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With his breathtaking technique and penchant for blending classical with jazz, rock, and more, Nigel Kennedy is both a maverick of the classical world and one of the biggest violin superstars of his generation. A prodigy, Kennedy was mentored by legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin in his youth and emerged in the 1980s with his breakthrough recording Vivaldi: The Four Seasons with the English Chamber Orchestra. The album was a huge success and launched his decades-long career at the forefront of classical music. Despite his mainstream acceptance, Kennedy bucked tradition, adopting a spiky mohawk haircut and eschewing formal-wear in favor of punk-inspired stage attire. He also embraced a genre-bending aesthetic, blending Jimi Hendrix's rock with Celtic music on 1999's The Kennedy Experience, tackling jazz on 2006's Blue Note Sessions, and displaying his original compositions on 2010's Shhh! While his iconoclastic tendencies have drawn both praise and criticism, he is a marquee draw, playing sold-out concerts virtually everywhere he goes. Similarly, while he never shies away from challenging his audiences with his genre-bending explorations, he remains a populist, ever espousing the desire to make classical music more accessible, and unafraid of returning to his roots as he did on 2015's Vivaldi: The New Four Seasons.

Born in Brighton in 1956, Kennedy grew up in a musical family the son of noted cellist John Kennedy and pianist Scylla Stoner. However, his parents broke up early on (John Kennedy moved to Australia) and Kennedy was largely raised by his mother. Encouraged to play violin from a young age, he quickly revealed himself a prodigy, and by age seven he was accepted as a student at the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music in Surrey, attending the prestigious institution on a scholarship the legendary violinist Menuhin designed specifically for him. From there, he moved to New York to study at the Juilliard School with violinist Dorothy DeLay. At age 16, he made one of his first big public appearances, accepting an invitation to play with acclaimed jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli at Carnegie Hall. Although classical repertoire was his main focus, Kennedy's early showcase alongside Grappelli foreshadowed his career-long interest in playing music from outside the classical field, an interest that would also find him juxtaposing the music of different composers from across the musical spectrum.

While still in his twenties, he signed with EMI and debuted with several well-received albums playing the music of Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Walton, and others. In 1989, he broke through with his recording Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, featuring the English Chamber Orchestra. A massive success, the album sold over two million copies and helped solidify his status as a global classical star. Similarly well-regarded albums followed including 1991's Brahms: Violin Concerto, and 1992's cheekily titled Just Listen, which featured renditions of concertos by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius. It was during this period that he also adopted his trademark, punk-inspired mohawk haircut and penchant for wearing unconventional stage clothes far afield of the traditional formal wear normally associated with classical performers. The look, combined with his Cockney accent and often acerbic attitude, brought him fans and critics alike, many of whom either praised or vilified him as a maverick.

After publishing his autobiography in the early '90s, Kennedy took time off from performing, choosing instead to embark on an array of studio projects, including collaborations with Kate Bush, Robert Plant, and Stephen Duffy, with whom he recorded 1993's Music in Colors. He returned to his own work with 1996's stylistically expansive Kafka, which also featured contributions from Duffy, Jane Siberry, Stéphane Grappelli, and others. The following year, he took home an award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music at the BRIT Awards.

Although classical music remained a focus, more genre-bending projects followed, including his 1999's Jimi Hendrix tribute The Kennedy Experience. In 2000, he paired with cellist Lynn Harrell for Duos for Violin & Cello. In the early 2000s, he began splitting his living and working life between England and Poland, where he met his second wife, Agnieszka. In 2003, he collaborated with Polish folk band Kroke on East Meets East. A year later, he returned to classical music with Vivaldi II, featuring the Berlin Philharmonic.

In 2006, he made the bold move into straight-ahead jazz on Blue Note Sessions, which found him tackling standards and originals alongside veteran players bassist Ron Carter, drummer Jack DeJohnette, pianist Kenny Werner, and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano. Also that year, he delivered Inner Thoughts, a set of slow movements of famous concertos from Bach and Vivaldi to Brahms, Bruch, and Elgar. He then celebrated his love of Poland with 2007's Polish Spirit, featuring violin concertos by Emil Mlynarski and Mieczyslaw Karlowicz and arrangements of Chopin's 2 Nocturnes, Op. 9. A collection of Bach and Beethoven concertos followed for EMI Classics, after which he issued 2010's Shhh! which included originals as well as a cover of Nick Drake's "River Man."

