Ella Fitzgerald
The best known and most popular jazz artist of all time, often referred to as The First Lady of Song
Artists
Art Blakey
Blakey became regarded as the finishing school in jazz, his name on the curriculum vitae young musicians providing a status they would not have otherwise enjoyed. He also made an astonishing run of albums for Blue Note in the 1960s
Bill Evans
In 1959 Evans appeared on Kind of Blue, widely considered the greatest jazz album of all time, which included significant input from him, including the composition “Blue In Green”. But that was just one highlight from his career...
Wayne Shorter
A member of Miles Davis' "Second Great Quintet" and a founder of Weather Report with keyboard player Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter has deservedly been showered with awards and honours
Charles Lloyd
Surrounded by legendary jazz musicians his entire life, Charles Lloyd has made some truly great recordings for ECM and Blue Note
Billie Holiday
A tragic childhood, a troubled personal life, addiction problems – but Billie Holiday rose above it all to become one of the greatest singers of the 20th century
Dave Holland
Bassist Dave Holland has played with everone from Miles Davis to Thelonious Monk in an extraordinarily successful career
Andy Sheppard
The award-winning, self-trained saxophonist and composer whose music has crossed genre barriers with ease
John Surman
From 1979’s 'Upon Reflection' Surman began a lasting association with the Munich based ECM label where much of his finest work is to be found
Bugge Wesseltoft
Live, Wesseltoft became a master of matching an audience’s mood to tempo and spontaneously developing pieces of rising intensity that drove crowds wild