Ask the average person to picture a jazz musician, and there’s a good chance they’ll think of a trumpet player...
Louis Armstrong’s grin, Dizzy Gillespie’s inflated cheeks, or perhaps Miles Davis the style icon…
In this article we’ve whittled down a list to 10 of the most famous jazz trumpet players of all time, along with some essential listening tips.
How many have you heard and who’s your favourite?
Regardless of which style you’re listening to – from early Dixieland to Bebop to Hard Bop and contemporary music – jazz trumpet players have played an essential role in its development.
The use of the trumpet in jazz dates back to the music’s very beginnings in New Orleans, where the influence of the marching band tradition and bugle calls were key and, as the highest pitched member of the brass family, the trumpet was the natural leader of the band.
In fact, the very first jazz musician (according to many) was a trumpeter: Buddy Bolden is a legendary figure who influenced many important early New Orleans musicians, including Armstrong, but, sadly, no recordings of him are thought to have survived.
Stay tuned for our list of 10 of the most famous (or dare we say it ‘best’) jazz trumpet players in history, along with an essential listening tip for each – in chronological order.
Louis Armstrong (1901-1971)
After growing up in extreme poverty in New Orleans, Louis Armstrong broke down racial barriers and became a huge mainstream star at a time when this was unusual for African Americans.
He was arguably the first major soloist in jazz, and – with his rhythmically sophisticated, operatic style – remains the greatest according to many.
Whilst primarily a jazz trumpet player, he also helped popularise scat singing, and his gravelly voice was later heard on hits like ‘What a Wonderful World’.
But, at least amongst jazz musicians, he is most revered for his brilliant trumpet playing, and particularly for the 1920s recordings with his Hot Fives and Hot Sevens, which helped to change jazz’s focus from collective improvisation to individual soloists,
Essential Jazz Trumpet: The Complete Hot Fives and Hot Sevens Recordings (Louis Armstrong)
This 1920s material contains classic tracks like ‘Struttin’ With Some Barbecue’, ‘Potato Head Blues’ (which made our list of most famous Louis Armstrong songs) and ‘Cornet Chop Suey’, which all feature incredible improvisations, and ‘West End Blues’, with its famous solo introduction.
To hear the jazz trumpeter’s later work and vocal stylings, try Ella and Louis, with Ella Fitzgerald.
Bix Beiderbecke (1903-31)
Born 1903 in Davenport, Iowa, Bix Beiderbecke originally started out studying classical music before falling in love with jazz and, inspired by the playing of Nick La Rocca, purchased a cornet.
He had a beautiful tone, a cool style, harmonically advanced ideas that still sound modern today, and an up and down life that paralleled the Roaring ’20s.
It was not long after his passing aged just 28 that he became jazz‘s first cult hero; a musician whose every recorded note was treasured and analysed.
Much is made of the difference in style between Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke and, whilst much of this maybe down to the different personalities and influences of the two great soloists, there is also the difference in the instruments they played.
Although initially learning cornet, Armstrong would make his name as a trumpet player, with the clear and lively sound proving ideal for his daring runs and rhythmic way of playing.
The cornet, on the other had, has a deeper and broader sound which Bix found it perfect for his lyrical pure-toned style and his melodical improvisations.
Dive deeper into the Bix sound via our guide to the most famous jazz trumpet albums ever…
Cornet vs trumpet?
Generally smaller in size, the cornet like the trumpet is commonly pitched in the key of Bb, but the playing technique can be quite different.
The mouthpiece for the cornet is a deep v-shaped, while the trumpet mouthpiece utilises a shallow bowl-shaped design. As a transposing instrument the cornet also comes as an Eb soprano which producing a higher sound than the more common Bb model.
In terms of design, both have three valves and therefore the fingering is the same on both trumpet and cornet, however the trumpet has two 180 degree curves in its tubing, where the cornet has four.
Essential Jazz Trumpet: The Wolverines (Bix Beiderbecke)
In Oct. 1923 Bix joined a new band called the Wolverines.
They were an up-and-coming jazz band that could hold its own with any other group in the Midwest. Beiderbecke made his recording debut with the group on Feb. 18, 1924 and one can trace his rapid development in the recordings that the band made during the next eight months.
Roy Eldridge (1911-89)
Nicknamed ‘Little Jazz’ due to his short stature, Eldridge came to prominence during the Swing era of the 1930s, playing trumpet with major bands led by Gene Krupa, Artie Shaw and Fletcher Henderson, and later with Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald.
With Krupa he recorded the concerto-like ‘Rockin’ Chair’, one of his most famous features, and on joining the group in the early 1940s became one of the first black musicians to have a permanent chair in a white-led big band.
He was influenced by saxophonists Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins, creating a style that was particularly innovative in its use of harmony, including pioneering use of tritone substitutions.
He is often seen as a bridge between Louis Armstrong and the bebop generation, and his influence on Dizzy Gillespie is particularly well known.
Famously competitive, he would seek out jam session ‘cutting contests’ wherever he went.
Essential Jazz Trumpet: Little Jazz (Roy Eldridge)
Eldridge’s classic recordings from the 1930s and ‘40s predate the album era, although they are certainly worth seeking out on various compilations. On this 1954 session he is accompanied by an all-star rhythm section – the Oscar Peterson Trio with Herb Ellis and Ray Brown, plus Buddy Rich on drums – on a relaxed programme of jazz standards.
