Marcel was 14 years old. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1904, where he studied with Louis Diémer and Lazare Lévy (piano),... Read
	Maurice Duruflé | composer (b. 11 January 1902, Louviers, Eure, France – d. 16 June 1986, Louveciennes) was a French composer, organist, and pedagogue. Duruflé was born in Louviers, Eure. In 1912, he became chorister at the Rouen Cathedral Choir School, where he studied piano and organ with Jules Haelling. At age 17, upon moving to Paris, he took private organ lessons with Charles Tournemire, whom he assisted at Basilique Ste-Clotilde, Paris until 1927. In 1920 Duruflé entered the Conservatoire de Paris, eventually graduating with... Read
E	Þorleifur Edmundsson | composer (b. ca. 1265–d. 1303) was a Swedish salesman and musician who was based in Livonia most of his life. Edmundsson was born on the island of Gotland to Norwegian Vikings, who most likely had to flee from the Atlantic to the safer region of the Baltic Sea a few years before Þorleifur was born. He had one older brother and possibly one or two sisters. Young Þorleifur received a limited formal education, but his singing talent was noticed by a local priest,... Read
	Duke Ellington | composer (b. April 29, 1899, Washington, DC, USA – d. May 24, 1974, New York City) is regarded as one of the greatest jazz composers and bandleaders of all time. One of the originators of big-band jazz, Ellington led his band for more than half a century, composed thousands of scores, and created one of the most distinctive ensemble sounds in all of Western music. Ellington grew up in a secure middle-class family in Washington, D.C. His family encouraged his interests in the fine arts, and he began studying piano at age... Read
F	Mark Ferber | drummer (b. January 18, 1975, Oakland, CA, USA) can be heard on over 200 recordings. Ongoing projects include ECM recording artist Ralph Alessi’s ‘This Against That’, the Marc Copland Quartet, the Brad Shepik Organ Trio, and his twin brother, Alan Ferber’s Grammy nominated big band and nonet. He currently maintains a busy freelance schedule throughout Los Angeles’ and New York’s jazz clubs, recording studios, and international touring circuit. Past work includes tours and... Read
	Edwin Fischer | pianist (b. 6 October 1886 – d. 24 January 1960) was a Swiss classical pianist and conductor. He is regarded as one of the great interpreters of J.S. Bach and Mozart in the twentieth century. Fischer was born in Basel and studied music first there with Hans Huber, and later in Berlin at the Stern Conservatory under Martin Krause. He first came to prominence as a pianist following World War I. In 1926, he became conductor of the Lübeck Musikverein and later conducted in Munich. In 1932, he... Read
	Arne Forsén | pianist (b. 3 October 1960, Umeå, Sweden) Coming Up Read
	César Franck | composer (b. 10 December 1822 – d. 8 November 1890) was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life. He was born in Liège, where he gave his first concerts in 1834. He studied privately in Paris from 1835, where his teachers included Anton Reicha. After a brief return to Belgium, and a disastrous reception to an early oratorio Ruth, he moved to Paris, where he married and embarked on a career as teacher and organist. He gained a reputation... Read
	Kerstin Frödin | recorderist & oboist (b. 1971 in Stockholm, Sweden) is an internationally recognized recorder player and oboist (baroque- and classical instruments). She is active as a soloist and chamber musician working with newly-written as well as early music. She earned her soloist's diploma from the Royal College of Music, Stockholm in 1996, studying with Professor Clas Pehrsson. She continued her recorder studies in Paris under Pierre Hamon. Her oboe studies include an exam in baroque oboe and classical... Read
G	Erroll Garner | pianist (b. June 15, 1921 – d. January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first recorded in 1956 with Mitch Miller and his orchestra, and played a prominent part in the 1971 motion picture Play Misty for Me. Garner began playing piano at the age of three. His elder siblings were taught piano by a "Miss Bowman". From an early age, Erroll... Read
	George Gershwin | composer (b. September 26, 1898 – d. July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose work brought together several musical worlds that had previously been treated as separate: Broadway and the concert hall, popular song and symphonic composition, jazz and European concert music. During a career that lasted barely two decades, he became one of the most successful American composers of his generation. His music included songs that entered the standard repertoire of popular music, Broadway... Read
