10 Jazz Legends Everyone Should Know (and Where to Start Listening)

Jazz has hundreds of great musicians, but a few changed the music so much that every jazz player still learns from them. Here are ten legends, in roughly chronological order, with one recording to start with for each.

1. Louis Armstrong (1901–1971)

The trumpeter and singer from New Orleans turned jazz into an art of the improvised solo. His tone, rhythm and joyful scat singing influenced everyone who came after him, and his gravelly voice made him a worldwide star.

Start with: "West End Blues" (1928). Then: "What a Wonderful World" (1967).

2. Duke Ellington (1899–1974)

A pianist, bandleader and one of America’s greatest composers. Ellington wrote for the individual sounds of his band members, creating rich colours and moods. Over five decades he composed more than a thousand pieces, from dance tunes to long suites, often working with his partner Billy Strayhorn.

Start with: "Take the 'A' Train" (written by Strayhorn, the band’s theme song).

3. Billie Holiday (1915–1959)

Billie Holiday sang with a small voice but enormous feeling, bending melodies and rhythms like a horn player. Her 1939 recording of "Strange Fruit", a protest against lynching, is one of the most important songs of the 20th century.

Start with: "Strange Fruit" (1939), then "God Bless the Child".

4. Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996)

Known as the "First Lady of Song", Ella Fitzgerald had perfect diction, a wide range and dazzling scat improvisation. Her Songbook albums (1956–1964) recorded the great American songs of Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin and others.

Start with: "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook" (1956).

5. Charlie Parker (1920–1955)

The alto saxophonist nicknamed "Bird" was the main architect of bebop. His lightning-fast lines, built on advanced harmony, set the language of modern jazz improvisation that musicians still study note by note.

Start with: "Ko-Ko" (1945).

6. Thelonious Monk (1917–1982)

Pianist and composer Thelonious Monk had a completely personal style: unexpected pauses, clashing notes that somehow sound right, and playful melodies. Many of his tunes became jazz standards.

Start with: "'Round Midnight" and "Straight, No Chaser".

7. Miles Davis (1926–1991)

The trumpeter reinvented jazz again and again: cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz and electric fusion. His album "Kind of Blue" (1959) is the best-selling jazz record ever, and "Bitches Brew" (1970) opened the door to jazz-rock.

Start with: "Kind of Blue" (1959), especially "So What".

8. John Coltrane (1926–1967)

Saxophonist John Coltrane pushed harmony to its limits on "Giant Steps" (1960), then turned toward deeply spiritual music. "A Love Supreme" (1965), a four-part suite of thanks to God, is one of the most loved jazz albums of all time.

Start with: "A Love Supreme" (1965). For something gentle: "John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman" (1963).

9. Bill Evans (1929–1980)

Pianist Bill Evans played on "Kind of Blue" and changed jazz piano with his soft touch and impressionistic chords, influenced by Debussy and Ravel. His trio with Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian treated piano, bass and drums as equal voices.

Start with: "Sunday at the Village Vanguard" and "Waltz for Debby" (both 1961).

10. Herbie Hancock (born 1940)

Pianist and composer Herbie Hancock played in Miles Davis’s second great quintet, wrote standards like "Watermelon Man" and "Cantaloupe Island", and brought jazz to funk and electronic music with "Head Hunters" (1973) and the hit "Rockit" (1983).

Start with: "Maiden Voyage" (1965).

How to listen to these artists

Start with one album per artist and listen to it several times. Notice how each one plays the melody first, then improvises, and finally returns to the melody. Once you hear that shape, jazz becomes much easier to follow.

Curious about the chords behind these songs? Our guide to chord progressions explains the famous ii–V–I progression that almost every jazz standard uses.