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Jelly Roll Morton    

Ferdinand Morton was born in New Orleans on October 20th, 1890. A talented multi-instrumentalist, he opted for the piano. Morton was a popular figure in Storyville—that section of New Orleans abounding with brothels. Morton played in the most luxurious of these—Mahogany Hall—where he also worked as a pimp. Morton’s reputation was widespread thanks to his tours and theatrical work all over the deep south and his performances in Kansas City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other cities. From 1923 on, he worked in Chicago and recorded with a number of bands including the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and with his own Red Hot Peppers. By the end of the twenties he went to New York for more recording engagements. Morton was one of the major personalities in jazz history and many of his recordings during his Chicago period proved to be classics. His arrangements of the mid-twenties were way ahead of their time—to become trends about ten years later when big band jazz emerged. Morton can, indeed, be considered the first important jazz arranger, and while not the ‘originator’ of jazz (as he called himself), he was certainly a major contributor.

Louis "Kid Shots" Madison

The trumpeter with a nickname like a boxer in a '40s melodrama has historical credits on the New Orleans jazz scene deserving of a round-one knockout. He played in a band for orphaned street urchins alongside none other than Louis Armstrong, at that point wisely allowing Satchmo the brass duties while Louis "Kid Shots" Madison managed nicely on the first instrument mastered by any New Orleans player, the drums. Soon Madison would learn trumpet from historic yet shadowy figures of mastery such as Joe Howard and Louis Dumaine. By the early '20s the trumpet- and cornet-blowing Madison was working with Oscar Celestine and the original Tuxedo Jazz Orchestra. Madison was a fixture in several of the main brass bands in New Orleans during the '20s and '30s. Recordings exist of him performing with such a group under the direction of Bunk Johnson in 1945; he also worked with the Eureka Brass Band. His health would not last out the '40s, but the final half of the decade was certainly a busy one for this man, combining a regular evening musical drive at the Cadillac Club with a day job for the city board of health. A musician who was quite unique in an almost total lack of musical influence from outside of New Orleans, Madison also performed the music of his last years on the edge of the city, at a venue located on the vast Lake Pontchartrain. He stopped playing his horns following a stroke at the beginning of 1948.

Herbie Mann


Herbie Mann played a wide variety of music throughout his career. He became quite popular in the 1960s but in the '70s became so immersed in pop and various types of world music that he seemed lost to jazz. However, Mann never lost his ability to improvise creatively as his later recordings attest. Herbie Mann began on clarinet when he was nine but was soon also playing flute and tenor. After serving in the Army, he was with Matt Mathew’s 's Quintet (1953-54) and then started working and recording as a leader.

 

Shelley Mann

Shelly Manne made a countless number of records from the 1940s into the 1980s but is best-known as a good-humored bandleader who never hogged the spotlight. Originally a saxophonist, Manne switched to drums when he was 18 and started working almost immediately. He was with Joe Marsala’s band (making his recording debut in 1941), played briefly in the big bands of Will Bradley, Raymond Scott, and Les Brown and was on drums for Coleman Hawkin’s 's classic "The Man I Love" session of late 1943. Manne worked on and off with Stan Kenton during 1946-52, also touring with Jazz at the Philharmonic (1948-49) and gigging with Woody Herman (1949).

 

 

Joseph ‘Wingy’ Manone

Born in New Orleans on the 13th of February, 1900. He lost his right arm in an auto accident while still a child (he had been ‘winged’—hence the nickname ‘Wingy’) He took up trumpet playing nevertheless, and turned professional in his teens. Manone worked with many riverboat and territory bands, and visited St. Louis where he made his first records in 1924. He moved on to New York in 1929 to record with Benny Goodman and then he settled down in Chicago. Manone led his own band in nightclubs and then took it to New York for a string of successful engagements. In the early 40’s he was in California and became a regular on the Bing Crosby radio show as well as performing at concerts and recording dates with Sidney Bechet and others. Manone played trumpet with a forthright, honest style..with his love for the New Orleans tradition and the playing of Louis Armstrong who he admired above all.

