Ferdinand Joseph Lemott, 20 October 1890, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 10 July 1941, Los Angeles, California, USA. A gifted musician, Morton played various instruments before deciding to concentrate on piano. In the early years of the twentieth century he was a popular figure on the seamier side of New Orleans night life. He played in brothels, hustled pool and generally
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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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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
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Eddie Condon
- 73% match to Sidney Bechet
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
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Chick Webb
- 69% match to Sidney Bechet
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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Teddy Wilson
- 69% match to Sidney Bechet
Theodore Shaw Wilson, 24 November 1912, Austin, Texas, USA, d. 31 July 1986, New Britain, Connecticut, USA. Born into a middle-class family, Wilson grew up in Tuskegee where his parents moved to take up teaching posts at the university. He studied violin and piano at Tuskegee and later extended his studies at college in Alabama. In 1929, by now concentrating on piano, he bec
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Artie Shaw
- 66% match to Sidney Bechet
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky, 23 May 1910, East Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, d. 30 December 2004, Newbury Park, California, USA. The son of an Austrian mother and a Russian father, Arshawsky was born in New York but relocated with his family to New Haven, Connecticut while still a child. He learned to play the ukulele before taking up the alto saxophone at the age of 1
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Jack Teagarden
- 65% match to Sidney Bechet
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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Johnny Dodds
- 65% match to Sidney Bechet
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
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Fats Waller
- 63% match to Sidney Bechet
Thomas Wright Waller, 21 May 1904, Waverley, New York, USA, d. 15 December 1943, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Influenced by his grandfather, a violinist, and his mother, Waller was playing piano at students concerts and organ in his fathers church by the time he was 10 years old. In 1918, while still in high school, he was asked to fill in for the regular organist
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Muggsy Spanier
- 59% match to Sidney Bechet
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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Bunny Berigan
- 58% match to Sidney Bechet
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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King Oliver
- 58% match to Sidney Bechet
11 May 1885, Abend, Louisiana, USA, d. 10 April 1938, Savannah, Georgia, USA. Raised in New Orleans, cornettist Joe King Oliver became well known through appearances with local marching and cabaret bands during the early years of this century. After playing with notable early jazzmen such as Kid Ory and Richard M. Jones in 1918, he left for Chicago and two years
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Lionel Hampton
- 56% match to Sidney Bechet
20 April 1908 (some claim 1909 and 1914), Louisville, Kentucky, USA, d. 31 August 2002, New York, USA. After living briefly in Louisville and Birmingham, Alabama, Hampton was taken to Chicago where he lived with his grandparents. They sent him to Holy Rosary Academy at Collins, Wisconsin, where he was taught the rudiments of military band drumming by a Dominican nun. Followi
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Artist matches
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