Jazz Trumpet History

Written by Dan Miller
The great jazz trumpet players are distinctive in their sound, style & technique. This comprehensive list gives the aspiring jazz trumpeter an outline with which they can thoroughly investigate the entire spectrum of jazz trumpet.

Innovators versus Stylists There is a distinct difference between being a stylist and a major stylistic innovator.

There are very few true innovators in jazz music, and they follow a direct lineage from Louis Armstrong to Roy Eldridge to Dizzy Gillespie to Fats Navarro, Miles Davis and Kenny Dorham to Clifford Brown to Booker Little, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw. These trumpeters substantially altered the harmonic and rhythmic direction of jazz trumpet in their given eras. Not only did they inspire the concepts of the players that followed them, but they heavily influenced their peers as well.

A stylist is also considered a master of their craft. These are musicians who are fantastic soloists and who contributed greatly to the history and individuality of jazz trumpet (e.g. Rex Stewart, Joe Newman, Carmell Jones, Freddie Webster, Blue Mitchell, Stu Williamson, etc.), but whose influence on the direction of the music is secondary to that of the great innovators. This in no way diminishes these trumpeter's great contributions to the music. These players excelled in established styles (and these styles were established by Louis, Roy, Dizzy, etc.) and added their own personal approaches with a wide variety of variations in tone, rhythm and harmony.

This variety is what makes jazz music so unique and which leads us to what we strive for most as artists and musicians--INDIVIDUALITY.

Notes on the Format
This is a comprehensive overview of jazz trumpet history. It has been divided into five eras: Traditional, Swing, Bebop/Straight Ahead, Avant-Garde and Contemporary. The listings are arranged essentially in chronological order. The recording that best represents each artist has been listed. The album title is listed first, followed by the name of the record label. If the artist appears as a sideman, the leader or co-leader's name appears in quotations.

Note: Names highlighted in hypertext indicate a major stylistic innovator. Each name in hypertext links to a biography which includes historically important recordings.

Traditional Era
Birth of Jazz centered in New Orleans and Chicago
1920's and onward
Buddy Bolden--No recordings exist
Joe "King" Oliver--1923 (Classics)
Louis Armstrong--Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings (Columbia/Legacy)
Bix Beiderbecke--Singin' the Blues Volume 1 (Columbia/Sony)
Freddie Keppard--Complete Freddie Keppard 1923-1927 (King Jazz)
Red Allen--Red Allen & His Orchestra 1929-1933 (Classics)
Punch Miller--1925-1930 (RST)
Doc Cheatham--Swinging Down In New Orleans (Jazzology)
Wild Bill Davison--Commodore Master Takes (GRP)
Jabbo Smith--1929-1933 (Classics)
Bunk Johnson--1944 #2 (American Music)
George Mitchell--"Johnny Dodds" 1926 (Classics)
Kid Howard--"George Lewis" Jazz Funeral In New Orleans (Trad)
Yank Lawson--That's A Plenty (Columbia)
Kid Sheik Cola--"Eureka Brass Band" Jazz at Preservation Hall Volume 1 (Atlantic)
Jimmy McPartland--"Eddie Condon" 1927-1938 (Classics)
Johnny Dunn--Johnny Dunn Volume 2 (RST)
Mugsey Spainer--1939-1942 (Classics)
Percy Humphrey--Climax Rag (Delmark)
Ernest Cagnolatti--"Paul Barbarin" New Orleans Contrasts(Riverside)
Alvin Alcorn--"George Lewis" George Lewis' New Orleans All Stars (Riverside)
Sharkey Bonano--"Sharkey Bonano" New Orleans Contrasts(Riverside)
Johnny Letman--Harlem Hop 1937-1950 (EPM Musique)
Al Hirt--At Dan's Pier In New Orleans Volume 1 (Audio Fidelity)
Ruby Braff--"w/Ellis Larkins" Duets Volumes 1 and 2 (Vanguard)
Teddy Riley--Smile (Kon-Ti)

