Ben Allison

A versatile acoustic bassist/composer with an adventurous spirit, Ben Allison has often excelled in jazz settings but has leaned toward more eclectic rock- and funk-oriented sounds on his own albums. The East Coast native was only nine when he began studying music, and he was 22 when, in 1989, he graduated from New York University with a B.A. in jazz performance. In 1992, Allison founded the Jazz Composers Collective, a musician-run nonprofit organization that encouraged artists to take risks and didn't shy away from the avant-garde when presenting many concerts in New York. I...