Jazz Rankings

The sole purpose of this is to keep a reference list of names for feeding into my annual comments on Downbeat's critics poll. I don't seriously believe that you can rank musicians like this -- many are quite incomparable, and the gradations are arbitrary. To some extent I try to balance off lifetime accomplishment with focus on the last 2-3 years. Dead musicians are culled (usually after a year). Birth years are included where known, for a sense of age (which feeds into Rising Star comments). Sometimes I've added a note. Often I add a bunch of alphabetized names at the end, just to keep track of them.

Trumpet

  1. Dave Douglas (1964)
  2. Steven Bernstein (1961): also slide trumpet
  3. Randy Sandke (1949)
  4. Tomasz Stanko (1942)
  5. Wadada Leo Smith (1941)
  6. Dennis Gonzalez (1954)
  7. Clark Terry (1920-2015)
  8. Roy Campbell (1952-2014)
  9. Brian Lynch (1955)
  10. Terrence Blanchard (1962)
  11. Kenny Wheeler (1930-2014)
  12. Enrico Rava (1943)
  13. Warren Vaché (1951): cornet
  14. Nils Petter Molvaer (1960)
  15. Wynton Marsalis (1961)
  16. John Faddis (1953)
  17. Tom Harrell (1946)
  18. Ralph Alessi ()
  19. Nicholas Payton (1973)
  20. Roy Hargrove (1970)
  21. Darren Johnston ()

Also: Ahmed Abdullah (1947), Ambrose Akinmusire (1982), Eddie Allen (1957), Jan Allen (1934), Franco Ambrosetti (1941), Benny Bailey (1925), Dave Ballou (1963), Guy Barker (1957), Harry Beckett (1935), Marcus Belgrave (1936), Bobby Bradford (1934), Randy Brecker (1945), Magnus Broo (), Taylor Ho Bynum (1975), Donald Byrd (1932), Baikida Carroll (1947), Avishai Cohen (), Ted Curson (1935), Peter Ecklund (1945), Mathias Eick (1979), Peter Evans (), Paolo Fresu (1961), Eddie Gale (1941), Jerry Gonzalez (1949), Dusko Goykovich (1931), Phil Grenadier (), Russell Gunn (1971), Tim Hagans (1954), Jon Hassell (1937), Eddie Henderson (1940), Arve Henriksen (1968), Terumasa Hino (1942), Ron Horton (1960), Mark Isham (), Ingrid Jensen (1967), Russ Johnson (), Ryan Kisor (1973), Kirk Knuffke (), Franz Koglmann (1946), Matt Lavelle (1970), Michael Mantler (1943), Joe Magnarelli (), Hugh Masekela (1939), Rob Mazurek (1966), John McNeil (1948), Palle Mikkelborg (1941), Ron Miles (1963), Jeremy Pelt (1976), Hannibal Peterson (1948), Valery Ponomarev (1943), Marcus Printup (1967), Hugh Ragin (1951), Herb Robertson (1951), Claudio Roditi (1946), Wallace Roney (1960), Jim Rotondi (1962), Arturo Sandoval (1949), Manfred Schoof (1936), Christian Scott (), Jack Sheldon (1931), Alex Sipiagin (1967), Paul Smoker (1941), Lew Soloff (1944), Terrell Stafford (1966), John Swana (), Natsuki Tamura (), Charles Tolliver (1942), Erik Truffaz (), Brad Turner (1967), Eric Vloeimans (1963), Cuong Vu (1969), Jack Walrath (1946), David Weiss (), Joe Wilder (1922), Corey Wilkes (1979), Jens Winther (1960), James Zollar ().

Notes:

  • Flugelhorn players are included above. Most trumpet players, especially since 1980, play some flugelhorn. Very few play it as much as a third of the time, and hardly any can be considered specialists.
  • Cornet players are included above. They tend to be more specialized, including (from above) Taylor Ho Bynum (1975), Rob Mazurek (1966), Warren Vaché (1951). Also: Josh Berman (1972), Eric Boeren (1959), Ernie Carson (1937), Graham Haynes (1960), Jon-Erik Kellso (1964), Lawrence "Butch" Morris (1947), Randy Reinhart (), Dick Sudhalter (1938).
  • There are very few non-specialists of note: Joe McPhee (1939). Ornette Coleman (1930) is worth noting only because he's Ornette Coleman.

Trombone

  1. Roswell Rudd (1935)
  2. Ray Anderson (1952)
  3. Steve Turre (1948)
  4. George Lewis (1952)
  5. Craig Harris (1954)
  6. Chris Barber (1930)
  7. Wycliffe Gordon (1967)
  8. Slide Hampton (1932)

Also: Jeff Albert (), Bill Allred (1936), John Allred (1962), Clifton Anderson (1957), Dan Barrett (1955), Conrad Bauer (1943), Johannes Bauer (), Eddie Bert (1922), Jeb Bishop (), Samuel Blaser (1981), Steve Davis (1967), Robin Eubanks (1959), John Fedchock (1957), Eric Felton (), Alan Ferber (), Joe Fiedler (1965), Curtis Fuller (1934), Jacob Garchik (1976), Marshall Gilkes (1978), Curtis Hasselbring (), Conrad Herwig (1959), Tyrone Hill (), Jimmy Knepper (1927), Nils Landgren (), Rafi Malkiel (), Rob McConnell (1935), Grachan Moncur III (1937), Christian Muthspiel (), Rick Parker (1978), Gianluca Petrella (1975), Julian Priester (1935), Phil Ranelin (), John Rapson (), Reut Regev (), Josh Roseman (1969), Vittor Santos (), Joey Sellars (), Jim Staley (1950), Steve Swell (1954), Wayne Wallace (1952), Bill Watrous (1939), Deborah Weisz (), Wolter Wierbos (1957), Nils Wogram (1972), Paul Zauner ().