Fate Marable

A legendary name in early jazz, Fate Marable led jazz bands on riverboats for decades. He first played in public when he was nine and as early as 1907, Marable was playing piano and calliope aboard a Mississippi steamship. He formed the Kentucky Jazz Band in 1917 and among his many sidemen during the next 20 years were Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds, Baby Dodds, Pops Foster, Zutty Singleton, Henry "Red Allen", and Gene Sedric.. In the 1930s, Marable sometimes co-led bands with Charlie Creath and, although based in St. Louis, he constantly recruited some of the best New Orleans jazzmen for his groups. In 1940, a badly infected finger caused him to retire for a long period. Marable was active again by the mid-'40s, playing piano in St. Louis-area clubs before dying from pneumonia.

 

Joe Marsala

Was born in Chicago on January 4th, 1907. After playing clarinet locally, his first big job was with Wingy Manone in 1929. In 1935 he played and recorded with Adrian Rollini’s Tap Room Gang in New York and then took over Manone’s band at the Hickory House when Manone retired. Marsala was one of the first band leaders to form a racially mixed band which included Henry Red Allen. During the forties, Marsala’s big bands included not only swing era veterans, but also younger musicians making the transition to be-bop and mainstream jazz—Buddy Rich, Charlie Byrd and Shelley Manne. Marsala was also instrumental in giving a career boost to singer Frankie Laine. After 1947, Marsala spent his time as a song writer and music publisher, but continued to accompany several stars on recording dates—Tony Bennett and Bobby Hackett. Marsala left some very good recordings behind featuring his Jimmy Noone inspired clarinet pieces.

Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Marsalis was born in New Orleans on October 18th, 1961. He took up trumpet at the age of six, encouraged by his father, a pianist, composer and teacher. He was already studying formally in his pre-teens and his range took in everything from performing with a New Orleans marching band to playing trumpet concertos with the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra. By the age of 19 he was already a vituoso trumpeter. Marsalis turned to post-be-bop with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and toured and recorded with Blakey and with Herbie Hancock. In jazz, his sublime technical ability places Marsalis on a plateau higher than most performers ever reach.

 Clyde McCoy

Clyde McCoy was a bandleader and trumpet player whose signature tune during the 1930s was "Sugar Blues" — but his career extended well beyond that decade. He came from a family that was among the best known in the country, possibly in the world, but not for music — he was a direct descendant of the McCoys of Kentucky, renowned for their long-running (and, indeed, legendary) feud with the Hatfields. His family left its home state when he was nine and moved to Portsmouth, OH, and it was while living there that he first took up the trumpet, as well as the trombone. It was on the latter instrument that he played with the Loyal Temperance Legion Band, at age nine. Before his teens he had switched to the trumpet and was playing at school and church events, and at 14 he found work playing on the riverboats, which still plied the rural Midwest, Southern, and border states in those days. By 1920, at age 16, he'd assembled his first band for a two-week engagement at a popular Knoxville resort.

Brownie McGhee
Walter McGhee on Nov. 30, 1915 in Knoxville, TN.Died: Feb 23, 1996 Brownie McGhee's death in 1996 represents an enormous and irreplaceable loss to the blues field. Although he had been semi-retired and suffering from stomach cancer, the guitarist was still the leading Piedmont-style bluesman on the planet, venerated worldwide for his prolific activities both on his own and with his longtime partner, the blind harpist Sonny Terry.
Together, McGhee and Terry worked for decades in an acoustic folk-blues bag, singing ancient ditties like "John Henry" and "Pick a Bale of Cotton" for appreciative audiences worldwide. But McGhee was capable of a great deal more. Throughout the immediate postwar era, he cut electric blues and R&B on the New York scene, even enjoying a huge R&B hit in 1948 with "My Fault" for Savoy.

