ST. LOUIS JAZZ HONOR ROLL
Originally Prepared by Dennis Owsley and Charlie Menees in 1986 (Updated by Dennis Owsley since then)
An exciting, indelible chapter in the jazz history of any city is an honor roll of the artists it has produced.  St. Louis has a long and distinguished roster of jazz heroes.  To enrich your perspective of the jazz background of the city, here are the names of over 560 jazz people, past and present, whose collective contribution to American jazz spans the years from the ragtime era to the present.  There are pioneers and innovators; hall-of-famers and poll winners; big band and combo leaders; composers, arrangers, soloists, sidemen, singers and recording artists.  Some St. Louis musicians have chosen to remain on home turf while others have either moved away or moved into the area for very productive years here.  My apologies for any omissions resulting from either space or research reasons.  Certainly none were intended.  Please e-mail me with names that I have inadvertently omitted.

*Denotes musicians who have developed careers that have given them some national or international recognition.

TRUMPET
Ed Allen*

Harold (Shorty) Baker*

Phil Balbi (also vcl)

Sue Beshears

Herb Booth

Lester Bowie*

Bob Buddemeyer

Bill "Buff" Buffington

Danny Campbell

Bakida Carroll*

Brian Casserly

Bob Ceccarini

Buddy Childers*

Oliver Cobb*

Mike Connell

Charles Creath*

Gary Dammer

Bobby Danzig

Leonard (Ham) Davis*

Miles Davis*

Jeremy Davenport*

Jamaal Daoud

Bob Dill (also flute)

Rich Fanning

Bill Feldner

Andy Foort

Marc Garcia

Frank Goessler

Dave Gordon

Russell Gunn*

Don Gumpert

Dan Havens

Keyon Harold

David Hines*

Randy Holmes

Ray Holthausen

George Hudson*

Lee Hyde

Fred Irby

Dewey Jackson*

Chris Jaudes

Robert Johnson

Ben Jones

Jim Kalbfell

Floyd LeFlore*

Steve Lilley

"Spare Ribs" Lindsay

Levi Madison

Jim Manley

Basil Meade

Louis Metcalf*

Elmer Ming

Willie Moore

Keith Moyer

Joe Owens

Michael Parkinson

Larry Prothro

Bruce Purse*

Ishac Rajab

Eddie Randle

Irving “Mouse” Randolph*

Rick Rogers

Charlie Rose

Harvey Rosenblum

Mike Rosenblum

Jim Rosse

Dick Ruland

George Sams*

Chuck Schmidt

Steve Shankman

Rick Sharp

Rasul Siddik*

Dan Smith

Dennis Smith

Muggsy Sprecher

Walter (Crack) Stanley

Benny Starks

Thomas Starks

Barry Stephens

Cyrus Stoner*

Clark Terry*

Joe Thomas*

Joe Thompson

Sleepy Tomlin*

Vertna Saunders

Thoreau Walden

Amos Woodruff

Bruz Woods

Prince Wells

Larry Wilson

Frankie Zinser

 

PIANO
John Arnold

Karen Baldus

Gayle Bell

Milt Buckner*

John Chapman

John “Albino Red” Chapman

John Cotter

Charles Creath, III

Hank Cummings

Barbara Sutton Curtis

Russ David

Rich Daugherty

Tommy Dean

Herb Drury

Vince Evans

Sal Ferrante

Chick Finney

Charles Fox*

Eddie Fritz

Cranston Hamilton

John Hicks*

Christine Hitt

Richard “Groove” Holmes (organ)

Elizabeth Hutcherson

Don James (organ)

Gordon Jenkins*

Eddie Johnson

Scott Joplin*

Pat Joyce

Ray Kennedy*

Curt Landes

Jeanne Kittrell*

Chester Lane

Dan Levin

Warner Long

Burrowes Lovinghood

Dave Majchrzak

Adam Maness

Fate Marable*

Peter Martin*

James "Ironhead" Mathews

Leslie McLean

Marian Miller

Ed Nicholson

Jay Oliver*

Johnny O'Neal*

Alan Oxenhandler

David Parker

Robert “Bunky” Parker*

Gus Perryman

Eddie Plitt (also organ)

Matthew “Max” Potts

Kim Portnoy

Pete Ruthenberg

Simon Rowe

Nazeer Sadeek

Tony Simmons

Carol Schmidt

Elmer Schoebel*

Nick Schleuter

Karen Schriewer

Mile Silverman

Tony Suggs*

Ralph Sutton*

Jeter Thompson*

Reggie Thomas

Trebor Jay Tichenor*

Carolbeth True

Terry Turner (organ)

Tom Turpin*

Dave Venn

Chris Walters*

Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum (also sax, vocal)

Richard White, Jr.

