Was born in Reserve, Louisiana on February 3rd, 1896. His father, Fernand
Valentine was a talended player of most brass instreuments and
bandmaster of the Pickwick Brass band. Kid Thomas began playing
trumpet at an early age and, in his twenties, moved to Algiers—across
the river from New Orleans where he quickly became the star attraction
in Elton Theodore’s band. Valentine remained independent of developing
trends in jazz trumpet playing and was one of the few who were not
influenced by Louis Armstrong. His band—the Algiers Stompers—played
on through the decades, and despite isolation from the big jazz centers, he
made many trips to Europe and Japan in the 60’s and continued to play
back home in Algiers clear into the eighties. Kid Thomas Valentine passed
away in 1987 at the age of 91.

Sarah Vaughan

Born in Newark, New Jersey on March 27th, 1924. She took
piano lessons for ten years, sang in her church choir and became
the organist at the age of twelve. She won an amateur singing contest
at the Apollo theatre in Harlem in 1942--same place where Ella Fitzgerald
won the contest many years earlier—and spotted by Billy Eckstein
who was working for Earl Hines at the time, Sarah was invited to
join Hines band as a female vocalist and second pianist.
Eckstein had been so impressed by Sarah Vaughan that he gave
her a place in his own band in 1944, and it was here that she met
Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and other pioneers of modern jazz.
In the later forties and fifties she began a decade of recording sessions
and world-wide tours, recorded with Miles Davis and produced
many albums for Mercury records. Among her most satisfying work
was with Count Basie, Clifford Brown and Cannonball Adderly,
and in 1974 she performed at the Monterrey Jazz Festival. Then, in 1980,
Sarah Vaughan appeared in concert a Carnegie Hall.

Joe Venuti - Eddie Lang

Now legend has it that Joe Venuti was born either in Italy or in Philadelphia,
or on a ship somewhere in-between filled with Italian immigrants. Nobody
seems to know for sure, but at any rate, he teamed up with Eddie Lang—
whose real name was Salvatore Massaro—in Philadelphia, and—according
to another legend, they bought a violin and a guitar in a pawn shop and
tossed a coin to see who would play which. The result: Venuti got the
violin and Lang the guitar, and they played happily ever after. Both men
played with the world´s greatest as the years went by—with Red McKenzey,
the Dorsey Brothers, Jack Teagarden, Bix Beiderbecke and Paul Whiteman, and Venuti—a practical joker, pulled-off some Lulus: Once, during a rehearsal for the film "King of Jazz", he emptied a bag of flour into a big tuba. When the unsuspecting musican started to blow, the whole stage—band and all..disappeared under a white cloud of flour.

