1. Red Nichols (1905)

American Jazz Musician

Cornetist, trumpeter, bandleader, and prolific recording artist with supposedly more than 4,000 appearances on albums in the 1920s.

2. Bix Beiderbecke (1903)

American Jazz Musician

Jazz Age cornetist, pianist, and composer who made a profound impact in spite of his life ending prematurely at age 28.

3. Doc Cheatham (1905)

American Jazz Musician

Jazz trumpeter who toured for decades with music groups led by Chick Webb, Cab Calloway, Teddy Hill, and Benny Goodman. He also produced some solo work in between those engagements.

4. Yusef Lateef (1920)

American Jazz Musician

Grammy Award-winning saxophonist who is known for fusing jazz with Eastern music.

5. Clark Terry (1920)

American Jazz Musician

Pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz and an NEA Jazz Masters inductee who played with such greats as Count Basie and Charlie Barnet.

6. Kenny Dorham (1924)

American Jazz Musician

Composer of the "Blue Bossa" jazz standard and considered by jazz scholars to be underrated because of his talent and contributions to jazz music.

7. Eric Dolphy (1928)

American Jazz Musician

Jazz flautist who came to prominence during the 1960s and who is considered the first important bass clarinet soloist in jazz. He also played instruments like clarinets and piccolos.

8. Keter Betts (1928)

American Jazz Musician

Jazz bassist who made more than two hundred recordings, often with musicians like Dinah Washington and Charlie Byrd.

9. Bob Wilber (1928)

American Jazz Musician

World-renowned clarinetist and saxophonist who was a member of World's Greatest Jazz Band and Soprano Summit.

10. Art Farmer (1928)

American Jazz Musician

Flugelhorn, trumpet, and flumpet player who is known for his 1952 composition "Farmer's Market."

11. Chet Baker (1929)

American Jazz Musician

Jazz trumpeter who performed with Charlie Parker and Gerry Mulligan but wrecked his career with drug abuse.

12. Nat Adderley (1931)

American Jazz Musician

Soul jazz and bebop trumpeter and cornet player known for his musical collaborations with his more famous brother, saxophonist Julian Adderley. He also collaborated with such artists as Johnny Griffin...

13. Grady Tate (1932)

American Jazz Musician

Jazz drummer who has performed with many artists, including Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis. He has also released work featuring his vocals.

14. Andy Simpkins (1932)

American Jazz Musician

Studio musician who has performed with a variety of musicians, including Anita O'Day.

15. Albert Ayler (1936)

American Jazz Musician

Jazz saxophonist who pushed the limits of the genre in the 1960s, creating many influential free jazz sounds.

16. Reggie Workman (1937)

American Jazz Musician

Jazz bassist known for his work within the avant-garde scene. He has released albums as a bandleader, like 1986's Synthesis.

17. Ernie Watts (1945)

American Jazz Musician

Grammy Award-winning saxophonist best known for his work with The Rolling Stones and Charlie Haden's Quartet West.

18. Patty Waters (1946)

American Jazz Musician

Singer in the free jazz genre who gained a cult following with 1965's Sings and 1966's College Tour. Her stark vocals influenced a generation of singers including Patti Smith and Diamanda Galas.

19. Bobby Watson (1953)

American Jazz Musician

Saxophone veteran of over one hundred recordings and leader of the band Horizon.

20. Dennis Irwin (1951)

American Jazz Musician

Jazz double bassist who appeared on more than five hundred records over the course of his life.

21. Kenny Werner (1951)

American Jazz Musician

Prolific composer and musician whose 2010 album No Beginning No End garnered him the 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship Award.

22. Jerry Bergonzi (1947)

American Jazz Musician

Jazz saxophonist best known for his work with influential bandleader Dave Brubeck. He is also the founder of the record label Not Fat Records.

23. Ben Allison (1966)

American Jazz Musician

Notable as the co-founder of the Jazz Composers Collective, this bandleader, bass player, and composer recorded nearly forty albums between 1991 and 2013. His most well known recordings include Third...

