0
Edgar Battle
Edgar Battle
American musician
1
Arville Harris
Arville Harris
American saxophonist (1904-1954)
2
Lovie Austin
Lovie Austin
American pianist
3
Benny Carter
Benny Carter
American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader (1907-2003)
4
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
American jazz trumpeter, composer and singer
5
Ed Allen
Ed Allen
musician
6
King Garcia
King Garcia
Puerto Rican jazz trumpeter
7
Happy Caldwell
Happy Caldwell
American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist
8
Herb Flemming
Herb Flemming
American musician
9
Lem Johnson
Lem Johnson
American musician
10
Buddy Christian
Buddy Christian
American musician
11
Richard M. Jones
Richard M. Jones
American musician
12
Milt Hinton
Milt Hinton
American musician and photographer
13
Earl Hines
Earl Hines
American jazz pianist
14
Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer
15
Jimmy Forrest
Jimmy Forrest
African American jazz musician
16
Ben Thigpen
Ben Thigpen
American jazz musician
17
Clarence Williams
Clarence Williams
American jazz pianist, composer, promoter, vocalist, theatrical producer, and publisher
18
Wardell Gray
Wardell Gray
American musician
19
Budd Johnson
Budd Johnson
American musician
20
Josiah "Cie" Frazier
Josiah "Cie" Frazier
New Orleans jazz musician
21
Margaret Johnson
Margaret Johnson
American pianist and jazz musician (1919-1939)
22
Barney Bigard
Barney Bigard
American jazz clarinetist, jazz musician
23
Darnell Howard
Darnell Howard
American musician
24
Vance Dixon
Vance Dixon
American saxophonist (1895-2000)
25
Boyd Atkins
Boyd Atkins
American musician
26
George Washington Thomas, Jr.
George Washington Thomas, Jr.
American musician
27
Big Joe Williams
Big Joe Williams
American Delta blues guitarist, recording artist, singer and songwriter
28
Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
American musician
29
Jonah Jones
Jonah Jones
American musician
30
Scoops Carry
Scoops Carry
American jazz saxophonist
31
June Clark
June Clark
Jazz trumpeter and cornetist
32
Cozy Cole
Cozy Cole
American musician
33
Johnny Letman
Johnny Letman
American musician
34
Big Boy Goudie
Big Boy Goudie
American musician
35
Bill Coleman
Bill Coleman
American musician
36
Red Nichols
Red Nichols
American jazz musician
37
Buster Williams
Buster Williams
American musician
38
Wingy Manone
Wingy Manone
American musician
39
Joe Venuti
Joe Venuti
jazz violinist
40
Floyd Smith
Floyd Smith
American jazz guitarist
41
Don Stovall
Don Stovall
American musician
42
Lil Hardin Armstrong
Lil Hardin Armstrong
American jazz musician
43
Jack Hylton
Jack Hylton
British band leader and impresario
44
Shirley Horn
Shirley Horn
American singer
45
Red Allen
Red Allen
American jazz musician, band leader
46
Nat Adderley
Nat Adderley
American recording artist; jazz cornet and trumpet player
47
Roy Eldridge
Roy Eldridge
American trumpeter
48
Stuff Smith
Stuff Smith
American musician
49
Archie Bleyer
Archie Bleyer
American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive
50
Wycliffe Gordon
Wycliffe Gordon
American musician
51
Bubber Miley
Bubber Miley
American jazz trumpet and cornet player, composer
52
Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
American jazz musician
53
Art Tatum
Art Tatum
American jazz pianist
54
Ahmad Jamal
Ahmad Jamal
American jazz pianist
55
Bernard Addison
Bernard Addison
American jazz guitarist
56
Vic Dickenson
Vic Dickenson
American jazz trombonist
57
Tony Parenti
Tony Parenti
American musician
58
Joe Newman
Joe Newman
American musician
59
King Oliver
King Oliver
American jazz cornet player and bandleader
60
Jimmy McPartland
Jimmy McPartland
American cornetist
61
Pee Wee Russell
Pee Wee Russell
American musician
62
Wild Bill Davis
Wild Bill Davis
American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger
63
Louis Mitchell
Louis Mitchell
American musician
64
Count Basie
Count Basie
American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer (1904-1984)
65
Louis Metcalf
Louis Metcalf
American musician
66
Mark Murphy
Mark Murphy
American singer
67
Freddie Keppard
Freddie Keppard
American jazz musician
68
Buster Bailey
Buster Bailey
American musician
69
Monk Hazel
Monk Hazel
American musician
70
Kansas Fields
Kansas Fields
American musician
71
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
American jazz singer
Shirley Clay
American musician

Shirley Clay

Intro
American musician
Music

Shirley Clay (died February 7, 1951) was an American jazz trumpeter.

Clay got his early start in St. Louis, Missouri while a teenager, about 1920. He toured with John Williams's Synco Jazzers early in the decade and then moved to Chicago, where he recorded with Louis Armstrong in 1927 and worked with Carroll Dickerson and Clifford King.

In the late 1920s and 1930s he did significant work as a studio musician, playing with Earl Hines, Ma Rainey, Billie Holiday, and the Boswell Sisters. He played with Don Redman in the middle of the 1930s and spent time with Benny Goodman, Ben Pollack, and Claude Hopkins in the latter half of the decade. In the 1940s, he spent time with Hines again, Horace Henderson, Leon Abbey, Cootie Williams, and Cab Calloway. He also recorded with The Mills Brothers. From 1944–51, he led his own band which included Edgar Battle among its sidemen; he also played as a sideman in his own right with Manzie Johnson and Harry Dial.