0
Budd Johnson
Budd Johnson
American musician
1
Ben Webster
Ben Webster
American saxophonist
2
Osie Johnson
Osie Johnson
American jazz drummer, arranger and singer
3
Jimmy Hamilton
Jimmy Hamilton
American jazz musician
4
Richie Kamuca
Richie Kamuca
American musician
5
Thad Jones
Thad Jones
American jazz trumpeter
6
Alvin Stoller
Alvin Stoller
American musician
7
Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford
American musician
8
George Duvivier
George Duvivier
American musician
9
Johnny Hodges
Johnny Hodges
American alto saxophonist
10
Johnny Griffin
Johnny Griffin
American musician
11
Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt
American jazz saxophonist
12
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
American saxophonist
13
Idrees Sulieman
Idrees Sulieman
American musician
14
Lucky Thompson
Lucky Thompson
American saxophonist
15
Eddie Locke
Eddie Locke
American musician
16
Don Byas
Don Byas
American musician
17
Manny Albam
Manny Albam
musician and composer
18
Harold Land
Harold Land
American musician
19
Barry Harris
Barry Harris
American bebop jazz pianist
20
Kenny Burrell
Kenny Burrell
American jazz guitarist
21
Charlie Rouse
Charlie Rouse
American musician
22
Art Taylor
Art Taylor
American jazz drummer
23
Zoot Sims
Zoot Sims
American jazz saxophonist
24
Wendell Marshall
Wendell Marshall
American jazz musician; double bassist
25
Roy Eldridge
Roy Eldridge
American trumpeter
26
Russell Procope
Russell Procope
American musician
27
Jo Jones
Jo Jones
American jazz drummer
28
Major Holley
Major Holley
American jazz upright bassist
29
Frank Wess
Frank Wess
American saxophonist and flautist, composer and arranger
30
Phil Woods
Phil Woods
American saxophonist
31
Gene Ammons
Gene Ammons
American jazz tenor saxophonist
32
Sam Woodyard
Sam Woodyard
American jazz drummer
33
Clark Terry
Clark Terry
American swing and bebop musician
34
Harold Ashby
Harold Ashby
American musician
35
Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
American jazz saxophonist and composer
36
Al McKibbon
Al McKibbon
American musician
37
Roy Haynes
Roy Haynes
American jazz drummer and group leader
38
Nick Travis
Nick Travis
American jazz musician
39
Danny Bank
Danny Bank
American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist
40
Dave Holland
Dave Holland
British musician
41
Gus Johnson
Gus Johnson
American musician
42
Milt Jackson
Milt Jackson
American musician
43
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
American jazz pianist and composer
44
Al Cohn
Al Cohn
American saxophonist
45
Benny Harris
Benny Harris
American jazz trumpeter
46
Curley Russell
Curley Russell
American jazz musician
47
Kenny Clarke
Kenny Clarke
American jazz drummer
48
Lawrence Brown
Lawrence Brown
jazz trombonist
49
Max Roach
Max Roach
American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer
50
Frank Socolow
Frank Socolow
American musician
51
John Simmons
John Simmons
American jazz bassist
52
Denzil Best
Denzil Best
American jazz drummer
53
George Barrow
George Barrow
American jazz musician
54
Pete Brown
Pete Brown
American musician
55
Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan
American jazz baritone saxophonist, arranger and composer
56
Jerome Richardson
Jerome Richardson
American jazz multi-instrumentalist
57
Al Lucas
Al Lucas
Canadian jazz musician
58
Lester Young
Lester Young
American jazz tenor saxophonist and sometimes clarinetist
59
John Ore
John Ore
American musician
60
Joe Benjamin
Joe Benjamin
American musician
61
Stuff Smith
Stuff Smith
American musician
62
Jimmy Garrison
Jimmy Garrison
American double bassist
63
Harry Edison
Harry Edison
American trumpeter
64
Harry Carney
Harry Carney
American jazz musician
65
Kenny Dorham
Kenny Dorham
American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer
66
Aaron Bell
Aaron Bell
American musician
67
Dave Bailey
Dave Bailey
American drummer
68
Lloyd Trotman
Lloyd Trotman
American musician
69
Freddie Green
Freddie Green
American jazz guitarist
70
Oliver Nelson
Oliver Nelson
American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader (1932-1975)
71
Teddy Hill
Teddy Hill
American musician
Coleman Hawkins
American jazz saxophonist

Coleman Hawkins

Intro
American jazz saxophonist
Member of, past and present

Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. One of the first prominent jazz musicians on his instrument, as Joachim E. Berendt explained: "there were some tenor players before him, but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn". Hawkins biographer John Chilton described the prevalent styles of tenor saxophone solos prior to Hawkins as "mooing" and "rubbery belches." Hawkins cited as influences Happy Caldwell, Stump Evans, and Prince Robinson, although he was the first to tailor his method of improvisation to the saxophone rather than imitate the techniques of the clarinet. Hawkins' virtuosic, arpeggiated approach to improvisation, with his characteristic rich, emotional, and vibrato-laden tonal style, was the main influence on a generation of tenor players that included Chu Berry, Charlie Barnet, Tex Beneke, Ben Webster, Vido Musso, Herschel Evans, Buddy Tate, and Don Byas, and through them the later tenormen, Arnett Cobb, Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips, Ike Quebec, Al Sears, Paul Gonsalves, and Lucky Thompson. While Hawkins became known with swing music during the big band era, he had a role in the development of bebop in the 1940s.

Fellow saxophonist Lester Young, known as "Pres", commented in a 1959 interview with The Jazz Review: "As far as I'm concerned, I think Coleman Hawkins was the President first, right? As far as myself, I think I'm the second one." Miles Davis once said: "When I heard Hawk, I learned to play ballads."