Eliane Elias is a Brazilian jazz pianist, arranger, vocalist and songwriter. She started composing and performing her own jazz pieces at seventeen.
On a tour in Europe in 1981, she met jazz bassist Eddie Gomez and was encouraged to travel to New York.

 

Starting 1986, Elias became a successful band leader. In 1988 she was elected as "Best New Talent" by the Jazziz magazine poll of jazz critics.

 

Starting with the 1990 album "Eliane Elias Plays Jobim", she had added her own vocals to her recordings. Elias' 1991 album "A Long Story" found her weaving her wordless vocals into her original compositions.

 

Now at her 19th album, Eliane Elias won several Golden Discs and 3 Grammy nominees.

 

 

 

Richard Bona is a jazz bassist and musician. He began learning to play the guitar at age 11, and in 1980 aged just 13, he assembled his first ensemble for a French jazz club in Douala.

 

Bona emigrated to Germany, then France and finally established in New York. His first solo album, “Scenes of my life”, was released in 1999.

 

In 2005 Bona released his fourth album “Tiki”, which included a collaboration with John Legend on one track, entitled "Please Don't Stop."

 

He currently holds a professorship of music at New York University.

 

 

 

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is a multiple Grammy Award winning American jazz pianist, keyboardist, drummer and composer. He is known for his work during the 1970's in the genre of jazz fusion.

 

Later, toward the end of the 1970's, Corea embarked on a series of concerts and two albums with Herbie Hancock.

 

During his career he formed the bands Elektric Band, the Acoustik Band and Origin.

 

Recent years have also seen Corea's rising interest in contemporary classical music.

 

Lenny White is an American jazz funk drummer who is best known for being one of the forerunners of jazz-rock/funk.

 

A versatile drummer, Lenny White is still best-known for being part of Chick Corea's Return To Forever in the 1970's. White was self-taught on drums and he largely started his career on top, playing regularly with Jackie McLean (1968) and recording "Bitches Brew" with Miles Davis in 1969.

 

Stanley Clarke is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores.

 

Clarke's ”The Toys of Men”, in it's first week of release went to #2 on Billboard magazine's Contemporary Jazz Chart. The album includes acoustic bass interludes that provide a counterpoint to Clarke's better known electric bass attack.

 

 

 

Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader.

 

In the summer of 1980, while still a Berklee College of Music student, Marsalis toured Europe playing alto and baritone saxophone in a large ensemble led by drummer Art Blakey.

 

Marsalis placed greater emphasis on classical music since the 2001 release of his album “Creation”. Performances with symphony orchestras and chamber ensembles worldwide have become a significant part of his itinerary. In his most intense period of classical playing, he toured the United States with Philarmonia Brasileira for October and November 2008.

 

 

 

Mike Stern is an American jazz guitarist. A major player on the scene since his breakthrough days with Miles Davis' comeback band.

 

In a career that spans three decades and a discography that includes more than a dozen eclectic and innovative recordings, five-time Grammy nominee Mike Stern has established himself as one of the premier jazz and jazz-fusion guitarists and composers of his generation.

 

A Mike Stern signature model was manufactured by Yamaha as part of their Pacifica range. The guitar is based on Mike's heavily modified Fender Telecaster.

 

 

 

Jan Garbarek is a Norwegian tenor and soprano saxophonist, active in the jazz, classical, and world music genres.

 

He began his recording career in the late 1960s, notably featuring on recordings by the American jazz composer George Russell. In the 1980s, Garbarek's music began to incorporate synthesizers and elements of world music.

 

In addition to the selections from “Dis”, Garbarek has also composed music for several European films, including French and Norwegian films. Also his song "Rites" was used in the American film “The Insider”.