Jazz Legends

Saxophonist John Coltrane (born Sept 23, 1926), is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential musical voices of the 20th Century. His influence can’t be overestimated; literally every musician who followed him has been shaped by his innovations and contributions to the music. A member of Miles Davis’ first great quintet, Coltrane also played with Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie and many other jazz greats before forming his ground breaking quartet in 1960 with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones. Together, this band reshaped the jazz landscape as none had before or since.

Saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley (born Sept 15,1928) and his cornetist brother Nat (born Nov 25, 1931) co-led one of the most successful jazz groups of the 1960’s-1970’s. From the time they arrived on the NYC scene from their native Florida in 1955, and sat in with bassist Oscar Pettiford, they set the town ablaze. Both musicians found work with many of the jazz luminaries of the time, Cannonball famously with Miles Davis’ great sextet that included John Coltrane and recorded Kind of Blue, the biggest selling jazz recording of all time, and Nat with trombonist J. J. Johnson and Woody Herman. By 1959 they formed their long-standing quintet and had their first hit with This Here, the first of many successful recordings, many composed by Nat for the quintet. Nat is also one of the few jazz musicians to continue playing the cornet, instead of the brighter/brassier trumpet favored by most players, which helped give the quintet a more intimate warmer sound.

Tenor Saxophonist Sonny Rollins, born September 7, 1930, is widely recognized as one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time. In his over seven-decade career he has produced over sixty albums as a leader, and penned a number of tunes that have become jazz standards. Growing up in the Sugar Hill neighborhood of Harlem he was surrounded by a hotbed of jazz activity from an early age, his neighborhood boasted such luminaries as Bud Powell, Thelonius Monk, and Coleman Hawkins. He and his contemporary Jackie McClean played together as teenagers in a band of young musicians drawn from the neighborhood. Health problems necessitated Rollins stop playing the saxophone in 2012, but he still lives in his upstate New York home, an elder jazz statesman at the age of 93.

Pianist Horace Silver, born September 2, 1928, in Connecticut, played tenor saxophone and piano in school, and received his first national recognition when his trio was hired to play with saxophonist Stan Getz in 1950. His career received a major boost when he became part of the original Jazz Messengers with Art Blakey, and recorded his first hit composition, The Preacher. He toured with Blakey until 1956, when he left to start his own quintet, which featured his prolific compositional talents, and launched the careers of numerous younger players over the ensuing decades. He is one of the musicians credited with launching the hard bop style.

Saxophonist, composer Wayne Shorter, born August 25, 1933, was one of the most influential jazz artists, and most creative, distinctive and prolific jazz composers the music has produced. Serving as the principal composer for both Art Blakey and Miles Davis’ bands during his tenures there, in addition to the music he wrote for his own twenty record dates and Weather Report, his catalog runs to hundreds of titles, many of which have become jazz standards. 

Pianist Mulgrew Miller, born August 13, 1955, toured with the Duke Ellington Orchestra for three years right out of college, later accompanying singer Betty Carter, then three year stints with trumpeter Woody Shaw followed by Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He was already recording with his own groups when he joined drummer Tony Williams in quintet and trio settings, he also served as director of jazz studies at William Paterson college up unto his tragic death of a stroke at age 57. His playing never lost its roots as a church pianist, but he also incorporated the pyrotechnic technical influences of Oscar Peterson and the harmonic language of McCoy Tyner.

Bill Evans, born August 16, 1929, was one of his generation’s most influential jazz pianists. His lyrical melodic lines, use of impressionistic harmony and deft touch at the keyboard combined to make him an influence on every pianist that came after him. After working with Miles Davis and recording the seminal recording "Kind of Blue", he spent the rest of his career performing with his own trios, carving out a career as a soloist and jazz composer for decades, earning 31 Grammy award nominations and winning seven.

Charlie Parker, nicknamed “Yardbird” or “Bird” for short was easily one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century. Born in Kansas City, Kansas on August 29, 1920, he came up in the vital jazz scene of Kansas City, Missouri. Initially heavily influenced by the playing of saxophonist Lester Young, he developed a prodigious saxophone technique and his own unique harmonic and melodic language, heavily rooted in the blues tradition, and together with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie is credited with creating the style of jazz later referred to as bebop. Bassist Charles Mingus famously commented that so many musicians copied Bird’s innovations that they’d all be guilty of copyright violations in a just world!

Virtuoso trumpeter Lee Morgan (born July 10, 1938) first rose to fame as a teenage member of Dizzy Gillespie’s band. He played as a sideman with John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Art Blakey in addition to producing a series of recordings as a leader, one of which “The Sidewinder” became a surprise commercial hit in 1964. He died tragically in 1972, shot at a club in NYC during a gig.

Composer and lyricist Frank Loesser (born June 29, 1910) worked for years as a lyricist for a series of different songwriters, always telling them he could actually write both words and music himself, and he proved it in 1950 with the Broadway Premiere of Guys and Dolls. Over the course of his career he won a Pulitzer Prize for his show, How to Succeed in Business, Tony awards for Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business and an Academy Award for the song "Baby it’s Cold Outside." Jazz musicians have embraced his tunes for years, his melodies and harmonies are a continuing source of inspiration.