Jimmy McHugh

Prolific pop composer Jimmy McHugh had hit songs and Broadway scores from the 1920s into the 1950s. Born in Boston, MA, on July 10, 1894, McHugh went to St. John's Prep School in the city. He first worked as an office boy at the Boston Opera House and later as a rehearsal pianist. McHugh eventually got a job as a song plugger for New York publishing houses, and wrote his first hit in 1916, "Carolina, I'm Coming Back to You." He didn't come up with another popular tune, however, until 1924's "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street." One of the most important songwriting partners McHugh had was lyricist Dorothy Fields, with whom he wrote "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" (1928), "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (1930), and "I'm in the Mood for Love" (1935). ...

Dave McKenna

Was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island on May 30th, 1930, He played piano at the age of seven and taught himself to play jazz through radio and records. He Joined Charlie Ventura in 1949 and worked with Woody Herman in 1950. McKenna then went to Korea until 1953 and spent the
rest of the decade playing with Gene Krupa, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims and  Charlie Ventura. During the sixties McKenna worked with Eddie Condon and Bobby Hackett. By the late sixties he was on the international circuit, touring and recording with Bob Wilber and Pug Horton, and in the ‘80’s played in festivals with the Concord Super band along with such talents as Scott Hamilton and Warren Vache’. As George Shearing described Dave McKenna: "He’s the hardest-swinging of them all".

Red McKenzie

Red McKenzie was virtually jazz's only comb player, putting tissue paper on a comb and making sounds on his "instrument" similar to a kazoo. McKenzie was quite effective playing his "ax," often more so than when he sang sentimental ballads. In 1924, he formed the Mound City Blue Blowers, a trio with Jack Bland on banjo or guitar and Dick Slevin on kazoo. The group was quite popular for a few years, recording a dozen titles. McKenzie also recorded under his own name (as leader of the Candy Kids).,

 

Jackie McLean

Jackie McLean has long had his own sound, played slightly sharp and with great intensity; he is recognizable within two notes. McLean was one of the few bop-oriented players of the early '50s who explored free jazz in the '60s, widening his emotional range and drawing from the new music qualities that fit his musical personality. The son of guitarist John McLean (who played guitar with Tiny Bradshaw), Jackie started on alto when he was 15. As a teenager he was friends with such neighbors as Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, and Sonny Rollins.. He made his recording debut with Miles Davis in 1951 and the rest of the decade could be considered his apprenticeship

Jimmy McPartland

Jimmy McPartland was born in Chicago on March 15th, 1907 and began playing cornet while in high school in Chicago. He became a founder of the Austin High School gang—an almost legendary jazz group, and of the Blue Friars. At 17, he replaced Bix Beiderbecke in the Wolverines, and two years later joined Art Kassel’s band. In 1927, McPartland went to work for Ben Pollack for two years and then freelanced with numerous small  bands. He also played many record dates until World War Two . Following World War Two, McPartland returned to playing in small dixieland bands and toured many countries. In the mid-eighties McPartland was still going strong..appearing at such prestigious events as the Nice Jazz Festival in France. He was fiery, exuberant cornetist, with an elegance reflecting his greatest influence—Bix Beiderbecke.

Louis Metcalf

Louis Metcalf seemed to be everywhere in the 1920s, but was largely forgotten once the Depression hit, despite remaining active into the late '60s. He played with Charlie Creath in St. Louis in the early '20s, moved to New York, backed a variety of classic blues singers, and worked with Willie "the Lion " Smith, Sidney Bechet, and others.. His most important association was with Duke Ellington, recording with him in 1926 and being a regular member of his orchestra during 1927-1928. Metcalf's solo style was a contrast to the wah-wah playing of Bubber Miley.. He also played with Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Luis Russell and recorded with Bessie Smith, in 1931. But after that, he stopped recording, leading a band in Montreal and working in the Midwest. Metcalf was back in New York for a few years in the late '30s and spent 1946-1952 leading the International band in Montreal. He recorded obscure sides as a leader for Franwill (1954-1955), Stereo-O-Craft (1958), and Pickwick (1963); an excellent album for Spivey (1966) finds the trumpeter to have been influenced by bop and playing in a surprisingly modern style. But Louis Metcalf will always be best-remembered for his short stint with Duke Ellington 40 years earlier.

