Chick Webb
- 82% match to Fletcher Henderson
William Henry Webb, 10 February 1909, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, d. 19 June 1939, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Although crippled soon after his birth, Webbs determination to be a drummer overcame his physical infirmities. After playing in local bands, he travelled to New York while still a teenager and soon formed his own band there. By 1927 he had played at the Savoy Ball
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Charlie Barnet
- 73% match to Fletcher Henderson
Charles Daly Barnet, 26 October 1913, New York City, New York, USA, d. 4 September 1991, San Diego, California, USA. Of all the swing era band leaders, Barnet was the one most able to do as he pleased. Born into a rich New York family, he played piano and reed instruments while still at school and by his teens had decided that he wanted to play jazz. For a number of years he
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Bunny Berigan
- 67% match to Fletcher Henderson
Rowland Bernart Berigan, 2 November 1908, Hilbert, Calumet, Wisconsin, USA, d. 2 June 1942, New York City, New York, USA. One of the outstanding trumpeters of the swing era, Berigan was heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong and at his best played with much of his idols attack and zest. In the early 30s he worked with numerous bands, including those of Paul Whiteman, Fr
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Jimmy Dorsey
- 67% match to Fletcher Henderson
29 February 1904, Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 12 June 1957, New York City, New York, USA. Musically active as a small child under the tutelage of his father, who was a coal miner turned music teacher, Dorsey switched from brass to reed instruments while still in his early teens. Concentrating on clarinet and alto saxophone, he played in various bands, mostly with his b
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Jack Teagarden
- 55% match to Fletcher Henderson
Weldon Leo Teagarden, 29 August 1905, Vernon, Texas, USA, d. 15 January 1964, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. One of the giants of jazz, Teagarden began playing trombone and singing in and around his home-town, encouraged by his mother, Helen Teagarden, a pianist. From his early teens he was playing professionally, touring with various bands, notably that led by Peck Kelley. He
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Bix Beiderbecke
- 52% match to Fletcher Henderson
Leon Bix Beiderbecke, 10 March 1903, Davenport, Iowa, USA, d. 6 August 1931, New York City, New York, USA. One of the legends of jazz, a role he would doubtless have found wryly amusing had he lived to know of it, Bix Beiderbecke entered music when he began picking out tunes on piano and cornet at the age of 15. Inspired by records of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and by
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Luis Russell
- 52% match to Fletcher Henderson
6 August 1902, Careening Clay, Bocas Del Toro, Panama, d. 11 December 1963. After playing various instruments in his homeland, Russell moved to New Orleans in 1919 and thereafter played piano in local saloons and clubs. In the early 20s he played with Albert Nicholas among others, and also led bands. He played with King Oliver in Chicago in 1925 and in 1927 became leader of
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James P. Johnson
- 49% match to Fletcher Henderson
James Price Johnson, 1 February 1894, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA, d. 17 November 1955, New York City, New York, USA. Taught piano by his mother, Johnson assimilated a wide range of musical styles. In the years following his familys relocation to New York, he continued his studies and by his late teens was working in clubs in the Hells Kitchen district. Johnso
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Muggsy Spanier
- 47% match to Fletcher Henderson
Francis Joseph Spanier, 9 November 1901, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 12 February 1967, Sausalito, California, USA. Spanier began playing cornet while barely in his teens and within a couple of years was a professional musician. His first job was with Elmer Schoebel. By the end of the 20s he had established a reputation mostly in and around Chicago and had been hired by Ted Le
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Les Brown
- 46% match to Fletcher Henderson
Lester Raymond Brown, 14 March 1912, Reinerton, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 4 January 2001, Los Angeles, California, USA. By 1932, when he entered Duke University at Durham, North Carolina, Brown had already attended Ithaca College and the New York Military Academy and had studied harmony, arranging and composing, as well as becoming proficient on soprano saxophone, clarinet and b
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In May 1916 several young white New Orleans musicians were working in Chicago, often appearing in the same bands. After a few changes the musicians settled down as a permanent band, with the personnel comprising Nick LaRocca (Dominic James LaRocca, 11 April 1889, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 22 February 1961, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; cornet) Eddie Edwards (b. 22 May 1
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8 October 1893, Plaquemine, Louisiana, USA, d. 6 November 1965, New York City, New York, USA. Although Williams first made his mark as a pianist, singer and dancer, it was as a composer, record producer, music publisher and entrepreneur that he made a lasting impact on jazz. Before he was in his teens he had decided upon a career in showbusiness and had run away from home to
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Artist matches
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