Terry Williams (organ)

Jimmy Williams

Ptah Williams*

Benny Wilson (organ)

Marvin Young

Rick Zelle

 

CLARINET
Scott Alberici 
William Thornton Blue*
Horace Eubanks
Sammy Gardner*
Bob Guichard
Steve Lilley
Norman Mason
Glenn Meyer
J. D. Parran* (all woodwinds)
Eugene Porter*
Frank Powers
Pee Wee Russell*
Eric Sager
Gene Sedric* (also tenor sax)

Artie Wamser

 

TROMBONE
Dan Anglim

Pat Arana

Dave Axthelm

Winfield Baker

Druie Bess*

Mike Bland

Brad Bobcik

Joseph Bowie*

Gary Brandes

Mike Brooks

Vernon Brown*

Robert Carter

Tom Cox

Hillary Dale

Skip Derringer

Mal Eisl

Phil Eisner

Keith Ellis

Jimmy Haislip*

Jack Holley

Tom Huling

Bill Jeffries

Ken Kantola

Karen Kelly (also vcl)

Rod Lancaster

Harvey Lankford

Steve Lawson

William Luper

Caleb McKee

Norman Menne

Bill Martin

John (Bones) Orange

Dan Potter

John Rains

Victor Reef

John Richmond

Pierre Schwartz

Kurt Silver

George Spooner

Brett Stamps*

Tom Vincent

Mike Vlatkovic

Jimmy Wilkins*

Tom Wolf*

 

BASS/TUBA

Jeff Anderson

Jimmy Blanton*

Zeb Briscovic

Mike Bruce

Neal Caine

Jerry Cherry

Jeff Chronister

Bob Daugherty

Mark Deutsch

Raymond Eldridge, Sr.

Raymond Eldridge, Jr.

Dave Engleke

Thurm Esselmeyer

Dan Eubanks

Joe Ferrante

Beth Foort

Eric Foreman

James Foreman

Mark Foster

Don Franz

Greg Franzwa

Brian Goddard

James Green

Kermit Hayes

Carlos Henderson

Jay Hungerford

Ken Jung

Tom Kennedy*

Bob Kidd

Vernon King

Steve Kirby*

Kim LaCoste

Stanley Lane

Walter Lathen

Red Lehr*

Eric Markowitz

Wendell Marshall*

Jim Mayer*

Kent Miller

Darryll Mixon*

John Mixon*

Pat Murphy

Singleton Palmer*

Mark Peterson*

Eddie Randle, Jr.

Charles Scales

Hillard Scott

Arvell Shaw*

Roger Shaw

Glenn Smith

Don Summers

Chris Thomas

Jon Thomas

Harold Thompson

Gus Thornton

Dave Troncoso

Mark Turlina

Ric Vice

Willem Von Holmbracht

Bob Waggoner

Eric Warren

Ben Wheeler

Jim Widner

 

GUITAR/BANJO
William "Bede" Baskerville

Mel Bay

John Becker*

Kelvyn Bell*

Dave Black

Rob Block

Bob Borgstede

Tom Byrne

Bobby Caldwell*

Corey Christiansen

Daryl Darden

Farshid

Eddie Fisher

Cliff Fredrickson Jr.

Jim Gardner

Grant Green*

Bobby Grim

Leroy Harris*

Rick Haydon

Marvin Horne*

Chan Johnson

Jack Kund

Bill Lenihan

Bob Levin

Richard Martin

Peter Mayer*

Bill Mamer

Scott McCloud

Thomas Moore

Stan Minor

Todd Mosby

Pete Patterson

Dan Rubright

Steve Schenkel

Joe Schirmer

Stan Shaw

Jim Shields

Artie Stolz

Al Stricker

Floyd Smith*

Pat Welch

 

VOCALS
Billy Banks*

Fontella Bass*

Erin Bode*

Clea Bradford

Olive Brown

Ceil Clayton

Sherry Drake

Elaine Donohue

Eddie Eaton

Carol (Hartmann) Ettman

Lyn Fiddmont*

Kim Fuller

Leo Gooden

Asa Harris*

Tom Heitman

Anita Jackson

Danny Knight*

John Laurenti

Jan LaCroix

Debbie Lennon

Benny Jackson*

Edith Johnson*

Gene Lynn

Red McKenzie*

Velma Middleton*

Buddy Moreno*

Al Oxenhandler

Carole Rawlins

Michele Shaheen

Ted Smith

Nancy Tartar

Eva Taylor*

Denise Thimes

Mardra Thomas

Jeanne Trevor

Bill Tucker

Tony Viviano

Mae Wheeler

SAXOPHONE/FLUTE

Yusuf Abdullah

Sam Andria

Willie Akins*

Bill Archer

Evelyn Archer

Harold Bamberg

Margaret Bianchetta

Corky Blake

Hamiett Bluiett*

Dwayne Bosman

Dwight Bosman

Branford Bowie*

Amos Brewer

Ted Buckner*

Mike Burke (also clarinet)

