“We play traditional rhythms, but the nature of the traditional rhythms is that there’s improvisation and a lot of room for expression,” Santos says of his music.

Michael Blake’s Chroma Nova, from left, Guilherme Monteiro, Skye Steele, Michael Bates, Mauro Refosco, Michael Blake, Christopher Hoffman and Rogerio Boccato.

Endea Owens takes the Blindfold Test with writer Ashley Kahn onstage at this summer’s NorthSea Jazz Festival.

Garzone and Daly keep the spirit of New York’s 52nd Street alive during a CD release party at Dizzy’s on Sept. 15.

Bennett had a wealth of material to draw upon, and he had a direct association with much of it.

“Charlie Christian with the Benny Goodman Sextet on record, that was it!” said Freeman of his early influences.

“I made the decision pretty early on that jazz music was going to be a huge part of my identity when I was growing up in California. But New York City made a man out of me,” Meagher says.

Parks has battled and triumphantly come back from bouts of manic behavior that left him “getting pretty abstract,” he said, to the point that he had to cancel a tour and seek help.

Pascal and Remy Le Boeuf have been described as “impressive musically and, most importantly, impressive as people,” by Tim Jackson of the Monterey Jazz Festival.

“I wanted it to be a continuous celebration of life,” Rodriguez says of his new album, Coral Way.