Modern Era Traditional Masters
Leroy Jones--Props For Pops (Sony) **see additional entry in contemporary era category
Wendell Brunious--"Preservation Hall" In the Sweet Bye and Bye (Sony)
Nicholas Payton--Dear Louis (Verve) **see additional entry in contemporary era category
Greg Stafford--"w/Dr.Michael White" Down Home Music (Jazz Crusade)
Kermit Ruffins--Big Easy (Basin Street Records)
Jon Erik Kellso--Blue Roof Blues - A Love Letter to New Orleans (Arbors Jazz)
Leonard "Kid Chocolate" Brown--"Bob French" Marsalis Music Honors Bob French (Marsalis Music)
Mark Braud--Hot Sausage Rag (Independent)
Warren Vache--Iridescence (Concord)
Randy Sandke--Stampede (Jazzology)

Swing Era
Big Bands were an important vehicle for the great jazz soloists
1925 and onward
Bubber Miley--"Duke Ellington" Complete Brunswick Recordings 1926-1931 (Decca)
Wingy Manone--Collection Volume 1 1927-1930 (Collectors Classics)
Joe Smith--"Fletcher Henderson" 1925-1926 (Classics)
Tommy Ladnier--"Fletcher Henderson" 1926-1927 (Classics)
Bobby Stark--"Fletcher Henderson" 1927-1931 (Classics)
Roy Eldridge--After You've Gone (GRP/Decca)
Bunny Berigan--1935-1936 (Classics)
Buck Clayton--"Count Basie" Complete Decca Recordings 1937-1939 (GRP/Decca)
Oran "Hot Lips" Page--Jump for Joy (Columbia)
Harry "Sweets" Edison--"w/Ben Webster" Ben and Sweets (Columbia)
Harry James--1937-1939 (Classics)
Charlie Shavers--"John Kirby" 1938-1939 (Classics)
Ziggy Elman--1938-1939 (Classics)
Bobby Hackett--1938-1940 (Classics)
Cootie Williams--"Duke Ellington" Blanton/Webster Band 1939-1942 (RCA)
Bobby Moore--"Count Basie" Complete Decca Recordings 1937-1939 (GRP/Decca)
Dud Bascomb--"Erskine Hawkins" 1938-1939 (Classics)
Rex Stewart--"Duke Ellington" Blanton/Webster Band 1939-1942 (RCA)
Bill Coleman--1936-1938 (Classics)
Taft Jordan--"Chick Webb" 1929-1934 (Classics)
Erskine Hawkins--1938-1939 (Classics)
Ray Nance--"Duke Ellington" Blanton/Webster Band 1939-1942 (RCA)
Shad Collins--"Count Basie" Complete Decca Recordings 1937-1939 (GRP/Decca)
Valaida Snow--1940-1953 (Classics)
Cat Anderson--"Duke Ellington" Great Paris Concert (Reprise)
Joe Thomas--"Vic Dickenson" Mainstream (Koch/Mainstream)
Cuban Bennett
Buddy Anderson
Max Kaminsky--"Eddie Condon" 1942-1943 (Classics)
Don Jacoby--"Sam Donahue" Convoy Volume 1 (Hep)
Shorty Baker--Shorty & Doc (OJC/Swingville)
Johnny Best--"Sam Donahue" LST Pary (Hep)
Snooky Young--Horn of Plenty (Concord)
Billy Butterfield--"Artie Shaw" Complete Gramercy 5 Sessions (RCA)
Don Goldie--Best of Jerome Kern (Jazz Forum)
Bob Barnard--Stardust (La Brava)

