Big Band Leaders: Top 50+

Big Band Leaders: Top 50+

Big band was a popular form of music in the first half of the 20th century. It was essentially a jazz orchestra, typically comprised of ten or more musiicans including saxophonists, trumpeters, trombonists, and a rhythm section which might tconsist of guitar, piano, double bass, and drums. By the mid-1930s, swing music, which had a more supple feel than early jazz, became increasingly popular. On the charts, such bands were generally credited to the bandleaders with featured vocalists noted. This list focuses on those most popular band leaders. It was comprised by aggregating 16 lists focused on the best big band leaders of all time. The list here includes all individuals appearing on 4 or more lists. See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories. 15 lists: 1. Benny Goodman 2. Count Basie 13 lists: 3. Glenn Miller 4. Duke Ellington 10 lists: 5. Artie Shaw 9 lists: 6. Tommy Dorsey 7. Cab Calloway 8 lists: 8. Louis Armstrong 9. Jimmy Dorsey 10. Harry James 11. Woody Herman 7 lists: 12. Gene Krupa 13. Chick Webb 6 lists: 14. Lionel Hampton 15. 20. Earl Hines 5 lists: 16. Fats Waller 17. Eddy Duchin 18. Kay Kyser 19. Glen Gray 20. Bob Crosby 21. Ozzie Nelson 22. Buddy Rich 23. Fletcher Henderson 24. Jimmie Lunceford 25. Jack Teagarden 26. Charlie Spivak 4 lists: 27. Paul Whiteman 28. Sammy Kaye 29. Isham Jones 30. Freddy Martin 31. Louis Jordan 32. Hal Kemp 33. Ray Noble 34. Russ Morgan 35. Horace Heidt 36. Ted Weems 37. Dizzy Gillespie 38. Stan Kenton 39. Benny Carter 40. Les Brown 41. Frankie Carle 42. Xavier Cugat 43. Bunny Berigan 44. Will Bradley 45. Andy Kirk 46. Red Norvo 47. Claude Thornhill 48. Eddie DeLange 49. Erskine Hawkins 50. Ina Ray Hutton 51. Tony Pastor 52. Jan Savitt Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: Lists of Acts/Music Makers by Categories Dave’s Music Database: Big Band: Top 100 Songs First posted 6/23/2026.

 

Pulitzer Prize: Special Awards and Citations for Musicians

The Pulitzer is an award best known for honoring excellence in journalism, but they also award excellence in the arts. Just over a dozen musicians have been honored through the years with special awards. While this page has been updated through 2026, the most recent recipient is Aretha Franklin in 2019. See other lifetime achievement awards. Milton Babbitt (1982) John Coltrane (2007) Bob Dylan (2008) Duke Ellington (1999) Aretha Franklin (2019) George Gerswhin (1998) Oscar Hammerstein II (1944) Scott Joplin (1976) Thelonious Monk (2006) Richard Rodgers (1944) William Schuman (1985) Roger Sessions (1974) Hank Williams (2010) Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Lifetime Achievement Awards” Pulitzer.org: Prize Winners by Year RollingStone.com (4/15/2019). “Aretha Franklin Posthumously Awarded Pulitzer Prize Special Citation” First posted 4/12/2010; last updated 5/4/2026.

The Top 50 Jazz Musicians of All Time

Jazz: Top 50 Acts

These are the top 50 jazz artists of all time according to Dave’s Music Database. The term “jazz” is used to incorporate instrumental jazz performed by small ensembles, big band jazz, vocal jazz, and traditional pop. That means this list includes musicians, singers, and band leaders. The list was determined by aggregating 17 best-of lists. Those acts appearing on 3 or more lists were re-ordered based on overall status in Dave’s Music Database. See other lists of Acts/Music Makers by Genre. 1. Frank Sinatra 2. Benny Goodman 3. Louis Armstrong 4. Glenn Miller 5. Nat “King” Cole 6. Duke Ellington 7. Billie Holiday 8. Ella Fitzgerald 9. Miles Davis 10. Fats Waller 11. Bessie Smith 12. Artie Shaw 13. Count Basie 14. John Coltrane 15. Woody Herman 16. Herbie Hancock 17. Nina Simone 18. Thelonious Monk 19. Charles Mingus 20. Sarah Vaughan 21. Charlie Christian 22. Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton 23. Charlie Parker 24. Dizzy Gillespie 25. Teddy Wilson 26. Dave Brubeck 27. Art Tatum 28. Lionel Hampton 29. Erroll Garner 30. Bill Evans 31. Stan Kenton 32. Oscar Peterson 33. Django Reinhardt 34. Max Roach 35. Stan Getz 36. Wes Montgomery 37. Sonny Rollins 38. Coleman Hawkins 39. Bud Powell 40. Scott Joplin 41. Keith Jarrett 42. Lester Young 43. Art Blakey 44. Ornette Coleman 45. Cannonball Adderley 46. Wayne Shorter 47. Benny Carter 48. John McLaughlin 49. McCoy Tyner 50. Jimmy Smith Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: Lists of Acts/Music Makers by Genre Dave’s Music Database: Top 50 Jazz Albums of All Time Dave’s Music Database: Top 100 Jazz Songs of All Time First posted 12/23/2011; last updated 3/8/2026.