	Walter Gieseking | pianist (b. 5 November 1895 – d. 26 October 1956) was a French-born German pianist and composer. Gieseking was renowned for his subtle touch, pedaling, and dynamic control—particularly in the music of Debussy and Ravel; he made complete recordings of all their published works which were extant during his life. He also recorded most of Mozart's solo piano works. Born in Lyon, France, the son of a German doctor and lepidopterist, Gieseking first started playing the piano when he was four,... Read
	Mick Goodrick | guitarist (b. Sharon, PA, June 9, 1945 – d. November 16, 2022) was an American post bop jazz guitarist and educator most noteworthy for his work with vibraphonist Gary Burton's band from 1973 to 1976, where for part of that time he was playing alongside guitarist Pat Metheny. Metheny has since cited Goodrick as an influence. Goodrick is a 1967 graduate of Berklee College of Music, where he also was an educator for a few years prior to joining Gary Burton. He began studying guitar when he was 11, being... Read
	Edvard Grieg | composer (b. 15 June 1843 Bergen, Norway – d. 4 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. His great-grandfather immigrated from Scotland to Norway around 1770, and settled as a businessman in Bergen. Edvard was brought up in a musical home. His mother, Gesine, became his first piano teacher. In the summer of 1858, Grieg met the legendary Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, who was a friend of the family and Gesine's brother-in-law. Bull noticed the 15-year-old boy's talent and persuaded his parents... Read
	Johanna Grüssner | vocalist (b. 14 November 1972, Finström, Åland, Finland) grew up in the idyllic countryside where she sang in the local children's choir. The eminent choir director composed new music for the children, and Johanna was always interested in learning how to read music and singing difficult harmonies. Once a week she got on the bus to get piano lessons from an elderly lady in the nearby village. Around 10 she was accepted to the music institute of Mariehamn where she continued taking piano lessons as well... Read
	Clara Guldberg Ravn | recorder (b. 30 April 1992, Denmark) is a recorder soloist based in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2023-2024 she was selected as one of twelve artists across all genres to receive the two-year grant in the career program Den Unge Kunstneriske Elite by the Danish Arts Foundation. On her latest album You Made Me Laugh (Arcantus 2026) she recorded recorder concertos by G. P. Telemann with members from Concerto Copenhagen. The album was mentioned as “a reference recording” (T. Baack,... Read
	Rigmor Gustafsson | jazz vocalist (b. 12 April 1966 in Värmskog, Sweden) is a jazz vocalist from Sweden. The UK's Guardian newspaper has called Rigmor Gustafsson "penetratingly delicate, and subtle," and she continues to establish herself as one of the leading jazz vocalists in Scandinavia. She has released 9 CD's since 1997. Three have sold gold in Sweden, the first jazz artist to have that honor since Monica Zetterlund's 1991 classic Varsamt. Rigmor's "Alone with You" (2008) won a Swedish Grammy, and "I Will... Read
H	Werner Haas | pianist (b. 3 March 1931 – d. 11 October 1976) was a German classical pianist known particularly for his interpretations of French repertoire, above all the music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Born in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, on 3 March 1931, he showed an early affinity for music and an unusual intuition at the piano. As a child he improvised melodies and picked out tunes despite having received little formal instruction. Haas himself later played down the idea that he had been... Read
	Jim Hall | guitarist (b. December 4, 1930, Buffalo, NY – December 10, 2013) was an American Jazz guitarist. Educated at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Hall moved to Los Angeles where he began to attract national, and then international, attention in the late 1950s. There he studied classic guitar with Vincente Gómez. He played with Chico Hamilton Quintet, (1955-1956), Jimmy Giuffre Trio (1956-1959), Ella Fitzgerald (1960-1961), Ben Webster, Hampton Hawes, Bob Brookmeyer, John Lewis, Zoot Sims, Paul Desmond,... Read
	Sören Hermansson | french hornist (b. 1956) is a Swedish, internationally known performer, recording artist and educator. He studied in Stockholm, Amsterdam and West-Berlin - at the Karajan-Academy - and has held orchestral positions in Norrköping and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestras. Since 1988, Sören Hermansson has devoted his time to a solo career and teaching. He has performed in North and South America and several countries in Europe. Hermansson has taught at the University of... Read
	Fernando Huergo | electric bassist (b. 1968, Córdoba, Argentina) has resided in Boston, Massachusetts since the 1990s. During his career, he has been featured on hundreds of albums, including more than a dozen as a leader. As a developer of the Argentinian chacarera into the jazz tradition, Huergo has recorded several highly original albums on which he acts as composer, bandleader and bassist: Jazz Argentino, Live at Regattabar, Provinciano, and others. His bands have featured saxophonists Chris Cheek and... Read
