Artist is a descriptive term applied to a person who engages in an activity deemed to be an art. It is also used in a qualitative sense of a person creative in, innovative in, or adept at, an artistic practice.

Most often, the term describes those who create within a context of 'high culture', activities such as drawing, painting, sculpture, acting, dancing, writing, filmmaking, photography and music — people who use imagination, and talent or skill, to create works that can be judged to have an aesthetic value. Art historians and critics will define as artists those who produce art within a recognised or recognisable discipline.

The term is also used to denote highly skilled people in non-"arts" activities, as well — crafts, medicine, alchemy, mechanics, mathematics, defense (martial arts) and architecture, for example. The designation is applied to illegal activities, like a "scam artist". The term 'artist' could also refer to a con artist.

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NPR Topics: Jazz

Stanley Clarke: A Lyrical Bass Player
Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:43:00 -0500
When he was only 25, the word "legend" was already being used to describe Stanley Clarke. Now, he's a king of the acoustic and electric jazz worlds, having won every major award available to a bass player. Hear an interview with the jazz/fusion innovator.
Sun Ra: 'Cosmic Swing'
Wed, 31 Oct 2007 06:00:00 -0500
Whenever he took the stage, audiences were guaranteed a musical spectacle. Half mystic, half visionary, the pianist and bandleader charted a relentlessly adventurous course through the jazz tradition.
Leftover Candy: Top 5 Jazz Halloween Songs
Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:03:00 -0500
From the lighthearted and fancy to the haunting and grotesque, NPR station WDUQ highlights some spooky Halloween music you can listen to all year long. Hear jazz vocalists conjure different ghosts out of classic tunes, while horn players coax the demons out of their instruments.
Terence Blanchard: Musical Musings on 'God's Will'
Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:17:00 -0500
The latest CD from New Orleans trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard is A Tale of God's Will, whose subtitle is "A Requiem for Katrina." Parts of the recording were heard in Spike Lee's HBO documentary When the Levees Broke.
Red Norvo: 'Mr. Swing'
Wed, 24 Oct 2007 06:12:00 -0500
He was a sideman with the early stars of jazz, led one of the most admired bands on the swing era, and catalyzed the careers of musicians like Charles Mingus. All the while, Red Norvo was bringing the mallet instruments to jazz.
Buddy Collette: 'Man of Many Parts'
Wed, 17 Oct 2007 06:00:00 -0500
Reedman Buddy Collette has spent most of his music career on the West Coast, out of the national spotlight. But it would be a mistake to overlook his distinguished career as a jazz educator, activist, composer and, of course, phenomenal multi-instrumentalist.

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