National Recording Registry: 2022

National Recording Registry: 2022 Inductions

The National Recording Registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000. The Librarian of Congress appoints members to the National Recording Preservation Board which, since 2002, has selected 25 recordings annually for preservation in the Library of Congress. As the website says, the recordings showcase “the range and diversity of American recorded sound heritage in order to increase preservation awareness.” Most inductees are songs and albums, but there are also radio, news, and sports broadcasts along with other spoken word recordings. Below is a list of the 2022 inductees, announced April 13, 2022. Click on a song or album title to see its DMDB page. Click here to read more about each of them on the National Recording Registry website. You can also read essays on more than 500 of the inductees here, including one by yours truly on Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose.” Spotify Podcast: Check out the Dave’s Music Database podcast: National Recording Registry 2022 which highlights all of the songs on the list below as well as selections from the album inductees. Premiere: April 19, 2022 at 7pm CST. Tune in every Tuesday at 7pm for a new episode based on the lists at Dave’s Music Database. 1. SONG: James P. Johnson “Harlem Strut” (1921) 2. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Complete Presidential Speeches (1933-1945) 3. SONG: Ernest Tubb “Walking the Floor Over You” (1941) 4. “On a Note of Triumph” (May 8, 1945) 5. SONG: The Soul Stirrers “Jesus Gave Me Water” (1950) 6. ALBUM: Duke Ellington At Newport (1956) 7. ALBUM: Max Roach We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite (1960) 8. SONG: Nat “King” Cole “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” (1961) 9. ALBUM: The Shirelles Tonight’s the Night (1961) 10. SONG: Andy Williams “Moon River” (1962) 11. ALBUM: Terry Riley In C (1968) 12. SONG: The Disenyland Boys Choir “It’s a Small World After All” (1964) 13. SONG: Four Tops “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” (1966) 14. Hank Aaron’s 715th Career Home Run (April 8, 1974) 15. SONG: Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975) 16. SONG: Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’” (1981) 17. ALBUM: Linda Ronstadt Canciones de Mi Padre (1987) 18. ALBUM: Bonnie Raitt Nick of Time (1989) 19. ALBUM: A Tribe Called Quest The Low End Theory (1991) 20. ALBUM: Wu-Tang Clan Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993) 21. ALBUM: Various Artists Buena Vista Social Club (1997) 22. SONG: Ricky Martin “Livin’ La Vida Loca” (1999) 23. ALBUM: Alicia Keys Songs in A Minor (2001) 24. WNYC broadcasts for the day of 9/11 (Sept. 11, 2001) 25. “WTF with Marc Maron” (Guest: Robin Williams) (April 26, 2010) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “National Recording Registry: Albums” Dave’s Music Database: “National Recording Registry: Songs” National Recording Registry (4/13/2022). “National Recording Registry Inducts Music from Alicia Keys, Ricky Martin, Journey and More in 2022” National Recording Registry (complete listing, sortable by title, artist, year of release, year inducted, and genre) Wikipedia.org (complete listing by induction years with links for many of the recordings) First posted 4/15/2022; last updated 4/19/2022.

Dave's Music Database Hall of Fame: Music Maker Inductees (December 2021)

Top 20 Jazz Acts Originally posted 12/22/2021. January 22, 2019 marked the 10-year anniversary of the DMDB blog! To honor that, Dave’s Music Database announced its own Hall of Fame. This twelfth class of music maker inductees is comprised of the top jazz acts (see the full top 50 list here). That includes traditional pop and vocal jazz singers as well as jazz musicians and bandleaders. These are the top 20 from that list, minus previous inductees Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Glenn Miller, and Frank Sinatra. See the full list of music maker inductees here.

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Jazz singer, trumpeter, and bandleader born in Corona, Queens, NY. Nicknamed “Satchmo.” He has been inducted into the Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. His version of “St. Louis Blues” with Bessie Smith is a DMDB Hall of Fame inductee and in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era. That song, “West End Blues,” “All of Me,” “Hello, Dolly!,” and “What a Wonderful World” rank in the top 1% of all time. The latter is also featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era. His box set, The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings, ranks as one of the top 1000 albums of all time. Read more.

Count Basie (1904-1984) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Jazz/big band leader and pianist born William James Basie in Red Bank, NJ. Learned to play the organ from Fats Waller. One of only seven recipients of both the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and Trustees Award. He has been inducted into the Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. “One O'Clock Jump” and “April in Paris” rank in the top 1% of all time. Read more.

Nat “King” Cole (1919-1965) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Traditional pop singer and pianist born Nathaniel Adams Coles in Montgomery, AL. Inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. He is also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” and “Mona Lisa” are in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era. Those two, along with “I Love You for Sentimental Reasons,” “Nature Boy,” and “Too Young” also rank in the top 1% of all time. After his death, his daughter recorded his famous “Unforgettable” song with him as a duet. It is also in the top 1% and won Grammys for Record and Song of the Year. Read more.

John Coltrane (1926-1967) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Jazz musician born in Hamlet, NC. He has been inducted into the Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. The songs “Giant Steps,” “My Favorite Things,” “In a Sentimental Mood,” “Lush Life,” and “Acknowledgement (A Love Supreme, Part 1)” all rank in the top 100 jazz songs. His album, A Love Supreme, is in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. That album and Giant Steps both rank in the top 1000 albums of all time. Read more.