Ever interested in blending musical styles, Kennedy's 2011 album The Four Elements found him mixing Celtic and Gypsy fiddling, as well as jazz and rock intimations. A year later, he issued Recital, which also featured a stylistically varied approach touching upon classical, Brazilian, and African rhythms, as well as works by Fats Waller, Dave Brubeck, and other jazz players. In 2015, he returned once again to Vivaldi with Vivaldi: The New Four Seasons, a dynamic reworking of the composer's work weaving in jazz and rock flourishes, and featuring contributions form guests Orphy Robinson, Damon Reece, Z-Star, and others. In 2018, he celebrated the songs of George Gershwin with Kennedy Meets Gershwin, which also featured guitarists Howard Alden and Rolf Bussalb. ~ Matt Collar

Saxophonist and educator David Liebman is a forward-thinking artist whose advanced improvisational style has made him one of the most influential and successful jazz musicians of his generation. Heavily inspired by John Coltrane, Liebman emerged in the early '70s playing with drummer Elvin Jones and recording on Miles Davis' landmark 1972 jazz-funk album On the Corner. His own early albums, like 1974's Lookout Farm on ECM and 1979's Doin' It Again, cemented his reputation as a leader in harmonically complex post-bop, modal jazz, and fusion. It was a sound he continued to explore throughout his career on solo albums and with his Quest and Expansions ensembles. He earned Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Solo for his recording of "My Favorite Things" off Arkadia Jazz All-Stars' Thank You, John and for "Sing, Sing, Sing," off his 2003 big band album Beyond the Line. A dedicated educator, Liebman holds an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, founded the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ) in 1989, and was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2011. He has continued to release a flurry of solo and collaborative projects, including 2017's Compassion: The Music of John Coltrane (with Joe Lovano), 2018's Fire (a quartet date with pianist Kenny Werner, bassist Dave Holland, and drummer Jack DeJohnette), and 2022's New Now (with percussionists Adam Rudolph and Tyshawn Sorey).

Born in Brooklyn in 1946, Liebman studied classical piano and saxophone before focusing on jazz, a move he attributes to seeing Coltrane perform live in New York on multiple occasions. He continued his private jazz studies with such artists as Joe Allard, Lennie Tristano, and Charles Lloyd while earning a degree in American History from New York University. After graduating, he focused solely on a career in music and quickly became an active leader in the vibrant, late-'60s loft scene in New York City. After a year with the early fusion ensemble Ten Wheel Drive, Liebman was asked to join former Coltrane drummer Elvin Jones' band, and ultimately appeared on several of Jones' albums in the '70s. This brought him to the attention of trumpeter Miles Davis, who hired him from 1970 to 1974. During this period, Liebman toured and recorded with Davis, appearing on such albums as 1972's classic On the Corner as well as 1974's Dark Magus and Get Up with It.

Liebman eventually left Davis' band and began working on his own music in various ensembles including the Open Sky Trio with pianist Bob Moses, Lookout Farm with pianist Richie Beirach and guitarist John Abercrombie, and his own David Liebman Quintet, featuring guitarist John Scofield and Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino. This was a fertile, exploratory period for Liebman that resulted in a handful of stellar albums, including 1974's Lookout Farm (ECM), 1975's Drum Ode (ECM), 1977's Forgotten Fantasies (Timeless), 1978's Omerta (Storyville), and 1979's Doin' It Again (Timeless).

In the early '80s, Liebman formed the cooperative ensemble Quest with pianist Richie Beirach, drummer Billy Hart, and bassist George Mraz, and later bassist Ron McClure. Beginning with group's self-titled 1981 debut for Palo Alto, Quest continued to release albums throughout Liebman's career. Also during the '80s, Liebman recorded regularly, appearing on myriad albums including Elvin Jones' 1982 album Earth Jones (Palo Alto), 1983's Things We Did Last Summer with trumpeter John McNeil (Steeplechase), and 1985's Double Edge with pianist Beirach (Storyville), as well as his own albums including 1985's The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (CMP), 1987's Homage to John Coltrane (OWL/EMI), 1988's Trio + One (OWL/EMI), and 1989's The Blessing of Old Long Sound (Newsound).

