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Brent Fischer
Brent Fischer
American composer, arranger, bandleader, bass guitarist, percussionist
1
Cal Tjader
Cal Tjader
American Latin jazz musician, recording artist
2
Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
American pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, composer and actor
3
Billy Childs
Billy Childs
American jazz pianist
4
Willie Bobo
Willie Bobo
American musician
5
Chick Corea
Chick Corea
American jazz and fusion pianist, keyboardist, and composer
6
Eliane Elias
Eliane Elias
Brazilian jazz pianist, singer, arranger and songwriter
7
Mongo Santamaría
Mongo Santamaría
Cuban musician
8
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Canadian jazz pianist, band leader, composer
9
Bill Cunliffe
Bill Cunliffe
American musician
10
Chucho Valdés
Chucho Valdés
Cuban musician
11
Al McKibbon
Al McKibbon
American musician
12
Milt Holland
Milt Holland
American drummer, percussionist, musicologist and writer
13
Gary Foster
Gary Foster
Musician, Instrumentalist
14
Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
American musician
15
Vadim Neselovskyi
Vadim Neselovskyi
16
Claus Ogerman
Claus Ogerman
German composer
17
Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin
American jazz vocalist
18
Chris Anderson
Chris Anderson
American jazz pianist
19
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
American jazz saxophonist and composer
20
Eric Dolphy
Eric Dolphy
American jazz musician
21
Gerald Wilson
Gerald Wilson
American trumpetist (1918-2014)
22
Michel Camilo
Michel Camilo
Dominican Grammy-award winning pianist and composer (born 1954)
23
Gerald Wiggins
Gerald Wiggins
American pianist
24
Marty Paich
Marty Paich
American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director and bandleader (1925-1995)
25
Tommy Flanagan
Tommy Flanagan
American jazz pianist
26
Poncho Sanchez
Poncho Sanchez
American musician
27
John Beasley
John Beasley
American jazz pianist, bandleader, and producer of music in film and television
28
Elmo Hope
Elmo Hope
American musician
29
João Donato
João Donato
Brazilian musician
30
Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson
American jazz tenor saxophonist
31
Sam Most
Sam Most
American jazz flautist, clarinetist, and tenor saxophonist
32
Vince Guaraldi
Vince Guaraldi
American jazz pianist and composer (1928-1976)
33
Jaki Byard
Jaki Byard
American musician
34
Charlie Haden
Charlie Haden
American jazz double bassist
35
Craig Taborn
Craig Taborn
American musician
36
Roy Hargrove
Roy Hargrove
American jazz trumpeter
37
Christian McBride
Christian McBride
American musician
38
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
American jazz pianist
39
Hank Jones
Hank Jones
American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer (1918-2010)
40
Buster Williams
Buster Williams
American musician
41
Lennie Niehaus
Lennie Niehaus
American saxophonist and composer (1929-2020)
Clare Fischer
American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader

Clare Fischer

Intro
American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader

Douglas Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University (from which, five decades later, he would receive an honorary doctorate), he became the pianist and arranger for the vocal group the Hi-Lo's in the late 1950s. Fischer went on to work with Donald Byrd and Dizzy Gillespie, and became known for his Latin and bossa nova recordings in the 1960s. He composed the Latin jazz standard "Morning", and the jazz standard "Pensativa". Consistently cited by jazz pianist and composer Herbie Hancock as a major influence ("I wouldn't be me without Clare Fischer"), he was nominated for eleven Grammy Awards during his lifetime, winning for his landmark album, 2+2 (1981), the first of Fischer's records to incorporate the vocal ensemble writing developed during his Hi-Lo's days into his already sizable Latin jazz discography; it was also the first recorded installment in Fischer's three-decade-long collaboration with his son Brent. Fischer was also a posthumous Grammy winner for ¡Ritmo! (2012) and for Music for Strings, Percussion and the Rest (2013).

Beginning in the early 1970s, Fischer embarked on a parallel (and far more lucrative) career, eventually becoming a much sought-after arranger, providing orchestral "sweeteners" for pop and R&B artists such as Rufus (with Chaka Khan), Prince (a regular client from 1984 onwards, and by far Fischer's most frequent in pop music), Robert Palmer, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson and many others.