Artists like Gábor Szabó

Dorothy Jeanne Thompson, better known as Dorothy Ashby, was an American jazz harpist, singer and composer. Hailed as one of the most "unjustly under loved jazz greats of the 1950s" and the "most accomplished modern jazz harpist," Ashby established the harp as an improvising jazz instrument, beyond earlier use as a novelty or background orchestral instrument, proving the harp could play bebop as adeptly as the instruments commonly associated with jazz, such as the saxophone or piano.

Idris Muhammad was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He had an extensive career performing jazz, funk, R&B, and soul music and recorded with musicians such as Ahmad Jamal, Lou Donaldson, Pharoah Sanders, Bob James, and Tete Montoliu.

David Axelrod was an American composer, arranger, and producer. After starting out as a staff producer for record companies specializing in jazz, Axelrod became known by the mid-1960s in soul and jazz circles for his recording skills. In 1968, Axelrod embarked on a solo career and released several albums during the 1970s that showcased his characteristic sound, which combined heavily microphoned drums and baroque orchestration, and avant garde themes ranging from the environment to heightened mental awareness.

Charlie Hunter is an American guitarist, composer, producer and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven - and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass lines, chords, and melodies. Critic Sean Westergaard described Hunter's technique as "mind-boggling...he's an agile improviser with an ear for great tone, and always has excellent players alongside him in order to make great music, not to show off." Hunter's technique is rooted in the styles of jazz guitarists Joe Pass and Tuck Andress, two of his biggest influences, who blended bass notes with melody in a way that created the illusion of two guitars.

Mulatu Astatke is an Ethiopian musician and arranger considered the father of "Ethio-jazz".

Cortex is a jazz funk band formed by band leader Alain Mion in 1974. Cortex is known for polyrhythmic instrumentals and funk, bossa nova, samba-jazz, and psychedelic rock grooves, mixed with atmospheric vocals, inspired by 1970s American funk and jazz. Cortex broke up in 1981, but reformed in 2009 with a rotating group of members. Hip hop samples of Cortex songs in tracks from artists including MF Doom, Madlib, Tyler, the Creator, Kanye West, Flying Lotus, Lupe Fiasco, and Suicideboys have brought newfound interest to the band starting in the early 2000s.

Roy Edward Ayers Jr. was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped to pioneer jazz-funk. He was a key figure in the acid jazz movement, and has been described as "The Godfather of Neo Soul". He was best known for his compositions "Everybody Loves the Sunshine", "Running Away", and "Freaky Deaky" and others that charted in the 1970s. At one time, Ayers was listed among the performers whose music was most often sampled by rappers.