Drummer, composer, author and conductor. He performed with the orchestras of Ted Fiorito, Benny Goodman, the Dorsey brothers, Harry James, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie. He toured with Jazz At the Philharmonic, and later organized his own band and did a concert tour with his wife Pearl Bailey. In 1965 he rejoined the Ellington orchestra. He has made many records. Joining ASCAP in 1956, he composed "Hawk Talks", Skin Deep", "You Gotta Dance", and "Ting-a-Ling".

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was an African American jazz composer, pianist, and band leader who has been one of the most influential figures in jazz, if not in all American music. As a composer and a band leader especially, Ellington's reputation has increased since his death, with thematic repackagings of his signature music often becoming best-sellers. A man of suave demeanor and puckish wit that masked occasional brusqueness, …

Philip Wells Woods (born November 2 1931) is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer. He also performed in other jazz mediums, such a Progressive jazz, post bop and hard bop. Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and studied music with Lennie Tristano, who influenced him greatly, at the Manhattan School of Music and at The Juilliard School.

Frank Rosolino (August 20 1926 - November 26 1978) was an American jazz trombonist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, in a family that included brothers Russell and Gasper, Rosolino studied the guitar with his father starting at age 9. Frank took up the trombone at age 14, and graduated from Miller High School, while playing in the Cass Tech Symphony Orchestra, a fine music program that also produced Donald Byrd.

George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues and rock guitarist and singer. Known as an inspiration to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and other 1960s blues and rock legends, Guy is considered an important exponent of Chicago blues. He is the father of female rapper Shawnna. Guy is known for his showmanship; for example, he plays his guitar with drumsticks, or strolls into the audience while jamming and trailing a long guitar cord.

Seldon Powell (15 November, 1928-25 January, 1997) was an American soul jazz, swing and R&B tenor saxophonist and flautist born in Lawrenceville, Virginia, probably better known for his early work with musicians like Lucky Millinder, Neal Hefti or Louis Bellson. During the 1960s he ventured into the soul jazz idiom and worked with musicians like Clark Terry and Buddy Rich.

Tommy Aldridge (born on August 15, 1950, in Jackson, Mississippi), is a heavy metal and hard rock drummer who has pioneered double bass drumming. Tommy is noted for his work with numorous bands and vocalists, most notable being Ozzy Osbourne, Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers, Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake. Aldridge taught himself how to play drums and was inspired by rock legends like Cream, the Beatles, …

Pat (Pascel Emmanuel) LaBarbera (Born 7 April 1944) is an American-born Canadian jazz tenor, alto and soprano saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist born in Mt. Morris, New York, most notable for his work as a soloist in Buddy Rich bands from 1967-1973. He moved to Toronto, Ontario in 1974, and is a member of the faculty at Humber College. La Barbera began working with Elvin Jones in 1975, touring Europe with him in 1979.

Vaughn Nark is a critically acclaimed trumpeter, flugelhornist, tromboneist and exclusive Yamaha clinician from Washington, DC. With a career that includes nearly two decades as a member of the United States Air Force premiere jazz ensemble, the Airmen of Note, Vaughn has performed with many of the worlds finest artists and entertainers, including Dizzy Gillespie, Doc Severinsen, Tony Bennett, Louis Bellson, Henry Mancini, Arturo Sandoval, Stanley Turrentine, Slide Hampton, …

John Cocuzzi (born 1964) is an American jazz, blues, and swing musician who specializes the vibraphone and piano, as well as drums. His primary influences on vibraphone are Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo, while his piano playing is influenced by piano greats from both the jazz and blues worlds. Cocuzzi is originally from Maryland but is best known in the Washington, DC area. He has been a member of Big Joe & the Dynaflows, …

Gary Guthman from Portland Oregon, Gary Guthman started his musical career at the age of nine and studied classically for the first 15 of his playing years. After attending Portland State University, he performed short stints in the 80’s as the “youngster” with the Dorsey Brothers Big Band, Stan Kenton Orchestra, Don Ellis Orchestra and Louis Bellson.

Burnett Thompson, is a Pianist, composer, and educator. He was educated at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Vienna, Austria, and the New England Conservatory of Music. Further studies included work with pianist William Masselos. In 1981 he founded the Foggy Bottom Chamber Music Society, which included members of the National Symphony Orchestra, the group was regularly coached by Mstislav Rostropovich and performed in a documentary about the eminent cellist.