Improv Games

Peter Martin is an acclaimed jazz pianist, educator, and founder of Open Studio. Peter has performed and recorded on six continents with Wynton Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Betty Carter, Christian McBride, Joshua Redman as well as his own ensembles. He has recorded over 400 lessons, pioneering the field of online jazz education and was recently featured in...

As Open Studio’s Managing Director, Adam Maness develops the curriculum of all of the courses, in addition to teaching his own popular course like Magic Voicing System, Piano Fingering Independence and more. Adam is a versatile pianist, arranger, composer, and producer whose performances, original compositions, and arrangements have been featured on numerous recordings and on national and international radio and television...

Christian McBride is a eight-time GRAMMY® Award-winning bassist/composer. Aside from various stints with Sting, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Roy Haynes, and others, McBride has been artist-in-residence and artistic director with organizations such as Jazz Aspen, Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Jazz Museum in Harlem, Jazz House Kids, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center – Newark, the Montclair...

Pianist Aaron Parks is a forward-thinking jazz musician who came to the public’s attention during his time with trumpeter Terence Blanchard. Aaron studied with noted pianist Kenny Barron and has performed with a variety of artists including trumpeter Christian Scott, drummer Kendrick Scott, vocalist Gretchen Parlato, and others. Parks has released several albums under his own name, including...

Grammy award winner Geoffrey Keezer is a highly sought after pianist, composer and educator. Geoffrey has recorded and toured with Art Blakey, Ray Brown, Benny Golson, Joshua Redman, Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride, Chris Botti, Sting and more.  Visit Geoffrey’s site for more information including tour dates.

Jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen is a dynamic force in music and the arts. Leading the Emmet Cohen Trio and pioneering the Masters Legacy Series. He’s a globally acclaimed jazz sensation, having launched “Live From Emmet’s Place,” a live-streamed “Harlem rent party” that’s captivated millions. With over ten albums to his name and collaborations...

Over his 60 year career, Mr. Carter has recorded with many of the jazz greats greats including Lena Horne, Bill Evans, B.B. King, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, Bobby Timmons, Eric Dolphy, Cannonball Adderley and Jaki Byard to name a few. From 1963 to 1968, he was a member of the acclaimed Miles Davis Quintet. Carter...

Five-time Grammy winner Dianne Reeves is the pre-eminent jazz vocalist in the world as a result of her breathtaking virtuosity, improvisational prowess, and unique jazz and R&B stylings. In 2018, Dianne was honored as an NEA Jazz Master, which is the highest honor that our nation bestows on jazz artists. She has performed at the White House on...

Frequently performing around the world with various orchestras and ensembles, Sean Jones is a premier trumpet player. He has been prominently featured with a number of artists, recording and/or performing with major figures such as Wynton Marsalis, Illinois Jacquet, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Gerald Wilson and Marcus Miller.

Greg Hutchinson has appeared on over 160 recordings, performing and recording with countless jazz greats including Betty Carter, Joshua Redman, Dianne Reeves, Wynton Marsalis, John Scofield, Roy Hargrove, Diana Krall and Harry Connick Jr.

A select member of jazz’s piano pantheon, Fred Hersch is a pervasively influential creative force who has shaped the music’s course over more than three decades as an improviser, composer, educator, bandleader, collaborator and recording artist.  A fifteen-time Grammy nominee, Hersch has regularly garnered jazz’s most prestigious awards and has long set the standard for...

Ulysses Owens Jr. is a Grammy-winning drummer and also a producer, composer, educator, and entrepreneur. He has toured and recorded with artists including Christian McBride, Wynton Marsalis, Kurt Elling, Diane Schuur, Renee Fleming, Monty Alexander, Russell Malone, and Mulgrew Miller.

Imbued with both groove and spirit from birth, Reuben Rogers combined the calypso and reggae rhythms of his native Virgin Islands with the gospel sounds of the church and the freedom and improvisation of jazz to create the unique chemistry that would make him one of the most distinctive and in-demand bassists in modern jazz....

Melissa Aldana, a rising star in the world of saxophone and the first female instrumentalist to win the coveted Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, has said she doesn’t think about shattering glass ceilings in her career. The native of Chile, who attended Berklee College of Music on a full scholarship, just felt privileged to compete...

Bob DeBoo is an in-demand performer on both the double and electric bass. Some of the projects he’s been involved with the last couple years include playing with David Sanborn’s Acoustic Quartet, Peter Martin, Geoffrey Keezer, Alarm Will Sound, Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up In Your Bones” Opera, James Carter, Matt Wilson, Ron Miles, the 442s,...

Chris began studying with the late, great Barry Harris in 1993 and still learns from his teaching every day. In addition to in-person teaching, he began sharing what he learned from Barry on his popular YouTube channel in 2018. Chris is Open Studio’s guitar guru and hosts five live coaching sessions in Open Studio Pro.

Romero Lubambo‘s guitar playing unites the styles and rhythms of his native Brazilian musical heritage with his fluency in the American jazz tradition to form a distinctive new sound. Lubambo has performed and recorded with many outstanding artists, including Dianne Reeves, Michael Brecker, Yo-Yo Ma, Kathleen Battle, Diana Krall, Herbie Mann, Wynton Marsalis, Gal Costa, Kurt...

Edu Ribeiro is a modern Brazilian jazz drumming legend and two time Grammy Award winner. He has performed across the globe with Yamand Costa, Ivan Lins, Joyce, Toquinho, João Bosco, Randy Brecker, Eliane Elias, Brad Mehldau, Stacey Kent, and Leny Andrade, as well his own groups, including Trio Corrente. Edú is also a skilled educator, having...

The premier Brazilian jazz pianist of his generation. He has performed and recorded with top Brazilian and American jazz artists including Claudio Roditi, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Rosa Passos, Joyce, Duduka da Fonseca, Airto Moreira, and more. He has been featured on multiple Grammy-winning albums including Obrigado Brasil by Yo Yo Ma, Big Band by Joe...

Having an exquisite voice, a disarmingly wide range and a style that is deeply rooted in the tradition of the great jazz vocalists, Gillian Margot possesses a gift of storytelling and stunning lyrical delivery. A native of Toronto, Canada, Margot studied under a generation of jazz legends including Oscar Peterson, Freddy Cole, Carol Welsman, and...