Jazz Legends

Pianist, organist, composer, and bandleader Carla Bley (born May 11, 1936) considered herself primarily a composer, saying she was 99% composer and 1% pianist. She associated herself with the avant guard movement, allying herself with musicians like Charlie Haden, Michael Mantler, and others in her cutting edge ensembles, she organized the Jazz Composers Guild in the 1960s featuring many of the most innovative musicians in NYC at the time, and her record label released recordings of Don Cherry, Roswell Rudd and Clifford Thornton.

Composer and lyricist Burton Lane (born Feb 2, 1912) is perhaps best remembered as the composer of the hit Broadway shows "Finian’s Rainbow" and "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever", but he had a long and distinguished career writing for films and the stage, and his tunes are much loved vehicles for jazz musicians.

Pianist and composer Richie Beirach (born May 23, 1947) made hundreds of recordings, both as a leader of his own groups, and as part of a long-standing duo with saxophonist Dave Liebman. He taught jazz piano in Leipzig, Germany at the University of Music and Theater and lived in Germany up to his death earlier this year.

Pianist /composer Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) has had a long and distinguished career performing with his own groups, making a succession of solo piano recordings, and playing with the bands of Miles Davis, Art Blakey and Charles Lloyd. In recent years he has been sidelined by the effects of a stroke which tragically left him without the use of his right hand.

Singer/songwriter/pianist Matt Dennis (born Feb 11, 1914), while not exactly a household name,  wrote some of the most enduring gems of the Great American Songbook. "Angel Eyes", "Everything Happens to Me", "Let’s Get Away from it All", "The Night We Called it a Day", and "Violets for Your Furs" are all standards that will be played for years to come.