Fats Waller

Thomas Wright Waller was born in Waverley, New York on May 21st
Influenced by his grandfather, a violinist, and by his mother . Waller
was playing piano at student concerts and organ in his father’s church
by the time her was ten years old. In 1918, while still in high school,
he was asked to fill-in for the regular organist at the Lincoln Theatre,
and then gained a permanent seat at the Wurlitzer Grand. A year later he
won a talent contest by playing "Carolina Shout" by the famous ragtime
pianist James P. Johnson. While a protégé’ of Johnson, Waller adopted the
Harlem ‘stride’ style of piano playing.—the swinging left hand.
Waller’s playing was in demand at rent-parties, bootleg- joints, cabarets and
vaudeville, and inevitably he mixed with gangsters. It’s said that he received
his first $100 bill from Al Capone, who obviously enjoyed his piano playing.
Fats Waller recorded with the legendary Bessie Smith and toured with her
in 1926. Waller enjoyed success after success as a performer and composer:
The Broadway revue "Keep Shufflin’", "Shuffle along", the negro revue,
"Hot Chocolates", first staged at Connie’s Inn in Harlem.
Waller’s greatest hots were scored during the depression—"Honeysuckle
Rose", "Blue turning gray over you", "Keepin’ out of mischief now",
"I’ve got a feeling I’m falling" and many others. In 1932 Fats Waller toured Europe with fellow-composer Spencer Williams, and played in such prestige places as London’s Kit Kat Club and at the Moulin Rouge in Paris. Worldwide fame followed for Fats Waller and his Rhythm in 1934—and all star group with which he made over 150 shellac recordings. Waller had massive hit with "I’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter", "Lulu’s back in town", "Dinah", "Hold tight", "It’s a sin to tell a lie"  "Your Feet’s too big"..many written in collaboration with lyricist Andy Razaf.
Waller appeared in three feature films, the first of which was "Hooray for love" with that great dancer Bill Bojangles Robinson. Besides performing concerts in several cities, including a performance  at the London Palladium, he appeared in an early television broadcast from Alexandra Palace, and he was probably the only jazz musician to play the organ of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Back in the USA, returning from his European tour, Waller toured  with a combo for a while,  and during the early forties, performed with his own big band before working again as a solo artist.
In 1942 he tried to play serious jazz in concert at Carnegie Hall—but was poorly received. A year later, Waller teamed up with Bojangles Robinson again for the film "Stormy weather" and he stayed on in California .In 1942, following his engagement at the Zanzibar Club in Los Angeles, Waller was on his way back to New York on the Santa Fe train. He died of Pneumonia just as the train pulled into Kansas City.   Waller’s life had been one of excess—enormous amounts of food and liquor,    and his weight had increased to around 310 pounds. Days of carousing and days of continuous sleeping had played Hell with his work and, finally,  took his life. Fats Waller left a legacy of wonderful tunes and a rich  contribution of unique recordings.
Fats Waller came out of the James P. Johnson ‘stride’ piano style, but added a delicacy, a more powerful rhythmic intensity, and a greater speed and deftness. He wore his genius lightly and his light-hearted music had a profound influence on later generations of musicians. He could make an artistic and witty gem out of the tritest pop song and his compositions enriched the entire jazz repertoire. Many of the more solemn jazz fans lamented Fats popularity and humor: They felt he was throwing away his great talent and that he should have devoted himself to more serious musical persuits. Nevertheless, his influence on pianists has been enormous: perhaps his most famous debtors are Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and --Count Basie (who took lessons from Waller). Waller was indeed, a legend in his own time, and a national treasure. He died at the age of 38.

Dinah Washington

Was born Ruth Jones, on August 29th 1924 inTuscaloosa, Alabama, and grew up in Chicago. She sang in church choirs and played the piano. Dinah first worked in local clubs where she was heard by Lionel Hampton. He promptly hired her, and her first recording successes began around 1945. After leaving Hamp, she started a successful string of Rhythm and Blues recordings and went on the extend her singing to jazz, blues and popular songs. Physically,
Dinah appeared to thrive on her extragavent way of life—jewellry, cars, furs, men, drink and drugs..but her erratic life style caught up with her. She died suddenly at the age of 39.

  Lu Watters

He hails from Santa Cruz, California..born there on December 19th, 1911.
Watters began leading his own combos after playing trumpet with several
bands. By the end of the forties he became dedicated to traditional jazz
styles, inspired by the music or New Orleans. He formed the Yerba Buena
Jazz band with Turk Murphy, Clancy Hayes and Bob Scobey, and proved
to be enormously successful.

   Dick Wellstood

was born in Greenwich, Connecticut on November
25th 1927, and after learning to play the piano in his home town
went to New York in 1946 and soon began working with well known
musicians such as Sidney Bechet and Bob Wilber. In the early 50s
Wellstood toured Europe with Jimmy Archies band, but divided his studies
between music and law studies. He qualified as a lawyer, but nevertheless returned to playing with small groups and with artists such as Roy Eldridge, Henry Red Allen, Coleman Hawkins and Gene Krupa.

Paul Whiteman

Born in Denver, Colorado on March 28th, 1890. The American
Band leader, composer, arranger and violinist played with the
Denver Symphony orchestra from 1910 and later with the
San Fransisco Symphony orchestra. Whiteman changed his
tack and joined a dance orchestra, but he was fired because he
couldn’t play jazz. After military service as an army band leader,
Whiteman formed his own orchestra and, in 1920, made a hit with his
recording of "Japansese Sandman" and "Whispering, which sold
two million copies, followed by yet another hit, "Three O’clock
in the morning" which sold 3/12 million. In 1924 he appeared in
New York’s Aolian Hall for the first so-called Jazz Concert for
which he commissioned George Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue."
Whiteman dubbed himself "The King of Jazz", which he certainly
wasn’t—and he even starred in a film of that name. While Paul
Whiteman never lived up to his royal title, he was nevertheless
responsible for the concept of Symphonic Jazz, and for his
engagement and encouragement of some of the world’s greatest
musicians—Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden, Benny Goodman,
Frank Trumbauer and others.