It was also during the late '80s that Liebman began splitting his time between playing and teaching jazz. An early clinician at the Jamey Aebersold camps during the '70s, Liebman met such jazz educators as David Baker, Jerry Hearle, Jerry Coker, and other early proponents of formal jazz studies. These experiences, as well as seeing firsthand the interest in and need for jazz instruction worldwide while on tours in Europe, spurred Liebman to found the International Association of Schools of Jazz (IASJ) in 1989. Along with releasing such highly regarded albums as 1994's Songs for My Daughter, 1998's John Coltrane's Meditations, and 2003's Beyond the Line (the latter of which earned a Grammy-nomination for Best Jazz Solo for "Sing, Sing, Sing"), Liebman continued to work with the IASJ to promote jazz and mentor students. For his work, Liebman received several awards in the field of jazz education including being named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master for 2011.

While retaining a strong focus on jazz education, Liebman remains a vital, creative force on the jazz scene and performs and records regularly. In 2010, he released the big-band album Live: As Always and appeared as a featured guest on The Bickel-Marks Group with David Liebman. He then paired with pianist Lewis Porter and guitarist Marc Ribot for 2012's Surreality on Enja. Along with these collaborations, he launched his Expansions ensemble, featuring saxophonist Matt Vashlishan, pianist Bobby Avey, bassist Tony Marino, and drummer Alex Ritz. Together, they recorded a handful of albums like 2014's Samsara, 2015's The Puzzle, and 2016's Expansions Live. Several more well-received dates followed, including his 2014 big-band effort A Tribute to Wayne Shorter, 2015's Sketches of Aranjuez, and the 2016 duo album Balladscapes, with pianist Richie Beirach.

In 2017, Liebman collaborated with fellow saxophonist Joe Lovano on the tribute album Compassion: The Music of John Coltrane. He then joined longtime associates pianist Kenny Werner, bassist Dave Holland, and drummer Jack DeJohnette for 2018's Fire. In 2019, Liebman was a part of two different ensembles, releasing Four Visions with a sax quartet that featured Dave Binney, Donny McCaslin, and Samuel Blais, as well as the Miles Davis tribute album On the Corner Live!, which featured players like Victor Wooten and Jeff Coffin. With his group David Liebman Expansions, he delivered 2021's Selflessness: The Music of John Coltrane. The following year, he joined percussionists Adam Rudolph and Tyshawn Sorey for New Now, recorded live at New York's the Jazz Gallery. ~ Matt Collar

Balancing a career in psychiatry with his love of forward-thinking post-bop and fusion, trumpeter Eddie Henderson has cut a distinctive path in modern jazz. Mentored by Miles Davis in his teens, Henderson emerged as an original member of Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band in the 1970s, appearing on the landmark jazz-funk album Sextant. From there, he embarked on a solo career, issuing several of his own cross-pollinated funk and disco-infused albums for Capricorn, Blue Note, and Capitol Records. These albums, and especially his breakthrough U.K. hit "Prance On" from 1978's Mahal, were influential touchstones for later hip-hop, electronic, and acid jazz musicians. A licensed psychiatrist with a degree from Howard University, Henderson often split his time playing jazz and working in medicine. From the late '80s onward, he has remained a vital presence on the New York City jazz scene, releasing a bevy of well-regarded acoustic jazz albums like 2010's For All We Know and working as a member of the hard bop supergroup the Cookers. He made his Smoke Sessions debut with 2018's Be Cool and joined fellow Hancock band veteran Mike Clark for 2023's Kosen Rufu.

Born Edward Jackson Henderson in New York City in 1940, Henderson grew up in a family steeped in the jazz tradition. His mother was a professional dancer at the Cotton Club, while his father was a member of the legendary Charioteers vocal group. Encouraged to play music, he first picked up the trumpet around age nine, and famously received an early lesson from Louis Armstrong, whom his mother knew from her days in Harlem. During his teens, Henderson moved to San Francisco with his family, where he continued to progress as a musician. A driven, highly disciplined student while in high school, he balanced his music practice, with studying, playing sports, and participating in competitive figure skating. It was during these years that he first met his longtime idol Miles Davis, who stayed at his parent's house when playing in the Bay Area. From the late '50s on, Davis was a heavy influence on the trumpeter's approach to jazz. It was also through Davis that Henderson first met future boss and bandmate Herbie Hancock.

