b. James Oppenheim, 1 September 1961, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. Raised in New Rochelle, New York, Boney James played clarinet at school, then the tenor saxophone and later the alto and soprano. His early musical tastes leaned towards contemporary p…

b. Los Angeles, California, USA. Saxophonist Dave Koz is one of a small number of modern jazz players to have found significant contemporary success without necessarily obtaining critical approval for their efforts. His repertoire, like that of both …

A group who have earned consistent critical praise for their blend of pop and contemporary jazz, Fourplay comprise Bob James (b. 25 December 1939, Marshall, Missouri, USA; keyboards), Lee Ritenour (b. 1 November 1953, Los Angeles, California, USA; gu…

b. Glasgow, Scotland, but raised in Los Angeles, California, USA. It was perhaps inevitable, for a musician growing up in the 60s and early 70s, that Elliot's early taste would range through Motown Records and rock. However, he was also indelibly imp…

b. 11 July 1958, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. An accomplished tenor saxophonist, from the mid-80s onwards Whalum has found a lucrative niche playing smooth jazz. Raised in Memphis, he began playing in his father's church choir before graduating to jazz d…

George Benson's success as a pop performer has perhaps overshadowed his status as a jazz artist, but beneath the glossy exterior is a guitarist of the highest rank. Similar to his role model, Wes Montgomery, Benson made his mark as a hard-swinging gu…

Saxophonist Kenny G first gained attention as Kenny Gorelick, a member of second-tier jazz-fusion group the Jeff Lorber Fusion. After going solo, he developed a hyper-slick, instrumental pop sound that featured simple melodies played over gentle beds…

b. Bakersfield, California, USA. Benoit gained an early appreciation of music from his parents, who played guitar and piano. He began piano lessons at the age of 14, by which time he was steeped in the influences of both Ramsey Lewis and Henry Mancin…

Euge Groove -- a pseudonym for saxophone journeyman Steve Grove -- began playing piano in the second grade and turned to the saxophone at the age of nine or ten His teacher gave him a classical education on the instrument which he followed at the Uni…

Chris Botti rose to fame as a crackerjack session and touring trumpeter for the likes of Sting, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, and Natalie Merchant. A trained jazz musician, Botti's solo albums evoke a cool-jazz persona similar to Chet Baker…

b. Joseph Leslie Sample, 1 February 1939, Houston, Texas, USA. While still at high school, Sample co-founded a group that would dominate his working life. Known from 1960 as the Jazz Crusaders, the band, with its core of Sample on piano, Wayne Hender…

This contemporary jazz group originally comprised Russ Freeman (b. Russell Donald Freeman, 11 February 1960, Nashville, Tennessee, USA; guitar), Kenny G. (b. Kenneth Gorelick, 6 July 1956, Seattle, Washington, USA; saxophone) and David Benoit (b. 195…

b. 4 November 1952, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. A pioneer of the smooth jazz/New Adult Contemporary format, keyboard player Lorber's compositions are characterized by syncopated, chromatic melody and modal writing and a seamless fusion of electr…

Smooth jazz guitarist Peter Whites lyrical lines and musical inventiveness are a joy to listen to The affable Englishmans charm and playfulness comes through in his music giving his style of smooth jazz a liveliness that others in the genre lack Bor…

Formed in 1975 by saxophonist Jay Beckenstein (b. 14 May 1951, New York City, New York, USA) and pianist Jeremy Wall, the original Spyro Gyra comprised Chet Catallo (electric guitar), David Wolford (electric bass), Eli Konikoff (drums), and Gerardo V…

b. 12 December 1943, Buffalo, New York, USA, d. 17 December 1999, New York City, New York, USA. Growing up in a musical family, Washington was playing tenor saxophone before he was a teenager. He studied formally at the Wurlitzer School of Music in B…

b. 16 September 1954, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Jazz guitarist Klugh has an unorthodox style in that when he sits down he rests the guitar on his right knee instead of the left. After studying piano and nylon string guitar as a child, Klugh settled on …

Keyboardist Bob James is a man who has worn many musical hats. He began as a progressive-jazz pianist in the early 1960s (he even recorded for famed underground avant-garde label ESP). By the '70s, however, he'd incorporated electric keyboards and be…

Born on tour into a musical family Mindi Abair was playing piano by the age of five Within three years she was playing saxophone and writing songs She made her way through Berkelee performing all kinds of music from jazz to rock and RB Upon moving ba…

b. 2 March 1948, Torrance, California, USA. Often cited as the "guitarist's guitarist", Carlton has courted rock, jazz and acoustic new age with considerable success. The former member of the Crusaders carved a career during the 70s as a sought-after…