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Doug Watkins
Doug Watkins
American jazz double bassist
1
Max Roach
Max Roach
American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer
2
Sonny Stitt
Sonny Stitt
American jazz saxophonist
3
Tommy Potter
Tommy Potter
American musician
4
Charlie Persip
Charlie Persip
American jazz drummer
5
Johnny Griffin
Johnny Griffin
American musician
6
Kenny Dorham
Kenny Dorham
American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer
7
Hank Mobley
Hank Mobley
American saxophonist
8
Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd
American recording artist; jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist
9
Tadd Dameron
Tadd Dameron
American pianist
10
Clifford Brown
Clifford Brown
American jazz musician
11
Reggie Johnson
Reggie Johnson
American musician
12
Al McKibbon
Al McKibbon
American musician
13
Bobby Broom
Bobby Broom
American musician
14
Bill Hardman
Bill Hardman
American musician
15
Oscar Pettiford
Oscar Pettiford
American musician
16
Curtis Fuller
Curtis Fuller
American jazz musician
17
Walter Bishop Jr.
Walter Bishop Jr.
American jazz pianist, recording artist
18
Bob Cranshaw
Bob Cranshaw
American musician
19
Art Taylor
Art Taylor
American jazz drummer
20
The Jazz Messengers
The Jazz Messengers
American jazz band
21
Clifford Jordan
Clifford Jordan
American jazz saxophone player
22
Art Davis
Art Davis
American double-bassist
23
Barry Harris
Barry Harris
American bebop jazz pianist
24
Percy Heath
Percy Heath
American musician
25
Ronnie Mathews
Ronnie Mathews
American musician
26
Sahib Shihab
Sahib Shihab
American jazz saxophonist and flautist
27
Steve Davis
Steve Davis
American musician
28
Sonny Red
Sonny Red
American musician
29
Art Blakey
Art Blakey
American jazz drummer and bandleader
30
Jymie Merritt
Jymie Merritt
American bassist
31
Philly Joe Jones
Philly Joe Jones
American jazz drummer
32
Mickey Roker
Mickey Roker
American jazz drummer
33
Curley Russell
Curley Russell
American jazz musician
34
George Morrow
George Morrow
American jazz bassist
35
Cedar Walton
Cedar Walton
American hard bop jazz pianist
36
Jimmy Cleveland
Jimmy Cleveland
American jazz trombonist
37
Specs Wright
Specs Wright
American jazz drummer
38
Cecil Payne
Cecil Payne
American jazz saxophonist
39
Wade Legge
Wade Legge
Jazz pianist and bassist
40
Dizzy Reece
Dizzy Reece
Jamaican trumpeter
41
Charlie Rouse
Charlie Rouse
American musician
42
George Duvivier
George Duvivier
American musician
43
Idrees Sulieman
Idrees Sulieman
American musician
44
Bud Powell
Bud Powell
American pianist and composer
45
Nelson Boyd
Nelson Boyd
American musician
46
Freddie Redd
Freddie Redd
American pianist
47
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
American saxophonist
48
Kenny Clarke
Kenny Clarke
American jazz drummer
49
Jimmie Smith
Jimmie Smith
American jazz drummer
50
Tommy Turrentine
Tommy Turrentine
American swing and hard bop trumpeter and composer
51
Sam Jones
Sam Jones
American double bassist and cellist
52
Ben Riley
Ben Riley
American drummer
53
Roland Alexander
Roland Alexander
musician
54
James Moody
James Moody
American jazz musician
55
Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins
American jazz drummer
56
Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
American jazz saxophonist and composer
57
Wendell Marshall
Wendell Marshall
American jazz musician; double bassist
58
Woody Shaw
Woody Shaw
American musician
59
Wynton Kelly
Wynton Kelly
American jazz pianist
60
Junior Cook
Junior Cook
American saxophonist
61
Miles Davis Quintet
Miles Davis Quintet
American jazz quintet led by Miles Davis
62
Johnny Coles
Johnny Coles
American trumpeter
63
Lennie McBrowne
Lennie McBrowne
American musician
64
Teddy Edwards
Teddy Edwards
American jazz tenor saxophonist
65
Montego Joe
Montego Joe
Jamaican jazz musician and music educator
66
Reggie Workman
Reggie Workman
American double-bassist
67
Jackie McLean
Jackie McLean
American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader
68
Julius Watkins
Julius Watkins
American jazz musician
69
John Lewis
John Lewis
American jazz pianist, composer and arranger
70
Kenny Burrell
Kenny Burrell
American jazz guitarist
71
Gigi Gryce
Gigi Gryce
American recording artist; jazz saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator
72
James Buffington
James Buffington
American musician
73
Henry Coker
Henry Coker
American musician
74
Kenny Drew
Kenny Drew
American jazz pianist
75
Joe Gordon
Joe Gordon
American trumpeter
76
Gil Coggins
Gil Coggins
American musician
Walter Davis
American pianist

Walter Davis

Intro
American pianist
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Record Labels

Walter Davis Jr. (September 2, 1932 – June 2, 1990) was an American hard bop pianist. An often remarkable and inventive bebop and hard bop pianist, Walter Davis Jr. once left the music world to be a tailor, but returned. A solid soloist, bandleader, and accompanist, he amassed a good body of work while never becoming a high-profile name even within the jazz community. Davis played with Babs Gonzales’ Three Bips & a Bop as a teen, then moved from Richmond to New York in the early ’50s. He played with Max Roach and Charlie Parker, recording with Roach in 1953. He joined Dizzy Gillespie’s band in 1956, and toured the Middle East and South America. He also played in Paris with Donald Byrd in 1958 and with Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers in 1959. After retiring from music for a while to run his tailor shop, Davis returned in the ’60s, producing records and writing arrangements for a local New Jersey group. He studied music in India in 1979, and played with Sonny Rollins in the early ’70s.