Jazz Legends

It’s impossible to overestimate the impact that Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (born April 29, 1899) had on jazz and indeed the world of music in general. Even if his myriad contributions to the Great American Songbook were his only accomplishment, he would be one of its most hallowed creators, but his legacy is far more sweeping. He managed to field an orchestra for several decades consisting of...

Herbie Hancock, born April 12, 1940, is one of the most influential pianists and composers in jazz. He first rose to prominence with trumpeter Donald Byrd and later revolutionized jazz itself with Miles Davis, and pop music with his headhunters and rockit bands. He remains a big influence on younger players to this day, now an elder statesman of the music.

Victor Feldman is considered the finest all-around jazz musician ever to come from Great Britain. He was born on April 7, 1934, and was performing on stage playing the drums with Glenn Miller’s band at the age of six. Glenn Miller called Feldman “The greatest young percussionist ever created.” He was featured in several motion pictures and on the BBC.   Since his arrival in the United States, he r...

Pianist/composer Cedar Walton (born January 17, 1934) first rose to prominence with drummer Art Blakey’s band and his own groups featured his original compositional voice for decades: fresh original takes on the hard bop style he came up in. Many of his tunes have become jazz standards.

Saxophonist and jazz composer Benny Golson (born January 25, 1929) was one of jazz’s senior statesmen, passing away last year at the age of 95. He was one of the last surviving subjects of the well known photograph “A Great Day in Harlem”, which was featured in the film “The Terminal” (2004) which also featured a cameo by Golson himself. He penned a number of compositions which have become well lo...

Songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock on January 26, 1913) picked his professional name inspired by the shirt company. In the course of his career, he won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for best song. Many of his tunes have become beloved jazz standards over the years. 

Songwriter Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna on December 24, 1893) was the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. In the course of his long career he was nominated for 11 Oscars for Best Song and won three times. In a career that lasted over sixty years, he composed over eight hundred songs and were featured in over three hundred films.

The band talks about celebrating New Orleans and Mardi Gras and the city’s great musical traditions.

The band is back! This Sunday at the "Unchained Melodies" show, the Evensong Quintet is playing a live recording concert of tunes in the public domain. Many of the best songwriters of the “Tin Pan Alley” era wrote some of their most enduring songs during the late 1920s, and many of these songs fall into public domain this year. Jazz musicians have long favored the work of these giants: George Gers...

As they prep for the annual Jazz Family Christmas show, the band talks Christmas tunes and jazz influence in classic favorites. The podcast is taking a break for the holidays and will return next year! Enjoying the show? Help keep it going by donating here.

Pianist/composer McCoy Tyner (born December 11, 1938) was the youngest member of the earth-shattering John Coltrane Quartet and went on to be a major innovator on his instrument, influencing a whole generation of pianists with his rhythmic and harmonically dense approach to the instrument. He has been recognized with an NEA jazz master award and five Grammy awards. His music is as important in man...

Composer/arranger/pianist Billy Strayhorn (born November 29, 1915) was a true genius in his own right, though often referred to as Duke Ellington’s alter ego, he was so much more than that. A gay man in in an era when that was even more of an onus than it is now, Ellington made it possible for Strayhorn to create and thrive in spite of societal constraints, clearly he recognized Strayhorn’s unique...

Pianist/composer Dave Brubeck and Alto Saxophonist Paul Desmond are enshrined in jazz history as the most prominent voices of the popular Dave Brubeck quartet. This group cast an outsized shadow over the jazz scene of the 1950’s and 1960’s, Desmond’s composition "Take Five" is one of the most beloved jazz compositions of all time and was the biggest hit the quartet ever had. Brubeck incorporated d...

Saxophonist/composer Phil Woods (born Nov 2, 1931), is by many musicians considered the major exponent of the alto saxophone for the past sixty years. His big, commanding sound, strong sense of swing, and command of harmony are second to none. His playing is totally distinctive and immediately recognizable. He may be best known to the average listener as the saxophone soloist on the Billy Joel hit...

Saxophonist/composer Jimmy Heath (born Oct 25, 1926) came from a musical family in the fertile music scene of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He and his brothers Percy, bassist with the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Tootie, drummer with a plethora of jazz groups have contributed far more than their share to the world of jazz. A contemporary and close friend of John Coltrane, Heath eclipsed his friend early...

While hardly a household name, pianist/composer Clare Fischer (born Oct 22, 1928) was a musician’s musician. While he spent a good portion of his career working as a studio musician in Hollywood, he cut his teeth as the musical director of the vocal group The Hi-Los. His musical imagination seemingly knew no bounds, over the course of his career he wrote for his own big band, a Latin group with a...

Trumpet player/composer John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (born Oct 21, 1917) was, along with Charlie Parker, one of the major innovators behind the bebop movement in jazz. His pyrotechnic technical abilities on the trumpet set the bar high for all the players of that instrument who came after him. He was responsible for a number of compositions that have become jazz standards, and his bands have serve...

Pianist composer Thelonius Monk (born Oct 10, 1917) was possibly the most idiosyncratic performers and composers our music has ever produced. His music is second only to Duke Ellington in the number of times his many compositions have been recorded. Often referred to as the High Priest of Bebop, he was instrumental in the birth of this style, playing alongside Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, h...

Saxophonist Park “Pepper” Adams (born Oct 8, 1930) was one of many jazz greats to emerge from the fertile jazz scene of Detroit, Michigan in the 1940s-50s. He was known for his fiery technical abilities and big sound on the cumbersome baritone saxophone. He recorded prolifically with just about everyone on the NYC jazz scene after he relocated there in the late 1950’s, and his unique voice as a ja...

Saxophonist John Coltrane (born Sept 23, 1926), is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential musical voices of the 20th Century. His influence can’t be overestimated; literally every musician who followed him has been shaped by his innovations and contributions to the music. A member of Miles Davis’ first great quintet, Coltrane also played with Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie...

Saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley (born Sept 15,1928) and his cornetist brother Nat (born Nov 25, 1931) co-led one of the most successful jazz groups of the 1960’s-1970’s. From the time they arrived on the NYC scene from their native Florida in 1955, and sat in with bassist Oscar Pettiford, they set the town ablaze. Both musicians found work with many of the jazz luminaries of the time, Can...

Tenor Saxophonist Sonny Rollins, born September 7, 1930, is widely recognized as one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time. In his over seven-decade career he has produced over sixty albums as a leader, and penned a number of tunes that have become jazz standards. Growing up in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem he was surrounded by a hotbed of jazz activity from an early age, his...

Pianist Horace Silver, born September 2, 1928, in Connecticut, played tenor saxophone and piano in school, and received his first national recognition when his trio was hired to play with saxophonist Stan Getz in 1950. His career received a major boost when he became part of the original Jazz Messengers with Art Blakey, and recorded his first hit composition, The Preacher. He toured with Blakey un...

Saxophonist, composer Wayne Shorter, born August 25, 1933, was one of the most influential jazz artists, and most creative, distinctive and prolific jazz composers the music has produced. Serving as the principal composer for both Art Blakey and Miles Davis’ bands during his tenures there, in addition to the music he wrote for his own twenty record dates and Weather Report, his catalog runs to hun...

Pianist Mulgrew Miller, born August 13, 1955, toured with the Duke Ellington Orchestra for three years right out of college, later accompanying singer Betty Carter, then three year stints with trumpeter Woody Shaw followed by Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He was already recording with his own groups when he joined drummer Tony Williams in quintet and trio settings, he also served as director of ja...