Born on February 4, 1945 in Little Rock, Arkansas, John Stubblefield was a prolific jazz musician and composer who performed with a wide array of musicians, including Pharaoh Sanders, Kenny Barron, Charles Mingus, Mary Lou Williams, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Jerry Gonzales, and Billy Hart. Primarily a saxophonist, Stubblefield performed with a number of instruments throughout his career.

Stubblefield began his musical career in Arkansas, recording with York Wilburn and the Thrillers and performing and touring with The New Directions while a student at what is now the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Upon graduating in 1967, Stubblefield first moved to Chicago, where he joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. This association allowed him to perform with Muhal Richard Abrams and Joseph Jarman, and helped develop an interest in African-American politics and issues that would remain for the rest of his life.

In 1970, Stubblefield relocated to New York, performing with a succession of jazz musicians, including Mary Lou Williams and Charles Mingus. In addition to his performances with other groups, Stubblefield also began to record and release albums of his own. While in New York Stubblefield also served as a musical instructor, most notably with the Jazzmobile program and at Rutgers University. In 1993 Stubblefield's past association with Charles Mingus led to him to become one of the leading members of the Mingus Big Band, a tribute group that had been formed by Mingus' wife, Sue. Stubblefield also occasionally toured with the World Saxophone Quartet from the 1980s onward. In recognition of his contributions to jazz, he was named to the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame in 1998. John Stubblefield died in New York on July 4, 2005.