0
Roscoe Mitchell
Roscoe Mitchell
American jazz musician
1
Thomas Buckner
Thomas Buckner
American singer
2
Tatsu Aoki
Tatsu Aoki
American musician
3
George Lewis
George Lewis
composer, electronic performer, installation artist, trombone player, and scholar
4
Francis Wong
Francis Wong
American jazz musician
5
Joseph Jarman
Joseph Jarman
American jazz musician
6
Jane Ira Bloom
Jane Ira Bloom
American jazz saxophonist and composer
7
Paul Lytton
Paul Lytton
British musician
8
Willie Ruff
Willie Ruff
American musician
9
Ulysses Kay
Ulysses Kay
composer
10
Miya Masaoka
Miya Masaoka
American composer
11
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton
American musician, composer, and philosopher
12
Tomeka Reid
Tomeka Reid
American jazz musician
13
Vijay Iyer
Vijay Iyer
American jazz musician
14
Yusef Lateef
Yusef Lateef
American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
15
Benny Carter
Benny Carter
American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader (1907-2003)
16
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
American jazz saxophonist and composer
17
Muhal Richard Abrams
Muhal Richard Abrams
American musician
18
Edward Wilkerson
Edward Wilkerson
American bandleader
19
Matana Roberts
Matana Roberts
American musician
20
Dave Douglas
Dave Douglas
American jazz trumpeter
21
Fred Ho
Fred Ho
American jazz musician, author, and activist
22
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders
American jazz saxophonist
23
Ken Vandermark
Ken Vandermark
American jazz composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist
24
Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy
American jazz musician; saxophonist, composer
25
Lester Bowie
Lester Bowie
American jazz trumpet player and composer (1941-1999)
26
Meg Okura
Meg Okura
Japanese musician
27
Marilyn Crispell
Marilyn Crispell
American pianist
28
Jackie McLean
Jackie McLean
American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader
29
Matt Ingalls
Matt Ingalls
American musician
30
Herb Geller
Herb Geller
American saxophonist (1928-2013)
31
Rob Mazurek
Rob Mazurek
American musician
32
Susie Ibarra
Susie Ibarra
American musician
33
Charles Davis
Charles Davis
American musician
34
Oliver Nelson
Oliver Nelson
American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader (1932-1975)
35
Charlie Haden
Charlie Haden
American jazz double bassist
36
Bill Smith
Bill Smith
jazz musician and composer from the United States
37
Buddy Collette
Buddy Collette
American musician
38
Jack Cooper
Jack Cooper
American composer, arranger, orchestrator, multireedist, and music educator.
39
Julius Hemphill
Julius Hemphill
American saxophonist
40
Allen Lowe
Allen Lowe
American jazz musician
41
Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill
American jazz musician
42
Dave Rempis
Dave Rempis
American free jazz saxophonist
43
Hank Mobley
Hank Mobley
American saxophonist
44
Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis
Jazz trumpet player
45
Jamaaladeen Tacuma
Jamaaladeen Tacuma
American musician
46
Bobby Bryant
Bobby Bryant
American trumpeter
47
James Fei
James Fei
Taiwanese musician
Gerald Oshita
American musician

Gerald Oshita

Intro
American musician
Music

Gerald Oshita (1942–1992) was an American musician, composer, and sound recordist.

Oshita, who was of Japanese ancestry, lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and specialized in unusual wind instruments, particularly those of especially low register. He performed and recorded with straight alto saxophone, tenor and baritone saxophones, contrabass sarrusophone, and Conn-o-sax, and also made shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flutes).

Oshita's music drew on elements of jazz as well as contemporary classical music, and was often partly or wholly improvised. Among the musicians with whom Oshita frequently worked were Roscoe Mitchell and Thomas Buckner, and this trio released two recordings on the 1750 Arch record label. His work shows the influence of Asian music and philosophy, and he is considered one of the seminal musicians in the development of Asian American jazz.

In 1994, the Gerald Oshita Memorial Fellowship was established in Oshita's memory by an anonymous donor. The fellowship is presented annually to a composer of Asian, African, Latino, or Native American heritage, and supports a residency at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program on the Program's ranch in Woodside, California.