Dizzy Gillespie (1917-93)
Along with saxophonist Charlie Parker and pianist Bud Powell, Gillespie was one of the founding fathers of the bebop movement as it took root in New York in the 1940s.
Initially inspired by the swing era trumpeter Roy Eldridge, Gillespie developed a new style of playing that was chromatically complex and utilised the trumpet’s high register.
An influential teacher and advocate for the music, he was known for his extensive knowledge of sophisticated harmony and rhythm. He also pushed the envelope in fusing bebop with Cuban music to create Afro-Cuban jazz, as well as leading an influential big band.
Some of the most distinctive compositions of the bebop era were penned by Gillespie: ‘Woody ‘N’ You’, ‘Groovin’ High, ‘Salt Peanuts’ and ‘A Night in Tunisia’.
With his inflated cheeks and bent trumpet, Dizzy Gillespie is an instantly recognisable jazz icon.
“His rhythmic sophistication was unequalled. He was a master of harmony—and fascinated with studying it. He took in all the music of his youth—from Roy Eldridge to Duke Ellington—and developed a unique style built on complex rhythm and harmony balanced by wit. Gillespie was so quick-minded, he could create an endless flow of ideas at unusually fast tempo” – Wynton Marsalis
Essential Jazz Trumpet: Jazz at Massey Hall (Dizzy Gillespie)
This famous live concert features some of the biggest names in bebop: Gillespie on trumpet alongside Charlie Parker on alto, Bud Powell on piano, Charles Mingus on bass and Max Roach on drums.
You can learn more about it as part of our selection of the best bebop albums and artists in history.
Miles Davis (1926-91)
One of the most important and influential jazz musicians of all time, Davis was a relentless innovator who was a key player in numerous stylistic developments in jazz.
He featured on classic bebop sessions with Charlie Parker in the mid-1940s, fronted the nine-piece Birth of the Cool band, made some of the best hard bop records of the 1950s with his First Great Quintet and pioneered modal jazz on Milestones and Kind of Blue.
His Second Great Quintet experimented with freer forms in the ‘60s, while In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew ushered in the jazz-rock and fusion era.
As an instrumentalist Davis is noted for his use of space and cool use of the trumpet’s mid register, although some of his post-‘50s work reveals a wilder side.
While other famous jazz trumpeters could play higher and faster than Miles, his ability to put together fabulous bands and create classic albums is virtually unmatched.
His influence can be heard in many of the best jazz trumpeters today.
Essential Jazz Trumpet: Kind of Blue (Miles Davis)
Regularly named as the best jazz album ever, Kind of Blue features Miles at his cool, considered best.
For a lesser known record set that features him, unusually, in an explosively virtuosic mood, try The Miles Davis / Tadd Dameron Quintet in Paris Festival International de Jazz from 1949.
Clifford Brown (1930-56)
Brown was already recognised as one of the greatest trumpeters in jazz when he was tragically killed in a car crash in 1956, aged just 25.
A brilliant technician with a warm, round sound, he was primarily influenced by Fats Navarro, and would himself prove to be an inspiration for Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Donald Byrd and countless other famous jazz trumpet players in years to come.
His quintet with Max Roach is considered one of the most influential hard bop groups, and he also worked as a sideman with Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Helen Merrill and Sarah Vaughan.
Brown was by all counts a warm, modest and clean-living character who avoided the various addictions that were common amongst jazz musicians in those days, and many heart-felt tributes were written or recorded for him following his death, including Benny Golson’s ‘I Remember Clifford’.
Brown’s own compositions include the blues ‘Sandu’ and the tricky ‘Joy Spring’.
Essential Jazz Trumpet: Study In Brown (Clifford Brown)
This famous album by the Clifford Brown/Max Roach group features Harold Land on tenor saxophone, George Morrow on bass and pianist Richie Powell – Bud Powell’s brother who also died in the car crash that killed Clifford.
Brown takes a classic trumpet solo on the up-tempo jazz standard ‘Cherokee’.
Chet Baker (1929-88)
One of the most famous jazz trumpet players of all time, Chet Baker is primarily associated with West Coast or ‘cool’ jazz, as documented here, and always sounded completely relaxed and natural.
In the early 1950s he was a member of Gerry Mulligan’s quartet, which was unusual for its lack of a chordal instrument, before a series of records that featured his light, delicate singing voice helped turn him into a major star.
He struggled with addiction for years, and the jazz documentary Let’s Get Lost juxtaposes his sunken appearance in the late 1980s with his earlier film star good looks.
However, prior to his mysterious death in Amsterdam in 1988, he had actually had something of a revival, making some of his most technically impressive recordings whilst spending most of his final years in Europe.
We published an in-depth look at the life & times of the jazz trumpet great here as well as this guide to the most famous Chet Baker songs.
Essential Jazz Trumpet: Chet Baker in New York
The vocal records Chet Baker Sings and It Could Happen To You are more famous but, from a trumpet perspective, this 1958 album is perhaps more interesting.
Like Art Pepper’s Meets The Rhythm Section, this set features a great Wes