Jazz legends
Born: April 25, 1917
Career: Ella Fitzgerald's voice is instantly recognizable; her unwavering tone and scat singing is heard in countless jazz collaborations and earned her 13 Grammy Awards over the span of 59 years recording music
Born: May 30, 1909
Career: Known as "the King of Swing," Goodman was renowned for his fiery clarinet melodies and was the face of jazz for many years. He also led one of the first multiracial musical groups
Born: April 15, 1894
Career: One of the most famous jazz vocalists, Bessie Smith sang swing, blues and in traditional jazz genres. Her song "Downhearted Blues" earned a place in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress
Born: Oct. 17, 1917
Career: A pioneer in bebop and Afro-Cuban jazz, Dizzy Gillespie played trumpet, led his own band, sang and composed, all of which earned him the nickname "the Sound of Surprise"
Born: May 11, 1885
Career: Teacher to Louis Armstrong and a trendsetter in the use of mutes, Joe "King" Oliver made great musical strides in altering the sound of jazz horns
Born: Aug. 4, 1901
Career: One of the most widely known jazz musicians, Armstrong pioneered improvisation and solo performance in jazz groups and helped popularize "scat singing"
Born: April 29, 1899
Career: Often called d the greatest composer in jazz, Duke Ellington wrote more than 1,000 works
Born: May 8, 1910
Career: May Lou Williams recorded more than 100 records and wrote hundreds of compositions, collaborating with a wide array of famous musicians throughout her 60-plus years on the jazz scene
Born: Aug. 29, 1920
Career: Charlie "Bird" Parker, whose saxophone style was a cornerstone of bebop, also became an icon for the Beat generation
Born: Oct. 10, 1917
Career: Renowned for his unique improvisational style and the second most recorded jazz composer (after Duke Ellington), Monk deservedly earned his reputation as "one of the giants of American music"
Born: October 6, 1920
Career: Dave Brubeck's musical style, with its elegant piano melodies featuring odd time signatures and contrasting, superimposed meters, is difficult to categorize but impossible to ignore
Born: April 7, 1915
Career: "Lady Day" Holiday is more than just one of the most famous female jazz musicians; she's also had a profound influence on pop singing both during and after her career
Born: May 26, 1926
Career: Miles Davis had a profound effect on jazz through several groups he formed and eventually became the inspiration for Congress to pass a measure affirming jazz as a "national treasure"
Born: March 1, 1904
Career: Glenn Miller was best known for his hit records, his highly popular "big band" and his USO performances for military servicemen and women
Born: April 22, 1922
Career: An accomplished jazz bassist and composer, Charles Mingus also prided himself on his civil rights activism during his career
Born: Sept. 23, 1926
Career: Saxophonist and composer John Coltrane was a major inspiration to an entire generation of jazz musicians
Born: March 17, 1919
Career: Nat King Cole was one of the first black Americans to host a TV variety show, and his international stardom as a pop singer expanded beyond his considerable talents as a jazz vocalist and pianist
Born: Jan. 15, 1909
Career: Gene Krupa, a leading jazz drummer known for his high-energy technique, was the first musician to record using a bass drum pedal and was also an innovator in the development of the drum kit
Born: Oct. 18, 1961
Career: Wynton Marsalis, a contemporary jazz icon, is best known for his superb trumpet skills and his educational efforts to bring jazz to young people.
Source: Special