After a stint in the Air Force, Henderson enrolled for medical school, earning his undergraduate degree at the University of California, and later finishing his medical studies at Howard University where he graduated in 1968. During his time at Howard, he would often spend the weekends driving from Washington, D.C. to New York to study with Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan. After earning his M.D., he then returned to the Bay Area where he served out a psychiatric residency and played jazz in his off-hours. While there, he was asked to join Herbie Hancock's innovative funk and fusion-based Mwandishi ensemble for a week-long run of shows in San Francisco. This led to a full-time appointment, and from 1970 to 1973, Henderson toured and recorded with the group, appearing on the influential 1973 album Sextant.

As a leader, Henderson debuted with two well-regarded albums on the independent Capricorn Records label, 1973's Realization and Inside Out. Produced by Skip Drinkwater, whom Henderson met via his work with guitarist Norman Connors, these albums essentially featured the Mwandishi band with Hancock on electric keyboards, Bennie Maupin on reeds, Patrick Gleeson on synthesizers, Buster Williams on bass, and Billy Hart on drums. There were also contributions from drummers Lenny White and Eric Gravatt, as well as future-Headhunters percussionist Bill Summers. Both albums showcased a funky, avant-garde, electric fusion style similar to Henderson's previous work with Hancock. More Drinkwater-produced albums followed on Blue Note, including the psychedelia-dipped Sunburst with George Duke and 1976's Heritage, which featured a young Patrice Rushen on keyboards, sax, and flute.

Around this time, Henderson signed with Capitol Records and released three albums beginning with 1977's Drinkwater-produced Comin' Through. These productions built upon his previous efforts, but found him moving in even more of a cross-over direction with a less spacy, more dance-oriented approach to jazz-funk. In 1978, he scored a U.K. hit with the disco-infused "Prance On," off Mahal. His Capitol era culminated in 1979's equally disco- and soul-leaning Runnin' to Your Love. Although somewhat dismissed as "commercial" in the decades following the fusion era of jazz, Henderson's electric recordings enjoyed great popularity with hip-hop and electronic musicians, and are often cited (along with Miles Davis' and Herbie Hancock's work) as influential on the development of trip-hop and acid jazz.

Moving to New York full-time in 1985, Henderson's solo recordings slowed somewhat as he worked increasingly as a physician. Nonetheless, he stayed active, appearing on albums with Billy Hart, Leon Thomas, Gary Bartz, and others. With 1989's Phantoms, he returned to regular recording with a series of albums that found him embracing an acoustic hard bop sound. He presence continued to grow throughout the '90s with harmonically nuanced, hard-swinging albums like 1994's Inspiration, 1995's Dark Shadows, and 1999's Reemergence. These albums still found Henderson indebted to Davis, but displaying his own brand aggressive, post-bop lyricism. It was an approach that only deepened as he entered his sixties, delivering such albums as 2004's Time and Spaces, 2006's Precious Moment, and 2010's For All We Know.

Along with his own work in the 2000s, Henderson also played with the Mingus Big Band, Benny Golson, and others. He worked regularly with Billy Harper, eventually joining the saxophonist in the all-star ensemble the Cookers alongside longtime associates drummer Billy Hart, pianist George Cables, and bassist Cecil McBee, as well as trumpeter David Weiss and saxophonist Donald Harrison. A regular at New York's Smoke nightclub, Henderson has released several albums for their in-house label, starting with 2015's Collective Portrait. That same year, he celebrated his work with Hancock on 2016's Infinite Spirit: Revisiting Music of the Mwandishi Band. In 2018, he delivered his second Smoke Sessions date with Be Cool, featuring Cookers bandmate Harrison, pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Essiet Essiet, and drummer Mike Clark. A second Smoke Sessions date, Shuffle and Deal, arrived two years later. In 2023, he reunited with longtime-associate and fellow Herbie Hancock band alum drummer Mike Clark for Kosen Rufu. ~ Matt Collar

