Oscar W. Holden, Sr. (1886-1969)

Oscar W. Holden, Sr. (1886-1969)

Oscar Holden, often called the patriarch of Seattle jazz, was one of the earliest of Seattle, Washington’s influential jazz musicians. Holden was born in Nashville, Tennessee on April 11, 1886 to parents John Wesley Holden and Ann West Holden.  He was the fourth child...
Cecil Taylor (1929- )

Cecil Taylor (1929- )

One of the great innovators of jazz music, pianist Cecil Taylor has redefined modernist jazz improvisation and composition.  With uncompromising vision and sheer force of expression, his demanding music has both alienated and thrilled audiences, and has largely found...
John Edgar Wideman (1941- )

John Edgar Wideman (1941- )

John Edgar Wideman was born in 1941 in Washington, D.C. but grew up in the predominantly black middle class community of Homewood near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. By the time Wideman was in high school, his family had moved to Shadyside, an upper middle class mostly...