Raymond Matthews Brown (October 13 1926-July 2 2002) was an American jazz double bassist. Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one. With a vacancy in the high school jazz orchestra, he took up the double bass.

Mitchell Herbert (Herb) Ellis (born August 4, 1921) is an American jazz guitarist. He became prominent after performing with the Oscar Peterson Trio from 1953 to 1958. He was a somewhat controversial member of the trio because he was the only white person in the group in a time where racism was still very much widespread. Before that he had worked with Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra, Jimmy Dorsey, and Soft Winds.

Flip Phillips (February 26, 1915-August 17, 2001) was a jazz tenor saxophone and clarinet player. He is best remembered for his work with Jazz at the Philharmonic from 1946 to 1957. Over a long career, he played on many albums, retired to Florida for fifteen years, came back to music, and recorded a CD for Verve Records when he was in his 80s. Phillips performed in a variety of genres, not just jazz.

Jo Jones (later known as Papa Jo Jones) was an American drummer, one of the most influential in the history of jazz.

Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 - July 27, 1999), was born in Columbus, Ohio. He spent his early childhood in Kentucky, where he was introduced to music by an uncle. After moving back to Columbus at the age of 12, the young Edison began playing the trumpet with local bands. In 1933, he became a member of the Jeter-Pillars Orchestra in Cleveland. Afterwards he played with the "Mills Blue Rhythm Band" and Lucky Millinder.

Charlie James Shavers (August 3, 1920 to July 8, 1971) was a swing era jazz trumpet player who played at one time or another with Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Dodds, Jimmy Noone, Sidney Bechet, Midge Williams and Billie Holiday. He was also an arranger and composer, and one of his compositions, "Undecided", is a jazz standard. Charlie Shavers' father was from the prominent Shavers family of Key West, Florida, …

William McLeish Smith (25 November, 1910 in Charleston, South Carolina-7 March, 1967 in Los Angeles) was one of the major alto saxophone players of the swing era. He also played clarinet and sang. He is generally referred to as "Willie Smith". Willie Smith's first instrument was clarinet and his education was in chemistry. He received his chemistry degree from Fisk University. Nevertheless in 1929 he became an alto saxophonist for Jimmie Lunceford's band.

Carlos Wesley (Don) Byas (October 21, 1912-August 24, 1972) was an African American jazz tenor saxophonist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma in the United States. Although his long residence in Europe kept him out of the public eye in the United States, he is often considered to be one of the great jazz musicians on his instrument.

J. C. Heard (1917 - 1988) was a United States swing, bop, and blues drummer. He obtained his first important professional job with Teddy Wilson in 1939 and continued performing into the 1980s. He also played with Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, Benny Carter, Cab Calloway, Erroll Garner, Jazz at the Philharmonic, Pete Johnson, Charlie Parker, Sir Charles Thompson and Roy Eldridge besides leading his own groups. From 1966 on he worked as a bandleader in Detroit.

Peter (Pete) Johnson (25 March 1904 - 23 March 1967) was an American jazz pianist, best known as a leading boogie-woogie pianist.

James "Trummy" Young (born January 12, 1912 in Savannah, Georgia, died September 10, 1984 in San Jose, California) was a trombonist in the Swing Era. Although he was never really a star or a bandleader himself, he did have one hit with his version of "Margie," which he played and sang with Jimmie Lunceford's Orchestra. Growing up in Washington, Young was originally a trumpeter, but by the time he debuted in 1928, he had switched to trombone.

Rex Stewart (22 February 1907-7 September 1967) was an American jazz cornetist best known for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra. After stints with Elmer Snowden, Fletcher Henderson, Horace Henderson, McKinney's Cotton Pickers, and Luis Russell, Stewart joined the Ellington band in 1934. Ellington arranged many of his pieces to showcase Stewart's half-valve effects, muted sound, and forceful style.

Tommy Turk (1927-1981) was a jazz trombonist. He did notable playing for Jazz at the Philharmonic and can be heard on several CDs with Charlie Parker.

Al Killian (October 15, 1916 - September 5, 1950) was a jazz trumpet player and occasional bandleader during the big band era, though he is most well known for jump blues and East Coast blues. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Killian was considered one of the most powerful and exciting trumpeters of his day. Killian got his start playing with Charlie Turner's Arcadians (mid-1930s) and went on to play with big bands led by Baron Lee, Teddy Hill, Don Redman, Claude Hopkins, …

Jan Johansson was a Swedish jazz pianist. He is little known outside Scandinavia, and his records are not widely available, yet his album "Jazz på svenska" ("Jazz in Swedish"), has sold more than a quarter of a million copies, and is the best selling jazz release ever in Sweden. Born in 1931, Johansson was a native of Söderhamn, in the Hälsingland province of Sweden. Studying classical piano as a child, he would also go on to master the guitar, …