Bennie Maupin is an American jazz composer and multi-instrumentalist who performs on bass clarinet, saxophones, and flute. His harmonically advanced "outside" improvisation style is balanced by a folk-like melodic sensibility. While best-known for playing a key role on Miles Davis' seminal Bitches Brew, Maupin was also a founding member of Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi and Head Hunters bands. A prolific sideman, his playing appears on hundreds of recordings. His leader debut, Jewel in the Lotus, appeared from ECM in 1974, followed by the futurist jazz-funk dates Slow Traffic to the Right (1977) and Moonscapes (1978) for Mercury. Driving While Black, with Dr. Patrick Gleeson, was issued in 1998. In 2006 he released Penumbra with an L.A.-based acoustic quartet and followed it with an all-Polish band on 2008's Early Reflections. In 2022, Maupin and percussionist Adam Rudolph issued Symphonic Tone Poem for Brother Yusef in tribute to mentor and collaborator Yusef Lateef.

Maupin was born in Detroit in 1940. He learned to play his parents' piano by ear. He began studying clarinet in middle school. Each afternoon, he'd go down the block and sit under an open window to listen to an elderly neighbor playing saxophone. He’d close his eyes and pretend to play a stick, fantasizing about playing the tenor. He took up the saxophone while attending the Detroit Institute for Musical Arts. He also studied piano, harmony, and theory. From the tenor he branched out into the alto, soprano, and flute. The bass clarinet came later.

While in school, he worked part-time and woodshedded with groups in Detroit. In the Motor City during the 1950s and early '60s, Maupin was exposed to the best of the best. The city had a thriving jazz scene that included Yusef Lateef's fine quintet with pianist Barry Harris. Lateef was an enormous early influence on Maupin becoming a multi-instrumentalist. He played gospel, blues, R&B, and soul in addition to jazz. One night, Maupin and some friends went to see Eric Dolphy at the Minor Key Lounge. After mentioning to the older musician that he also played flute, Dolphy gave him an intensive 45-minute study on the instrument. During his time haunting Detroit jazz rooms and clubs, the young musician also met and got to know John Coltrane, who encouraged him to go to N.Y.C.

In 1962, the Four Tops heard him play and asked him to join them for some dates in New York. Maupin left Detroit for good the following week. After his stint with the Four Tops ended, he took a room on the Lower East Side and began sitting in with various bands in the city. He met Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, and other jazz greats. He made his recording debut in 1965 as a guest on saxophonist Marion Brown's ESP-Disk debut, playing on the track "Exhibition." The album -- and in particular the cut -- received positive reviews and Maupin joined Brown's sextet. They released the vanguard classic Juba-Lee for Fontana in 1967. That year he also played on albums by Horace Silver (Serenade to a Soul Sister) and Freddie Hubbard (High Blues Pressure).

As Maupin's reputation spread among the jazz cognoscenti, so did his opportunities to tour and record. In 1968 he cut Caramba with Lee Morgan (and Taru, which was released in 1980), and Tender Moments with McCoy Tyner (the group also included future Mwandishi bandmate, trombonist Julian Priester). In late 1968 he met drummer/composer Jack DeJohnette who had recently moved to New York from Chicago, and the pair became fast friends. The following year Maupin played on The DeJohnette Complex, worked with Lonnie Smith on Turning Point, and with Silver on You Gotta Take a Little Love. He and DeJohnette also played on Chick Corea's seminal Is sessions. The drummer joined Miles Davis' new group and talked up Maupin. Davis heard him play a gig at Slug's Saloon and hired him to play a haunting, almost otherworldly bass clarinet on Bitches Brew. Maupin remained in Davis' employ and worked live and on the studio sessions that produced Tribute to Jack Johnson, On the Corner, and Big Fun. That same year, he played on Brown's seminal ECM debut Afternoon of a Georgia Faun.

Another of DeJohnette's close mates was Herbie Hancock, a veteran of Davis' second great quintet and a formidable bandleader and Blue Note recording artist in his own right. In 1971, Maupin joined Hancock's new band Mwandishi with Buster Williams, Julian Priester, Eddie Henderson, Billy Hart, Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, and DeJohnette. He played only bass clarinet and flute on their self-titled debut album. That same year he made recordings with Woody Shaw and played on Morgan's seminal Live at the Lighthouse dates. In 1972, Mwandishi released Crossings with Dr. Patrick Gleeson added to the lineup playing synthesizers. Maupin played not only bass clarinet and flute, but soprano saxophone. Mwandishi cut one more album, 1973's Sextant, the pianist's Columbia debut. Maupin also played on Shaw's Song of Songs and guested on funky soul band Cold Blood's fourth album, Thriller, alongside the Pointer Sisters.