Mezz Mezzrow

Mezz Mezzrow occupies an odd and unique place in jazz history. Although an enthusiastic clarinetist, he was never much of a player, sounding best on the blues. A passionate propagandist for Chicago and New Orleans jazz and the rights of blacks (he meant well, but tended to overstate his case), Mezzrow was actually most significant for writing his colorful and somewhat fanciful memoirs, Really the Blues, and for being a reliable supplier of marijuana in the 1930s and '40s. In the 1920s, he was part of the Chicago jazz scene, at first helping the young white players and then annoying them with his inflexible musical opinions.

Bubber Miley

One of the great trumpeters of the 1920s, Bubber Miley was a master with the plunger mute, distorting his sound quite colorfully. He was largely responsible for Duke Ellington’s early success and was the most prominent voice in Duke’s Jungle Band of 1926-1928. He grew up in New York and played professionally starting in 1920. Miley was with Elmer Snowden’s Washingtonians as early as 1923 and freelanced on recordings during 1924-1926.

 

 

 

 

Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller's reign as the most popular bandleader in the U.S. came relatively late in his career and was relatively brief, lasting only about three and a half years, from the spring of 1939 to the fall of 1942. But during that period he utterly dominated popular music, and over time he has proven the most enduring figure of the swing era, with reissues of his recordings achieving gold record status 40 years after his death. Miller developed a distinctive sound in which a high-pitched clarinet carried the melody, doubled by a saxophone section playing an octave lower, and he used that sound to produce a series of hits that remain definitive examples of swing music. Miller's approach is not much appreciated by jazz fans, who prefer bands that allow for greater improvisation than was found

Charlie Mingus

Irascible, demanding, bullying, and probably a genius, Charles Mingus cut himself a uniquely iconoclastic path through jazz in the middle of the 20th century, creating a legacy that became universally lauded only after he was no longer around to bug people. As a bassist, he knew few peers, blessed with a powerful tone and pulsating sense of rhythm, capable of elevating the instrument into the front line of a band. But had he been just a string player, few would know his name today. Rather, he was the greatest bass-playing leader/composer jazz has ever known, one who always kept his ears and fingers on the pulse, spirit, spontaneity, and ferocious expressive power of jazz.

 

Miff Mole

Irving Milfred Mole was born in Roosevelt, Long Islan, N.Y. on March 11th,
He had settled on the trombone in his teens, and played extensively in and around New York with many small early jazz bands—including one led by the famous comedian Jimmy Durante. He was also a member of the original Memphis Five led by Phil Napoleon. In the mid-twenties, Mole became a close friend and associate of Red Nichols with whom he made many records. In 1938 he joined Paul Whiteman and in the early 40’s he began teaching, working for Benny Goodman, and leading his own bands at night clubs in New York and Chicago. Although overshadowed by his contemporaries like Jack Teagarden and Tommy Dorsey, Miff Mole played an important role in the development of Jazz Trombone, influencing its rise from a corny nonsense instrument to a serious one, capable of producing  tasteful  melodic jazz solos.
Miff Mole died in April, 1961.

Thelonious Monk

The most important jazz musicians are the ones who are successful in creating their own original world of music with its own rules, logic, and surprises. Thelonious Monk, who was criticized by observers who failed to listen to his music on its own terms, suffered through a decade of neglect before he was suddenly acclaimed as a genius; his music had not changed one bit in the interim. In fact, one of the more remarkable aspects of Monk's music was that it was fully formed by 1947 and he saw no need to alter his playing or compositional style in the slightest during the next 25 years. Thelonious Monk grew up in New York, started playing piano when he was around five, and had his first job touring as an accompanist to an evangelist. He was inspired by the Harlem stride pianists.