I	Judith Insell | jazz violist (b. 1969) is a New York native, who has been in the New York jazz scene since the mid nineties. Ms. Insell is on a personal mission: spreading the word that the Viola can play any style of music! She has performed with Lee Konitz, Greg Osby, Steve Coleman, Antonio Hart, and Miguel Zenón in concerts and on recordings. As a founding member of Sojourner, Ms. Insell has explored self expression through improvisation, and also ventured into composition... Read
J	Tove Jansson | author (b. 9 August 1914 – d. 27 June 2001) was a Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. She was the author of, among other works, the Moomin books. Tove Jansson was the daughter of the sculptor Viktor Jansson and the illustrator Signe Hammarsten-Jansson. Her brothers were also artists in different fields: Per Olov Jansson was a photographer, and Lars Jansson was an author and comic strip artist. As a Finnish citizen whose mother tongue was Swedish, Tove Jansson... Read
	Eddie Jefferson | vocalist (b. 3 August 1918 – d. 9 May 1979) was a celebrated jazz vocalist and lyricist. He is credited with having invented vocalese, a musical style in which lyrics are set to an instrumental composition or solo. Perhaps his best-known song is "Moody's Mood for Love", though it was first recorded by King Pleasure, who cited Jefferson as an influence. Jefferson's songs "Parker's Mood" and "Filthy McNasty" were also hits. One of Jefferson's most notable recordings, "So What", combined... Read
	Scott Joplin | composer (b. 1867 or 1868 – d. April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions and was dubbed the "King of Ragtime Writers". During his brief career, he wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became ragtime's first and most influential hit, and has been recognized as the archetypal rag. Joplin was born into a musical family of railway laborers in Northeast... Read
K	KammarensembleN | contemporary ensemble (founded in 1984 in Stockholm, Sweden) has established itself as the hub of the Swedish stage for contemporary art music. KammarensembleN collaborates with composers, concert organizers, producers, festivals, institutions and musicians active in their field, but also with active in other artistic fields,at home and abroad. Through its numerical, 17 musicians, the ensemble has the capacity to present not only contemporary chamber music, but also the entire rich repertoire of... Read
	Barney Kessel | guitarist (b. October 17, 1923 – d. May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist whose career encompassed bebop, West Coast jazz, small-group performance, and an extensive body of studio work in radio, television, film, and popular music. Born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Kessel became one of the most active guitarists of his generation and recorded both as a leader and as a sideman from the 1940s through the early 1990s. Kessel came from a Jewish family, and his father, an immigrant from Hungary,... Read
	Toivo Kärki | composer (b. 3 December 1915, Pirkkala, Finland – d. 30 April 1992, Helsinki) is regarded as one of the most prolific Non-Argentinian tango composers of the 20th century. Kärki was from Finland, and worked as a songwriter, composer, arranger, pianist, producer and publicist. Kärki also composed in the Jenkka (pronounced [yeng-ka]) tradition, which is a Finnish folk dance. However, his original passion was jazz, particularly the music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong. It was this music that... Read
L	Johanna Lehesvuori | soprano (b. 1980, Kälviä, Finland) is one of the most expressive coloratura sopranos of her generation. She will graduate with her Master's Degree in classical singing from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm in Spring 2015. However, as an established soloist, she has performed in several opera productions since 2006. Her performance career also includes musical theatre, Lied concerts and church recitals (i.e. numerous solo concerts, and guest soloist with several choirs and... Read
	Bertram Lehmann | drummer (b. September 7, 1967, Ulm, Baden-Würtemberg, Germany) is a drummer, percussionist, ethnomusicologist and writer. His family eventually relocated to Oldenburg in 1974 (Lower Saxony), where he spent his entire school years until graduation from the 'Altes Gymnasium' in 1987. Father Wolfram Lehmann (b. 1937) had a successful theater career as director, actor, director's assistant, and stage manager until switching to public education in the 80's, mother Marie-Luise de Roma (b. 1946) had early... Read