After the release of Sextant, Hancock ended Mwandishi and immediately formed another band more reflective of his interest in jazz-funk. Maupin was the only member to make the transition with him. A new lineup with Hancock on all manner of keyboards, drummer Harvey Mason, percussionist Bill Summers, bassist Paul Jackson, and Maupin on all saxophones, bass clarinet, and flute, cut the classic Head Hunters, issued in October. It was arguably the very first jazz album from the fusion generation meant to be danced to as well as listened to -- it was jazz's first platinum-certified album, and after Davis' Kind of Blue, the best-selling album in the genre's history. Maupin remained with Hancock through 1980, ultimately playing on important recordings such as Thrust, Man-Child, and Mr. Hands, but he also joined Eddie Henderson's group that recorded for Capricorn and Blue Note. That year Maupin, along with Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and a few others, left New York for Southern California.

Maupin signed a one-off deal with Manfred Eicher's ECM label in late 1973. The producer was impressed by his clarinet work with Brown and Davis and issued Jewel in the Lotus, Maupin's leader debut, in 1974. Leading a sextet that included Hancock, Williams, Summers, Hart, and drummer Freddie Waits, the date is regarded as one of the most important in the label's history due to Maupin's comprehensive musical vision. It reflected an abiding interest in harmonic abstraction, polyrhythm, space, texture, and an inherent, deeply investigative melodic sensibility.

Maupin continued touring and recording with Hancock but played some of his own dates as well. In 1975, he guested on Mason's Marching in the Street and played in Sonny Rollins' studio band on Nucleus. The year also netted another important date. Survival of the Fittest is credited to the Headhunters sans Hancock -- though he co-produced the album. In addition to the lineup of Maupin, drummer Mike Clark, Summers, and Jackson, are guitarist/vocalist Blackbird McNight and percussionists Mason, Baba Duru Oshun, and Zak Diouf. The set didn't get much respect out of the gate due to its reliance on massively funky jazz, but it sold respectably enough among R&B dance music fans to remain in print, and later become influential for a new generation of rappers and electronic music producers. The group toured in support, playing sold-out houses in Asia, the U.S., and Europe.

Maupin remained busy with Hancock but found time to play on Wah Wah Watson's Elementary and Alphonso Johnson's Moonshadows. Following the release of Hancock's Secrets in 1976, Maupin signed a solo deal with Mercury and began work on the album that would become Slow Traffic to the Right the following year. He enlisted keyboardist Patrice Rushen (who had previously released the now highly influential electric jazz albums Prelusion and Before the Dawn), Henderson, McKnight, Gleeson, trombonist Kraig Kilby, and drummer James Levi. Jackson and Ralph Armstrong alternated on bass. It is arguably the first ever vanguard jazz-funk date. That same year, Headhunters, with new vocalist Derrick Youman, released Straight from the Gate, an album of funky fusion and R&B.

In 1978 Maupin released Moonscapes on Mercury. Its lineup included the then up-and-coming pianist/keyboardist Bobby Lyle (whose albums The Genie and New Warrior were dominating both jazz and R&B radio stations), bassist Abe Laboriel, Mason on drums, Gleeson on electronics (he also produced and programmed the album), guitarist Michael Sembello, and percussionist Mingo Lewis. The set got decent reviews in the U.S. and laudatory ones in Europe, but didn't sell particularly well. That year Maupin played on Jackson's Black Octopus, Hancock's Sunlight, and Henderson's Mahal. In addition to working with Hancock on 1979's full-on disco effort Feets Don't Fail Me Now and two other dates, Maupin guested on Webster Lewis' disco masterpiece 8 for the '80s, and rejoined Tyner's studio band on Together. Having worked almost constantly since he was 14, Maupin was tired. He left Hancock's employ following the release and tour for Mr. Hands and departed the jazz scene entirely for more than a decade, but never stopped studying or playing music.

