Jazz Profiles presented by Tim Owens & 32 Bar Blues

When we started 32 Bar Blues back in 2012, Ahmad Jamal was our first featured musician. It was deeply intentional. Pianist, composer, orchestrator and educator, he is lauded as one of the most influential musicians and bandleaders of all time. Miles Davis once said of Jamal, “He knocked me out with his concept of space, his lightness of touch, his understatement and the way he phrased notes and ch...

A strong case can be made for Max Roach as the most complete drummer in jazz history. He was front-and-center for both the bebop movement that transformed jazz in the late 1940s and its hard-bop offshoot in the mid-1950s. He helped pioneer a new drumming style in which the ride cymbal was the focal element of the drumkit, and his ability to play extremely fast ride patterns set a new standard for...

As an arranger, Gil Evans has few peers in jazz history. His style is instantly recognizable, often using unusual brass colorations for jazz, such as combinations of tuba and French horn. Famous for his collaborations with Miles Davis, Gil brought orchestral colors and textures to jazz – and was a pioneer of the “cool” sound. Beyond Miles, he arranged and composed the music of Louis Armstrong, Duk...

Pianist, composer, arranger, and innovator Mary Lou Williams’ musical career reflected the history of American jazz from the late 1920s through the 1970s. Described by Duke Ellington as being “beyond category,” she was conversant in jazz styles ranging from stride and swing to be-bop and avant-garde, yet her music was always rooted in spirituals and the blues. Mary wrote and arranged for Duke and...

Jazz guitarist Jim Hall’s technique has been called subtle, his sound mellow, and his compositions understated; yet his recording and playing history was anything but modest. He recorded with artists ranging from Bill Evans to Itzhak Perlman and performed alongside most of the jazz legends of the 20th century. The first of the modern jazz guitarists to receive an NEA Jazz Masters award, his prowes...

Recognized for decades as the world’s premier bassist, Ray Brown was a significant part of the modern jazz movement – earning numerous accolades like the National Endowment for the Arts’ Jazz Masters Award and induction into DownBeat Magazine's Jazz Hall of Fame. In the many years that Ray made music, he played in every major night club and concert hall in the world – and performed with numer...

Known for his bright sound, impeccable technique, buoyant phrasing, and confident playing style, saxophonist Phil Woods was a true master of all things bop. He was also an NEA Jazz Master, received a living Jazz Legend Award from the Kennedy Center, and was awarded four Grammy Awards over his lifetime – but his contributions to the music’s lineage extend so much farther. He performed and recorded...

Whistling guitarist and harmonica master Toots Thielemans played in everything from Charlie Parker’s band to commercials for Old Spice, on the theme from “Midnight Cowboy” and the theme from “Sesame Street.” Most important, he made the harmonica a jazz instrument. A perennial winner of DownBeat readers and critics polls in the category “miscellaneous instruments,” Thielemans was called “one of the...

Freddy Cole always drew comparisons to his brother, Nat, and strived to carve out his own space. But the one thing everyone agreed on was his talent as both a singer and a pianist. Later in life, The New York Times said, “Freddy has an impeccable sense of swing…  he is, overall, the most maturely expressive male jazz singer of his generation, if not the best alive.” The “Jazz Profiles” shows – nea...

An irrepressibly original composer, arranger and pianist, Carla Bley is responsible for more than 60 years of wily provocations in and around jazz. She once attributed her originality as a composer – she is self-taught – to blissful ignorance of “right” and “wrong” ways to write a song. Working as a cigarette girl at Birdland in the 1950s, her role models included Red Garland, Thelonious Monk, and...

A pioneer of the cool school, jazz saxophonist Lee Konitz was a prolific and idiosyncratic artist – respected as much for the way he didn’t play as for the way he did. Like many musicians of his era, he adopted the expanded harmonic vocabulary of Charlie Parker, but Lee’s improvisations were measured and understated, more thoughtful than heated. Over the years, Lee worked with legends like Dave Br...

Jazz pianist and vocalist Les McCann was an early progenitor of the bluesy, crowd-pleasing style that came to be known as soul jazz. Best remembered for his 1967 protest song “Compared to What,” McCann released more than 50 albums over his lifetime – and much of his music lives on through classic hip-hop songs that sampled his work. He brought a raw, emotional, gospel-infused energy to his art tha...