	Dan Loomis | bassist (b. 1980, St. Louis, MO, USA) has emerged as a daring leader, a sought-after sideman, and a composer whose view of the world – and willingness to explore his own inner questioning – has led to the creation of innovative and moving works. Loomis has appeared on nearly a dozen recordings with the Dan Loomis Quartet and with bands he co-leads, including the collectives The Wee Trio and SPOKE. The latter two bands have released critically acclaimed albums in recent years,... Read
	Joe Lovano | saxophonist (b. December 29, 1952, Cleveland, OH, USA) is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls. He is married to jazz singer Judi Silvano. One of the top saxophonists of the 1990s, Joe Lovano continues to grow and explore as a musician. He has a husky tenor tone and takes a modern... Read
M	MikaSonik | jazz fusion group (founded 1999 – disbanded 2003, New York City, USA) was a short-lived jazz fusion ensemble based in New York City, founded in 1999 by pianist and composer Mika Pohjola. The group initially performed at local venues including Detour, Birdland and Cornelia Street Café. Its original lineup featured bassist Tim Luntzel, drummer Marlon Browden and saxophonist Chris Cheek. In early 2000, the... Read
	Ben Monder | guitarist (b. May 24, 1962, New York, USA) studied music at Queens College and the University of Miami. After returning to New York in 1984, he spent most of his time working with R&B and wedding bands and practicing jazz in his room. His big break came in 1986 when Jack McDuff called him (personally!) to join his band "The Heatin' System" for some extended road trips to the Midwest and West Coast. It was during this period that Ben developed an unprecedented tolerance for alchohol and... Read
	Yulia Musayelyan | flutist (b. 1982, Moscow, Soviet Union) began her music studies at the age of 4 with Valery Brainin and later at the Gnessin School of Music for gifted children. She has extensive experience in the classical, contemporary, jazz and world music genres. She is a 2001 recipient of the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts Award and the National Merit Foundation scholarship award, as well as winner of the 2004 Lillian Fuchs Chamber competition. She has performed and recorded... Read
	Amina Claudine Myers | vocalist & pianist (b. March 21, 1942 in Blackwell, AR, USA) is an American jazz pianist, organist, vocalist, composer, and musical arranger. She has proven herself adept in the creative musical arts. She is well known for her works involving voice choirs, voice and instrumental ensembles and performances in any combination of formations. Ms. Myers career in music began in her pre-teens assisting in chruch choirs as vocalist, piano/organist and later serving as choir director in her home state of... Read
N	Maria Neckam | vocalist (b. 1979, Vienna, Austria) is a singer and songwriter from Austria who has also lived in the Netherlands. When Maria moved to New York in 2005, she hit the music scene like lightning. Since then she has been working as one of the most innovative musicians on the scene. Her compositions are as diverse as life's surprises, combining elements of Rock, Drum 'n' Bass and Modern Jazz as well as Indian and Western Classical music. Maria often tours the United States and Europe... Read
	Ivo Nilsson | trombonist (b. 1966) made his debut as a soloist with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1989, after studies at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and at IRCAM in Paris. The same year he also made his debut as a composer with an octet premiered by ensemble l'Itinéraire at Radio France. He is a member of the ensembles Axelsson & Nilsson-duo, Ensemble Son and KammarensembleN. As a soloist and with the above mentioned ensembles he has had... Read
O	Otto Olsson | composer (b. 19 December 1879 – d. 1 September 1964) was a Swedish composer of classical music. Olsson is regarded as one of the greatest organ virtuosos of his time. He studied organ with Lagergren and composition with Dente at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, and then joined the faculty there, where he taught harmony (1908-24) and then organ (1924-45). He was also the organist at the Gustav Vasa church in Stockholm. He became a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music in 1915. He... Read
	Das Orchester | contemporary ensemble (founded in 1999) was the result of a staging of a theatre piece based on the book "Prayer for Chernobyl" by the Belarusian writer Svetlana Aleksijevich. The unusual constellation was in fact, to a certain extent, inspired by the subject of the book. However, the combination of instruments with their disparate characters, presented no existing repertoire and the first piece performed by the ensemble was written by the cellist, Chrichan Larson. Since that first... Read