In 1982 and 1983, he studied composition with the legendary Los Angeles teacher Lyle "Spud" Murphy and, to pay the bills, worked as a truck driver and security systems monitor. He also deepened his study of Nichiren Buddhism, which he'd been practicing since the early '70s. Later, he took a class in film scoring at UCLA from Don Ray, where he penned a work for a 17-piece orchestra and heard it played. He also spent time teaching music to incarcerated youth. He ended his last non-music job in 1988 and began playing concerts at the Fred C. Nelles School in Whittier and taught at Pasadena City College. With bassist Sekou Bunch and Summers he served as a sideman on percussionist Louis Verdieu's debut album Louis. He also played informal gigs with Bunch's band and the Hispanic Musicians Association Big Band. In 1993, he was solicited by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to play weekly concerts.

Maupin was back, but on his own terms. He joined Hancock as a guest on 1994's Dis Is Da Drum and joined Roland Vazquez's all-L.A. studio big band on the righteous Feel Your Dream. In 1996 he guested in the star-studded studio band for bassist Meshell Ndegeocello's Peace Beyond Passion, and in 1997 played in George Duke's massive studio band on Is Love Enough?

The following year, Maupin returned to recording as a leader. He and Gleeson issued the futurist jazz-funk of Driving While Black, a duo album for Intuition. Kicking it off with a faithful yet expressionist cover of the Undisputed Truth's progressive soul classic "Smiling Faces," the album didn't sell, but has since become so influential, 21st century jazz players including Shakbaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia, and Moses Boyd all cite it as an influence. Following its release, Maupin also played on Return of the Headhunters that included Hancock and Billy Childs on keyboards -- it also inspired a series of killer remixes -- the set stands with Survival of the Fittest as their finest work. Maupin also guested on Meat Beat Manifesto's Actual Sounds + Voices and Lenny White's Edge that year.

In 2000 Maupin was hired to play in pianist/arranger Todd "Bayete" Cochrane's studio orchestra to record composer Christopher Young's score for Hurricane, a feature film about wrongly imprisoned boxer Ruben "Hurricane" Carter. He also worked on Clark's Actual Proof and pianist George Cables' Shared Secrets. The following year, Maupin received a composition grant from Chamber Music America. In 2003, he returned to Detroit at the invitation of electronic music producer Carl Craig. He worked alongside local luminaries including trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, pianist Geri Allen, violinist Regina Carter, drummers Karriem Riggins and Ron Otis, keyboardist Amp Fiddler, and master percussionist Francisco Mora Catlett, on the Detroit Experiment for Ropeadope juxtaposing contemporary jazz and cutting-edge electronica.

In 2004 Chamber Music America invited Maupin and his Los Angeles-based ensemble to play a series of New York concerts devoted to the music he composed with their funding. His all-acoustic band played two nights at Sweet Basil's, and a final night in a church. All venues were sold out. In 2006, Maupin's acoustic quartet released some of that music on Penumbra for Jeff Gauthier's California-based Cryptogramophone. The set received unanimous critical acclaim, paving the way for Maupin and crew to tour. While in Europe he guested on Jarek Åšmietana's and Wojciech Karolak's What's Goin' On? and Modeselektor's Boogybytes, Vol. 3. In 2008, Maupin, accompanied by an all-Polish quartet, issued the globally lauded Early Reflections followed by a long tour.

The saxophonist played sessions for John Beasley's Positootly in 2009, and played the Los Angeles gigs that resulted in Ethio Jazz creator Mulatu Astatke's Timeless in 2010. In 2013 he joined Robert Hurst on BOB: A Palindrome, and the following year sat in with vocalist and composer Carmen Lundy on her celebrated double-length Soul to Soul. Maupin joined the faculty of the Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts in 2015.

In 2019, he and master percussionist, composer, and arranger Adam Rudolph were commissioned by the Angel City Jazz Festival in Claremont, California to create an original work for the commemoration of Yusef Lateef's 100th birthday. Maupin was influenced by the great multi-instrumentalist early in his career, and they had remained close. Rudolph had worked with Lateef on no less than 15 albums during the latter period of his life. Together they composed a five-movement work (in six cues) combining electronics, saxophone, voices, and Rudolph's wide palette of percussion instruments, from hand drums to thumb pianos and gongs. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic intervened and they never got to perform it. They eventually recorded the work in late 2021 at Clear Lake Studio in New Jersey. Titled Symphonic Tone Poem for Brother Yusef, it was released by Strut in June 2022. ~ Thom Jurek