Bob Wilber

Bob Wilber was born on March 15th, 1928 in New York city, and
after studying clarinet as a child, began leading his own band. Still
in his teens., he became a student of Sidney Bechet with whom he also
recorded. Wilber became adept at the soprano saxophone and was right at
home with jazz. To broaden his expertise, he continued studies under
Lennie Tristano and in a mid fifties band which he led, Wilber blended
traditional and modern concepts in jazz. During the fifties and on through
the 60’s he played and recorded with Bobby Hackett, Benny Goodman,
Sidney Bechet, Jack Teagarden and Eddie Condon. And at the close of
the 60’s, he became one of the founders of the "World’s greatest Jazz band—
(so named). In the 70’s, Wilber teamed up with Kenny Davern to form
the Soprano sax summit. You’re about to hear a recording from one of those
sessions.

Mary Lou Williams

Born as Mary Elfrieda Scruggs on May 8th, 1910 in Atlanta, Georgia
was a child prodigy. She played piano in public at the age of six and
by the time she reached teen-age was already a seasoned professional
pianist. When she was 16 she married saxophonist John Williams and played
in his band, and later took over the band which eventually became Andy Kirk’s "Clouds of Joy". During the thirties Mary Lou Williams arranged for Earl Hines, Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman. Goodman made a hit with her arrangement of "Roll ‘em". She also made arrangement for Duke Ellington.
Throughout the forties and fifties she played in clubs in the USA and Europe,
and in the late fifties performed at concerts and festivals. She also wrote a classical piece called the "Zodiac Suite" which was performed by the New York Philharminic Orchestra. Parodoxically, it was at this same time that Williams wrote Bop for the Dizzy Gillespie big band.

Cootie Williams

Charles Melvin Williams was born on July 10th, 1911 in Mobile, Alabama.
He was a self-taught trumpeter who first played professionally
in the mid-20’s when he was barely in his teens. Williams appeared in
the band run by the family of Lester Young. He later played in several
N.Y. bands including those of Chic Webb and Fletcher Henderson. In
1929 Williams replaced Bubber Miley in Duke Ellington’s orchestra
and remained there for eleven years. During this time, he also recorded with
Lionel Hampton, Teddy Wilson and Billy Holiday. In 1940, Williams was with
Benny Goodman briefly before forming his own big band. It was just here,
according to Williams himself, that he began drinking. While with Ellington,
Cootie Williams became a noted soloist in his own right—with a full, rich
tone and powerful style. He began with the Duke in 1929 and rejoined Ellington much later in 1962. Williams died in 1985.

Teddy Wilson

hails from Austin, Texas where he was born on November 24th
He studied both violin and piano in Tuskagee, Texas, and later
extended his college education in Alabama. In 1929 Wilson became
a professional pianist in Detroit, Michigan and later settle in Chicago
where he played with Erskine Tate, Louis Armstrong and Jimmy Noone.
In the early thurties he played with Art Tatum, holding his own in duets
of considerable distinction. In 1933 he went to New York to play in
Benny Carter’s band and, during this time, he made a succession of
outstanding recordings with Carter’s Chocolate Dandies and as
accompanist for Billy Holiday . Some of these sessions proved to
be masterpieces in jazz. In 1936 Wilson became a regular member of
Benny Goodman’s band—of the famous Goodman trio. He remained
in Goodman’s trio and quartet until 1939. He later formed his own
sextet and then worked in studios, taught and toured. By the sixties
Wilson had become an elder statesman of jazz, touring with Harry
Edison and Benny Carter.

Jimmy Yancey

Jimmy Yancey, the Father of boogie, was born in Chicago February 20th, 1898—although some authorities differ over the exact date. Yancey worked originally as a singing, dancing vaudevillian, while still a small child. He had just turned 20 after touring the USA and Europe, and then began teaching himself to play the piano. He played at rent parties and clubs in Chicago from 1915 and gradually built up a reputation. In fact, he is said to have given ideas to Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis—those two famous boogie pianists.
Nevertheless, Jimmy Yancey felt that music was an uncertain way to make a
living, so he became a groundsman with the Chicago White Sox baseball
team in 1925. He did continue to play piano, though, and was one of the prime-movers in establishing boogie-woogie. Yancey made many records, often accompanying his wife, Estelle, who became known as mama Yancey.
He played clubs and concerts and, shortly before his death in 1951, he
played at Carnegie Hall—in 1948.

Trummy Young