Pianist Benny Green was born on April 4, 1963 in New York City, New York. Benny Green began playing hard bop in Bay Area clubs while in high school during the late ’70s. His professional career took off in the spring of 1983 when he joined Betty Carter’s band. He also served as a member […]

April 3, 1936 – July 6, 1961 Double bassist Rocco Scott LaFaro was born April 3, 1936 in Livingston, New Jersey. His family moved to Geneva in upstate New York when he was five. LaFaro studied reeds in school and didn’t pick up the bass until he was 18, a string instrument being a requirement […]

A tribute to the great trumpeter Trumpeter Wallace Roney passed away on March 31, 2020 at the age of 59 from the coronavirus. He was born in Philadelphia on May 25, 1960 and studied music and the trumpet at Philadelphia’s Settlement School of Music, making his recording debut when he was just 15 and playing […]

A tribute to one of the greatest of all singers Singer Sarah Vaughan was born on March 27, 1924 in Newark, New Jersey. Vaughan (who was known to her friends as “Sassy”) sang in church as a child, had extensive piano lessons, won an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater in 1943, and was hired […]

Singer and pianist Diana Krall was born on November 16, 1964 in Nanaimo, Canada. She began playing piano when she was four and played professionally by the time she was a teenager. Krall studied at the Berklee College of Music during 1981-83 before moving to Los Angeles where her mentors included Jimmy Rowles, Ray Brown […]

A tribute to the beloved tenor and flutist Tenor saxophonist and flutist James Moody was born on March 26, 1925 in Savannah, Georgia. He spent much of 1943-46 in the Air Force and then, after his discharge, he started a longtime association with Dizzy Gillespie, playing mostly tenor in his big band during 1946-48. During […]

Coryell in 1967 with the Gary Burton Quartet Larry Coryell (who passed away on Feb. 19, 2017 at the age of 73) was an innovator from the start of his career. Born April 2, 1943 in Galveston, Texas and raised in Washington, Coryell gained early experience as a guitarist playing in local rock bands. Moving […]

A tribute to the versatile percussionist Percussionist Ray Mantilla passed away on March 21, 2020 at the age of 85. Raymond Mantilla was born in New York City on June 22, 1934. His childhood friends included percussionist Ray Barretto, pianist Eddie Palmieri, percussionist Manny Oquendo, and flutist Johnny Pacheco. Mantilla began playing congas and Latin […]

Saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter was born on August 25th, 1933 in Newark, New Jersey. He graduated from New York University in 1956, and played with Horace Silver while serving briefly in the military, before becoming a member of “Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers” in 1959, remaining for five years. While serving in the army in the late […]