Miles Davis (1926-1991) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Jazz musician born in Alton, IL. Inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. He is also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The songs “So What,” “Blues in Green,” and “All Blues” rank in the top 100 jazz songs. All three are featured on Kind of Blue, which is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. That album, as well as Birth of the Cool, Sketches of Spain, In a Silent Way, and Bitches Brew rank in the top 1000 albums of all time. He has been inducted into the Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Read more.

Duke Ellington (1899-1974) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Jazz/big band leader and pianist born Edward Kennedy Ellington in Washington, D.C. One of only seven recipients of both the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and Trustees Award. He has also been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. He also won the Pulitzer Prize. “Mood Indigo” and “Take the ‘A’ Train” are DMDB Hall of Fame inductees and are both in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era. Those songs, as well as “It’ Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing” and “Sophisticated Lady” the top 1% of all time. His box set The Blanton-Webster Band and live album At Newport rank in the top 1000 albums of all time. Read more.

Herbie Hancock (1940-) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Hancock was a jazz pianist born in Chicago in 1940. He has been inducted into the Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. He is a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Kennedy Center Honoree. His albums Maiden Voyage and Head Hunters have both been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and River: The Joni Letters won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Read more.

Woody Herman (1913-1987) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Jazz/big band leader, clarinetist, and composer born in 1913 in Milwaukee. He has been inducted into the Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)” is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era. “At the Woodchopper’s Ball,” “Early Autumn,” and “Four Brothers” are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Read more.

Charles Mingus (1922-1979) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Jazz pianist, bassist, and composer born 1922 in Nogales, Arizona. He has been inducted into the Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Mingus Dynasty and Ah Um are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. The latter is also in the National Recording Registry. Read more.

Thelonious Monk (1917-1982) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Jazz pianist born in Rocky Mount, NC. He has been inducted into the Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. He is a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and won the Pulitzer Prize. His song “Round Midnight” is in the Grammy Hall of Fame, one of the top 100 jazz songs, and ranks in the top 1% of all time. His albums Genius of Modern Music Vol. 1, Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 2, and Brilliant Corners are all in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Read more.

Artie Shaw (1910-2004) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Jazz clarinetist and bandleader born in 1910 in New York City. He has been inducted into the Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. “Begin the Beguine,” “Frenesi,” and “Stardust” are featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era. Read more.

Nina Simone (1933-2003) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Jazz/blues singer born 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina. Inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame, and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. “I Loves You, Porgy” and “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black” are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. “Mississippi Goddam” is in the National Recording Registry. Read more.

Bessie Smith (1894-1937) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Blues singer born in Chattanooga, TN. Known as “The Empress of the Blues.” Inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Blues Hall of Fame, Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her version of “St. Louis Blues” with Louis Armstrong is a DMDB Hall of Fame inductee and in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era. That song and “Down Hearted Blues” rank in the top 1% of all time. Her compilation The Essential ranks as one of the top 1000 albums of all time. Read more.

Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Jazz singer born 1924 in Newark, New Jersey. Inductee in the Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. “If You Could See Me Now” and “Tenderly” are in the Grammy Hall of Fame, as is her self-titled 1954 album. Read more.

Fats Waller (1904-1943) Inducted December 2021 as a “Top 20 Jazz Act”

Jazz/big band songwriter and pianist born Thomas Wright Waller in New York, NY. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, Big Band/Jazz Hall of Fame and Downbeat Jazz Hall of Fame. Also a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. “Ain’t Misbehavin’” is a DMDB Hall of Fame inductee and in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era. That song and “Honeysuckle Rose” rank in the top 1% of all time. Both of those songs and “Jitterbug Waltz” are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Read more.

 

Dave's Music Database Hall of Fame: Song Inductees (October 2021)

Originally posted 10/22/2021. In honor of the 10th anniversary of the DMDB blog on January 22, 2019, Dave’s Music Database launched its own Hall of Fame. This is the twelfth set of song inductees. These are the 10 highest-ranked songs that ranked within the top 50 of the DMDB’s list of the “Top Big Band Songs of All Time”. It does not include previously inducted songs such as Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood” and Artie Shaw’s “Stardust” and “Begin the Beguine.”

Fats Waller “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (1929) Inducted October 2021 as “Top Big Band Songs”

Waller was “a New York City-born pianist and organ accompanist during the ‘20s…[who] broke through as one of the country’s most popular entertainers. PM “Ain’t Misbehavin’” was written for the 1929 all-black revue Hot Chocolates and debuted by Louis Armstrong, who credited the revue with launching his career. TY It was so popular it moved to Broadway RCG where it ran “for a very respectable 219 performances.” SS Read more.

Ted Lewis “On the Sunny Side of the Street” (1930) Inducted October 2021 as “Top Big Band Songs”

This “cabaret and jazz standard” JA is a “metaphor for optimism.” TY In his book American Popular Song, author Alec Wilder calls it “one of the jazz musicians’ favorites…Singers, as well, love it as much for its extremely fine lyric.” SB In The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to Popular Standards, Max Morath expresses a similar sentiment, saying the song “works both sides of the street, vocal and instrumental, with equal charm.” MM Read more.