P	Charlie Parker | alto saxophonist (b. August 29, 1920 – d. March 12, 1955) was one of the central figures in the development of modern jazz and one of the principal architects of bebop. His career lasted less than two decades, yet his approach to melody, harmony, rhythm, and improvisation had a lasting effect on jazz musicians and on the way the music itself was conceived. Parker primarily played alto saxophone, and his recordings from the 1940s and early 1950s became important reference points for subsequent... Read
	Akiko Pavolka | vocalist (b. 1965, Japan) is a Japanese-born vocalist, composer and educator based in New York. Her strikingly original music blends pop and jazz with the music and sensibilities of her native Japan. She has released four albums as a leader. Her band House of Illusion has toured in the United States, Europe and Japan. Akiko has also composed music for commissioned projects in Japan and was a founding member of the underground rock band Entropy in the late 90s. In... Read
	Matt Penman | bassist (b. November 2, 1974, Palmerston North, Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand) hails from Auckland, New Zealand where he started playing bass at the age of 14. A scholarship from Berklee saw him move to the States in 1994 and to New York soon after that where he maintains a busy performing, recording and teaching schedule. He is currently an established member of the SFJazz Collective, an 8–piece composer's collective devoted to presenting the original works of its members as well as arrangements by the band of a... Read
	Oscar Peterson | pianist (b. August 15, 1925 – d. December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer whose career extended across nearly seven decades. Born on August 15, 1925, in Montreal, Quebec, he grew up in the city's Little Burgundy neighbourhood in a family of West Indian origin. He began studying piano with his sister Daisy Peterson and later studied with Lou Hooper and the classical pianist Paul de Marky. He also attended the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. His early training... Read
	Mika Pohjola | pianist (b. 1971, Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish-born jazz pianist and composer, who resides in Stockholm, Sweden. He was based in New York for seventeen years, 1995-2012. He is also one of the most prolific Scandinavian jazz musicians in his generation, and a distinguished piano artist on the Steinway & Sons roster. Pohjola was born in Helsinki, Finland, and grew up in the neighboring city of Vantaa. He received his formal education in a Steiner school, where his first... Read
	Cole Porter | composer & lyricist (b. June 9, 1891 – d. October 15, 1964) was an American composer and lyricist whose career was unusual even within the highly competitive world of American musical theatre. Unlike most successful Broadway songwriters of his generation, Porter wrote both the music and the lyrics for his songs. His catalogue includes Broadway and West End musicals, Hollywood films, and hundreds of individual songs, many of which became part of the standard repertoire of popular and jazz musicians. His... Read
	Bud Powell | pianist (b. September 27, 1924 – d. July 31, 1966) was an American jazz pianist and one of the central figures in the development of bebop. His playing transformed the role of the piano in modern jazz, particularly through his adaptation of the melodic and rhythmic language of Charlie Parker to the keyboard. Powell's recordings of the late 1940s and early 1950s became important reference points for later generations of jazz pianists. Powell was born September 27, 1924, in New York City, into... Read
	Maryanne de Prophetis | vocalist grew up in a diversely musical family with wide-ranging influences. Maryanne graduated from Temple University College of Music where she studied piano and harmony with Natalie Hinderas. During that time she also began jazz vocal and theory studies with bassist Al Stauffer. After three years of travel and study in Italy, she arrived in New York to continue musical studies with Warne Marsh, and more recently studied with jazz vocalist Jay... Read
	Pekka Pylkkänen | saxophonist (b. 23 September 1964, Helsinki, Finland) is a saxophonist, composer, jazz artist and educator, who has worked with many orchestras and groups during his career. Additionally, he has participated as a sideman with greats such as Vince Mendoza, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Mercer Ellington, Bob Mintzer, Dave Liebman, Michael Abene, Odean Pope, and many others. Pekka's own group has performed in Finland, Denmark, Norway, The United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, The United States, Chile,... Read
R	Maurice Ravel | composer (b. 7 March 1875 – d. 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism alongside his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. During the 1920s and 1930s, Ravel was internationally regarded as France’s greatest living composer. Born into a music-loving family, Ravel attended France’s premier music college, the Paris Conservatoire. He was not well regarded by its conservative... Read
