Kirk Whalum

Brian Culbertson began his musical journey at the age of 8 on piano, adding drums at 9, trombone at 10, then bass at 12. Loving genre-crossing jazz-pop artists such as Earth, Wind and Fire, Chicago, and Tower of Power, Culbertson’s artistry cannot be categorized into one genre. Brian has released …

Contemporary jazz keyboard player Alex Bugnon, nephew of trumpeter Donald Byrd, grew up going to the Montreux Jazz Festival in his hometown in Switzerland. He attended the Paris Conservatory of Music for two years, then moved to the U.S. and went to the Berklee School of Music, meanwhile performing as …

Jessy J has a gangbuster career already, scoring back-to-back hits, #1 Song of the Year and a #1 Billboard Album in 2011, five years after making her debut she’s back with her highly anticipated Self Produced album entitled Second Chances. Jessy J burst onto the contemporary jazz scene in 2008, …

“One of the most identifiable and consistently enjoyable singers in underground soul.” – Jazziz Magazine “Maysa’s voice is as smooth and as rich as chocolate…its pure, perfect tone is gorgeous and caresses with a languorous sensuality.”-Blues And Soul Magazine Maysa is the kind of singer who takes hold of a …

Hear Roy Hargrove, Terence Blanchard, Poncho Sanchez, Wallace Roney, Gregory Porter and Kenny Barron talk about what it takes to make in the music business.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Born in the Greenwich Village in New York City and raised in Jamaica, Queens, Najee’s musical pursuits began in grade school. “As a kid I was into the R&B and Jazz music of my time,” he shares. “I familiarized myself with different kinds of music all the time. As I …

Jonathan Butler has toured the globe and given his audiences what they have come to expect. As a renowned guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, Butler discovered his gift of music at an early age. By the age of seven he began playing the guitar and later performed with a group of …