Duke Ellington “Mood Indigo” (1931) Inducted October 2021 as “Top Big Band Songs”

The clarinet solo was based on a melody called “Dreamy Blues.” Duke Ellington turned the structure upside down, “composing a song of his own on top of it.” DH Typically jazz songs were arranged with the clarinet, trumpet, and trombone from highest to lowest pitch, but Ellington flipped it around the other way. DH He recorded it for an October 1930 broadcast. He said “wads of mail came in raving about the new tune.” WK Read more.

Benny Goodman “Sing Sing Sing (With a Swing)” (1938) Inducted October 2021 as “Top Big Band Songs”

By the start of the Swing era in 1936, Benny Goodman was its king. “Sing, Sing, Sing” was his most renowned performance with solos by Benny as well as drummer Gene Krupa (on his last hit before leaving the band) and trumpeter Harry James. “Sing, Sing, Sing,” which Goodman called a “killer diller,” NPR’99 was the closer at the bandleader’s legendary Carnegie Hall concert on January 16, 1938. It was the first time jazz comprised a full concert instead of being part of a larger show SS and marked the birthplace of the legitimacy of the genre. NPR’99 Read more.

Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb’s Orchestra “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938) Inducted October 2021 as “Top Big Band Songs”

“A-Tisket, A-Tasket” began life as an American children’s rhyming game in 1879. In 1938, Ella Fitzgerald and Al Feldman adapted it into a song with very little change to the lyrics. In a 1973 lecture series at Harvard, Leonard Bernstein said that research showed the song’s melodic motif “is the same all over the world, wherever children tease each other. On every continent, in ever culture, it is one of the few musical universals.” TY Read more.

Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra & the Pied Pipers “I’ll Never Smile Again” (1940) Inducted October 2021 as “Top Big Band Songs”

Ruth Lowe was a pianist with Ina Ray Hutton’s all-girl orchestra when she composed this song about the death of her husband, just a few months after their marriage. TY She staked out Tommy Dorsey in September 1939 and got Carmen Mastren, the band’s guitarist, to give her demo a listen. SS Dorsey wasn’t initially passed but took a stab at it when Frank Sinatra came on board. SS It became his first #1 song. Read more.

Duke Ellington “Take the ‘A’ Train” (1941) Inducted October 2021 as “Top Big Band Songs”

Billy Strayhorn was a hopeful pianist and composer in 1938. NPR His rearrangement of the Duke’s song “Sophisticated Lady” sufficiently impressed Ellington to invite Strayhorn to New York. TC Ellington gave directions to his house in New York, starting with “take the ‘A’ train.” WK Along the way, Strayhorn turned the directions into a song. TC It became Ellington’s signature song and one of the all-time best-loved jazz standards. Read more.

Glenn Miller “Chattanooga Choo Choo” (1941) Inducted October 2021 as “Top Big Band Songs”

The team of Mack Gordon and Harry Warren wrote the song while travelling on the Southern Railway. It didn’t refer to a particular train, but Chattanooga, Tennessee, had been on the route for most trains passing through the American South since 1880. WK The song was used in the film Sun Valley Serenade, sung by members of Glenn Miller’s band. Miller’s recording became his biggest hit after “In the Mood” and the first recording formally certified as a million seller. PM Read more.

Woody Herman “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)” (1941) Inducted October 2021 as “Top Big Band Songs”

Composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Johnny Mercer were approached to write a song for a movie about a jazz quintet riding the rails in search of its big break. Arlen wrote a melody after analyzing blues songs and Mercer penned four pages of lyrics. When they finished, Mercer called Margaret Whiting, who’d sung the pair’s songs “That Old Black Magic” and “Come Rain or Come Shine.” She told Mercer she had guests for dinner, but he and Arlen could come over later. When Mercer found out the guests included Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, and Mel Tormé, he announced, “My God, we’re coming right over.” After they played the song, Rooney said, “That’s the greatest thing I’ve ever heard.” SB Read more.

Les Brown with Doris Day “Sentimental Journey” (1945) Inducted October 2021 as “Top Big Band Songs”

When she first saw the sheet music, Doris Day commented, “What a lovely title,” to which Les Brown responded “Wait till you hear it.” SS “The song’s aching nostalgia struck a chord in a nation welcoming its boys back from the front lines,” TM becoming “one of a handful of songs that summed up romantic longing during World War II.” SS Will Friedwald called it “the definitive end-of-war song,” SS “a song that helped define an era.” SS Read more.

Dave's Music Database Hall of Fame: Albums (May 2021)

Originally posted 5/22/2021. January 22, 2019 marked the 10-year anniversary of the DMDB blog. To honor that, Dave’s Music Database announced its own Hall of Fame. This month marks the tenth group of album inductees. These are the among the top twenty jazz albums of all time, excluding previous inductees Miles Davis’ A Kind of Blue, Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Bessie Smith’s The Essential, Louis Armstrong’s Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings, Glenn Miller’s Glenn Miller, Henry Mancini’s Music from Peter Gunn, Duke Ellington’s The Blanton Webster Band 1939-1942, and Benny Goodman’s Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert. See the full list of album inductees here.

