Kevin Whitehead

Bennett, who died in 2023, was known for a string of hits, including "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Kevin Whitehead offers an appreciation and remembers some of Bennett's lesser-known songs.

Some books give Smith's birthdate as Dec. 8, 1925, but more recent sources cite 1928 as his birth year. Regardless, the late musician always delivered the goods, even as the beats behind him changed.

From music producer Quincy Jones, to critic and archivist Dan Morgenstern, jazz historian Kevin Whitehead remembers just a few of the influential musicians and personalities we lost this year.

Born Sept. 27, 1924, Powell helped set the style for jazz piano after WWII. While earlier pianists played busy bass patterns, he helped establish a more fragmented, punctuating role for the left hand.

Born in 1924 in Newark, N.J., Vaughan came up in the '40s, alongside bebop, a new jazz style she instantly took to. In the following decades, she proved to be one of the best singers of any genre.

Bass improviser Richard Davis, trombonist Curtis Fowlkes and saxophonists Charles Gayle and Peter Brötzmann are among the notable musicians we lost this year.

Shorter, who died March 2, was inspired by film and literature, as much as by sounds. One of the great musical minds of our time, he had a profound influence on the course of jazz.

Wadud, saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, organist Joey DeFrancesco, trombonist Grachan Moncur III, trumpeter Jaimie Branch and saxophonist Ronnie Cuber are among the notable musicians who died in 2022.

Critic Kevin Whitehead reflects on the legacy of the musician who would have been 100 on April 22, 2022. Mingus died in 1979, leaving behind a catalog of music that reflected his outsized personality.

Barnes and Osborne would both be 100 on July 17. Barnes grew up in Chicago and went on to play on Bob Dylan's first single. Osborne turned up on records by Mel Tormé , Wynonie Harris and others.