Originally Prepared by Dennis Owsley and Charlie Menees in 1986 (Updated by Dennis Owsley since then)
An exciting, indelible chapter in the jazz history of any city is an honor roll of the artists it has produced. St. Louis has a long and distinguished roster of jazz heroes. To enrich your perspective of the jazz background of the city, here are the names of over 560 jazz people, past and present, whose collective contribution to American jazz spans the years from the ragtime era to the present. There are pioneers and innovators; hall-of-famers and poll winners; big band and combo leaders; composers, arrangers, soloists, sidemen, singers and recording artists. Some St. Louis musicians have chosen to remain on home turf while others have either moved away or moved into the area for very productive years here. My apologies for any omissions resulting from either space or research reasons. Certainly none were intended. Please e-mail me with names that I have inadvertently omitted.
An entry with an asterisk (*) denotes a musician with national or international stature.
TRUMPET
Ed Allen* - Harold (Shorty) Baker* - Phil Balbi (also vcl) - Sue Beshears - Herb Booth - Lester Bowie* - Joe Bozzi (also vibes) - Bob Buddemeyer - Bill "Buff" Buffington - Danny Campbell - Bakida Carroll* - Brian Casserly - Bob Ceccarini - Buddy Childers* - Oliver Cobb* - Mike Connell - Charles Creath* - Gary Dammer - Bobby Danzig - Leonard (Ham) Davis* - Miles Davis* - Jeremy Davenport* - Jamaal Daoud - Bob Dill (also flute) - Rich Fanning - Bill Feldner - Andy Foort - Marc Garcia - Frank Goessler - Dave Gordon - Russell Gunn* - Don Gumpert - Dan Havens - Keyon Harold - David Hines* - Randy Holmes - Ray Holthausen - George Hudson* - Lee Hyde - Fred Irby - Dewey Jackson* - Chris Jaudes - Robert Johnson - Ben Jones - Jim Kalbfell - Floyd LeFlore* - Steve Lilley - "Spare Ribs" Lindsay - Levi Madison - Jim Manley - Basil Meade - Louis Metcalf* - Elmer Ming - Willie Moore - Keith Moyer - Joe Owens - Michael Parkinson - Larry Prothro - Bruce Purse* - Ishac Rajab - Eddie Randle - Irving “Mouse” Randolph* - Rick Rogers - Charlie Rose - Harvey Rosenblum - Mike Rosenblum - Jim Rosse - Dick Ruland - George Sams* - Chuck Schmidt - Steve Shankman - Rick Sharp - Rasul Siddik* - Dan Smith - Dennis Smith - Muggsy Sprecher - Walter (Crack) Stanley - Bennie Starks - Barry Stephens - Cyrus Stoner* - Clark Terry* - Joe Thomas* - Joe Thompson - Sleepy Tomlin* - Vertna Saunders - Thoreau Walden - Amos Woodruff - Bruz Woods - Prince Wells - Larry Wilson - Frankie Zinser
TROMBONE
Dan Anglim - Pat Arana - Dave Axthelm - Winfield Baker - Druie Bess* - Mike Bland - Brad Bobcik - Joseph Bowie* - Gary Brandes - Mike Brooks - Vernon Brown* - Robert Carter - Tom Cox - Hillary Dale - Skip Derringer - Mal Eisl - Phil Eisner - Keith Ellis - Steve Frioux - Jimmy Haislip* - Jack Holley - Tom Huling - Bill Jeffries - Ken Kantola - Karen Kelly (also vcl) - Rod Lancaster - Harvey Lankford - Steve Lawson - William Luper - Caleb McKee - Norman Menne - Bill Martin - John (Bones) Orange - Dan Potter - John Rains - Victor Reef - Pete Relford (also piano) - John Richmond - Pierre Schwartz - Kurt Silver - George Spooner - Brett Stamps* - Tom Vincent - Mike Vlatkovic - Jimmy Wilkins* - Tom Wolf*
GUITAR/BANJO
William "Bede" Baskerville - Mel Bay* - John Becker* - Kelvyn Bell* - Dave Black - Rob Block - Bob Borgstede - Tom Byrne - Bobby Caldwell* - Corey Christiansen - Daryl Darden - Farshid - Eddie Fisher - Cliff Fredrickson Jr. - Jim Gardner - Grant Green* - Bobby Grim - Leroy Harris* - Rick Haydon - Marvin Horne* - Chan Johnson - Jack Kund - Bill Lenihan - Bob Levin - Richard Martin - Vince Martin (also vcl) - Peter Mayer* - Bill Mamer - Scott McCloud - Thomas Moore - Stan Minor - Todd Mosby - Pete Patterson - Dan Rubright - Steve Schenkel - Joe Schirmer - Stan Shaw - Jim Shields - Eric Slaughter - Artie Stolz - Al Stricker - Floyd Smith* - Pat Welch