Ron Carter

Roland Clark

Don Clausen

Jerry Cobetto

Stan Coleman

Dr. Don Cook

Gerald DeClue

Freddie Del Gaudio

Paul DeMarinis

Marvin Docter

Steve Edwards

Marty Ehrlich (also clarinet)

Will Dyer

Harold Este

Chad Evans

Keith Fiddmont*

Elmer Feltner

Jimmy Forrest*

Earnest (Chick) Franklin

Vincent Germanese

George Geschwind

Bob Gibson

Bob Gordon*

Bob Graf*

James Greene

Howard Grossman

Jeff Hany

Arville Harris*

Leroy Harris*

William Harris

Edgar Hayes

Julius Hemphill*

Victor Herbert

Bernard Hutcherson

Rob Hughes

Michelle Isam

James Jeter*

Alonzo “Petey” Johnson

Bill Johnson

George Johnson

Larry Johnson

Hugh Jones

Mike Karpowicz

Jim Knox

Carl Knox

Frank Kozma

Oliver Lake*

Aaron Lehde

Sammy Long

Freddie Martin

Walter Martin

Cliff McBride

Jim Moore

Oliver Nelson*

John Norment

Greg Osby*

Mark Overton

William “Weasel” Parker*

Eric Person*

Thomas Person

Charles Pillars*

Hayes Pillars*

Silvio Pucci (also clarinet)

Jim Quick

Grady Rice

David Sanborn*

William Schafer

Jimmy Sherrod

Larry Smith

Willie Ray Smith

Brett Spainhower

O’Hara Spearman

David Stone

Cyrus Stoner, Jr.*

Jason Swagler

Don Stovall*

Greg Tardy*

Chuck Tillman

Fred Tomkins*

Frank Trumbauer*

Joe Vancardo (also clarinet)

Jim VonderHaar

James Warfield

Freddie Washington*

Hugh “Peanuts” Whalum*

Ernie Wilkins*

Billy Williams

Todd Williams*

Jerry Wood

Chris Woods*

Charles “Little Man” Wright

 

VIBES
Jim Bolen
Ernie Douglas
Gordon Lawrence
Don N. Parker
Tom Rickard
Johnathan Whiting

 

DRUMS/PERCUSSION
Marcus Baylor*

Andy Becker

Chick Booth

Joe Buerger

David Berger

John Brophy

Ronnie Burrage*

Floyd Campbell*

Maurice Carnes

Ron Carr, Jr.

Chuck Carter*

Joe Charles*

Jeremy Clemons

Montez Coleman

Tommy Crane

Dan David

Steve Davis*

Henry Ettman

Stan Forneszewski

Kevin Gianino

John Gillick*

Kenny Gooch

Terreon Gulley*

Roger Guth*

Stanley Hale

Sonny Hamp

Jerome “Scrooge” Harris*

Emanuel Harrold

DeMarius Hicks*

Kyle Honeycutt

Phil Hulsey

Bernard Hutcherson, Jr.

William (Billy) Ingram

Percy James*

Wayne Jones

John Karoley

Matt Kimmick

Chuck Kreigh

Gene Lake*

Fred Lee

George Marsh

Jimmy Merity

Clarence Newell

Larry Newsome

Rick O’Connor

Oscar Oldham

Jim Orso

Charles Payne

Moldon Pickett

Joe Pike

Jerry Pollock

McClinton Rayford

Kenny Rice

Bud Roeder

Henry Ross

Al St. James*

Tony Saputo

Artie Scheiler (also piano, vibes)

Rick Schaumberger

Roger Schilling

Charles “Bobo” Shaw*

Elijah “Lyge” Shaw*

Rob Silverman

Brian Sullivan

Gary Sykes*

Jack Tartar

Billy Teague

Ben Thigpen*

Howard Thompson

Kim Thompson

Rich Tokats

Michael Tyree

Miles Vandiver

John Vizer

Scott Waggoner

Benny Washington

Joe Weber

Tom Widdicome

Phillip Wilson*

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