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Meshell Ndegeocello was born Michelle Johnson on August 29, 1968 in Berlin, Germany. Her father was in the military and her mother was a health care worker. She spent her early years in Germany, then her family relocated to the Washington DC area. Her father played the tenor saxophone, and while he wasn’t a full [...]

Gregoire Maret was born in Geneva, Switzerland on May 13, 1975 to a Swiss father and American mother. He started playing harmonica professionally at 17. When he graduated from high school, he began attending the Collège de Saussure and the Superior Conservatory of Music.
In 1995, Maret moved to New York City to pursue a [...]

John Lenwood (Jackie) McLean was born in New York City on May 17, 1931 or 32 according to some sources. His father, John Sr., was a guitarist for Tiny Bradshaw’s orchestra. He died in 1939. McLean grew up in Harlem around notable jazz musicians. When he was 15, he started playing the saxophone. He took [...]

Woody Shaw Jr., was born on December 24, 1944 in Laurinburg, North Carolina. Shaw grew up in Newark, New Jersey. He started playing bugle when he was 9 with  the Washington Carver Drum and Bugle Corps. When he was 11 he started playing trumpet. He attended the Arts High School in Newark. While in high [...]

Jimmy Smith was born on December 8, 1925 in Norristown, Pennsylvania. His parents taught him to play the piano. In 1935, he won the Major Bowes contest. He started playing professional gigs at an early age and even did some nightclub work with his father.
Smith served in the Navy during the end of World War [...]

Griots are traditional storytellers. Before the use of written language in West Africa, griots were the historians and genealogists of their villages. They also advised nobility and acted as messengers and entertainers. While griots still exist, their function has changed. Now they are popular singers who perform on radio and television. They reinterpret traditional songs. [...]

Ronald Theodore Kirk was born in Columbus, Ohio on August 7, 1936. At 2, Kirk became blind because of poor medical treatment. He originally learned to play the bugle and trumpet. Later he switched to clarinet and C-melody sax.
Kirk started playing professionally when he was 15. When he was in his teens, he discovered [...]

Charlie Hunter is a pretty amazing guitarist. Since I reviewed his album Baboon Strength last week, I thought I’d put up this video of him.

Sira is a cross-cultural collaboration between German-born jazz trumpeter Volker Goetze and Senegalese Griot singer and kora player Ablaye Cissoko. A Griot is a traditional West African storyteller. A kora is a West African string instrument that is similar to a lute and sounds a bit like a harp. The album’s title, Sira, means mermaid [...]

Callen (Cal) Tjader was born on July 16, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. His parents were vaudeville performers. His father tap danced and his mother played the piano. His family moved from city to city performing until his was 7. They settled in  San Mateo, California and opened a dance studio. His mother taught him [...]