Frank Sinatra Songs for Swingin’ Lovers (1956) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

“Sinatra’s albums for Capitol introduced the singer’s album, the concept album and the grown-up album all at once.” RC On this album, the focus from Ol’ Blue Eyes and conductor/arranger Nelson Riddle was “on churning out up-tempo dance versions of standards.” SHS Read more.

Duke Ellington At Newport (1956) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

After an unsuccessful stint at Capitol Records, Duke Ellington re-established himself “as a vitally popular jazz artist” AMG with At Newport, a recorded of his appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956. The original album release was “almost fully manufactured, recorded in a studio with crowd madness dubbed in” AB but four decades later, a tape of the original Newport set saw the light of day, reviving the “set in its organic glory.” AB Read more.

Charles Mingus Ah Um (1959) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

Ah Um “is a stunning summation of the bassist’s talents and probably the best reference point for beginners…Mingus’ compositions and arrangements were always extremely focused, assimilating individual spontaneity into a firm consistency of mood, and that approach reaches an ultra-tight zenith” AMG on Mingus’ debut for Columbia, a Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry inductee. Read more.

Ornette Coleman The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

This “was a watershed event in the genesis of avant-garde jazz, profoundly steering its future course and throwing down a gauntlet that some still haven’t come to grips with. The record shattered traditional concepts of harmony in jazz, getting rid of not only the piano player but the whole idea of concretely outlined chord changes.” AMG The album was Coleman’s debut with Atlantic and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry. Read more.

Dave Brubeck Time Out (1959) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

“Dave Brubeck’s defining masterpiece, Time Out is one of the most rhythmically innovative albums in jazz history…Brubeck’s record company wasn’t keen on releasing such an arty project, and many critics initially roasted him for tampering with jazz’s rhythmic foundation. But for once, public taste was more advanced than that of the critics.” SH Read more.

Stan Getz with João Gilberto Getz/Gilberto (1963) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

“One of the biggest-selling jazz albums of all time, not to mention bossa nova’s finest moment.” AMG “It’s one of those rare jazz records about which the purist elite and the buying public are in total agreement.” AMG Getz/Gilberto brought “two of bossa nova’s greatest innovators – guitarist/ singer João Gilberto and composer/ pianist Antonio Carlos Jobim – to New York to record with Stan Getz. The results were magic.” AMG The Grammy winner for Album of the Year featured The Girl from Ipanema, “one of the biggest smash hit singles in jazz history.” AMG Read more.

John Coltrane A Love Supreme (1965) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme is “widely considered his masterpiece.” WK Jazz critic Tom Hull called it “the most perfectly plotted single piece of jazz ever recorded.” WK It is also “easily one of the most important records ever made” JI in any genre. Techno-DJ Moby said it “is probably oe of the most beautiful and sublime recordings of the twentieth century.” AK-xvi Read more.

Miles Davis Bitches Brew (1970) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

“Inspired by the visionary work of James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and Sly Stone, Miles Davis began incorporating funk grooves and electronic instruments into his music – first with the languid, contemplative In a Silent Way…and then on…Bitches Brew.” TL The latter is “thought by many to be the most revolutionary album in jazz history, having virtually created the genre known as jazz-rock fusion.” TJ Read more.

Herbie Hancock Head Hunters (1973) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

“Perhaps the defining moment of the jazz-fusion movement (or perhaps even the spearhead of the Jazz-funk style of the fusion genre), the album made jazz listeners out of rhythm and blues fans, and vice versa.” WK “Hancock had pushed avant-garde boundaries on his own albums and with Miles Davis, but he had never devoted himself to the groove as he did on Head Hunters,” STE an inductee into the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry. Read more.

Norah Jones Come Away with Me (2002) Inducted May 2021 as “Top Jazz Albums.”

In 2003, Norah Jones won Grammys for Best New Artist, Album of the Year for Come Away with Me, and Record and Song of the Year for the album’s lead single, “Don’t Know Why.” The album topped the Billboard album chart and sold 27 million worldwide. “Though its surprising success…overwhelmed it, this seductively modest little record is a marvel of mood and invention. The songwriting and arrangements are sophisticated, often jazzy, yet full of catchy hooks. And Jones’ vocals are silken and perfectly turned, setting a seamless mood that could soundtrack high-end restaurants and low-rent make-out sessions alike.” RS’11 Read more.