SAXOPHONE/FLUTE
Yusuf Abdullah - Sam Andria - Willie Akins* - Bill Archer - Evelyn Archer - Harold Bamberg - Margaret Bianchetta - Corky Blake - Hamiett Bluiett* - Dwayne Bosman - Dwight Bosman - Branford Bowie* - Amos Brewer - Ted Buckner* - Mike Burke (also clarinet) - Ron Carter - Roland Clark - Don Clausen - Jerry Cobetto - Stan Coleman - Dr. Don Cook - Gerald DeClue - Freddie Del Gaudio - Paul DeMarinis - Marvin Docter - Steve Edwards - Marty Ehrlich (also clarinet) - Will Dyer - Harold Este - Chad Evans - Keith Fiddmont* - Elmer Feltner - Jimmy Forrest* - Earnest (Chick) Franklin - Vincent Germanese - George Geschwind - Bob Gibson - Bob Gordon* - Bob Graf* - James Greene - Howard Grossman - Jeff Hany - Arville Harris* - Leroy Harris* - William Harris - Edgar Hayes - Julius Hemphill* - Victor Herbert - Bernard Hutcherson - Rob Hughes - Michelle Isam - James Jeter* - Alonzo “Petey” Johnson - Bill Johnson - George Johnson - Larry Johnson - Otis "Candy" Johnson - Hugh Jones - Mike Karpowicz - Jim Knox - Carl Knox - Frank Kozma - Oliver Lake* - Aaron Lehde - Sammy Long - Freddie Martin - Walter Martin - Cliff McBride - Jim Moore - Oliver Nelson* - John Norment - Greg Osby* - Mark Overton - William “Weasel” Parker* - Eric Person* - Thomas Person - Charles Pillars* - Hayes Pillars* - Silvio Pucci (also clarinet) - Jim Quick - Grady Rice - David Sanborn* - William Schafer - Jimmy Sherrod - Larry Smith - Willie Ray Smith - Brett Spainhower - O’Hara Spearman - Thomas Starks - David Stone - Cyrus Stoner, Jr.* - Jason Swagler - Don Stovall* - Greg Tardy* - Chuck Tillman - Fred Tomkins* - Frank Trumbauer* - Joe Vancardo (also clarinet) - Phil VonderHaar - Fred Walker - Larry Walton - James Warfield - Freddie Washington* - Hugh “Peanuts” Whalum* - Ernie Wilkins* - Billy Williams - Todd Williams* - Jerry Wood - Chris Woods* - Les Woods - Charles “Little Man” Wright
PIANO
Jan Ammerman - John Arnold - Karen Baldus - Gayle Bell - Milt Buckner* - John Chapman - John “Albino Red” Chapman - John Cotter - Charles Creath, III - Hank Cummings - Barbara Sutton Curtis - Russ David - Rusty David - Rich Daugherty - Tommy Dean - Herb Drury - Vince Evans - Sal Ferrante - Chick Finney - Charles Fox* - Eddie Fritz - "Butch" Ron Gray - Cranston Hamilton - John Hicks* - Christine Hitt - Richard “Groove” Holmes (organ) - Elizabeth Hutcherson - Don James (organ) - Gordon Jenkins* - Brian Johnson - Eddie Johnson - Scott Joplin* - Pat Joyce - Ray Kennedy* - Jan LaCroix - Curt Landes - Jeanne Kittrell* - Chester Lane - Dan Levin - Phil Loder (also vcl) - Warner Long - Burrowes Lovinghood - Dave Majchrzak - Adam Maness - Fate Marable* - Eter Martin* - James "Ironhead" Mathews* - Joe McBride (also vcl) - Leslie McLean - Marian Miller - Ed Nicholson - Jay Oliver* - Johnny O'Neal* - Alan Oxenhandler - David Parker - Robert “Bunky” Parker* - Gus Perryman - Eddie Plitt (also organ) - Matthew “Max” Potts - Kim Portnoy - Pete Ruthenberg - Simon Rowe - Nazeer Sadeek - Tony Simmons - Carol Schmidt - Elmer Schoebel* - Nick Schleuter - Karen Schriewer - Mary Ann Schulte - Mike Silverman - Tony Simmons* - Bob Sobo - Tommy Strode - Tony Suggs* - Ralph Sutton* - Jeter Thompson* - Reggie Thomas - Trebor Jay Tichenor* - Carolbeth True - Terry Turner (organ) - Tom Turpin* - Dave Venn - Chris Walters* - Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum (also sax, vcl) - Richard White, Jr. - Terry Williams (organ) - Jimmy Williams - Ptah Williams* - Benny Wilson (organ) - Marvin Young - Rick Zelle - Marshall Zwick
