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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Arthur W. Hodes, 14 November 1904, Nikoliev, Ukraine, d. 4 March 1993, Harvey, Illinois, USA. A few months after Hodes was born, his family emigrated from Russia and settled in Chicago, Illinois. He began playing piano and by his late teenage years was working in dancehalls and clubs. He played with several local bands, including Wingy Manone’s, but also established him
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4 December 1915, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, d. 2 January 1989, North Miami, Florida, USA. Heywood received his first piano lessons from his father, also named Eddie, who was a well-known band leader in the 20s. Heywood joined his father, playing piano in the pit band at an Atlanta theatre. He also accompanied singers, including Bessie Smith, and thereafter worked in various smal
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Meade Anderson Lewis, 4 September 1905, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 7 June 1964, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Although he was popular in Chicago bars in the 20s, Lewis was little known elsewhere and made his living running a taxicab firm with fellow-pianist Albert Ammons. A record he made in 1927, ‘Honky Tonk Train Blues’, but which was not released until 1929, even
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James Hubert Blake, 7 February 1883, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, d. 12 February 1983, New York City, New York, USA. Eubie Blake grew up to the sounds of ragtime music, and before the turn of the century was playing piano in sporting houses and other similar establishments. He was a composer too, and in 1915 joined forces with Noble Sissle; they played in vaudeville as a double
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Donald Tyson Ewell, 14 November 1916, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, d. 9 August 1983, Pompano Beach, Florida, USA. Although classically trained on piano, Ewell was drawn to jazz and in particular to the music of the early jazz masters of New Orleans. This was despite the fact that by the mid-30s, which was when his career got under way, such forms were suffering a decline in pop
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7 November 1916, New York City, New York, USA, d. 3 November 2004, Santa Barbara, California, USA. While still in his early teens Bushkin played piano (and trumpet) with New York dance bands, and by the mid-30s was a regular sitter-in along 52nd Street, playing and recording with Eddie Condon, Muggsy Spanier and Billie Holiday. He joined Bunny Berigan’s big band in 1935
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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 family’s relocation to New York, he continued his studies and by his late teens was working in clubs in the Hell’s Kitchen district. Johnso
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