John Haley “Zoot” Sims was a saxophonist’s saxophonist, a musician everybody wanted to work with because he made everything he played sound better. Largely self-taught, he was renowned for his rhythmic drive, lyrical warmth, and effortless swing – jumping from the “Four Brothers” section of Woody Herman’s big band to later become a standout soloist in the cool jazz and West Coast jazz scenes. He o...

From the late 1940s through the early 21st century, James Moody was an institution in jazz – whether on tenor sax, flute, occasional alto, or yodeling his way through his “Moody’s Mood for Love.” Ebullient and ever-smiling, he defied the stereotype of the modern jazz musician as austere and humorless – often telling jokes on stage and peppering his repertory with numbers like “Beer Barrel Polka” a...

Toshiko Akiyoshi changed the face of jazz music over her six-decade career. As one of few women and Asian musicians in the jazz world, Akiyoshi infused Japanese culture, sounds, and instruments into her music. A pianist, bandleader, and composer-arranger with 14 Grammy nominations, Akiyoshi cemented her place as one of the most important jazz musicians of the 20th century. The “Jazz Profiles” show...

McCoy Tyner’s piano style – complete with sophisticated chords and an explosively percussive left hand – transcended conventional styles to become one of the most identifiable sounds in improvised music. Along with Bill Evans, Tyner has been the most influential pianist in jazz of the past half-century, and his rich chord clusters continue to be imitated by many young jazz pianists. The “Jazz Prof...

Peggy Lee was the essence of cool in the world of hot jazz, the small-town blonde who could sing blues, bebop, swing and rock. She learned her craft singing in smoky clubs, and traveling on trains with big bands in the wee hours of the night. Jazz royalty called her one of their own. “If I’m the duke, man, Peggy Lee is the queen,” decreed Duke Ellington, adding, “I consider her as great a musician...

Famed jazz pianist Oscar Peterson commanded the entire keyboard with incredible dexterity, drive and precision. He performed around the world for more than 50 years, accruing countless honors, awards and critical accolades. Though he would have been a success by any measure, Peterson always set his own high standards – and always fulfilled them.  The “Jazz Profiles” shows – nearly 200 of them – ar...

One of the first important jazz soloists, Sidney Bechet’s recordings precede those of Louis Armstrong (three years his junior), with whom he would later play duets. Largely self-taught and prodigiously talented on both clarinet and soprano saxophone, he developed a singular solo style – a wide and rich vibrato – giving the soprano saxophone a prominent place in jazz.  The “Jazz Profiles” shows – n...

With a laid-back, familiar style, the composer, pianist and singer Hoagy Carmichael created popular hits for decades – and logged numerous entries into the Great American Songbook. When asked about his tuneful gift, he credited his early roots in jazz. But his foremost gift was melody, as “Star Dust,” “How Little We Know” and “The Nearness of You” attest. In jazz-influenced pieces like “Lazy River...

Jazz pianist Thelonious Monk had a gift for unusual and daring composition, for confounding and delighting the world. He did things with rhythm, melody and chords that had never quite been heard before. Early on, Monk was criticized by observers who failed to listen to his music on its own terms, and he suffered through a decade of neglect before being suddenly acclaimed as a genius. The “Jazz Pro...

Cuban pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader Chucho Valdés is one of the most influential figures in modern Afro-Cuban jazz. He was named a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master – and the recognition crowns a 60-year career that includes seven Grammy Awards, six Latin Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and being indu...

Vocalist Carmen McRae was an expert on rhythm, deft phrasing and personal, bittersweet ballads. Her enigmatic, dark contralto voice helped place her among the pantheon of great female jazz singers. In a long and distinguished music career, she was also an excellent pianist, songwriter and storyteller.  As part of the Peabody Award-winning documentary series “Jazz Profiles,” this edition about Carm...

Celebrated for his technical virtuosity and swinging lyricism, jazz trumpeter Clark Terry was a mentor to Miles Davis and performed with Count Basie and Duke Ellington. A great innovator and educator, he’s also one of the most recorded musicians in the history of jazz – with more than 900 recordings – playing with such greats as Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Washington, Ben Webster, Areth...

Keith Jarrett is one of the most celebrated pianists in jazz – a musician acclaimed for his emotionally intense and physically energetic performances. A prodigy who started playing piano at the age of 3, Keith built an uncanny talent for channeling genre-defying improvisations and lyrical sensitivity, bridging jazz, classical, and folk traditions.  As part of the Peabody Award-winning documentary...