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- Best blues/jazz guitarist, 2021: Joe Bonamassa. JoBo released his new album Time Clocks in October and it feels as if he’s indeed conscious of time ticking by – that Bonamassa has things he need to do.
- Jared James Nichols. The Wisconsin whirlwind, Jared James Nichols feels like he’s everywhere in the world of blues rock, yet we’ve not had an album since 2018’s Black Magic.
- Billy Gibbons. In the year that we said goodbye to ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill, Gibbons focussed his musical efforts on his solo album Hardware – a fine exercise in guitar-based grit and gristle.
- Eric Gales. Gales has spent much of 2021 teasing the arrival of his long-awaited 16th album Crown. The lead single alone (I Want My Crown, featuring producer and fellow teen-prodigy-done-good Joe Bonamassa) was enough to get him to fourth place on your list but we’ll have to wait until January for the full-length.
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Duke Ellington
- Louis Armstrong
- Miles Davis
- John Coltrane
- Charles Mingus
- Ron Carter
- Stan Getz
- Eric Dolphy
- Charles Lloyd
Born in Newport News, Virginia, Ella Fitzgeraldearned the title “The First Lady Of Song” due to her peerless vocal abilities. Combining a soft, caressing tone with clear diction and a deep emotional sensitivity, she was also a pioneer of scatting, a vocal technique defined by wordless, horn-like improvisation. Though she rose to prominence in the b...
Between 1927 and 1974, Washington DC-born Duke Ellington commanded one of the finest ensembles in jazz. A pianist by trade – he played in a unique staccato style – Ellington made his name performing at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club in the late 20s where his orchestra helped to usher in the big band swing movement. The most prolific jazz composer of a...
Nicknamed “Satchmo” or “Pops,” New Orleans-born Louis Armstrongwas one of jazz’s most significant founding fathers and played a profoundly influential role in exporting the music to other parts of the world. He was not only a brilliant trumpeter who could dazzle with his hard-swinging molten improvisations but also an expressive jazz singer who pos...
A trumpeter and bandleader from East St. Louis, Illinois, Miles Davis is arguably the most influential jazz musician of all time. Renowned for his ability to play ballads with a haunting, bittersweet lyricism, Miles’ career was characterized by a restless quest for innovation and musical change. He began his career in the mid-1940s playing bebop al...
Born in North Carolina and raised in Philadelphia, John Coltrane was an influential and technically accomplished saxophonist that played the tenor and soprano varieties of the instrument and initially rose to fame in the Miles Davis Quintet in the mid-to-late 1950s. He eventually outgrew the trumpeter’s band and began forging a storied solo career ...
Alongside his idol Duke Ellington and pianist Thelonious Monk, Arizona-born Charles Mingusis one of jazz’s best ever composers and musicians. A formidable bass player who attacked his instrument in a pugnacious yet virtuosic manner, Mingus championed collective improvisation in the various groups he led, using his compositions as a loose framework ...
One of the great jazz session musicians of all time, no jazz bass player in history has made more appearances than Michigan-born Ron Carter, whose recording credits exceed 2,000. Admired for his rich, full-bodied tone, acute musical intelligence, and nimble-fingered virtuosity, Carter (who also plays the cello) recorded with Eric Dolphy and Milt Ja...
Though born in Philadelphia, the tenor saxophonist Stan Getz, whose nickname was “The Sound,” became synonymous with west coast cool jazz that emerged in California during the 1950s. Famed for producing a gorgeously feathery tone that caressed the ear, Getz also played a major role in exposing the bossa nova sound to the wider US public, first with...
A talented multi-instrumentalist, Los Angeles-born Eric Dolphy was a bonafide musical triple-threat; a phenomenally talented master of the alto saxophone, bass clarinet and flute who combined technical dexterity with forward-thinking musical concepts. Starting out in drummer Chico Hamilton’s band in the late 50s, Dolphy became a leading light of th...
An accomplished tenor saxophonist and jazz mystic who also blows a mean flute, Memphis-born Charles Lloyd started out as a sideman for blues legends Howlin’ Wolf and B. B. King before gravitating to jazz. He made his name in Los Angeles playing with drummer Chico Hamilton’s band and between 1966 and 1969, led a groundbreaking quartet that included ...
- Charles Waring
- 5 min
Mar 15, 2024 · Updated March 15, 2024 36.8K views 27 items. Ranked By. 1.0K votes. 364 voters. Jazz blues artists list, with photos, ranked best to worst by votes. List of good jazz blues bands includes a filter so you can sort by the groups’s label and what albums they've put out.
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Blues musicians are musical artists who are primarily recognized as writing, performing, and recording blues music. They come from different eras and include styles such as ragtime-vaudeville, Delta and country blues, and urban styles from Chicago and the West Coast.
NameBirth YearDeath YearOrigin19041994Ohio19001954Texasc.1909UnknownAlabama19071949IllinoisBrowse the top jazz-blues artists to find new music. Scrobble songs to get recommendations on tracks you'll love.
- Howlin’ Wolf. Born in 1910 under the name Chester Burnett, and known rival to the equally famous Muddy Waters, was a blues-rock guitarist and vocalist that rose to prominence in Chicago in the 1950s.
- B.B. King. Famous for his tireless touring (reportedly playing over three hundred shows in 1956 alone), and his smooth and slick style, B.B. King began his early career on Beale Street in the early 50s.
- Elmore James. Born in 1918 and known primarily as the “King of the Slide Guitar”, Elmore James was famous for his aforementioned use of the slide guitar, a cranked-up amplifier, and a warbling, soulful voice.
- Eric Clapton. Described by London in the famous graffiti, “Clapton is God”, Eric Clapton began his career with the Yardbirds in 1963 after playing in various local bands.
Jazz and Blues. Leading up to the 1920s, African American music came to the attention of the white music industry and white music audiences. In 1912 W. C. Handy became the "Father of the Blues" with his composition, Memphis Blues.
