In the 1980s in jazz, the jazz community shrank dramatically and split. A mainly older audience retained an interest in traditional and straight-ahead jazz styles. Wynton Marsalis strove to create music within what he believed was the tradition, creating extensions of small and large forms initially pioneered by such artists as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. In the early 1980s, a commercial form of jazz fusion called pop fusion or "smooth jazz" became successful and garnered significant radio airplay. Smooth jazz saxophonists include Grover Washington, Jr., Kenny G, Kirk Whalum, Boney James, and David Sanborn. Smooth jazz received frequent airplay with more straight-ahead jazz in "quiet storm" time slots at radio stations in urban markets across the U.S., helping to establish or bolster the careers of vocalists including Al Jarreau, Anita Baker, Chaka Khan, and Sade. In this same time period Chaka Khan released Echoes of an Era, which featured Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, and Lenny White. She also released the song "And the Melody Still Lingers On (Night in Tunisia)" with Dizzy Gillespie reviving the solo break from "Night in Tunisia".

Walter Maynard Ferguson (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz musician and bandleader. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra, before forming his own band in 1957. He was noted for being able to play accurately in a remarkably high register, and for his bands, which served as stepping stones for up-and-coming talent.

Ferguson was born in Verdun, Quebec (now part of Montreal). Encouraged by his mother and father (both musicians), Maynard was playing piano and violin by the age of four. Newsreel footage exists of Ferguson as a child prodigy violinist. At nine years old, he heard a cornet for the first time in his local church and asked his parents to purchase one for him. At age thirteen, Ferguson first soloed as a child prodigy with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra and was heard frequently on the CBC, notably featured on a "Serenade for Trumpet in Jazz" written for him by Morris Davis. Ferguson won a scholarship to the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal where he studied from 1943 through 1948 with Bernard Baker.

Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III (October 8, 1930 – September 10, 1986) was a jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 43 pieces, was the leader on eighteen albums spanning 28 years, and participated in 600 sessions as a sideman.

Pepper Adams was born in Highland Park, Michigan. His family moved to Rochester, New York, when he was young, and in that city he began his musical efforts on tenor sax and clarinet. At age 16, Adams moved to Detroit and switched to baritone sax; this proved to be successful, as by 1947 he was playing in Lucky Thompson's band. In Detroit, Adams also met several jazz musicians who would become future partners, including trumpeter Donald Byrd. Adams now became interested in Wardell Gray's approach to the saxophone, later naming Gray and Harry Carney as his influences. He also spent time in a United States Army band, and briefly had a tour of duty in Korea.

He later moved to New York City, where he played on the album Dakar with John Coltrane, played with Lee Morgan on The Cooker, and briefly worked with Benny Goodman's band in 1958. During this time, Adams also began working with Charles Mingus, performing on one of Mingus's most acclaimed albums from the period, Blues & Roots. Thereafter, he recorded with Mingus sporadically until the latter's death in 1979. He later became a founding member of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band, with whom he played from 1965 to 1976, and thereafter continued to record Jones's compositions on many of his own albums. Adams also co-led a quintet with Donald Byrd from 1958 to 1962, with whom he recorded a live date, 10 to 4 at the 5 Spot, featuring Elvin Jones, and a sequence of albums for Blue Note.

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Often referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records. His contribution to music, dance, and fashion, along with a much-publicized personal life, made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he debuted on the professional music scene along with his brothers as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1964, and began his solo career in 1971.

In the early 1980s, Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music. The music videos for his songs, including those of "Beat It", "Billie Jean", and "Thriller", were credited with transforming the medium into an art form and a promotional tool, and the popularity of these videos helped to bring the relatively new television channel MTV to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made him a staple on MTV in the 1990s. Through stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk, to which he gave the name. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced numerous hip hop, post-disco, contemporary R&B, pop and rock artists.

Ndombe Opetum (March 3, 1947 – May 24, 2012), popularly known as Pepe Ndombe, was a soukous recording artist, composer and vocalist, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He was once a member of the seminal soukous band TPOK Jazz which dominated the Congolese music scene from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Ndombe Opetum was the lead vocalist for Afrisa International, prior to joining TPOK Jazz, in the mid 1970s, after Sam Mangwana had left the band. He came over to OKJazz with horn player Empopo Loway, and he stayed with the band until it split up in December 1993, four years after the death of founder François Luambo Makiadi. Contemporary band members at the time included vocalists: Wuta Mayi, Michel Boyibanda, Josky Kiambukuta and Youlou Mabiala, and rhythm guitarist Simaro Lutumba and solo guitarist Franco himself.

Ndombe Opetum is credited with composing the following songs for the band, among others:

Following the death of Franco in 1989, TPOK Jazz continued to play together for four (4) years. Simarro would take care of the musicians and the family would take care of the lawyers, record labels and other technical stakeholders. The musicians would share 70% of receipts, while the Franco family would keep 30% of all receipts. However, differences developed between the musicians and the Franco family and the band split up in December 1993. Ndombe Opetum, together with Simaro Lutumba, Josky Kiambukuta and about thirty (30) former OK Jazz members. He was also a founding member of the band Bana OK in January 1994 and was a member of the band up until his death in May 2012.