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Fats Navarro
Fats Navarro
American jazz trumpeter
1
Tadd Dameron
Tadd Dameron
American pianist
2
Sahib Shihab
Sahib Shihab
American jazz saxophonist and flautist
3
Howard McGhee
Howard McGhee
American trumpeter
4
Kenny Dorham
Kenny Dorham
American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer
5
Joe Wilder
Joe Wilder
American trumpeter
6
Charlie Rouse
Charlie Rouse
American musician
7
Shadow Wilson
Shadow Wilson
American jazz drummer (1919-1959)
8
Kenny Clarke
Kenny Clarke
American jazz drummer
9
Jerome Richardson
Jerome Richardson
American jazz multi-instrumentalist
10
Charlie Rice
Charlie Rice
jazz musician
11
Danny Bank
Danny Bank
American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist
12
J. C. Heard
J. C. Heard
American musician
13
Julius Watkins
Julius Watkins
American jazz musician
14
Curley Russell
Curley Russell
American jazz musician
15
Johnny Griffin
Johnny Griffin
American musician
16
Art Taylor
Art Taylor
American jazz drummer
17
Cecil Payne
Cecil Payne
American jazz saxophonist
18
Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford
American musician
19
Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
American jazz saxophonist
20
Kai Winding
Kai Winding
Danish-born American jazz musician and trombonist
21
Duke Jordan
Duke Jordan
American musician
22
Ernie Henry
Ernie Henry
American musician
23
Ed Thigpen
Ed Thigpen
American jazz drummer
24
Johnny Hodges
Johnny Hodges
American alto saxophonist
25
Gigi Gryce
Gigi Gryce
American recording artist; jazz saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator
26
Osie Johnson
Osie Johnson
American jazz drummer, arranger and singer
27
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
American saxophonist
28
Dave Schildkraut
Dave Schildkraut
American musician
29
Al Hall
Al Hall
American musician
30
Benny Golson
Benny Golson
American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger (born 1929)
31
Porter Kilbert
Porter Kilbert
American musician
32
Leonard Gaskin
Leonard Gaskin
American musician
33
Tal Farlow
Tal Farlow
American jazz guitarist
34
Philly Joe Jones
Philly Joe Jones
American jazz drummer
35
John Simmons
John Simmons
American jazz bassist
36
Nelson Boyd
Nelson Boyd
American musician
37
Don Lamond
Don Lamond
American musician
38
Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes
American drummer
39
Ernie Royal
Ernie Royal
American jazz trumpeter
40
Charlie Shavers
Charlie Shavers
jazz trumpeter
41
Walter Bishop Jr.
Walter Bishop Jr.
American jazz pianist, recording artist
42
Freddie Redd
Freddie Redd
American pianist
43
Britt Woodman
Britt Woodman
American jazz trombonist
44
Bennie Green
Bennie Green
American musician
45
Allen Eager
Allen Eager
American musician
46
Art Mardigan
Art Mardigan
American musician
47
Jimmy Heath
Jimmy Heath
American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger and big band leader
48
Gus Johnson
Gus Johnson
American musician
49
Frank Wess
Frank Wess
American saxophonist and flautist, composer and arranger
50
Henry Coker
Henry Coker
American musician
51
Panama Francis
Panama Francis
American musician
52
Benny Carter
Benny Carter
American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader (1907-2003)
53
Sonny Greer
Sonny Greer
American jazz drummer
54
Clifford Brown
Clifford Brown
American jazz musician
55
Barry Harris
Barry Harris
American bebop jazz pianist
56
Skeeter Best
Skeeter Best
American musician
57
Billy Eckstine
Billy Eckstine
American musician
58
Percy Heath
Percy Heath
American musician
59
Jimmy Cleveland
Jimmy Cleveland
American jazz trombonist
60
Charlie Persip
Charlie Persip
American jazz drummer
61
Nat Adderley
Nat Adderley
American recording artist; jazz cornet and trumpet player
Rudy Williams
American musician

Rudy Williams

Intro
American musician
Genres
Music

Rudy Williams (nicknamed Looney; 1919 Newark, New Jersey – 1954 Cape Cod, Massachusetts) was an American jazz alto saxophonist.

Williams started on saxophone at age twelve, and concentrated on alto, though he was also capable on baritone and tenor sax. He became a member of the Savoy Sultans in 1937 and recorded frequently with the group. In the 1940s he played with Hot Lips Page, Luis Russell, Chris Columbus, and John Kirby, and led his own bands in Boston and New York City later in the decade. He played with Tadd Dameron in 1948, and after more time as a bandleader in Boston in the early 1950s he played with Illinois Jacquet and Gene Ammons in California. As a member of Oscar Pettiford's band, he toured East Asia in the 1950s.

Williams also recorded with Howard McGhee, Dud Bascomb, Don Byas, Babs Gonzales, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Eddie Vinson, Bennie Green, and Johnny Hodges. He never recorded as a bandleader. After his death, Charles Mingus wrote a memorial piece, Eulogy for Rudy Williams, then recorded it for Savoy. The liner notes of the Savoy album state Williams died by drowning in summer 1954.