 | | Brazilian electrified trio Azymuth called their music samba doido, which means "crazy samba." The actual sounds, though, were not so crazy: the intelligent, high-voltage blend of Brazilian rhythms, jazz, and funk with occasional acoustic episodes gained a sizable following in the 1980s. |
 | | Italian DJ/producer Nicola Conte's loungey brand of acid jazz relies extensively on bossa nova, but is also heavily influenced by the swinging soundtracks of Italian films in the '60s and '70s, plus touches of ethnic music and easy listening kitsch reminiscent of Japan's Pizzicato Five. |
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 | | The son of legendary actor Clint Eastwood, bassist Kyle Eastwood inherited his father's well-known love of jazz music, becoming a respected session player during the early '90s; later fronting his own quartet, he contributed a track to the 1997 Eastwood After Hours: Live at Carnegie Hall tribute LP, and a year later issued his solo debut, From There to Here. |
 | | A New Orleans musician in every sense of the word, drummer Stanton Moore's main gig is with his enormously popular funk band Galactic but he also plays with a wide variety of other musicians in both club and studio settings. |
 | | Thievery Corporation make abstract, instrumental, mid-tempo dance music whose classification falls somewhere between trip-hop and acid jazz. |
 | | San Diego producer and DJ Andreas Stevens, or Greyboy, was initially taken by hip-hop but -- because he couldn't find any decent MCs to hook up with -- shifted his attention to acid jazz. |
 | | The ranks of jazzy drum'n'bass swelled considerably with the debut of Mocean Worker, the recording alias of jazz producer Adam Dorn. |
 | | Turntable maestro DJ Logic (real name Jason Kibler) is widely credited for helping to bring jazz into hip-hop's sphere of influence. |
 | | One of the acid jazz movement's most prominent guitarists, London-born Ronny Jordan is widely credited with returning the instrument to its rightful place as a major force in modern-day jazz; despite outcries from purists, few other artists of his era proved more pivotal in knocking down the long-immutable boundaries of contemporary black music. |
 | | Marcos Valle was the Renaissance man of Brazilian pop, a singer/songwriter/producer who straddled the country's music world from the early days of the bossa nova craze well into the fusion-soaked sound of '80s MPB. |
 | | Brothers Alan and Neal Evans, on drums and Hammond B-3 organ, respectively, form two-thirds of the soul/groove trio Soulive. |
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 | | One of the "big three" of current jazz guitarists (along with Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell), John Scofield's influence grew in the '90s and continued into the 21st century. |
 | | One of fusion's most virtuosic guitar soloists, John McLaughlin placed his blazing speed in the service of a searching spiritual passion that has kept his music evolving and open to new influences. |
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 | | The renowned horn-driven funk outfit Tower of Power have been issuing albums and touring the world steadily since the early '70s, in addition to backing up countless other musicians. |
 | | A group that effortlessly straddles the gap between avant-garde improvisation and accessible groove-based jazz, Medeski, Martin & Wood have simultaneously earned standings as relentlessly innovative musicians and as an enormously popular act. |
 | | Although saxophonist, bandleader, and composer Kenny Garrett never had the benefit of a college education, that hasn't hurt his career as a jazz musician one bit. |
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 | | Before they perfected the electronica-meets-tango sound of the Gotan Project, Paris musicians Philippe Cohen Solal and Christoph H. |
 | | Weather Report started out as a jazz equivalent of what the rock world in 1970 was calling a "supergroup. |
 | | Berlin's Jazzanova collective formed in 1995, after DJing with one another at a club called Delicious Doughnuts. |
 | | The New Orleans-based jazz-funk ensemble Galactic formed in 1994; originally an eight-piece, the group soon pared down to an instrumental sextet comprised of guitarist Jeff Raines, organist Rich Vogel, bassist Robert Mercurio, saxophonists Ben Ellman and Jason Mingledorff, and drummer Stanton Moore. |
 | | Chick Corea has been one of the most significant jazzmen since the '60s. Not content at any time to rest on his laurels, he has been involved in quite a few important musical projects, and his musical curiosity has never dimmed. |
 | | Generally acclaimed as fusion's greatest drummer, Billy Cobham's explosive technique powered some of the genre's most important early recordings -- including groundbreaking efforts by Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra -- before he became an accomplished bandleader in his own right. |
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 | | Guitarist Al di Meola first rose to prominence as a blazing jazz fusion player before his playing matured and he began to conquer other styles, such as acoustic Latin music. |
 | | The son of lyricist Sammy Cahn, Steve Khan is best-known for his fusion records, but has proven on a few occasions that he can also play more straight-ahead. |
 | | Throughout a professional career lasting 50 years, Miles Davis played the trumpet in a lyrical, introspective, and melodic style, often employing a stemless Harmon mute to make his sound more personal and intimate. |
 | | Herbie Hancock will always be one of the most revered and controversial figures in jazz -- just as his employer/mentor Miles Davis was when he was alive. |
 | | NOMO were conceived in 2003 when University of Michigan jazz studies graduate and multi-instrumentalist (tenor sax, keyboards, electric mbiri) Elliot Bergman and some of his acquaintances began jamming at an Ann Arbor, MI, house where many of them lived. |
 | | Jaco Pastorius was a meteor who blazed on to the scene in the 1970s, only to flame out tragically in the 1980s. |
 | | A versatile drummer, Lenny White is still best-known for being part of Chick Corea's Return To Forever in the 1970's. |
 | | Tom Harrell has managed to fight courageously (and successfully) against schizophrenia to become one of jazz's top trumpeters of the 1980s and '90s and well into the new millennium. |
 | | Instrumental jazz-funk is the name of Robert Walter's game. The top-notch organ/piano player was a founding member of the Greyboy Allstars, with whom he played for five years and toured extensively throughout North America and Europe. |
 | | Although sometimes grouped with Spyro Gyra, Yellowjackets are actually one of the most creative regular groups in the "rhythm & jazz" genre. |
 | | Inspired by the bebop of the 1950s, Steve Davis has crafted a distinctive sound on the slide trombone. |
 | | Primarily a bassist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, Marcus Miller has worked on hundreds of sessions -- crossing jazz, R&B, and rock -- and has released several solo recordings since his late-'70s beginnings with Bobbi Humphrey and Lonnie Liston Smith. |
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 | | Donald Harrison, Jr. (who is also known as Big Chief Donald Harrison of Congo Nation) is a celebrated jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator who resides both in New Orleans and New York City. |
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 | | Amina Figarova was born in 1966 in a most unlikely place for a jazz musician, Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan on the Russian side of the Iron Curtain. |
 | | Born in New Orleans, Christian Scott received his first trumpet at 12 as a gift from his mother and grandmother. |
 | | A remarkable technician and a highly influential tenor saxophonist (the biggest influence on other tenors since Wayne Shorter), Michael Brecker took a long time before getting around to recording his first solo album. |
 | | Born in Trenton, NJ but raised in Philadelphia, acoustic pianist Orrin Evans was among the "Young Lions" of straight-ahead jazz who emerged in the 1990s. |
 | | Known to fans as "Captain Fingers" for his uncommon dexterity on the guitar, Lee Ritenour is a noted jazz artist and session musician who has been one of the leaders in his field since the early '70s. |
 | | A brilliant player on both acoustic and electric basses, Stanley Clarke has spent much of his career outside of jazz, although he has the ability to play jazz with the very best. |