Jazz: Top 100 Songs of All Time

Jazz: Top 100 Songs

This is an aggregate of 30 lists (see sources at the bottom of the page) focused on the best jazz songs of all time. Many of these were not originally jazz compositions and have higher-ranked versions in Dave’s Music Database. As such, the listings here are not necessarily the most popular versions of the song, but the one attributed specifically to a jazz artist. Click here to see other genre-specific song lists. 1. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong “Summertime” (1957) 2. Dave Brubeck “Take Five” (1961) 3. Duke Ellington “Take the ‘A’ Train” (1941) 4. Coleman Hawkins “Body and Soul” (1940) 5. Thelonious Monk “‘Round Midnight” (1947) 6. Miles Davis “So What” (1959) 7. Louis Armstrong “What a Wonderful World” (1967) 8. Stan Getz with Joao Gilberto “The Girl from Ipanema” (1964) 9. Dizzy Gillespie “A Night in Tunisia” (1946) 10. Cannonball Adderley “Autumn Leaves” (1958) 11. Benny Goodman “Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)” (1938) 12. Billie Holiday “Strange Fruit” (1939) 13. Frank Sinatra “Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)” (1964) 14. Ray Charles “Georgia on My Mind” (1960) 15. Erroll Garner Trio “Misty” (1954) 16. Glenn Miller “In the Mood” (1939) 17. Miles Davis “All Blues” (1959) 18. John Coltrane “Acknowledgement (A Love Supreme, Part I)” (1965) 19. John Coltrane “My Favorite Things” (1960) 20. Miles Davis “Blue in Green” (1959) 21. Weather Report “Birdland” (1977) 22. Fats Waller “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (1929) 23. Duke Ellington “Sophisticated Lady” (1933) 24. Duke Ellington & John Coltrane “In a Sentimental Mood” (1962) 25. Bessie Smith & Louis Armstrong “St. Louis Blues” (1925) 26. Duke Ellington “Mood Indigo“ (1931) 27. Louis Armstrong “West End Blues” (1928) 28. Count Basie Orchestra “One O’Clock Jump” (1937) 29. Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers “Moanin’” (1958) 30. Etta James “At Last” (1961) 31. Benny Goodman “Stompin’ at the Savoy” (1936) 32. Duke Ellington “Satin Doll” (1953) 33. John Coltrane “Giant Steps” (1959) 34. Dizzy Gillespie “All the Things You Are” (1945) 35. Louis Armstrong “On the Sunny Side of the Street” (1933) 36. Artie Shaw “Stardust” (1941) 37. Dizzy Gillespie “Salt Peanuts” (1945) 38. Duke Ellington “It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing” (1932) 39. Glenn Miller “Moonlight Serenade” (1939) 40. Louis Armstrong “I Got Rhythm” (1932) 41. Dizzy Gillespie “Manteca” (1947) 42. Peggy Lee “Fever” (1957) 43. Cab Calloway “Minnie the Moocher” (1931) 44. Ella Fitzgerald “The Man I Love” (1959) 45. Ella Fitzgerald “Mack the Knife“ (1960) 46. Artie Shaw “Begin the Beguine” (1938) 47. Ella Fitzgerald “Night and Day” (1956) 48. Herbie Hancock “Watermelon Man” (1962) 49. Duke Ellington “Caravan” (1937) 50. Count Basie “April in Paris” (1955) 51. Paul Whitman with George Gershwin “Rhapsody in Blue” (1924) 52. John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman “Lush Life” (1963) 53. Louis Armstrong “Sweet Georgia Brown” (1955) 54. Billie Holiday “God Bless the Child” (1941) 55. Louis Armstrong “All of Me” (1932) 56. Ella Fitzgerald with the Daydreamers “How High the Moon” (1947) 57. Art Tatum “Tea for Two” (1939) 58. Natalie Cole with Nat “King” Cole “Unforgettable” (1991) 59. Glenn Miller “The Nearness of You” (1940) 60. Norah Jones “Don’t Know Why” (2002) 61. Charlie Parker with Miles Davis & Dizzy Gillespie “Ko-Ko” (1945) 62. Louis Armstrong “When the Saints Go Marching In” (1939) 63. Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong “Cheek to Cheek” (1956) 64. Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton “King Porter Stomp” (1923) 65. Billie Holiday “The Way You Look Tonight” (1936) 66. Fats Waller “Honeysuckle Rose” (1935) 67. Ella Fitzgerald “Someone to Watch Over Me” (1958) 68. Ray Charles “Come Rain or Come Shine” (1960) 69. Henry Mancini with Audrey Hepburn “Moon River” (1961) 70. Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938) 71. Bill Withers with Grover Washington, Jr. “Just the Two of Us” (1981) 72. Dizzy Gillespie “I Can’t Get Started” (1945) 73. Louis Armstrong “I’m in the Mood for Love” (1935) 74. Billie Holiday “Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)” (1945) 75. Benny Goodman “Moonglow” (1934) 76. Louis Armstrong “Hello Dolly!” (1964) 77. Benny Goodman with Mildred Bailey “Darn That Dream” (1940) 78. Woody Herman “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)” (1941) 79. Pee Wee Hunt “Twelfth Street Rag” (1948) 80. Nat “King” Cole “Mona Lisa” (1950) 81. Woody Herman “Laura” (1945) 82. Nat “King” Cole “Straighten Up and Fly Right” (1944) 83. Artie Shaw “Dancing in the Dark” (1941) 84. Bobby McFerrin “Don’t Worry Be Happy” (1988) 85. Lionel Hampton “Flying Home” (1942) 86. Frank Sinatra “One for My Baby and One for the Road” (1949) 87. Dinah Washington “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes” (1959) 88. Ella Fitzgerald “But Not for Me” (1959) 89. Tommy Dorsey “Opus One” (1943) 90. Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra “Cherokee (Indian Love Song)” (1939) 91. Duke Ellington “Perdido” (1942) 92. Chet Baker “My Funny Valentine” (1953) 93. Woody Herman “I’ll Remember April” (1942) 94. George Benson “On Broadway” (live, 1978) 95. George Benson “This Masquerade” (1976) 96. Stan Kenton “Artistry in Rhythm” (1944) 97. Herb Alpert “Rise” (1979) 98. Stan Getz & Charlie Bird “Desafinado” (1962) 99. Louis Armstrong “Potato Head Blues” (1927) 100. Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli with the Quintet of the Hot Club of France “Nuages” (1940) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Other Genre/Category Song Lists The Best Jazz Songs of All Time (2016 album) Brides.com (9/11/2020). “The 50 Best Jazz Love Songs to Play at Your Reception” BuxtonWater.co.uk “The Best Jazz Songs for Your Playlist” Digital Dream Door (4/8/2017). “100 Greatest Jazz Ballads” edited by Alvin Digital Dream Door (2/26/2010). “100 Greatest Jazz Instrumentals” by Rick Varner Harlem Jazz (11/23/2020). “10 of the Most Famous Jazz Songs of All Time” HopeStreetMusicStudios.com “100 ‘Must Know’ Jazz Tunes” by Peter Spitzer HoustonPress.com (11/20/2014). “The 10 Most Quintessential Old Jazz Songs” by Angelia Leicht iTunes (4/20/2021). “Top 100 Jazz Songs” Jazz24.org (2011). “The Jazz 100: One Hundred Quintessential Jazz Songs” JazzFuel.com “Top 10 Most Famous Jazz Songs of All Time” JazzStandards.com “Songs and Instrumentals” LaToucheMusicale.com “The 15 Best Jazz Songs to Play on Piano” Listverse.com (5/25/2009). “10 Truly Great Jazz Performances” by gabi319 MusicGateway.com (3/19/2021). “The Top 10 Best Jazz Songs of All Time” by Maximilian Frattura MyWeddingSongs.com “75 Best Jazz Songs for Weddings” NME (7/29/2019). “20 of the Best Jazz Songs” by Iliyas Ong NPR (11/28/2011). “The Mix: 100 Quintessential Jazz Songs” by Kevin Kniestedt RateYourMusic.com “100 Greatest Jazz Standards of All Time” by vodenikov Reddit.com (2020). “The Absolute Most Famous Jazz Songs?” RollingStoneIndia.com (6/10/2015). “The 100 Greatest Jazz Songs” by Sunil Sampat Loren Schoenberg (2002). The NPR Curious Listener’s Guide to Jazz. The Berkley Publishing Group: New York, NY. Pages 163-200. Spinditty.com (4/23/2020). “100 Greatest Jazz Songs of All Time” by Illminatus Spotify.com (10/27/2012). “NPR’s Top 100 Jazz Songs of All Time” Spotify.com (6/25/2013). “Jazz Classics – Greatest Jazz Songs Ever” The-Top-Tens.com “Top 10 Best Jazz Songs” by Alexandr Udiscovermusic.com (3/24/2019). “15 Best Jazz Songs” USA Today (2/22/2021). “25 Essential Jazz Songs That Trace the Quintessential American Artform Through History” by Todd A. Price First posted 3/3/2011; last updated 4/22/2021.

