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

Herbie Hancock (left), Jahari Stampley, Connor Rohrer and Paul Cornish at this year’s competition, which took place Oct. 14–15 in New York.

“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.

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.

A trio featuring reedist Ingrid Laubrock, drummer Tom Rainey and bassist Brandon Lopez will deliver rigorous free-jazz explorations at this year’s edition of Jazzfest Berlin.

​Bley told DownBeat in 1984: “I’m just a composer, and I use jazz musicians because they’re smarter, and they can save your ass in a bad situation. … I need all the help I can get.”

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

Gabriela Martina and her longstanding band, from left, Vancil Cooper, Martina, Ben Rosenblum, Kyle Miles, Maxim Lubarsky and Jussi Reijonen.

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

“One of my hopes is that we find new and different versions of and possibilities for community,” Pinderhughes says of The Healing Project.