Born and raised in Havana, Cuba, Pedro Pablo Martinez began his musical career at the age of 11, performing as vocalist and percussionist on the afro Cuban music scene playing with legends as a Lazaro Roos,Merceditas Valdes,Oriki, among others.
The son of the noted musician Bebo Valdes, Chucho began playing piano when he was three and by the time he was 16 he was leading his own group. In 1960 his father defected from Cuba but Chucho stayed behind. In 1967, he formed the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna and, in 1973, he founded Irakere, the top Cuban jazz orchestra; among its original members were Arturo Sandoval and Paquito D'Rivera. Valdes has been Irakere's musical director almost from the start and has recorded with the full band, in small groups, and as an impressive solo pianist.
Eliane Elias (b. 1960) is a Brazilian jazz composer, pianist, and singer. Born on the 19th March 1960 in São Paulo, Brazil, Elias started learning to play the piano at the age of seven, and was transcribing solo portions of her parents’ jazz records by the age of twelve. After studying for six years (and teaching by the age of fifteen) at Brazil’s prestigious Free Centre of Music Apprenticeship, she continued her classical education with Amilton Godoy and Amaral Vieria.
Born in 1984, bassist, singer and composer Esperanza Spalding began playing in small jazz and blues venues around her hometown of Portland, Oregon. Soon after picking up the acoustic bass at the late age of 14, she helped form Noise for Pretend, an eclectic band fusing jazz and pop for which she sang and played bass (often simultaneously). The group signed with indie rock imprint Hush Records, which released two albums of their original compositions.
There are six artists using this name
1. A German jazz/funk-percussion group active in the early 70's
2. A French duo active from the early 80's until the early 90's
3. A Ukrainian group
4. A Spanish hard rock band
5. The lead singer for defunct 70's experimental band Destroy All Monsters
6. An Italian progressive rock band (1.) The German jazz/funk-percussion group, Niagara, existing between 1971-1973.
Mario Biondi is an Italian singer. Born in Catania, son of a popular song singer, still young sings in various small choruses. Years after he follows Califano, di capri, Bongusto, Fiorello and others in their tours. After a long series of participations with Italian and international artists and a small production of disco music, during 2006 he hits the success with the Schema Records album "Handful of Soul". His deep and warm voice recalls the great interpreters soul and rhythm and blues music.
Formed in early 2009 by a collective of professional seasoned musicians, The Torre Bert Quartet perform latin, jazz and contemporary standards for corporate and social events nationwide. The hardcore of guitar (Dan Roberts), piano (Frank Ezikwa), bass (Jim Cooper) and drums (Ben Dargue) provides the foundation for frequent guest accompaniment on sax, flute and vocals.
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".
Jazziz praised Brazilian guitarist Badi Assad (pronounced Bah-Jee Ah-Sahje) as "a virtuoso of the highest order" while Guitar Player pegged her as "fearless!" Wonderland, her second for Deutsche Grammophone is not only an album fantasy and hope; it is also a plea for some sanity in this insane world of ours. The CD touches on many taboo topics including rape, prejudice, child prostitution and loss of cultural identity.
Don Byron (b.1958) is a U.S. composer and clarinettist. While he is considered a jazz musician, he is stylistically very adventurous, having recorded klezmer music, German lieder, and cartoon music. Byron was born on 8th November 1958 in the Bronx, New York City and was raised by his parents who were themselves musicians, his mother a pianist; his father a bass player for calypso bands. His parents raised him listening to all kinds of music, taking him on trips to the ballet and the symphony, and also exposing him to jazz such as Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis records.