jazz

Cecil James ("Big Jay") McNeely (born on April 29, 1927, in Los Angeles, California) is an American rhythm and blues tenor saxophonist. He grew up in the community of Watts, California, where he occasionally observed Simon Rodia constructing the Watts Towers. McNeely is known for his intense playing and his energetic and acrobatic stage performances. For example, at a 1949 concert in the old Wrigley Field baseball stadium in Los Angeles, he played while walking through the stands and then while crawling from home plate to first base on his back.

Brad Mehldau is an American jazz pianist born on August 23, 1970 in Jacksonville, Florida. He plays original compositions and jazz standards, as well as interpretations of non-jazz songs by The Beatles, Nick Drake, Radiohead and Soundgarden, for example. He has also contributed to movie soundtracks, including Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Space Cowboys (2000), The Million Dollar Hotel (2000).

The music of Kooii is unique, resting readily in a morphing Australian way of life. Their songs click with many, and the music is held dearly. Kooii breathe, roll and transform. They are a seven-piece collective with a ‘rootsy-tribal-groove’ that is both urban and earthy. Reggae, Jazz and Latin are realised in the sound. The group started some two and a half years ago as a duo of trumpeter Peter Hunt and percussionist Anthony Forrest (who both also play guitar). It has since grown to its present form.

Joshua Redman (born February 1, 1969) is a prominent American jazz saxophonist who records for Nonesuch Records. Redman, who is Black and Jewish, was born in Berkeley, California. He is the son of jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman. He is a graduate of Berkeley High School. Then in 1991 he graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society. Redman won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition the same year and began focusing on his musical career.