Bebop/Straight Ahead Era
Harmonic and rhythmic revolution inspired by Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie
1940 and onward
Dizzy Gillespie--Complete RCA Victor Recordings 1937-1949 (BMG/RCA)
Fats Navarro--Complete Blue Note and Capitol Recordings (Blue Note)
Miles Davis--Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet (OJC/Prestige)
Kenny Dorham--"Art Blakey" At the Café Bohemia Volumes 1 and 2 (Blue Note)
Howard McGhee--Trumpet at Tempo (Dial)
Red Rodney--1957 (formerly titled The Red Arrow) (Prevue)
Benny Harris--"Charlie Parker" South of the Border (Verve)
Freddie Webster--"Sarah Vaughan" Complete Musicraft Mastertakes (Jazz Factory)
Joe Guy--"Charlie Christian/Dizzy Gillespie" After Hours (OJC/Esoteric)
George Taitt--"Thelonious Monk" Genius of Modern Music Volume 1 (Blue Note)
Al Killian--Jazz at the Philharmonic 1946 (Verve)
Vic Coulsen--"Coleman Hawkins" Rainbow Mist (Delmark)
George Treadwell--"Sarah Vaughan" Complete Musicraft Mastertakes (Jazz Factory)
Sonny Berman--Complete Dial Masters: Modern Jazz Trumpets (Dial)
Chet Baker--Best of Chet Baker Sings (Blue Note/Pacific Jazz)
Clifford Brown--"Art Blakey" A Night at Birdland Volumes 1 and 2 (Blue Note)
Art Farmer--When Farmer Met Gryce (OJC/Prestige)
Idrees Sulieman--"w/Donald Byrd & Art Farmer" Three Trumpets (OJC/Prestige)
Clark Terry--Serenade To A Bus Seat (OJC/Riverside)
Stu Williamson--Stu Williamson Quintet (Bethlehem)
Conte Candoli--"Art Pepper" Gettin' Together (OJC/Contemporary)
Pete Candoli--"Peggy Lee" Black Coffee (Decca)
Don Fagerquist--Eight By Eight (Mode)
Don Elliott--Double Trumpet Doings (OJC/Jazzland)
Rusty Dedrick--"w/Don Elliott" New Counterpoint For Six Valves (Riverside)
Doug Mettome--"Benny Goodman" Benny's Bop Volume 1 (Hep)
Jack Sheldon--"Art Pepper" Smack Up (OJC/Contemporary)
Maynard Ferguson--"Dinah Washington" Dinah Jams (Verve/EmArcy)
Tony Fruscella--Jazz Lore #25 (Atlantic)
Donald Byrd--Royal Flush (Blue Note)
Lee Morgan--Candy (Blue Note)
Freddie Hubbard--Ready for Freddie (Blue Note)
Booker Little--Booker Little and Friend* (formerly titled Victory and Sorrow) (Bethlehem)
Wilbur Hardin--"John Coltrane" Complete Savoy Sessions (Savoy Jazz)
Blue Mitchell--The Thing To Do (Blue Note)
Benny Bailey--Big Brass (Candid)
Jon Eardley--From Hollywood to New York (OJC/New Jazz)