Big Band: Top 100 Songs

Big Band: Top 100 Songs

Big Band, or Swing music, was especially popular in the 1930s and ‘40s. They were generally jazz-oriented orchestras led by such dominant names as Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Miller. In fact, more than 20 of these songs also appear on the DMDB’s Top 100 Jazz Songs list. This list was created by aggregating 21 lists focused on big band songs. Click here to see other genre-specific song lists. 1. Duke Ellington “Take the ‘A’ Train” (1941) 2. Benny Goodman “Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)” (1938) 3. Glenn Miller “In the Mood” (1939) 4. Glenn Miller “A String of Pearls” (1942) 5. Glenn Miller with Tex Beneke & the Four Modernaires “Chattanooga Choo Choo” (1941) 6. Artie Shaw “Begin the Beguine” (1938) 7. Artie Shaw “Stardust” (1941) 8. Glenn Miller “Tuxedo Junction” (1940) 9. The Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen’s Orchestra “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” (1941) 10. Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra “I’ll Never Smile Again” (1940) 11. Glenn Miller “Moonlight Serenade” (1939) 12. Fats Waller “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (1929) 13. Benny Goodman “Stompin’ at the Savoy” (1936) 14. Jimmy Dorsey with Bob Eberly “Tangerine” (1942) 15. Tommy Dorsey “Opus One” (1945) 16. Les Brown’s Orchestra with Doris Day “Sentimental Journey” (1945) 17. Count Basie “One O’Clock Jump” (1937) 18. Woody Herman “At the Woodchoppers’ Ball” (1939) 19. Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields “On the Sunny Side of the Street” (1930) 20. Bobby Darin “Mack the Knife” (1959) 21. Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra “I’ll Be Seeing You” (1944) 22. Duke Ellington with Ivie Anderson “It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing” (1932) 23. Rosemary Clooney “Tenderly” (1952) 24. Cab Calloway “Minnie the Moocher (The Ho Do Ho Song)” (1931) 25. Duke Ellington “Perdido” (1942) 26. Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman’s Orchestra “Night and Day” (1932) 27. Coleman Hawkins “Body and Soul” (1940) 28. Glenn Miller “Pennsylvania 6-5000” (1940) 29. Billie Holiday with Camarata’s Orchestra “Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)” (1945) 30. Woody Herman “Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me)” (1941) 31. Tommy Dorsey “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” (1936) 32. Glen Gray “Sunrise Serenade” (1939) 33. Charlie Barnet “Skyliner” (1944) 34. Lionel Hampton “Flying Home” (1940) 35. Benny Goodman “Moonglow” (1934) 36. Jimmy Dorsey with Bob Eberly & Helen O’Connell “Green Eyes (Aquellos Ojos Verdes)” (1941) 37. Glenn Miller with Tex Beneke & Marion Hutton “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo” (1942) 38. Charlie Barnet “Cherokee (Indian Love Song)” (1939) 39. Duke Ellington “Caravan” (1937) 40. Harry James “You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want to Do It)” (1941) 41. Bing Crosby “White Christmas” (1942) 42. Judy Garland “Over the Rainbow” (1939) 43. Billie Holiday “Summertime” (1936) 44. The Andrews Sisters “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (Means That You're Grand)” (1938) 45. Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” (1938) 46. Bunny Berigan “I Can’t Get Started” (1938) 47. Marion Harris “The Man I Love” (1928) 48. Paul Whiteman “Oh, Lady Be Good” (1925) 49. Duke Ellington “Mood Indigo“ (1931) 50. Count Basie “April in Paris” (1956) 51. Billie Holiday “God Bless the Child” (1941) 52. Cab Calloway “Hep! Hep! The Jumpin’ Jive” (1939) 53. Harry James with Frank Sinatra “All or Nothing at All” (1939) 54. Walter Huston “September Song” (1939) 55. Duke Ellington “Satin Doll” (1953) 56. Benny Goodman with Peggy Lee “Why Don’t You Do Right?” (1943) 57. Glenn Miller with Marion Hutton, Tex Beneke, & the Modernaires “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree with Anyone Else But Me” (1942) 58. Tommy Dorsey with the Pied Pipers “Let’s Get Away from It All” (1941) 59. Duke Ellington “Solitude” (1934) 60. Paul Whiteman “Song of India” (1921) 61. Benny Goodman “Don’t Be That Way” (1938) 62. Count Basie “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” (1938) 63. Tommy Dorsey with Jo Stafford & Sy Oliver “Yes Indeed!” (1941) 64. Teddy Wilson “Sweet Lorraine” (1935) 65. Johnny Mercer with Jo Stafford & the Pied Pipers “Candy” (1945) 66. Glenn Miller “Skylark” (1942) 67. Ethel Waters “Stormy Weather (Keeps Rainin' All the Time)” (1933) 68. Tommy Dorsey with Jack Leonard “All the Things You Are” (1939) 69. The Andrews Sisters “Rum and Coca-Cola” (1945) 70. Larry Clinton with Bea Wain “Deep Purple” (1939) 71. Artie Shaw “Frenesi” (1940) 72. Jelly Roll Morton “King Porter Stomp” (1923) 73. Dick Haymes with Victor Young’s Orchestra “It Might As Well Be Spring” (1945) 74. Nat “King” Cole with Frank DeVol’s Orchestra “Nature Boy” (1948) 75. Hal Kemp with Bob Allen “Where or When” (1937) 76. Ella Fitzgerald & the Delta Rhythm Boys “It’s Only a Paper Moon” (1945) 77. Roger Wolfe Kahn “Sometimes I’m Happy” (1927) 78. Dooley Wilson “As Time Goes By” (1942) 79. Nat “King” Cole “Straighten Up and Fly Right” (1944) 80. Artie Shaw “Dancing in the Dark” (1941) 81. Nat “King” Cole “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” (1946) 82. Johnny Mercer & the Pied Pipers “On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe” (1945) 83. Judy Garland with Georgie Stoll’s Orchestra “The Trolley Song” (1944) 84. Tommy Dorsey with Jack Leonard “Marie” (1937) 85. Glenn Miller with Ray Eberle “Fools Rush in Where Angels Fear to Tread” (1940) 86. Benny Goodman with Martha Tilton “And the Angels Sing” (1939) 87. Fred Astaire with Leo Reisman’s Orchestra “Cheek to Cheek” (1935) 88. Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields “I’m in the Mood for Love” (1935) 89. Earl Burtnett with Harry Richman “Puttin’ on the Ritz” (1930) 90. Paul Whitman with George Gershwin “Rhapsody in Blue” (1924) 91. Kate Smith “The Last Time I Saw Paris” (1940) 92. Duke Ellington “Sophisticated Lady” (1933) 93. Perry Como with Russel Case’s Orchestra “If I Loved You” (1945) 94. The Ink Spots “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” (1943) 95. Horace Heidt with Larry Cotton, Donna Wood, & Don Juans “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire’ (1941) 96. Harry James with Helen Forrest “I’ve Heard That Song Before” (1943) 97. Benny Goodman with Helen Forrest “Taking a Chance on Love” (1940) 98. Louis Jordan “Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie” (1946) 99. Tommy Dorsey with Frank Sinatra “Oh, Look at Me Now” (1941) 100. Nat “King” Cole “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” (1946) Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Other Genre/Category Song Lists First posted 4/18/2021; last updated 4/19/2021.