24. Diane Schuur (1953)

American Jazz Musician

Grammy Award-winning jazz artist who has headlined at prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall.

25. Pat Bianchi (1975)

American Jazz Musician

Pat Bianchi is an American jazz organist. In 2010 Downbeat named him among the ten best organists in jazz. He took up piano at age seven and began formal lessons...

26. Anna Mae Winburn (1913)

American Jazz Musician

Anna Mae Winburn née Darden was an African-American vocalist and jazz bandleader who flourished beginning in the mid-1930s. She is best known for having directed the International Sweethearts of Rhythm...

27. Bonnie Wetzel (1926)

American Jazz Musician

Bonnie Jean Addleman later Bonnie Wetzel was an American jazz double-bassist. Wetzel learned violin as a child and was an autodidact on bass. She played with Ada Leonard in an...

28. Shirley Horn (1934)

American Jazz Musician

Shirley Valerie Horn was an American jazz singer and pianist. Horn collaborated with many jazz greats including Miles Davis Dizzy Gillespie Toots Thielemans Ron Carter Carmen McRae Wynton Marsalis and...

29. Bill Saxton (1946)

American Jazz Musician

Edward Saxton is an American hard bop tenor saxophonist. He studied clarinet composition and arrangement at the New England Conservatory in Boston graduating in 1973 and worked with Pharoah Sanders...

30. Ben Wendel (1976)

American Jazz Musician

Ben Wendel is a Canadian-American jazz saxophonist composer bassoonist and pianist. He is best known for being a founding member of the Grammy-nominated group Kneebody. He has also performed as...

31. Rickey Woodard (1950)

American Jazz Musician

Rickey Woodard is an American jazz saxophonist.

32. Peter Washington (1964)

American Jazz Musician

Peter Washington is a jazz double bassist. He initially played classical bass and played with the Westchester Community Symphony at the age of 14. Later he worked with electric bass...

33. Billie Davies (1955)

American Jazz Musician

Billie Davies is an American female jazz drummer and composer best known for her Avant Garde and Avant-garde jazz compositions since the mid nineties and her improvisational drumming techniques she...

34. Keith Anderson (saxophonist) (1970)

American Jazz Musician

Keith Anderson is an American jazz saxophonist. After studying at Booker T. Washington Arts Magnet Anderson has played with Les McCann Roy Hargrove Erykah Badu Bobby Lyle Kirk Franklin Al...

35. Ian Villafana (1957)

American Jazz Musician

Ian Villafana is a smooth jazz guitarist recording artist and songwriter. Villafana currently resides in southern Louisiana near the city of New Orleans. As the son of a Trinidadian pianist...

36. Joe Ascione (1961)

American Jazz Musician

Joe Ascione is an American jazz drummer. Ascione began playing drums at age 2. His parents bought him his first drum set at age 4 and he was playing professionally...

37. Jerry Weldon (1957)

American Jazz Musician

Jerry Weldon is a tenor saxophonist noted for his involvement in various groups such as Lionel Hampton Orchestra and Harry Connick Jr. s big band. He is seen as a...

38. Joey DeFrancesco (1971)

American Jazz Musician

Joey DeFrancesco is an American jazz organist trumpeter and vocalist. He is a Grammy-nominated artist who has released more than 30 albums including recordings with jazz legends Miles Davis and...

39. Greg Gisbert (1966)

American Jazz Musician

Gregory Lyle Gisbert is an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist.

40. Gregory Tardy (1966)

American Jazz Musician

Greg Tardy is an American jazz saxophonist who has released albums for the record labels SteepleChase Records J Curve Records and Impulse! Records.

41. Steve Wilson (jazz musician) (1961)

American Jazz Musician

Steve Wilson is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who is best known in the musical community as a flautist and an alto and soprano saxophonist. He also plays the clarinet and...

42. DJ Logic (1972)

American Jazz Musician

DJ Logic is a famous American jazz musician, who was born on February 26, 1972 in United States. DJ Logic (born 1972 as Jason Kibler) is an American turntablist active...