Some Great Jazz Musicians

Armstrong, Louis (1901–1971), American jazz cornet and trumpet player, singer, bandleader, and popular entertainer. Armstrong overcame poverty, a lack of formal education, and racism to become one of the most innovative and influential musicians of the 20th century, and one of the most beloved entertainers in the world.

Armstrong influenced not only trumpeters but, directly or indirectly, nearly all instrumental and vocal jazz music, as well as a wide range of popular music. He is perhaps best known for pioneering a style known as swing, which later formed the basis for most jazz and rhythm-and-blues (R&B) music. In addition to his technical virtuosity and creative melodic ideas, Armstrong was famous for playing and singing with passionate, joyful feeling. He established the expressive possibilities of the young art form of jazz and set fundamental standards for improvisation.

About 1917 Armstrong attracted the attention of cornetist King Oliver, who played a style of jazz known as New Orleans. After Oliver left for Chicago about 1919, Armstrong played in the New Orleans jazz band of American trombonist Kid Ory, which performed on the riverboats of the Mississippi River. Armstrong moved to New York City in 1924, where he joined the band of American pianist Fletcher Henderson and expanded his reputation as a leading soloist in the style of music known as hot jazz. He also set new standards for trumpeters, extending the range of the instrument with impressive high notes.

In the 1930s and 1940s Armstrong led a big band, toured Europe on several occasions, and started a career as a popular entertainer in motion pictures. The first black to appear regularly in American feature films, Armstrong acted in more than 50 movies. He became an unofficial musical ambassador from the United States, performing all over the world; in 1957, for example, he appeared before an audience of 100,000 people in Ghana. In 1956 he wrote the autobiography Satchmo.

Armstrong was one of the first artists to record scat singing (the singing of improvised wordless sounds rather than formal lyrics), in the song “Heebie Jeebies”, and eventually his voice became one of the most recognizable of the 20th century. In part because of his vocals, a number of his records became hits, including “Blueberry Hill", “Mack the Knife”, “Hello Dolly”, and “What a Wonderful World”. In 1964 his recording of “Hello Dolly” became the number-one song on the Billboard magazine popular-record charts, replacing “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” by the British rock-music group the Beatles. That same year Armstrong won a Grammy Award for “Hello Dolly.”

In 1976 a statue dedicated to Armstrong was erected in New Orleans and a park was named in his honor. He was selected for a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1972) and two Hall of Fame Grammy Awards. There is a museum in his honor in New York City.

Miller, Glenn (1904–1944), American jazz bandleader, arranger, and trombone player, who led the most popular dance band of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Miller was a capable trombonist and an excellent arranger. His distinctive use of clarinet lead over four saxophones became his trademark and contributed to his success.

Miller was born in Clarinda, Iowa. He grew up in Colorado. Before starting his own band, Miller led a busy career as a dance band and studio trombonist, working in the bands of American bandleaders Ben Pollack and Red Nichols. In 1934 Miller worked with the Dorsey Brothers Band, and later joined English bandleader Ray Noble as a trombonist and arranger. Miller formed his own swing orchestra in 1937. A number of Miller's songs became hits, including “Little Brown Jug,” “Sunrise Serenade,” “Moonlight Serenade” (the band's theme song), and Miller's biggest hit, “In the Mood.”

In September 1942 Miller suddenly disbanded his orchestra and enlisted in the United States Army. He formed the 42-piece, all-star Army Air Force Band, which entertained World War II service personnel with regular radio broadcasts in the United States and in England. In December 1944, Miller died when his small plane, headed to Paris, France, disappeared over the English Channel during bad weather. American drummer Ray McKinley took direction of the band and led a reorganized version of the Glenn Miller Orchestra from 1955 to 1966. Other leaders of the band include American clarinetist Buddy DeFranco and American trombonists Jimmy Henderson and Buddy Morrow. American trombonist Larry O'Brien assumed leadership of the orchestra in 1981. Miller's life and career were portrayed in the 1953 movie The Glenn Miller Story, which starred American actor Jimmy Stewart.

Ellington, Duke (1899–1974), American jazz composer, orchestrator, bandleader, and pianist, considered the greatest composer in the history of jazz music and one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. Unlike other great bandleaders, Ellington personally created most of the music played by his orchestra.

Ellington composed about 2000 works, including musical comedies, music for ballet and motion pictures, an opera, and numerous short songs and instrumentals. He composed exclusively for his jazz big band, choosing players with distinct musical styles. During his career, Ellington toured with his group, covering about 16 million km of travel and playing about 20,000 performances throughout the United States and in 65 other nations around the world.

Born in Washington, D.C. into a middle-class family, he got the nickname Duke as a child for his manners, clothing, and personality. His parents had musical backgrounds, and by the time Ellington was a teenager he was playing piano in a musical style known as ragtime. He began playing for friends and at parties and soon formed a small dance band named The Duke's Serenaders.

In 1923 Ellington moved to New York City, where he found musicians who could contribute special sounds to his band. In particular, American trumpeter James Miley, whose playing was characterized by unique sounds achieved through the use of mutes (sound-altering devices), helped transform Ellington's combo (small ensemble) from a polite society band into a respected jazz group.

With his piece “It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing”, Ellington began the era of swing music and dancing. After 1932 Ellington enlarged his orchestra to 14 members. By 1940 Ellington's band included some of the best American jazz instrumentalists. In the early 1940s, the Ellington orchestra made many brilliant recordings, such as “Concerto for Cootie”, an example of the small jazz concerto that Ellington pioneered.

In 1943 the Ellington orchestra performed for the first time at New York City's Carnegie Hall, a prestigious musical venue, with the piece Black, Brown, and Beige, one of Ellington's longest and most ambitious compositions. After that the band played Carnegie Hall more or less each year.

In 1953 Ellington recorded the album Piano Reflections. He earned success with recordings of suites, composed for concerts and records, including A Drum Is a Woman, Such Sweet Thunder, and The Far East Suite, as well as with the motion-picture soundtrack Anatomy of a Murder. A religious man, Ellington began composing liturgical works in the 1960s.

Over the course of his career, Ellington wrote a number of pieces that became standards in the jazz repertory. Although some of the instrumental pieces he composed were later set to lyrics and became hits as songs, including “Sophisticated Lady” and “Don't Get Around Much Any More”, Ellington's greatest legacy was his work as an instrumental composer.

Ellington's music is defined by common musical lines, such as the sounds of muted brass instruments and high clarinet; distinctive harmonies; his unique piano playing; and unusual combinations of instruments. Ellington's other innovations include the use of the human voice as an instrument, such as in “Creole Love Call”. He also employed musicians who could play their instruments in a manner that mimicked a voice.

During his lifetime, Ellington received hundreds of distinctions, including 11 Grammy Awards and 19 honorary doctorate degrees. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the United States and the Legion of Honor by France, the highest civilian honors. (Encyclopedia Britannica)