A superb clarinetist with an attractive mellow tone, Albert Nicholas had a long and diverse career but his playing was always consistently rewarding. He studied with Lorenzo Tio, Jr. in New Orleans, and played with cornet legends Buddy Petit, King Oliver, and Manuel Perez while in his teens. After three years in the Merchant Marines, he joined... [+] Read More

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Bob Crosby, Bing's younger brother, often found himself in the odd position of being the least important member of his own orchestra. An okay singer, Crosby was much more important as the leader of a memorable swing band that found its own style by looking backwards to the 1920s. To Crosby's credit, he seemed aware of his predicament and not... [+] Read More

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When Bud Freeman first matured, his was the only strong alternative approach on the tenor to the harder-toned style of Coleman Hawkins and he was an inspiration for Lester Young. Freeman, one of the top tenors of the 1930s, was also one of the few saxophonists (along with the slightly later Eddie Miller) to be accepted in the Dixieland world and... [+] Read More

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A major propagandist for freewheeling Chicago jazz, an underrated rhythm guitarist, and a talented wisecracker, Eddie Condon's main importance to jazz was not so much through his own playing as in his ability to gather together large groups of all-stars and produce exciting, spontaneous, and very coherent music.

Condon started out... [+] Read More

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Considered one of the three top New Orleans clarinetists of the 1920s (with Johnny Dodds and Sidney Bechet), Jimmie Noone had a smoother tone than his contemporaries that appealed to players of the swing era (including Benny Goodman). He played guitar as a child, and at age 15 took clarinet lessons from Lorenzo Tio, Jr. and Sidney Bechet (the... [+] Read More

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An excellent swing clarinetist who could fit into Dixieland settings yet welcomed Dizzy Gillespie to a memorable session in 1945, Joe Marsala was the older brother of trumpeter Marty Marsala (1909-1975) and the husband of the great jazz harpist Adele Girard (1913-1993). He freelanced around Chicago starting in the late '20s, including with Wingy... [+] Read More

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One of the all-time great clarinetists and arguably the most significant of the 1920s, Johnny Dodds (whose younger brother Baby Dodds was among the first important drummers) had a memorable tone in both the lower and upper registers, was a superb blues player, and held his own with Louis Armstrong (no mean feat) on his classic Hot Five and Hot... [+] Read More

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Max Kaminsky was a reliable Dixieland player who was featured on many sessions with Eddie Condon's gang in the 1940s and '50s. He played early on in Boston and was a veteran of 1920s Chicago, where he gigged with Bud Freeman, Frank Teschemacher, and Condon. Moving to New York in 1929, Kaminsky had a short stint with Red Nichols and then worked... [+] Read More

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Percy and his brother, clarinetist Willie Humphrey, became well-known from the 1960s on for their playing in the erratic but enjoyable Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Percy, whose other brother was trombonist Earl Humphrey (1902-1971), was never a major musician, but he played his simple melodic leads with sincerity. He gained his initial... [+] Read More

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Sidney Bechet was the first important jazz soloist on records in history (beating Louis Armstrong by a few months). A brilliant soprano saxophonist and clarinetist with a wide vibrato that listeners either loved or hated, Bechet's style did not evolve much through the years but he never lost his enthusiasm or creativity. A master at both... [+] Read More

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