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Blues-boogie piano star Camille Howard was one of the better known female talents of the early R&B and jump-blues years. One of the finest blues piano players of the era, she rocked the Los Angeles scene with her own groups, as well as with her husband Roy Milton's band as pianist and occasional singer (and he drummed on many of her records). Out of Galveston TX, she was performing in the local Texas nightclubs by the mid-'30s. She moved to California in the early '40s and joined Milton's band, making her recorded debut with them in '45 for Lionel Hampton's...

The Catalan pianist Tete Montoliu was born in 1933 in Barcelona. He came from a musical family that had Don Byas as a housemate in the family home. Blind since birth, he learned to read Braille music. Influenced by Art Tatum and Duke Ellington, he came out of the conservatory and started touring with Lionel Hampton in '55 and proceeded to become one of the top jazz players in Europe, eventually gaining a solid reputation internationally. He cut a lot of solo records, sometimes played with vocalists or in duo format (with saxophonist George Coleman, for example) but often could...

One of the great jazz singers, Sassie Sarah Vaughan got her start in her hometown of Newark NJ, playing piano and singing in nightclubs from age 15. She won an engagement at the Apollo after singing "Body & Soul" in a contest at 18. She toured the U.S. in '43 with the great band of Earl "Fatha" Hines, featuring Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Billy Eckstine, JJ Johnson and others. After some of the stars mutinied and left Hines to start a new band, Vaughn jumped in too. Others that entered that band include Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Kenny...

The great tenor saxophonist Ben Webster was one of the best and most influential of the old-school swing saxophonists, whether jumping or sweet. Coming out of Kansas City, he got some early pro experience with Budd Johnson (Lester Young was in the band), Benny Moten, Fletcher Henderson, Andy Kirk, Benny Carter and Cab Calloway before earning a chair in the Duke Ellington band starting around '35. Webster credits one of his bandmates with the Duke, Johnny Hodges, as being a major influence on him. After a fight with Duke, he was given his walking papers in '43, and formed his...

Jose "Chombo" Silva was a veteran Cuban musician who hit the NYC scene in the '60s, playing charangas and descargas. Versatile as both a saxophonist and violinist, he played with Johnny Pacheco's charanga, Ray Barretto, the Alegre All Stars, Kako, Mongo Santamaría, Peruchín, Charlie Palmieri, Chocolate Armenteros, Típica Ideal, Africando, Nestor Torres' La Sensual and the Panamanian group Los Exagerados, with whom he contributed the blasting descarga "Panama Esta Bueno Y... Ma". He learned violin at an early age, playing in church groups. In the late '30s he was playing with pianist Peruchín. In '48 he started the Swing Boys...