CLARINET
Scott Alberici - William Thornton Blue* - Horace Eubanks - Sammy Gardner* - Bob Guichard - Steve Lilley - Norman Mason - Glenn Meyer - J. D. Parran* (all woodwinds) - Eugene Porter* - Frank Powers - Pee Wee Russell* - Eric Sager - Gene Sedric* (also tenor sax) - Artie Wamser
VIBES
Jim Bolen - Ernie Douglas - Gordon Lawrence - Don N. Parker - Tom Rickard - Johnathan Whiting
VOCALS
Billy Banks* - Fontella Bass* - Erin Bode* - Clea Bradford - Olive Brown - Ceil Clayton (also piano) - Jenny David - Sherry Drake - Elaine Donohue - Eddie Eaton - Carol (Hartmann) Ettman - Marsha Evans - Lyn Fiddmont* - Kim Fuller - Leo Gooden - Asa Harris* - Tom Heitman - Anita Jackson - Danny Knight* - John Laurenti - Laura Marie LaCroix - Debbie Lennon - Benny Jackson* - Anita Jackson - Edith Johnson* - Gene Lynn - Red McKenzie* - Velma Middleton* - Buddy Moreno* - Al Oxenhandler - Carole Rawlins - Michele Shaheen - Ted Smith - Nancy Tartar - Eva Taylor* - Denise Thimes - Leon Thomas - Mardra Thomas - Jeanne Trevor - Bill Tucker - Tony Viviano - Mae Wheeler
BASS/TUBA
Jeff Anderson (also sax) - Jimmy Blanton* - Zeb Briscovic - Mike Bruce - Neal Caine - Jerry Cherry - Jeff Chronister - Bob Daugherty - Mark Deutsch - Raymond Eldridge, Sr. - Raymond Eldridge, Jr. - Dave Engleke - Thurm Esselmeyer - Dan Eubanks - Joe Ferrante - Chris Ferrante - Beth Foort - Eric Foreman - James Foreman - Mark Foster - Don Franz - Greg Franzwa - Brian Goddard - James Green - Kermit Hayes - Carlos Henderson - Jimmy Hinds - Jay Hungerford - Ken Jung - Tom Kennedy* - Bob Kidd - Vernon King - Steve Kirby* - Kim LaCoste - Stanley Lane - Walter Lathen - Red Lehr* - Ed McKee - Joe McCreary - John MacEnulty - Eric Markowitz - Wendell Marshall* - Jim Mayer* - Kent Miller - Darryll Mixon* - John Mixon* - Pat Murphy - Singleton Palmer* - Mark Peterson* - John Phillips - David Pulphus* - Eddie Randle, Jr. - Charles Scales - Joe Schulte - Hillard Scott - Arvell Shaw* - Roger Shaw - Al Sherman - Glenn Smith - Bob Stout - Don Summers - Chris Thomas - Jon Thomas - Harold Thompson - Gus Thornton - Dave Troncoso - Mark Turlina - Ric Vice - Willem Von Holmbracht - Bob Waggoner - Eric Warren - Ben Wheeler - Jim Widner
DRUMS/PERCUSSION
Marcus Baylor* - Andy Becker - David Berger - Melvin J. Billups, Sr. - Chick Booth - Joe Buerger - John Brophy - Ronnie Burrage* - Floyd Campbell* - Maurice Carnes - Ron Carr, Jr. - Chuck Carter* - Joe Charles* - Jeremy Clemons - Montez Coleman - Tommy Crane - Don Cunningham (also vibes, vcl) - Dan David - Steve Davis* - Henry Ettman - Stan Forneszewski - Kevin Gianino - John Gillick* - Kenny Gooch - Jim Guglielmo - Terreon Gulley* - Roger Guth* - Stanley Hale - Sonny Hamp - Jerome “Scrooge” Harris* - Emanuel Harrold - DeMarius Hicks* - Kyle Honeycutt - Phil Hulsey - Richard Hunt - Bernard Hutcherson, Jr. - William (Billy) Ingram - Percy James* - Wayne Jones - John Karoley - Matt Kimmick - Chuck Kreigh - Gene Lake* - Fred Lee - Bob Lord - Dick McCreary - George Marsh - Jimmy Merity - Clarence Newell - Larry Newsome - Rick O’Connor - Oscar Oldham - Jim Orso - Charles Payne - Moldon Pickett - Joe Pike - Jerry Pollock - McClinton Rayford - Kenny Rice - Bud Roeder - Henry Ross - Al St. James* - Tony Saputo - Artie Scheiler (also piano, vibes) - Rick Schaumberger - Roger Schilling - Charles “Bobo” Shaw* - Elijah “Lyge” Shaw* - Rob Silverman - Brian Sullivan - Gary Sykes* - Jack Tartar - Billy Teague - Ben Thigpen* - Howard Thompson - Kim Thompson - Rich Tokats - Michael Tyree - Miles Vandiver - Joe Venegoni - John Vizer - Scott Waggoner - Benny Washington - Joe Weber - Dave Weckl* - Tom Widdicome - Phillip Wilson*