Wynton Marsalis

Warren Shadd is a second generation piano technician and third generation musician. He has per formed and toured worldwide in every aspect of live and recorded musc with hundreds of celebrities in the entertainment industry. On drums, at the early age of four, he played his first of many jazz …

Long regarded as one of Contemporary Jazz’s leading vocalists, Diane Schuur is as eclectic as she is brilliant. Born in Tacoma, Washington in 1953, Schuur was blind from birth; but she was gifted with perfect pitch and initially taught herself piano by ear. She later received formal piano training at …

WinslowDynasty is a music group with a mission to change the world and inspire a renaissance in creative art.  Dontae Winslow is a featured member on trumpet/production and vocals, while Mashica Winslow is a featured member who lends her angelic vocals/songwriting and stellar arranging abilities. Their formidable alliance comprises styles of Jazz, …

Every once in a while, an artist comes along who is so phenomenally talented that it almost seems unfair to every other artist.  For me, one such person is Bobby McFerrin.  I remember listening to “Peace,” sung by McFerrin and written by the incomparable Horace Silver, and being moved beyond …

We love legends, don’t we? Not only do they use their talents to break barriers and achieve levels of greatness that few have seen, but they also use those very talents to lead a new generation to that same level of excellence and beyond. Master bassist, composer, leader, doctor and …

When it comes to jazz, funk, R&B and bass guitar, Marcus Miller is truly a pioneer. By the age of 15 he was already composing music and was proficient on the clarinet, piano and bass guitar. In subsequent years he became one of the hottest musicians in the New York …

Trumpeter Roy Hargrove has firmly established himself as among the premier players in jazz and beyond. Ever-stretching into more challenging and colorful ways to flex his musical chops, Hargrove has left indelible imprints in a vast array of artful settings. During his tenure on the Verve label alone, he has recorded an …

Roberta Gambarini is a singer who started taking clarinet lessons after being caught by her father for playing his tenor saxophone in secret. After having trouble with classical voice lessons, Gambarini decided to trust her instincts and learned jazz improvisation from self-teaching and listening to the masters of recorded jazz …

clas·sic  /klasik/ adjective 1. judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind. Synonym: Ahmad Jamal Playing the piano by the age of 3, composing at 10, and performing at Carnegie Hall with Duke Ellington at 22, Ahmad Jamal has proven that …

IF, AS SHAKESPEARE WROTE IN TWELFTH NIGHT, “…SOME ARE BORN GREAT, SOME ACHIEVE GREATNESS, AND SOME HAVE GREATNESS THRUST UPON THEM…” Then, Theo Croker fits into two out of three of the Bard’s categories. His talent is innate; he inherited a unique gift from his grandfather, the legendary trumpet player …

Freddy Cole. The name may sound familiar not only because of the iconic family name, but also because Cole has been a mainstay in the jazz industry for over 50 years. The Chicago native began playing piano at the age of 6, and at 81 years old, he is still …

Photo of Roy Hargrove by John Whiting Jazz legend Sonny Rollins once said, “Improvisation is the ability to create something very spiritual, something of one’s own,” and Roy Hargrove has taken those words to heart.  In an exclusive interview with iRockJazz, multiple Grammy winner, bandleader and jazz trumpeter extraordinaire, Roy …