Jazz Legends

Pianist/composer Michel Legrand (born Feb 24, 1932) is credited with composing over 200 film and television scores. He was active in the jazz world for most of his life. A musical milestone was his recording "Legrand Jazz" which released in 1958 and featured luminaries like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Hank Jones and many others. His recordings over the years featured his virtuoso piano playing and his compositions have been embraced by jazz musicians for decades.

William “Count” Basie, (born August 21, 1904) was a pianist, organist and composer who lead one of the greatest big bands of all time for 50 years. The band still performs hundreds of dates throughout the world to this day. Over the years, a procession of jazz giants have passed through the band: Lester Young, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Frank Foster, Frank Wess, and Thad Jones, just to name a few.

Songwriter Jimmy McHugh (born July 10, 1894) was one of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s through the 1950s, credited with over 500 songs. His songs have long been favorites of jazz musicians for their interesting harmonic and melodic content. The tunes "On the Sunny Side of the Street", "I Can’t Give You Anything But Love", "Don’t Blame Me", "Exactly Like You", "I’m In the Mood For Love" and many others have been recorded by countless musicians over the years.

Pianist, composer Bud Powell (born September 7, 1924) was one of the primary innovators of bebop. His prodigious technique and strong sense of swing placed him head and shoulders above all his contemporaries. His struggles with mental issues sadly affected his career, particularly later in life.

Since even before the advent of “talkies” music has been an integral part of motion pictures. Even small cinemas often had a pianist or organist who contributed musical accompaniment to the action on screen, but with the advent of sound, the music composed and synchronized with the action on screen and became an integral part of every film from then on. Great songwriters were drawn to work in Hollywood and their work of course was embraced by jazz musicians over the years.