Oscar Moore:

Was born on December 25th, 1912, in Austin, Texas. He formed his first band with his brother Johnny (also a guitarist) while still in his teens. In 1937 he became a member of the Nat King Cole Trio. And was an important factor in the group’s success. Moore was an exceptionally gifted soloist and an accompanist of rare distinction. His recordings with Nat King Cole are proof of this and jazz experts regret that Moore dropped out of music far too early.

 

 

 

Benny Moten

Benny Moten was born in Kansas City, Missouri on November 13th, 1894. In his youth he gained a great reputation as a pianist in his home town and by 1920 he had become an established and respected band leader. Moten deftly blended New Orleans style music into the free-wheeling jazz of the mid-west, and he attracted many outstanding musicians from other bands—men like Count Basie, Oran ‘Hot lips’ Page, Eddie Durham and Jimmy Rushing. Eventually even Walter Page went along as well as Ben Webster and Lester Young. By the mid-thirties his band was not only the finest in the region, but superior to many headline bands in the east. Benny Moten died suddenly and tragically in 1935 during a tonsillectomy. The surgeon’s knife slipped and severed his jugular vein.

Gerry Mulligan

Gerry Mulligan was born in New York City on April 6th, 1927, and grew up in Philadelphia. He started out on piano before concentrating on arranging, and then took up the saxophone—first alto and then baritone. His arrangements were used by name bands such as Gene Krupa’s and Claude Thornhill’s, and Mulligan also played in those bands occasionally-In 1948, he joined Gil Evans and Miles Davis, and played Baritone sax almost exclusively by this time. In the early fifties Mulligan led his own groups, but continued to arrange on a free-lance basis—for Stan Kenton to name one big band. Mulligan earned wide-spread popularity when he joined Chet Baker to form a quartet, and, in 1953 he led other quartets, notably with Bob Brookmeyer. He also played with Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Stan Getz, Johnny Hodges, Zoot Sims and Thelonious Monk. Gerry Mulligan’s strength lay in scoring and improvising jazz in a low-key, subdued manner— always retaining a rich, melodic quality.

TURK MURPHY:

Born in Palermo, California on December 16th, 1915. In the late thirties, the trombonist joined the dixieland revival band led by Lu Watters, and remained there for the next decade. After leaving thet band—the "Yerba Buena Jazz band", Murphy formed his own group and opened a club in San Francisco. As an always raucous, entertaining player, Turk Murphy was one of the key figures in boosting public interest in traditional jazz in an area where other styles of music were favored—on the West Coast.

 

Willis ‘Ray’ Nance

Was born in Chicago on December 10th, 1913. A gifted multi-instrumentalist, he studied formally for several years and played in various small bands, mostly in the Chicago area. By the early thirties he was a popular local entertainer, leading his own bands, playing several instruments—including trumpet and violin, as well as singing, dancing and performing comedy routines. The same decade saw Nance playing in the big Chicago bands led by Fatha Hines and Horace Henderson. Nance joined Duke Ellington in 1940 and quickly became an integral part of the organization. Hardly without a break, Nance stayed with Ellington until 1963. From 1964 until his death in 1976, Nance led his own small bands, but returned regularly as a guest with Ellington’s band.

Phil Napoleon

Although it is often overlooked, Phil Napoleon was one of the top trumpeters to be active in New York during 1921-1925. At a time when most so-called hot players in the Big Apple were still playing staccato and halting lines (not being up to the level of their Chicago counterparts), Napoleon's warm sound and legato phrasing swung (before the word had been coined). Classically trained, Napoleon decided to play popular music. By 1921, he was recording frequently with many overlapping groups (most notably the Originak Memphis Five, Ladd’s Black Aces, the Carolina Cotton Pickers, and later on the Charleston Chasers.), appearing on literally hundreds of excellent melodic jazz records where his appealing tone and solid lead were a major asset. Napoleon never did become a big name. He worked in the studios during the 1930s and '40s, leading his own big band briefly in 1938 and spending part of 1943 with Jimmy Dorsey. In 1949, he emerged with a new version of the Original Memphis Five, playing Dixieland for seven years at Nick's. Napoleon eventually moved to Miami, opened a club called Napoleon's Retreat, and played regularly during his declining years.