Louis Smith--Smithville (Blue Note)
Thad Jones--The Fabulous Thad Jones (OJC/Debut)
Webster Young--For Lady (OJC/Prestige)
Dave Burns--"Art Taylor" AT's Delight (Blue Note)
Nick Travis--The Panic Is On (Victor)
Bill Hardman--"Jackie McLean" Jackie's Pal (OJC/Prestige)
Carmell Jones--The Remarkable Carmell Jones (Pacific Jazz)
Johnny Coles--Little Johnny C (Blue Note)
Marcus Belgrave--"Curtis Amy" Way Down (Pacific Jazz)
Nat Adderley--Work Song (OJC/Riverside)
Richard Williams--New Horn In Town (Candid)
Ernie Royal--Accent on Trumpet (Urania)
Ray Copeland--"Thelonious Monk" Monk (OJC/Prestige)
Joe Wilder--Wilder 'n Wilder (Savoy Jazz)
Joe Newman--Complete RCA Victor Recordings 1955-1956:The Basie Days (RCA)
Lonnie Hillyer--"Barry Harris" Newer Than New (OJC/Prestige)
Gene Shaw--Breakthrough (Argo)
Joe Gordon--Lookin' Good (OJC/Contemporary)
Ira Sullivan--Blue Stroll (Delmark)
Dave Young--"Sun Ra" Sound of Joy (Delmark)
Art Hoyle--"Sun Ra" Sound of Joy (Delmark)
Tommy Turrentine--Tommy Turrentine (Time)
Sam Noto--Entrance (Xanadu)
Charles Sullivan--Kamau (Arabesque)
Al Aarons--"Frank Wess" Southern Comfort (OJC/Prestige)
Phil Guilbeau--"Hank Crawford" Soul Clinic (Atlantic)
Clora Bryant--Gal with A Horn (VSOP)
Willie Thomas--"MJT plus 3" MJT plus 3 (Vee Jay)
Virgil Jones--"Charles Earland" Black Talk (OJC/Prestige)
Jerry Tyree--"Maynard Ferguson" Message from Birdland (Roulette)
Don Ellis--"George Russell" Ezz-Thetics" (OJC/Riverside)
Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros--Eastern Rebellion 4 (Timeless)
Dizzy Reece--Star Bright (Blue Note)
Dupree Bolton--"Harold Land" The Fox (OJC/Contemporary)
Alan Shorter--"Wayne Shorter" The All Seeing Eye (Blue Note)
Martin Banks--"Dexter Gordon" The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon (OJC/Jazzland)
Bill Berry--Shortcake (Concord)
Paul Serrano--Blues Holiday (Riverside)
Don Sleet--All Members (OJC/Jazzland)
Rolf Ericson--"Curtis Counce" Exploring the Future (Boplicity)
Al Kiger--Stratusphunk (OJC/Riverside)
Ray Codrington--"JFK Quintet" New Jazz Frontiers From Washington (OJC/Riverside)
Jimmy Deuchar--Showcase (Jasmine)
Ted Curson--Fire Down Below (OJC/Prestige)
Charles Tolliver--"Horace Silver" Serenade to A Soul Sister (Blue Note)
Woody Shaw--Rosewood (Columbia)