	Richard Rodgers | composer (b. June 28, 1902 – d. December 30, 1979) was one of the central figures in twentieth-century American musical theatre. Over a career spanning more than six decades, he wrote more than 900 published songs and the scores for forty Broadway musicals. His career was shaped by two major writing partnerships: first with Lorenz Hart, and later with Oscar Hammerstein II. After Hammerstein's death in 1960, Rodgers continued writing for the stage, at times supplying both music and lyrics... Read
	Arthur Rubinstein | pianist (b. 28 January 1887 – d. 20 December 1982) was a Polish and American pianist. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of his day, he received international acclaim for his interpretations of classical music compositions, particularly Chopin. Rubinstein played in public for eight decades with a vast repertoire consisting of Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Schubert, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns, and Schumann, amongst others. Arthur Rubinstein was born in Lodz, Congress Poland... Read
S	Felipe Salles | saxophonist (b. 1973, São Paulo, Brazil) currently lives and teaches in Western Massachusetts. His group, The Felipe Salles Quintet is the result of this cultural fusion, a blend of elements from two of the richest musical traditions in the world: Brazilian/Latin music and Jazz. Before coming to the United States, Felipe was active in numerous combos and bands as a saxophonist, composer and arranger. He played with such bands as Octeto de Musica Brasileira, Zerro Santos Big Band,... Read
	Julio Santillán | guitarist is a Barcelona-based composer and guitarist originally from Tucumán, Argentina. His compositions combine elements from his home land folk music, jazz improvisation and classical music. He has studied classical guitar at Instituto Superior de Música (Argentina) under the direction of maestro Pablo González Jasey. He graduated summa cum laude with a dual major in Classical Composition and Contemporary Writing and Production from... Read
	Erik Satie | composer (b. 17 May 1866 – d. 1 July 1925) was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire but was undistinguished there and did not obtain a diploma. During the 1880s, he worked as a pianist in the café-cabarets of Montmartre, Paris, while beginning to compose works, mostly for solo piano, including his Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes. He also composed music for a Rosicrucian sect to which he was briefly... Read
	Robert Schumann | composer (b. 8 June 1810, Zwickau, Saxony – d. 29 July 1856, Endenich, Prussia) was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. He had been assured by his teacher Friedrich Wieck that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing. Schumann's published compositions were... Read
	Alexander Scriabin | composer (b. 6 January 1872 [O.S. 25 December 1871] – d. 27 April [O.S. 14 April] 1915) was a Russian composer and pianist. Scriabin, who was influenced early in his life by the work of Frédéric Chopin, composed works that are characterised by a highly tonal idiom (these works are associated with his "first stage" of compositional output). Later in his career, independently of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed a substantially atonal and much more dissonant musical system, which accorded with his personal brand of... Read
	Jill Seifers | vocalist (b. 1965, Portland, OR, USA – d. 2012, Nashville, TN, USA) studied at Berklee College of Music, started her career in New York City, and lived in Nashville until her untimely death in December 2012. Jill was a modern songwriter with a gift for beautiful melodies and a voice as pure as the Pacific Northwest. Backed by some of New York's and Nashville's finest musicians, Jill's own compositions brought a sense of musicianship and integrity that is sometimes missing in today's music. A musician since the... Read
	Igor Stravinsky | composer (b. 17 June 1882, Oranienbaum, Russia – d. 6 April 1971, New York, NY) was a Russian composer and conductor with French and U.S. citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century and a pivotal figure in modernist music. Born into a musical family in Oranienbaum, Russia, near Saint Petersburg, Stravinsky grew up taking piano and music theory lessons. While studying law at the University of Saint Petersburg, he met Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and studied music under him... Read