Fats Navarro

One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time, Fats Navarro had a tragically brief career yet his influence is still being felt. His fat sound, became the main inspiration for Clifford Brown. Navarro originally played piano and tenor before switching to trumpet. He started gigging with dance bands when he was 17, was with Andy Kirk during 1943-1944, and replaced Dizzy Gillespie with the Billy Eckstine big band during 1945-1946. During the next three years, Fats was second to only Dizzie, among bop trumpeters

 

 

Frankie Newton
Trumpeter Frankie Newton, whose mellow and thoughtful style sometimes seemed somewhat out of place in the swing era, had a relatively brief but artistically rewarding career. Newton worked with Charlie Barnet’s short-lived integrated band in 1936 and with TeddyHill, before briefly becoming closely associated with bassist John Kirby and his associates. Newton played for Mezz Mezzrow and Lucky Millander, led a few record dates, and worked at Cafe Society, accompanying Billy Holiday on several of her records (most notably "Strange Fruit"). As the 1940s progressed, Newton became less interested in music and gradually faded from the scene, painting more than playing, dying a forgotten and under-utilized talent.

 

Albert Nicholas

A superb clarinetist with an attractive mellow tone, Albert Nicholas had a long and diverse career but his playing was always consistently rewarding. He studied with Lorenzo Tio, Jr. in New Orleans, and played with cornet legends Buddy Petit, King Oliver, and Manuel Perez while in his teens. After three years in the Merchant Marines, he joined King Oliver in Chicago for much of 1925-1927, recording with Oliver’s Dixie Syncopators. He spent a year in the Far East and Egypt, arriving in New York in 1928 to join Luis Russell for five years.

 

 

 

Wooden Joe Nicholas

Wooden Joe Nicholas was one of the more primitive trumpeters to record in New Orleans. He was perhaps most notable in his early days for his very loud volume and for his endurance, important assets for brassmen at parades. By the time Nicholas (the uncle of clarinetist Albert Nicholas) got on records, he gave the impression of being much older than he actually was, and he was clearly past his prime. Early on he played clarinet and throughout his career he occasionally doubled on that instrument. Nicholas was quite familiar with Buddy Bolden, although he did not switch to cornet until he played with King Oliver in 1915.

 

Red Nichols

Was born as Ernest Loring Nichols in Ogden, Utah on May 8th, 1905.
Taught by his father, Nichols quickly became a highly accomplished performer. Strongly influenced by early white bands, particularly by Bix Beiderbecke, he moved to New York in the early twenties and was soon one of the busiest musicians in town. He recorded hundreds of tracks under many different names, but favored the name "The five pennies." Nichols engaged the cream of the crop on white musicians of the day—Miff Mole, Jimmy Dorsey, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Benny Goodman, Pee Wee Russell and Jack Teagarden. Nichols remained enormously successful. Continuing to lead bands and to record until the outbreak of world war Two. Nichols returned to perform for a brief spell with Glen Gray’s orchestra. Nichols was a polished player with a silvery tone and a bold attacking style. The movie, "The Five Pennies" starring Danny Kaye gave his career a boost, and he was as busy as ever during the last few years of his life in the 60’s. Nichols died in 1965.
Jimmy Noone

Jimmy Noone was born in Cut off, Louisiana on April 23rd, 1895. He first played guitar and then switched to clarinet. In the years just before World War One he played in New Orleans bans led by notables such as Freddie Keppard and Buddy Petit, and in 1918 went to Chicago to work for Joe King Oliver and, two years later, for Doc Cook. In 1926 Noone took his own band in Chicago’s Apex Club where he enjoyed a remarkable period of continued creativity. Noone became the idol of up and coming young musicians, both black and white. Noone made records with King Oliver and Doc Cook, and now embarked on another series of recordings. In the early forties he moved to Los Angeles where he worked with Kid Ory, led his own band, and appeared as a member of the New Orleans All Stars on Orson Wells weekly radio show. He also played with the Capitol Jazzmen. One of the most important New Orleans clarinetists,
Noone had a masterful technique and played with a deep appreciation of the blues. His recordings stand as milestones in the history of jazz.

