Chuck Jacobs played bass in Kenny Rogers’ band for more than 40 years and enjoyed every minute of it. His roots in music go back to the Dixieland group his family formed while he was too ...

Les Deutsch is a Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientist in the aerospace industry who holds several patents for electronic musical instruments. His father, Ralph Deutsch, invited the s...

Hal Smith is a drummer deeply rooted in the traditional ragtime and early jazz styles. His performances are often a history lesson not just in sound but in the techniques of creative jazz...

Donald Harrison Jr. was born in New Orleans to a deeply musical family steeped in all styles of music: brass bands, jazz, R&B, funk, and world music. His father was a Mardi Gras India...

Steve Rucker is the Director of Drumset Studies at the University of Miami.  His long and interesting career began in Charlotte, where his father fell in love with big band music and ofte...

Ellis Marsalis had a firm idea how to bring out the best music in people, even before his famous sons were born.  His understanding of music theory and notation became the cornerstone of ...

Branford Marsalis has a deep passion for music that reflects not only in his playing but his music education as well. Branford attributes his skills as a musician through dedicated practi...

Terence Blanchard remembers with pride the special way Lionel Hampton coached and encouraged him.  It was his first professional gig and Hamp took the time to share with young Terence, an...

Bobby Gordon, the jazz clarinetist who helped expand the New Orleans traditions to audiences around the world, was interviewed alongside his long time friend Bob Greene. The two men reuni...

Floyd Levin was a promoter of traditional jazz, an author, and music historian. Beginning on radio in the 1940s and then on to writing a music column, Floyd captured some of the greatest ...

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Bob Haggart may be best known for his crazy bass playing on...

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Ralph Sutton learned the traditional stride piano styles of...

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Billy Butterfield's smooth and melodic trumpet can be heard...

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Kenny Davern was just a kid when he heard Pee Wee Russell p...

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Phil Harris was a big band leader, singer, and actor who hi...