Red Hot Musicians

Frankie Dusen Jr. became the trombonist in Buddy Bolden‘s band in 1906 and took over the group after Bolden went insane in 1907. He re-named the group the Eagle Band after

Hardcore might be the best way to describe the Blues singing of Lucille Bogan (April 1, 1897 – August 10, 1948). While many of the

Irving Mills (January 16, 1894 – April 21, 1985) was born in New York City, in the Jewish ghetto on the East Side in 1894

Multi-instrumentalist Peter Bocage (31 July 1887 – 3 December 1967) was one of the great trumpeters in New Orleans history and ironically did not consider

In 1915 Jimmy Blythe (May 20, 1901 – June 14, 1931) moved from his native Kentucky to Chicago. He was an accomplished musician and composer

Banjoist and guitarist Jack Bland (May 8, 1899 – August 1968) is best remembered as the banjoist for the Mound City Blue Blowers which he co-founded

Blues singer Esther Bigeou  (c.1892 – November 15, 1936) was a cousin of drummer Paul Barbarin which made her part of one of the most musical

Bubber Miley (April 3, 1903 – May 20, 1932) was the master of the plunger mute. His growling, drunken wah-wah sounding trumpet playing was largely

Percussionist and xylophonist Jimmy Bertrand (24 February 1900 – August 1960) moved to Chicago in 1913 and played in the State Theatre Orchestra before joining

The word child prodigy doesn’t even begin to describe Vic Berton (May 7, 1896 – December 26, 1951) who was playing drums in a Milwaukee

Paul Whiteman‘s Orchestra was the most popular band of the 1920s. They are also the most controversial to Jazz historians because Whiteman (March 28, 1890

Elmer Snowden (October 9, 1900 – May 14, 1973) contributed greatly to jazz in its earlier days as both a player and a bandleader, and

Don Redman (July 29, 1900 – November 30, 1964) is one of the first great jazz arrangers and was a pivotal figure in the development

Eddie Lang was the first Jazz guitar virtuoso. A boyhood friend of Joe Venuti, Lang took violin lessons for 11 years but switched to guitar

Clarinetist Ted Lewis was born in Circleville, Ohio in 1890 and was playing leading bands in Ohio as early as 1910. Ted formed a musical

Red was the leader of the Mound City Blue Blowers, in which he played comb, kazoo, and sang. Later, he went on to play with

Duke Ellington brought a level of style and sophistication to Jazz that it hadn’t seen before. Although he was a gifted piano player, his orchestra

Bessie Smith was a rough, crude, violent woman. She was also the greatest of the classic Blues singers of the 1920s. Bessie started out as

Bix Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was one of the great jazz musicians of the 1920’s; he was also a child of

As a young man in New Orleans, Barney Bigard (March 3, 1906 – June 27, 1980) took clarinet lessons with Lorenzo Tio Jr. and Papa

Sidney Bechet was a child prodigy in New Orleans. He was such good clarinet player that, in his youth he was featured by some of

Guitarist and banjoist Danny Barker, a nephew of drummer Paul Barbarin, discovered his interest in music at an early age and was soon taking clarinet