Highly influential drummer and composer Billy Cobham came on the jazz scene in the '60s working with Hubert Laws, Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra before launching his solo career.

Composer and pianist Joanne Brackeen has traveled the world, playing with Art Blakey, Stan Getz and others. She continues to teach, and learn from, students at Boston's Berklee College of Music.

Drummer Roy Haynes has not only shared the stage with legendary jazz figures over the decades, but contributed mightily to stylistic developments in the genre. He turned 99 this year.

Known as "Sweet Poppa Lou," the alto saxophonist’s music embodies the intangible jazz spirit and transformed the sound of Blue Note Records, beginning in the late 1950s.

Taj Mahal has spent the bulk of his musical career creating and capturing the deep traditions of the blues. His vast knowledge of the genre, its origins and the traditions that informed it, fuel his love of creating it and sharing it wide and far.

Dave Grusin is known to some as a gifted pianist and keyboard player, to others as one of the most talented and prolific composers of film and TV scores. To many, he's a champion of musical talent no matter the genre.

88-year-old trombonist and composer Julian Priester arrived in Seattle in 1979, and has become the Northwest’s “mentor in chief,” but that’s just a small part of Priester’s six-decade musical journey.

Roberta Flack has been the voice behind your favorite slow jams since 1968. A classically trained pianist and humanitarian, Flack's legacy as a vocalist lives on even as ALS prevents her from performing.

Eddie Henderson didn’t immediately gravitate toward jazz. He studied classical trumpet and went to medical school but after studying under several jazz icons, he hit the music scene in earnest and continues to perform with a dream team of artists.

Joe Chambers is a composer and commanding multi-instrumentalist who plays drums, vibraphone, marimba, and piano — and is still going strong today.