Artists Worth Checking Out

Every morning, The Foster Music Collective spotlights one artist worth your ears — a pianist, a band, a saxophonist, a legend — with one album to start with, a performance to watch, and a thought for our students. Follow along here, or find the daily posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads (@tfmcollective). New week every Wednesday.

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One artist, every morning, in your inbox — the same spotlight we post on social media, with the photo, the album to start with, and the video link.

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Pianist, producer, and bandleader who erased the line between jazz and R&B. His group the Robert Glasper Experiment took jazz harmony into songs your students already know — and won Grammys doing it.

Start here: the album Black Radio — or his trio record Covered, where he reworks modern songs like a jazz pianist thinks.

For our students: listen to how his left hand comps underneath everything — quiet, patient, never in the way. That's a whole lesson in one habit.

▶ Watch: Robert Glasper Experiment — NPR Tiny Desk Concert — http://youtube.com/watch?v=oGTVoX7AaRc

📷 Photo: Janette Beckman, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), via Wikimedia Commons — converted to black and white.

One of the most exciting young pianists in classical music. Isata Kanneh-Mason plays the big romantic repertoire — Clara Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Chopin — with power and zero stiffness, and she's brought a whole new audience with her.

Start here: Childhood Tales — her playing is joyful and completely human.

For our students: watch how relaxed her hands stay at full power. Tension is loud; relaxation sings.

▶ Watch: Isata Kanneh-Mason — NPR Tiny Desk Concert — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFGWCRXkWns

📷 Photo: HeyTomek, CC0 (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en), via Wikimedia Commons — converted to black and white.

Not one artist — a whole collective of them. Snarky Puppy is a large rotating band led by Michael League, playing instrumental music that mixes jazz, funk, gospel, and world music, usually recorded live in a room full of people.

Start here: We Like It Here — try the track "Lingus" and watch the keyboard solo near the end.

For our students: this is what listening while you play sounds like. Every musician in that room is reacting to everyone else.

▶ Watch: Snarky Puppy — "Lingus," from the We Like It Here live sessions — https://youtube.com/watch?v=Xvpah-zWFXs

📷 Photo: Whippdog, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), via Wikimedia Commons — converted to black and white.

Armenian pianist who blends jazz with the folk melodies and odd-meter rhythms of his homeland — and somehow makes 7/8 and 9/8 feel like they swing. His music is intense, beautiful, and rhythmically fearless.

Start here: the album Mockroot.

For our students: this is why we drill rhythm. Tigran treats odd meters the way most players treat 4/4 — as home. Count along and see how long you can stay with him.

▶ Watch: Tigran Hamasyan — "The Curse," live at the Chan Centre — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eyd1ePq4EU

📷 Photo: Vahan Stepanyan, CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons — converted to black and white.

London producer and pianist who taught himself by sampling hip-hop beats, then fell for jazz harmony. His music is mellow on the surface and quietly sophisticated underneath — chords that drift like weather.

Start here: the album Antiphon — put it on and let it run.

For our students: Alfa Mist is proof that you don't need a conservatory path to make serious music. You need ears, patience, and daily reps.

▶ Watch: Alfa Mist — "Nucleus," live at Pink Bird Recording Co. — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfJlkkqxF30

📷 Photo: Dirk Neven, CC0 (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en), via Wikimedia Commons — converted to black and white.

Five London musicians carrying jazz to dance floors. Ezra Collective mixes jazz with Afrobeat, grime, and dub — high-energy, joyful, and built for a crowd. They won the Mercury Prize and still sound like friends having the time of their lives.

Start here: You Can't Steal My Joy — the title tells you everything.

For our students: notice the drummer. The whole band's joy is sitting on a rock-solid groove. Energy is a skill, and it starts with time.

▶ Watch: Ezra Collective — NPR Tiny Desk Concert (filmed right here in DC) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAzClkn3zYw

📷 Photo: CamilaAlves.raf, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), via Wikimedia Commons — converted to black and white.

London saxophonist and composer at the front of the UK's jazz wave. Nubya Garcia's sound is warm, searching, and patient — she builds solos like stories, and her band breathes with her.

Start here: the album Source.

For our students: listen to how much space she leaves. Beginners fill every gap; artists like Nubya know the rests are music too.

▶ Watch: Nubya Garcia — NPR Tiny Desk Concert — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh4u8Da0F7A

📷 Photo: Schorle, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), via Wikimedia Commons — converted to black and white.