Avant-Garde Era
Fresh harmonic and rhythmic ideas inspired by Ornette Coleman
1957 and onward
Don Cherry--"Ornette Coleman" Change of the Century (Atlantic)
Lester Bowie--Fifth Power (Black Saint)
Bill Dixon--Archie Shepp/Bill Dixon Quartet (Savoy)
Marvin "Hannibal" Peterson--Visions of A New World (Atlantic)
Malachi Thompson--Buddy Bolden's Rag (Delmark)
Bobby Bradford--"Ornette Coleman" Complete Science Fiction Sessions (Columbia)
Wadada Leo Smith--Reflectativity (Kabell)

Contemporary Era
Current Scene
1970 and onward
Wynton Marsalis--Live at the Village Vanguard (Columbia)
Tom Harrell--Moon Alley (Criss Cross)
Bobby Shew--"w/Tom Harrell" Playing with Fire (MAMA)
Kenny Wheeler--"Dave Holland" Razor's Edge (ECM)
Waymon Reed--46th and 8th (Artists House)
Mike Lawrence--"Joe Henderson" The Kicker (OJC/Milestone)
Jack Walrath--"Charles Mingus" Changes One & Two (Atlantic)
Don Rader--Polluted Tears (DRM)
Randy Brecker--"Horace Silver" Pursuit of the 27th Man (Blue Note)
Oscar Brashear--"Harold Land" Xocia's Dance (Muse)
Jimmy Owens--You Had Better Listen (Atlantic)
Chuck Mangione--"Art Blakey" Buttercorn Lady (Limelight)
Lew Soloff--But Beautiful (Evidence)
Chuck Findley--"Jack Daugherty" Class of '71 (A&M)
Burt Collins--"Duke Pearson" Introducing the Duke Pearson Big Band (Blue Note)
Eddie Henderson--Inspiration (Milestone)
Valery Ponomarev--Profile (Reservoir)
Wallace Roney--Wallace Roney Quintet (Warner)
Marvin Stamm--"Charlie Mariano" Jazz Portrait of Charlie Mariano (Regina)
Cecil Bridgewater--"Max Roach" Pictures in A Frame (Soul Note)
Danny Moore--"George Coleman" In Baltimore (Cellar Live)
Terumasa Hino--May Dance (Flying Disk)
Dusko Goykovich--Bebop City (Enja)
Enrico Rava--Secrets (Soul Note)
Pete Minger--Look to the Sky (Concord)
Melton Mustafa--St.Louis Blues (Contemporary)
Shunzo Ohno--Quarter Moon (Inner City)
Tim Hagans--Audible Architecture (Blue Note)
Warren Gale--"Bebop and Beyond" Plays Monk (Blue Moon)
Jon Faddis--Youngblood (Pablo)
John McNeil--Faun (Steeplechase)
Claudio Roditi--Freewheeling (Reservoir)
Arturo Sandoval--"w/Dizzy Gillespie" To A Finland Station (Pablo)
Carl Saunders--Eclecticism (S & L)
Jay Thomas--Easy Does It (Discovery)
Bob Summers--Inside Out (Discovery)
Terence Blanchard--Wandering Moon (Columbia)
Byron Stripling--Byron, Get One Free (Negel Heyer)
Roy Hargrove--Family (Verve)
Richie Vitale--Live at Smalls (TCB)
Barry Ries--Solitude in the Crowd (Double Time)
Ron Stout--"Woody Herman" Woody's Gold Star (Concord)
Brian Lynch--Spheres of Influence (Sharp Nine)
Greg Gisbert--The Court Jester (Criss Cross)
Phillip Harper--The Harper Brothers (Polygram)
Leroy Jones--Back To My Roots (LJ Music)
Nicholas Payton--Into The Blue (nonesuch)
Ryan Kisor--Power Source (Criss Cross)
Marcus Printup--Nocturnal Traces (Blue Note)
Jim Rotondi--Destination Up (Sharp Nine)
Kenny Rampton--"Jimmy McGriff" McGriff's House Party (Milestone)
Russell Gunn--Ethnomusicology Volume 1 (Atlantic)
Terell Stafford--This Side of Strayhorn (MaxJazz)
Dave Douglas--In Our Lifetime (New World)
Steven Bernstein--Diaspora Soul (Tzadik)
Joe Magnarelli--Hoop Dreams (Criss Cross)
James Zollar--Soaring with Bird (Naxos)
Jeremy Davenport--Maybe in A Dream (Telarc)
Jim Seeley--The Jim Seeley/Arturo O'Farrill Quintet (Zoho Music)
Charlie Sepulveda--Algo Nuestro (Antilles)
Guy Barker--Isn't It (Spotlight)
Hugh Ragin--Afternoon in Harlem (Justin Time)
Ray Vega--Boperation (Concord Jazz)
Irvin Mayfield--Los Hombres Calientes Vol. 3: New Congo Square (Basin Street Records)
Derrick Gardner--"Carlos Garnett" Moon Shadow (Savant)
