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Louis Armstrong was the first important soloist to emerge in jazz, and he became the most influential musician in the music's history. As a trumpet virtuoso, his playing, beginning with the 1920s studio recordings made with his Hot Five and Hot Seven ensembles, charted a future for jazz in highly imaginative, emotionally charged improvisation. For this, he is revered by jazz fans. But Armstrong also became an enduring figure in popular music, due to his distinctively phrased bass singing and engaging person... Read More

Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Hoagy Carmichael, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Tom Waits, Charlie Barnet, Coleman Hawkins, Django Reinhardt, Louis Prima, Stéphane Grappelli, Wynton Marsalis, Tommy Dorsey, Lonnie Johnson, Fats Domino, Gil Evans, Clifford Brown, Art Farmer and Benny Carter