Fats Waller, byname of Thomas Wright Waller, (born May 21, 1904, New York City, New York, U.S.—died December 15, 1943, Kansas City, Missouri,…

Tough times. Billie Holiday knew about them and sang about them. She had a rough start—her mother, Sadie, was only 13 and her…

Marian McPartland has made jazz piano duets into something of an art form. Sure, it’s been done before, but not very often. There…

Maceo Parker – saxophone, composer, recording artist, bandleader His name is synonymous with Funk Music, his pedigree impeccable; his band: the tightest little…

Few female R&B stars enjoyed the kind of consistent acclaim Etta James received throughout a career that spanned six decades; the celebrated producer…

Woody Shaw, Jr. was born in Laurinburg, NC on Christmas Eve (December 24th), 1944. His father, Woody Shaw Sr., was a lead singer…

Positioned squarely in the mainstream, at home in the worlds of jazz and pop standards as well as the blues, comfortable with small…

Art Tatum was among the most extraordinary of all jazz musicians, a pianist with wondrous technique who could not only play ridiculously rapid…

John Coltrane departed this mortal plane more than fifty years ago; today he remains among us, more alive than ever. His sound continues…

Bassist, composer, educator and actor John Brown is a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and currently resides in Durham, NC. He is a…