Graham Haynes--Transition (Antilles)
Walter White--"Orrin Evans" Captain Black Big Band (Posi-tone)
Joe Gransden--I Waited for You (Brass)
Duane Eubanks--My Shining Hour (TCB)
John Swana--On Target (Criss Cross)
Michael Phillip Mossman--The Orisha Suite (Pimienta)
Scott Wendholt--From Now On (Criss Cross)
Diego Urcola--"Avishai Cohen" Unity (Stretch)
Tony Lujan--Magic Circle (Capri)
Brad Turner--Small Wonder (Maximum Jazz)
Coung Vu--Pure (Knitting Factory)
Dave Ballou--Amongst Ourselves (Steeplechase)
Herb Robertson--Music for Long Attention Spans (Leo)
John Bailey--"Ray Barretto" Trance Dance (Circular Moves)
Magnus Broo--"Jerker Lindstrom" Deliberate Sounds (Dragon)
Till Bronner--Love (Verve)
James Morrison--Snappy Doo (Atlantic)
Jeremy Pelt--Insight (Criss Cross)
Alex Sipiagin--Mirrors (Criss Cross)
Keyon Harrold--Introducing Keyon Harrold (Criss Cross)
Sean Jones--Gemini (Mack Avenue)
Clay Jenkins--Blues State (Jazz Compass)
John Marshall--Theme of No Repaet (Organic)
Ron Horton--Everything in A Dream (Fresh Sounds)
Russ Johnson--"Lee Konitz" New Nonet (Omnitone)
Andy Gravish--"Danny D'Imperio" The Outlaw (Sackville)
Bill Mobley--Live at Small's Volume 2 (Blue Geodesics)
Alex Norris--A New Beginning (Fresh Sounds)
Ralph Alessi--Cognitive Dissonance (CAM Jazz)
John Sneider--The Scrapper (Cellar Live)
Fabio Morgera--The Pursuit (Ken Music)
Scotty Barnhart--Say It Plain (DIG Music)
Avashai Cohen--Introducing Treveni (Anzic)
Taylor Haskins--American Dream (Sunnyside)
Jason Carder--"Maria Schnider" Sky Blue (Artist Share)
Darren Barrett--First One Up (J Curve)
Ingrid Jensen--Nordic Connect (Artsit Share)
Kevin Louis--Music Is My Religion (Vallen Music)
Shane Endsley--Kneebody (Green Leaf)
Michael Leonhart--Slow (Sunnyside)
Jason Palmer--Songbook (Ayva)
Carl Fischer--Adverse Times (Fischmusic)
Brian Pareschi--"David Berger" Doin' the Do (Such Sweet Thunder)
Mark Rapp--Token Tales (Paved Earth)
Mike Rodriguez--"Gonzalo Rubalcaba" Avatar (Blue Note)
Josh Evans--Hope and Despair (Passin' Thru)
Freddie Hendrix--Jersey Cat (Sunnyside)
Matt Shulman--So It Goes (RNB)
Etienne Charles--Culture Shock (Etienne Charles)
Brandon Lee--"Carl Allen/Rodney Whitaker" Work To Do (Mack Avenue)
Josh Berman--Old Idea (Delmark)
Dominick Farinacci--Lovers, Tales and Dancers (Koch)
Christian Scott--Yesterday You Said Tomorrow (Concord)
Taylor Ho Bynum--Asphalt Flowers Forking Path (Hatology)
Maurice Brown--Cycle of Love (Brown Records)
Bria Skonberg--So Is The Day (Random Act Records)
Ambrose Akinmusire--When the Heart Emerges Glistening (Blue Note)
Kirk Knuffke--Amnesia Brown (Clean Feed)
Peter Evans--"Mostly Other People Do The Killing" Red Hot (Hot Cup)
Nick Roseboro--"Albert Rivera" Inner Peace (Turnaround)
Corey Wilkes--Cries From The Ghetto (Pi)
Thomas Marriott--Constraints & Liberations (Origin)
Ashlin Parker--"Ellis Marsalis" Plays The Music of Ellis Marsalis (ELM)
Jami Dauber--"Five Play" Live at the Deer Head Inn (CD Baby)
Alex Nguyen--"Jazz Conceptions Orchestra" Jazz Conceptions Orchestra (151)
Ray Callender--"Keith Javors" Mo' City Jungle (Zoho)
Dwayne Clemons--Live at Smalls (Smalls)
Bruce Harris--Beginnings (Positone)
Marquis Hill--The Way We Play (Concord)
Ron Miles--Rainbow Sign (Blue Note)
Linda Briceno
Jonathan Finlayson--Moving Still (Pi)
Amir ElSaffar--Crisis (Pi)
Nadje Noordhuis--"Rudy Royston" 303 (Greenleaf)
Mike Sailors--"George DeLancey" Paradise
Adam O'Farrill--"Stranger Days" El Maquech (Biophilia)
Nate Wooley--Columbia Icefield (Northern Spy)
Giveton Gelin--"Ben Wolfe" Fatherhood (Resident Arts)


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