Red Norvo

Kenneth Norville was born in Beardstown. Illinois on March 31st, 1908. After playing with a marimba band, Norvo was hired by Paul Whiteman in the late 20’s. He played xylophone with that band and was called upon to deliver novelty effects. While with Whiteman, Norvo married the popular singer, Mildred Bailey. In 1933 the two went to New York and started a career together which became billed as "Mr. And Mrs. Swing." During the 30’s, Norvo played with many leading musicians of the day, and in the 40’s joined Benny Goodman where he switched to vibraphone. That same decade, he worked with leading bop musicians like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, and in 1945 became a member of Woody Herman’s first herd. The 1980’s saw Norvo engaged in a series of world wide tours as a solo artist, performing with Benny Carter and Tal Farlow.

Helen O'connell

Helen O'Connell, who had a fairly long career, will always be best remembered for her squeals on "Green Eyes" and her work with Jimmy Dorsey. She originally left her native Toledo with Jimmy Richards’ nine-piece group, gigging and touring for a year and a half. She appeared on a regular radio show in St. Louis until she agreed to tour with Larry Funk’s band (which was billed as "Band of a Thousand Melodies"). After the outfit started working in New York, she was discovered and quickly signed up by Jimmy Dorsey in 1938. She soon had a hit rendition of "All of Me," which was followed by popular recordings of "Embraceable You," "Brazil," "Jim." and "When the Sun Comes Out" (which she introduced).

O’Day, Anita

Anita O’Day was born as Anita Colton on October 18th, 1919 in Kansas City Missouri. She scraped a living as a professional marathon dancer in her early teens—at which time she changed her name to O’Day. She was engaged to sing with Erskine Tate’s orchestra and switched to singing entirely. When Gene Krupa heard her at a Chicago Club, he promised to hire her if he ever had an opening, and he eventually did in 1941. O’Day’s real breakthrough came when she joined Stan Kenton’s orchestra in 1943.

 

 

Joe King Oliver

Joe "King" Oliver was one of the great New Orleans legends, an early giant whose legacy is only partly on records. In 1923, he led one of the classic New Orleans jazz bands, the last significant group to emphasize collective improvisation over solos, but ironically his second cornetist Louis Armstrong) would soon permanently change jazz. And while Armstrong never tired of praising his idol, he actually sounded very little like Oliver; Although originally a trombonist, by 1905 Oliver was playing cornet regularly with various New Orleans bands. Gradually he rose to the top of the crowded local scene, and in 1917 he was being billed "King".

 

SY OLIVER:

Came from Battle Creek, Michigan—born there on December 17th, 1910.
At the age of 17 he was a trumpeter with a small territory band where he also began arranging music. After his arrangements were accepted by Jimmy Lunceford, he took a job as trumpeter with that band leader and continued arranging and singing. Oliver also arranged for Benny Goodman and—offered a job with Tommy Dorsey for an incredible 5000 dollars a year, he couldn’t refuse. Sy Oliver’s arrangements for Dorsey propelled the band into a new era of success. He composed "Swing high", "Wll Git it", and "Opus One", among  other numbers

Kid Ory

Kid Ory was one of the great New Orleans pioneers, an early trombonist who virtually defined the "tailgate" style (using his horn to play rhythmic bass lines in the front line behind the trumpet and clarinet) and who was fortunate enough to last through the lean years so he could make a major comeback in the mid-'40s. Originally a banjoist, Ory soon switched to trombone and by 1911 was leading a popular band in New Orleans. Among his trumpeters during the next eight years were Mutt Carey, King Oliver, and a young Louis Armstrong. In 1919, Ory moved to California.