McKinney's Cotton Pickers › Similar Artists

Luis Russell - 100% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

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 Read more

Red Nichols - 76% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

Ernest Loring Nichols, 8 May 1905, Ogden, Utah, USA, d. 28 June 1965, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Taught by his father, cornettist Nichols quickly became a highly accomplished performer. Strongly influenced by early white jazz bands, and in particular by Bix Beiderbecke, he moved to New York in the early 20s and was soon one of the busiest musicians in town. He recorded hundreds Read more

Bud Freeman - 59% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

Lawrence Freeman, 3 April 1906, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 15 March 1991, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Freeman’s early career found him in company with Jimmy McPartland, Frank Teschemacher and other members of the Austin High School Gang. Having set out playing the C-melody saxophone, Freeman switched to tenor in 1925 and quickly established a reputation on that instrument a Read more

Pee Wee Russell - 54% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

Charles Ellsworth Russell, 27 March 1906, Maple Wood, Missouri, USA, d. 15 February 1969, Alexandria. Russell began playing clarinet in the early 20s and by 1927, the year he came to New York, had already worked with luminaries such as Jack Teagarden, Frank Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke. In the late 20s and throughout the 30s and 40s, Russell played with numerous jazzmen wor Read more

Don Redman - 53% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

Donald Matthew Redman, 29 July 1900, Piedmont, West Virginia, USA, d. 30 November 1964, New York City, New York, USA. A gifted child, alto saxophonist Redman studied extensively and by his graduation had mastered most of the wind instruments and was also adept at arranging. He then joined a territory band based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with whom he visited New York. This Read more

Eddie Condon - 51% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

Albert Edwin Condon, 16 November 1905, Goodland, Indiana, USA, d. 4 July 1973, New York City, USA. After working in local bands, guitarist and banjoist Condon moved to Chicago in the early 20s. He quickly associated himself with the very finest young white musicians based there: Bix Beiderbecke, Frank Teschemacher, Jimmy McPartland, Bud Freeman, Dave Tough and other members Read more

Barney Bigard - 49% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

Albany Leon Bigard, 3 March 1906, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 27 June 1980, Culver City, California, USA. Born into a highly musical family, Bigard began studying clarinet at the age of seven, taking lessons from the noted teacher, Lorenzo Tio Jnr. He worked in street parades but then switched to tenor saxophone in 1922 to join the band led by Albert Nicholas. During the Read more

Edmond Hall - 44% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

15 May 1901, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 11 February 1967, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Hall was born into a highly musical family: his father played clarinet and four of his brothers became professional musicians, mostly on reed instruments, the best known of these being clarinettist Herb Hall. After playing clarinet in his home-town with Buddy Petit, Lee Collins, Kid Th Read more

Casa Loma Orchestra - 42% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

Canadian tycoon Sir Henry Pellatt had delusions of grandeur similar to those exhibited by William Randolph Hearst. Pellatt’s equivalent to Hearst’s castle at San Simeon was Casa Loma, a house he built near Toronto. In 1929 a group of musicians, originally controlled by contractor Jean Goldkette and working as the Orange Blossoms, mainly in Canada, decided to strike ou Read more

Fletcher Henderson - 41% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, 18 December 1897, Cuthbert, Georgia, USA, d. 28 December 1952, New York City, New York, USA. One of the most important figures in the development of big band music, in the early 30s Henderson set the standards by which early big band jazz was measured. He did this through a combination of selecting leading jazz players for his band and, together Read more

Johnny Dodds - 37% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

12 April 1892, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 8 August 1940, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Dodds did not begin playing clarinet until he was aged 17, but in taking lessons from Lorenzo Tio ensured that his late start did not hamper his career. In the years before World War I he played with Kid Ory and Fate Marable, mostly in his home town, and also worked with a minstrel show whe Read more

Bennie Moten - 35% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

Benjamin Moten, 13 November 1894, Kansas City, Missouri, USA, d. 2 April 1935, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. In his youth, Moten gained a substantial reputation in and around his home town as a pianist; by 1920 he had become an established and respected band leader. His unit, originally a small outfit, gradually expanded until it was a big band ready to take advantage of the u Read more

Original Dixieland Jazz Band - 35% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

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 Read more

Erskine Hawkins - 33% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

Bunk Johnson - 32% match to McKinney's Cotton Pickers

William Geary Johnson, 27 December 1889, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 7 July 1949, New Iberia, Louisiana, USA. Johnson’s early career has only recently been unravelled, and then only partly, thanks to his own, often inaccurate testimony. Until his enforced retirement from music in 1934 Johnson was certainly an active musician, playing in numerous New Orleans-based ba Read more