0
Jimmy Giuffre
Jimmy Giuffre
American clarinet and saxophone player
1
Curtis Counce
Curtis Counce
American musician
2
Shorty Rogers
Shorty Rogers
American West coast jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, and arranger (1924-1994)
3
Red Mitchell
Red Mitchell
American jazz double-bassist, composer, lyricist, and poet
4
Joe Mondragon
Joe Mondragon
Woody Herman Band member
5
Pete Jolly
Pete Jolly
American musician
6
Harry Babasin
Harry Babasin
American musician
7
Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne
American jazz drummer
8
Bob Cooper
Bob Cooper
West Coast jazz musician
9
Jimmy Bond
Jimmy Bond
American jazz bassist
10
Hal McKusick
Hal McKusick
American jazz flautist and saxophonist
11
Chuck Berghofer
Chuck Berghofer
American musician
12
Russ Freeman
Russ Freeman
American musician
13
Harry Edison
Harry Edison
American trumpeter
14
Dave Pell
Dave Pell
American musician
15
Jimmy Rowles
Jimmy Rowles
American jazz pianist
16
Hampton Hawes
Hampton Hawes
American jazz pianist
17
Bob Brookmeyer
Bob Brookmeyer
American jazz valve trombonist, pianist, arranger, and composer
18
Cal Tjader
Cal Tjader
American Latin jazz musician, recording artist
19
Buell Neidlinger
Buell Neidlinger
American jazz musician; cellist and double bassist
20
Eddie Safranski
Eddie Safranski
American musician
21
Bob Enevoldsen
Bob Enevoldsen
American musician
22
Jim Hall
Jim Hall
American jazz guitarist, composer
23
Laurindo Almeida
Laurindo Almeida
Brazilian virtuoso guitarist and composer
24
Marty Paich
Marty Paich
American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director and bandleader (1925-1995)
25
Stan Levey
Stan Levey
American musician
26
Modern Jazz Quartet
Modern Jazz Quartet
American jazz ensemble
27
Earl May
Earl May
American musician
28
Buddy Collette
Buddy Collette
American musician
29
Woody Herman
Woody Herman
American recording artist, clarinetist, band leader
30
Don Bagley
Don Bagley
American jazz bassist
31
Paul Bley
Paul Bley
Canadian free jazz, post-bop pianist and keyboardist
32
Herbie Harper
Herbie Harper
American musician
33
Bill Crow
Bill Crow
American bassist
34
Wyatt Ruther
Wyatt Ruther
American musician
35
Leroy Vinnegar
Leroy Vinnegar
American bassist
36
Bernie Glow
Bernie Glow
American musician
37
Howard Rumsey
Howard Rumsey
American musician
38
Paul Chambers
Paul Chambers
American musician
39
Richie Kamuca
Richie Kamuca
American musician
40
Carson Smith
Carson Smith
American musician
41
Dizzy Reece
Dizzy Reece
Jamaican trumpeter
42
Al Hendrickson
Al Hendrickson
American musician
43
Johnny Richards
Johnny Richards
American jazz arranger and composer
44
Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford
American musician
45
Victor Feldman
Victor Feldman
English recording artist; jazz musician, vibraphonist
46
Bill Holman
Bill Holman
American composer, arranger, and conductor
47
Jymie Merritt
Jymie Merritt
American bassist
48
Steve Swallow
Steve Swallow
jazz bassist and composer
49
Ed Shaughnessy
Ed Shaughnessy
American jazz drummer
50
Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt
American jazz saxophonist
51
Matthew Gee
Matthew Gee
American musician
52
Percy Heath
Percy Heath
American musician
53
Jimmy Raney
Jimmy Raney
American musician
54
Joe Wilder
Joe Wilder
American trumpeter
55
Barney Kessel
Barney Kessel
American jazz guitarist
56
Wendell Marshall
Wendell Marshall
American jazz musician; double bassist
57
Monk Montgomery
Monk Montgomery
American jazz bassist
58
Barry Harris
Barry Harris
American bebop jazz pianist
59
Mousey Alexander
Mousey Alexander
Jazz drummer
60
Larance Marable
Larance Marable
American musician
61
Al McKibbon
Al McKibbon
American musician
62
Barre Phillips
Barre Phillips
American bassist
63
Arvell Shaw
Arvell Shaw
American musician
64
Billy Bauer
Billy Bauer
American jazz guitarist
65
Paul Horn
Paul Horn
American flautist in jazz and New Age music
66
Leonard Gaskin
Leonard Gaskin
American musician
67
Nat Adderley
Nat Adderley
American recording artist; jazz cornet and trumpet player
68
Eddie Jones
Eddie Jones
American musician
69
Cozy Cole
Cozy Cole
American musician
70
Howard Roberts
Howard Roberts
American guitarist
71
Art Mardigan
Art Mardigan
American musician
72
Maynard Ferguson
Maynard Ferguson
Canadian jazz musician and bandleader
73
Ben Webster
Ben Webster
American saxophonist
74
Trigger Alpert
Trigger Alpert
musician
75
Freddie Green
Freddie Green
American jazz guitarist
76
Harry Betts
Harry Betts
American jazz trombonist (1922-2012)
77
Gene Roland
Gene Roland
American composer
78
Carl Pruitt
Carl Pruitt
American jazz and blues double bassist
79
Al Porcino
Al Porcino
American musician
80
Eugene Wright
Eugene Wright
American jazz musician
81
Max Bennett
Max Bennett
Jazz bassist
Ralph Peña
American musician

Ralph Peña

Intro
American musician
Genres
Music

Ralph Raymond Peña (February 24, 1927, Jarbidge, Nevada - May 20, 1969, Mexico City) was an American jazz double bassist and composer.

Peña learned to play low brass instruments as a child and began playing professionally in the early 1940s, becoming known as a jazz double bassist. In this capacity, in the early 1950s he worked with Charlie Barnet, Stan Getz, Barney Kessel, Billy May, Jack Montrose, Vido Musso, Art Pepper, Duane Tatro, and Cal Tjader. He recorded with Shorty Rogers from 1955 to 1958, appearing with Rogers in the film The Man with the Golden Arm in 1955, and also played with Jimmy Giuffre in 1955 and 1956 and Buddy DeFranco in the late 1950s. He played in a duo with Pete Jolly from 1958 to 1962 and occasionally recorded with Jolly, Giuffre, and Rogers together. In the early 1960s he worked with Ben Webster, Frank Sinatra, George Shearing, Joe Pass, Bud Shank, Dick Grove, Anita O'Day, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nancy Wilson. Late in the 1960s he worked on film soundtracks. In 1969, in Mexico City, where he had been working on a score, Peña was killed as a pedestrian in an automobile accident.