Jam-rockers Foxtrot Zulu formed on the campus of the University of Rhode Island in 1995 comprising guitarists Neal Jones and Nate The Kid Edmunds bassist Brad Haas saxophonist Terrystan TK Kyan trumpeter Jeff Light percussionist Paul Miller and drumm…

The Jazz Mandolin Project was led by mandolinist Jamie Masefield a onetime member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band Formed in 1993 the improvisational ensembles original lineup also included bassist Stacey Starkweather and drummer Gabe Jarrett they …

Since starting out in the 1980s, Buckwheat Zydeco (aka Stanley Dural), a performer as musically vital as the legendary Clifton Chenier, has gone on to be the most commercially successful zydeco act ever. Playing a slightly modernized, furiously ener…

The Allman Brothers Band offshoot Gov't Mule combines the improvisatory aesthetic of jam bands with the heavy-duty blues-rock sensibility of classic power trios like Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Guitarist Warren Haynes and bassist Allen Woo…

Though they started out in the '80s in Athens, GA, Widespread Panic are as far as can be from what was known then as the "Athens scene" (R.E.M, Let's Active, Pylon, etc.). Instead, they were among the first of a new wave of jam bands picking up the b…

Of all the jam bands to emerge in the late-1980s and early-'90s, Phish were widely regarded as the inheritors to the Grateful Dead's throne. While the group's jazzy, mercurial sound was more progressive and light-hearted than the Dead's, Phish's mass…

Jamaican legend Bob Marley began recording in the mid-1960s when R&B-influenced vocal harmony was the order of the day in Jamaican pop. With the Wailers, he presaged every major development from rock steady to roots reggae. By combining the tension o…

At the front of the jam-band pack in terms of popularity, the String Cheese Incident are notable for their combination of bluegrass, rock, jazz, and R&B influences. The Colorado-based band developed a huge grass-roots following with their blend of im…

The funkified jazz trio Medeski, Martin & Wood plays fusion music by way of the downtown New York avant scene of the 1990s. John Medeski's fuzzy keyboards are equally indebted to the Meters, Jimmy Smith, and Sun Ra; and Chris Wood and Billy Martin pr…

Despite being responsible for such funky sounds, Galactic's founding members, Jeff Raines (guitar) and Robert Mercurio (bass), were originally in Washington DC, USA-based punk bands. It was only after relocating to New Orleans, Louisiana, that the du…

A jam band coming out of the Midwest in the mid-90s Umphreys McGee edged toward the Frank Zappa side of the improv rock scale as opposed to the Grateful DeadAllman Brothers Band direction espoused by many of their contemporaries like the Big Wu The …

They're known as the founding fathers of Southern rock, but the Allman Brothers were actually much more progressive than the musical school they inspired. They reclaimed the US-influenced blues-rock of Cream et al. and brought it back to America, add…

Since co-founding the seminal improv rock outfit Phish in 1983 guitarist composer and songwriter Trey Anastasio has explored a wide variety of musical pathways ranging from atonal fugues and elaborate charts with Phish to adventurous free jazz on his…

The Grateful Dead were right there at the birth of the 1960s West Coast psychedelic scene, but they handily incorporated simple folk, blues, and country sounds into their swirling, jam-oriented style. With an endless touring schedule and a huge follo…

Jam band the Big Wu formed on the campus of St Olaf College in Northfield MN in 1992 around the nucleus of singerguitarist Chris Castino guitarist Jason Fladager and drummer Terry VanDeWalker Channeling a wide range of influences including bluegrass …

A post-bopper who emerged from his early-'80s Miles Davis stint brandishing the funk, Scofield has a well-earned place in the pantheon of contemporary jazz guitarists. He has a distinctive, edgy sound that draws on both rock and jazz. His playing sea…

New York City-born banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck is known as a pioneer for expanding the role of banjo beyond bluegrass and folk traditions. Something of a child prodigy, he began his solo career in 1979, and in '81 joined up with the New Grass Revival f…

The Woodstock, New York, USA-based quartet Soulive is a modern jazz/soul outfit, which also manages to merge elements of rap, and funky jamming into the mix. The band was formed on 2 March 1999, a date when drummer Alan Evans, Hammond B-3 organ-playi…