Third Wave was a pop jazz vocal group consisting of 5 teenage Filipino sisters from Stockton, California that was discovered by funky keybordist and long time Frank Zappa collaborator George Duke. Duke brought the sisters over to Germany in 1970, where he produced and recorded the album ,Here and Now for German label MPS.
Mark Murphy (b. 1932) is an American jazz singer based in New York. He is most noted for his vocalese and vocal improvisations with both melody and lyrics. He is the recipient of the 1996, 1997, 2000, and 2001 Down Beat magazine readers jazz poll for Best Male Vocalist of the Year, and is also the recipient of six Grammy award nominations for Best Vocal Jazz Performance. He is also famous for his original lyrics to the jazz classics "Stolen Moments" and "Red Clay".
Hans Koller, one of Europe's most beloved jazz performers and an acclaimed abstract painter, died of pneumonia on Monday, December 21, 2003 in his hometown of Vienna. He was 82 years old. A saxophone prodigy, Koller immediately impressed the faculty of the Vienna Music Academy upon his arrival at the age of 14. Within a few years he was playing professionally in jazz and dance bands. In 1941 Koller was drafted into the Nazi army; he spent most of the war as an American POW, at which time he organized a detention camp band.
Born Montgomery Bernard Alexander on June 6, 1944 in Kingston, Jamaica, Monty Alexander is a jazz pianist whose style is influenced by strong Caribbean and swing feeling. A musician of a great versatility, this piano virtuoso has covered wide range of musical genres in his career from jazz to reggae, playing with either small bands or an orchestra. "My goal is to uplift", says Alexander. “The piano, to me, is a vehicle for connecting to other human beings. I'm very open to all forms of music. I'm not a bebop musician, I'm not a calypso musician, I'm not a reggae musician.