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Saxophonist and educator Victor Goines explains what jazz is, how jazz music helps shape the democrat process and the advantages New Orleans musicians have over the music. SAXOPHONIST • CLARINETIST • COMPOSER • ARRANGER • EDUCATOR 
Born: August 6, 1961, 
New Orleans, Louisiana

 “Laconic yet agile, serious yet playful, studied …

Though Paul Jackson Jr. never got to meet or work with Wes Montgomery, one of his chief guitar influences, he has forged professional relationships with all the others who touched his formative years, including Earl Klugh, George Benson, Ray Parker Jr., Al McKay and Lee Ritenour. Since breaking into the Los Angeles …

Chris Turner, originating from Oakland, California knew at the age of four he wanted to be a singer. What he didn’t know was the impact his sound would have on the world. Whether you listen to Hip-Hop, R&B, or jazz, Chris will definitely satisfy your need for music. His sounds …

Latin Jazz legend, Pete Escovedo, has captivated audiences worldwide with his musical prowess and insight. From the early formation of the Escovedo Bros Latin Jazz Sextet, to his days with Santana alongside his brother Coke Escovedo—and the subsequent launch of their joint venture, Latin Rock-Jazz fusion group, Azteca. Staff Writer …

“There isn’t a handy term or genre for the music that Kneebody creates. It’s a band thoroughly acquainted with 1960s free-bop, 1970s jazz rock, 1990s hip-hop and postmillennial indie rock; along with classical postminimalism. (I’m leaving something out, I’m sure.) Whatever the terminology, this group has an audience…” – New York Times …

Dexter Gordon was one of the most definitive voices of the bebop movement.  Ranging from John Coltrane to Jackie McLean, Gordon sketched the stylistic framework for countless artists. As it often goes with jazz, he himself was a by-product of his musical predecessors—more specifically, Lester Young. Resulting from that exposure, …

The Jazz & Democracy Project® manifests a hypothesis that Wesley J. Watkins, IV, Ph.D. has been investigating since he was an undergraduate: a music-centered curriculum with genuine links to the other subject areas can increase student identification with school, impact academic engagement, and have a subsequent positive effect on overall academic …

ETIENNE CHARLES: Recording Artist, Composer, Arranger, Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies, Michigan State University Over its century-plus history, jazz has forged its shape-shifting identity by encompassing a rainbow of musical dialects in an improvisation-infused setting. While jazz’s potency launched into popular appeal based on the integration of the European classical …

Winner of the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition and named by Wynton Marsalis as one of his 2011 “Who’s Got Next: Jazz Musicians to Watch,” pianist-composer Helen Sung is blazing her own path – as an Asian-American artist, she bridges diverse worlds with a singular vision and …

When trumpeter Christian Scott was growing up in New Orleans in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, his grandfather gave him and his brother Kiel extra reading assignments each week as a supplement to their assigned schoolwork. If the young students failed to finish their books within the week, their …

Two time Grammy nominee and Pew Fellow, Orrin Evans has been recognized as one of the most distinctive and inventive pianists of his generation. In a short span of time Orrin has earned the titles of pianist, composer, bandleader, teacher, producer and arranger. The New York Times described the pianist …

Warren Wolf is a multi-instrumentalist from Baltimore,MD. From the young age of three years old, Warren has been trained on the Vibraphone/Marimba, Drums, and Piano. Under the guidance of his father Warren Wolf Sr., Warren has a deep background in all genres of music. Beginning with classical music, Warren had …