Benny Goodman 
King of Swing – best of the Swing Era; made it popular; Great Clarinetist 
Fletcher Henderson 
Hired as Goodman’s Chief arranger after Goodman’s band broke up; 
Gene Krupa 
featured on drums, one of Goodman’s famous sideman. First Great Drum soloist, brought the drums out from the background to the foreground, flashy drum solos – real showman
Teddy Wilson 

featured on Piano; best and most influential of the Swing Pianists; typifies the swing piano

Duke Ellington 

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Second great composer/ arranger in Jazz History and most say the single greatest; Chief concerns, eastern bands – the arrangements, Midwest bands, the groove swing itself and Ellington – Tone color and sound

Cootie Williams
was a jazz, jump blues and rhythm and blues trumpeter
Johnny Hodges
was an alto saxophonists best known for his solo work with Duke Ellington’s big  band
Joe Nanton

famous trombonist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra 

Jimmy Blanton
influential jazz double bassist; credited with being the originator of pizzicato and bowed bass solos
Count Basie 
was a jazz pianist, organist, bandleader and composer.  Basie led his band orchestra for nearly 50 years and many notable people came to be under his direction such as Lester young, Herschel Evans, Buck Clayton, Harry Edison, Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams; Songs were One O’clock Jump and April in Paris.
Freddie Green
a swing jazz guitarist; rhythm guitar in big band with Count Basie; All American Section with Basie on piano, Jo Jones on drums and Walter Page on bass
Jo Jones 
Papa Jo Jones; jazz drummer; ride rhythm hi-hat 
Walter Page 

jazz bassist and leader of the Oklahoma City Blue Devils Jazz orchestra from 1925 -1931

Lester Young 
nicknamed the Prez; American jazz tenor saxophonists and clarinetist; also played trumpet, violin and drums; Member of Count Basie’s orchestra; one of the most influential players on his instrument
Billie Holliday 
troubled childhood, did not have a great singing voice, focused on lyrics; like actress; nicknamed Lady Day by her friend and musical partner Lester Young; influence on jazz and pop singing
Frank Sinatra

First Superstar in pop history – became a cultural icon – bigger than life figure;During the Early period Sinatra performed for hordes of screaming girls – known as Bobbie Soxers

Tommy Dorsey 
was a jazz trombonists, trumpeter, composer and bandleader of the Big Band Era; known as the “Gentleman of Swing” due to his smooth piano playing
Helen Forest 
one of the most popular female jazz vocalists during the Big Band Era sang on CBS radio under Bonnie Blue 
Glenn Miller 
went missing; jazz musician (trombone), arranger, composer, and bandleader in the Swing era; one of the bestselling recording artists from 1939 -43; lead one of the best known Big Bands; Songs included “In the Mood”, and “Moonlight Serenade”  
Art Tatum
jazz pianists and virtuoso; nearly blind; one of the greatest known jazz pianists of all time

Charlie Parker 

nicknamed Bird/Yardbird, American jazz saxophonist and composer; played a leading role in the development of bebop; with his innovative approach to melody, rhythm and harmony

Dizzy Gillespie 
(from SC, Kenny Clarke, Max Roach (drum player) Bud Powell (Considered to be the best and most influential of the Bebop Pianists; suffered from mental and emotional problems) ; American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer;  dubbed the sound of surprise; major figure of bebop and modern jazz influenced many other musicians such as Miles davis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown…etc
Powell Shell Voicings
can be ambiguous and can implied to chords and leaves more room for the soloists including the pianist
Bud Powell 
American jazz pianists; described as one of “the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop” the other is Monk; Key player in the history of bebop
Thelonious Monk 
(Invented Bebop tutored Powell; one of the most unique and unusual figures in all jazz history; mental problems – bi-polar disorder; one of the inventors of bebop along with dizzy and bird; really didn’t maintain a Bebop style; consider the third great composer *chronologically; performed mostly with quartets; category by himself; wasn’t well known till he appears on the front of TIME magazine
Milt Jackson 
 jazz vibraphonists; performed in several jazz idioms; bebop remembered for his cool swinging solos as a member of the modern jazz quartet
John Hammond 
record producer, musician and music critic; talent scout; sparking numerous musical careers such as Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Teddy Wilson, Big Joe Turner, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Freddie Green and others; responsible for the revival of Robert Johnson’s music
Cole Porter 
American composer and songwriter; Broadway; Musical theatre; wrote and sang his songs; unlike most musical theater composers at that time
George Gershwin 
composer and pianists; spanned both popular and classical genres; wrote broadway as well; compositions such as “Rhapsody in Blue and “An American in Paris” and an opera “Porgy and Bess”
Ira Gershwin 

American lyricist; brother to George Gershwin; Broadway Shows; collaborated with his brother

 

Swing 
a style of jazz played by big bands popular in the 1930s; flowing rhythms but less complex than later styles of jazz.
Swing Era 
The swing era was the period of time (1935-1946) when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States.
big band(horns and rhythm section instruments, roles, and functions) 

standard 17- piece instrumentation; five saxophones- most often two altos; two tenors and one baritone; four trumpets – one bass trombone and a four piece rhythm section – drums, acoustic bass/electric bass, piano and guitar

arranging devices- (full ensemble, melody and accompaniment, riffs, call and response, improvised solos) 
strophic form – same phrase and chord structure repeated several times; chorus/ iteration follows twelve bar blues/ thirty-two-bar (AABA) song form; first chorus typically introduced the melody; followed by choruses of development
jungle music 
Drum and bass – a form of music that has a lot more baseline and drum influence
Ellington
emphasis on tone color, writing for specific players head arrangements