Terri Lyne Carrington

Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion/smooth jazz quartet. The original group, called The Robben Ford Group, was formed in 1977, and consisted of... Robben Ford, Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip and Ricky Lawson, all top-notch L.A. session musicians. Ford had originally assembled the group to record Inside Story, but, signed to a separate record contract, ended up listed as a guest artist. Eventually he was replaced by saxophone and EWI player Richard Elliott, who appeared only on the "Mirage a Trois" album, before switching places in 1984 with alto saxophonist Marc Russo, who had been in the seminal R&B band Tower of Power. Ricky Lawson left in 1986 to tour with Lionel Richie. Some of their songs were featured on The Weather Channel's Local On The 8s segments -- the Ferrante composition, "Matinee Idol," being the most well-known. Founded in 1981 as a jazz-fusion band that starred guitarist Robben Ford, the group's sound became more R&B-oriented after Ford's departure, with Marc Russo's crisp alto saxophone sound and soaring high-register solos.
more

Verve Forecast Records is a record label specializing in cutting-edge material which was founded in 1967 by Verve Records and since been revived twice. Verve Forecast was founded by Verve executive Jerry Schoenbaum as an outgrowth of Verve Folkways Records, founded in 1964 in association with... Folkways Records owner Moe Asch. Originally a folk music label, Verve Forecast challenged standard record industry practice by developing long term careers instead of generating hit records. Verve Forecast attracted a new generation of talent which included The Blues Project, Richie Havens, Tim Hardin, Janis Ian, Laura Nyro, Jim and Jean, Friend and Lover, The Hombres and Bob Lind. Established folk music artists included Odetta, Dave Van Ronk and The New Lost City Ramblers along with blues artists John Lee Hooker, Lightnin' Hopkins, Leadbelly and James Cotton. The label fell victim to corporate shuffles in the early 1970s around the time Verve parent MGM Records was sold to PolyGram .
more

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in black communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a... mix of African and European music traditions. Its black African pedigree is evident in its use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and the swung note. From its early development until the present day jazz has also incorporated music from American popular music. As the music has developed and spread around the world it has drawn on many different national, regional and local musical cultures giving rise, since its early 20th century American beginnings, to many distinctive styles: New Orleans jazz dating from the early 1910s, big band swing, Kansas City jazz and Gypsy jazz from the 1930s and 1940s, bebop from the mid-1940s and on down through West Coast jazz, cool jazz, avant-garde jazz, Afro-Cuban jazz, modal jazz, free jazz, Latin jazz in various forms, soul jazz, jazz fusion and jazz rock, smooth jazz, jazz-funk, punk jazz, acid jazz, ethno jazz, jazz rap, cyber jazz, Indo jazz, M-Base, nu jazz, urban jazz and other ways of playing the music. In a 1988 interview, trombonist J.J. Johnson said, "Jazz is restless.
more