T	Art Tatum | pianist (b. October 13, 1909 – d. November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist whose playing combined an exceptional command of the keyboard with an individual approach to harmony, rhythm, and improvisation. His career developed largely during the swing era, yet his recordings were studied by musicians from later generations, including pianists whose work became associated with bebop and modern jazz. Tatum recorded commercially from the early 1930s until shortly before his death, and his... Read
	Alice Tegnér | composer (b. 12 March 1864, Karlshamn, Sweden – d. 26 May 1943, Djursholm) was a Swedish music teacher, poet and composer. She was recognized as a foremost composer of Swedish children's songs during the first half of the 20th century. Born Alice Sandström in Karlshamn, Sweden, she was the daughter of Eduard Sandström (1829-1879), a ship captain. She was very musical and began taking piano lessons early. She attended seminars in Stockholm (Högre lärarinneseminariet) and trained as a teacher. After graduation,... Read
	Torvald Torén | organist (b. 29 September 1945, Uppsala, Sweden – d. 5 July 2001, Stockholm) was one of the most notable Swedish organists of his time. He performed a vast amount organ repertoire, and was considered as one of the foremost interpreters of French romantic-symphonic organ music. Torén studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm; piano with Stina Sundell, and organ with Gotthard Arnér. Torén received a Soloist Post-Graduate Degree in both instruments. He continued his organ studies with Maurice... Read
	Marcus Torén | organist (b. 8 May 1971, Stockholm, Sweden) studied for six years at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Sweden, and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Church Music and a Post Graduate Diploma in Concert Organ Performance in 1996. Torén was admitted to the organ class at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, where he in 1999 was awarded Prix d'Orgue. He has studied piano with Greta Erikson, and organ with Rune Engsö, Erik... Read
	Lennie Tristano | pianist (b. March 19, 1919 – d. November 18, 1978) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and teacher whose work developed an individual approach to improvisation that stood somewhat apart from the principal directions of postwar jazz. Born March 19, 1919, in Chicago, Tristano became associated with the emerging bebop environment during the 1940s, but developed a musical conception that placed particular emphasis on contrapuntal improvisation, rhythmic independence, complex harmony,... Read
U	Ulvens Döttrar | vocal group is a vocal/ethnic instrument trio from the Åland islands. Original compositions inspired by ethnic Scandinavian tradition and the ancient national epic, Eddan, are delivered in a fresh setting by these three sisters. The songs, instrumentation and musical expression have a strong connection to the pre-christian era of this idyllic territory in the middle of the Baltic Sea. Among the originals are traditional folk songs creatively arranged by... Read
	Eeppi Ursin | singer/songwriter (b. 18 May 1977 in Helsinki, Finland) is a New York-based platinum-selling, award-winning singer, songwriter and pianist originally from Finland. Ursin is known for her angelic-strong voice and exceptional skill set ranging from top-class performance to writing music for various groups. Her stage presence combines warmth, style, humor and virtuosity. Her recordings and performances as a singer vary from pop, jazz, dance, a cappella and children’s music. Throughout her career... Read
V	Jimmy van Heusen | composer (b. January 26, 1913 – d. February 6, 1990) born Edward Chester Babcock, was an American composer and pianist whose songs became part of the repertoire of Broadway, Hollywood, popular music, and jazz. He wrote more than 800 songs, worked with some of the leading lyricists of his generation, and became particularly closely associated with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. Sinatra recorded more songs by Van Heusen than by any other composer. Van Heusen was born on January 26, 1913, in... Read
W	Steve Wilson | saxophonist (b. February 9, 1961 in Hampton, VA, USA) is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist. As a teenager, he played in various rhythm and blues and funk bands. After a year accompanying singer Stephanie Mills, he attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he majored in music. In 1987 he moved to New York, where he established himself as a sideman. He performed with the American Jazz Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band, and the Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra, among others. In 1988... Read
Z	Miguel Zenón | saxophonist (b. December 30, 1976, San Juan, PR) is a multiple Grammy Nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow, and he represents a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often-contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered as one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between... Read

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