Soprano Saxophone

  1. Jan Garbarek (1947): also tenor sax
  2. Evan Parker (1944): also tenor sax
  3. Bob Wilber (1928): also clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax
  4. Wayne Shorter (1933): mostly tenor sax
  5. Jane Ira Bloom (1955)
  6. Joe Giardullo ()
  7. Michael Marcus (1952): also manzello, stritch
  8. Mike Ellis ()
  9. Brent Jensen (): also alto sax
  10. Branford Marsalis (1960): mostly tenor sax
  11. Roscoe Mitchell (1940): also all other saxes, flute
  12. Jane Bunnett (1955): also flute
  13. Dave Liebman (1946): also tenor sax

Also: Bruce Ackley (1948), Michaël Attias (1968) [as], Lol Coxhill (1932), Paquito D'Rivera (1948) [as], Paul Dunmall (1953) [ts], Peter Epstein () [as+], Alon Farber (), Zusann Kali Fasteau () [p,exotics], Avram Fefer (1965) [cl], Gianni Gebbia (), Vinny Golia (1946) [cl,ts], Steve Grossman (1951) [ts], Chris Kelsey (1961), Lee Konitz (1927) [as], Bennie Maupin (1940) [ts], Chris Potter (1971) [ts], Joshua Redman (1969) [ts], Jason Robinson (), Steve Slagle (1951) [as], John Surman (1944) [bs], Jeremy Udden () [as], Steve Wilson (1961) [as].

Notes:

  • Very few play soprano sax exclusively, so this category is cluttered with part-timers (noted above, main or other instruments abbreviated in brackets. Many others could be named.
  • A few musicians, following Anthony Braxton (1945), have experimented with sopranino sax: Steve Adams (1952).

Alto Saxophone

  1. Anthony Braxton (1945)
  2. Lee Konitz (1927)
  3. Ornette Coleman (1930)
  4. Tim Berne (1954)
  5. Oliver Lake (1944)
  6. Phil Woods (1931)
  7. John Zorn (1954)
  8. Bobby Watson (1953)
  9. Miguel Zenón ()
  10. Michael Hashim (1956)
  11. Rudresh Mahanthappa (1971)
  12. Herb Geller (1928-2013)
  13. François Carrier (1961)
  14. Kenny Garrett (1960)
  15. Steve Lehman ()
  16. Greg Osby (1960)
  17. Michael Moore (1954): also clarinet
  18. Mark Whitecage (1937)
  19. Charlie Mariano (1923): died 2009
  20. Dave Rempis (): also tenor sax
  21. Bud Shank (1926): died 2009
  22. Marty Ehrlich (1955): also clarinet, flute
  23. Steve Wilson (1961): also soprano sax
  24. David Binney (1961)
  25. Henry Threadgill (1944): nil since 2001

Also: Steve Adams (1952) [sopranino sax], Marshall Allen (1924), Rodrigo Amado (1964) [ts], Michaël Attias (1968) [ss], Gary Bartz (1940), Arthur Blythe (1940), Marion Brown (1931), Rob Brown (1962), Abraham Burton (1971), Daniel Carter (), Matt Catingub (1961), Richie Cole (1948), Steve Coleman (1956), Hank Crawford (1934), Jesse Davis (1965), Stefano Di Battista (1968), Jorrit Dijkstra (), Mike DiRubbo (1970), Lou Donaldson (1926), Paquito D'Rivera (1948) [cl,ss], Peter Epstein (), Joel Frahm (1969) [ts], Sonny Fortune (1939), Gary Foster (1936), Frank Gratkowski (1963), Donald Harrison (1960), Antonio Hart (1969), Ian Hendrickson-Smith (), Benjamin Herman (1968), Vincent Herring (1964), Jim Hobbs (), Red Holloway (1927), Rocco John Iacovone (), Jon Irabagon (), Sherman Irby (), Ed Jackson (1959), Joseph Jarman (1937), Brent Jensen () [ss], Philip Johnston (1955), Peter King (1940), Charlie Kohlhase (1956), Alex Kontorovich (1980), Martin Küchen (1966), Ingrid Laubrock (1970), Andy Laster (1961), Brad Leali (), Jon Lloyd (1958), John Lurie (), Sabir Mateen (), Alexander McCabe (), Charles McPherson (1939), Jemeel Moondoc (1951), Ted Nash (1959), Zaid Nasser (), Roy Nathanson (), Abdoulaye N'Diaye (), Lennie Niehaus (1929), Dick Oatts (), John O'Gallagher (1964), Mike Osborne (1941), Maceo Parker (1943), Ken Peplowski (1959) [cl,ts], Wolfgang Puschnig (), Logan Richardson (1980), Kim Richmond (), Matana Roberts (), Pete Robbins (1978), Ned Rothenberg (1956), David Sanborn (1945), Mario Schiano (1933), Aram Shelton (), Sonny Simmons (1933), Steve Slagle (1951), Jim Snidero (1958), James Spaulding (1937), Loren Stillman (1980), John Tchicai (1936), Yosvany Terry (), Gianluigi Trovesi (1944), Myron Walden (1973), Carlos Ward (1940), Sadao Watanabe (1933), Trevor Watts (1939), Bob Wilber (1928) [cl,ss,ts], Saco Yasuma ().

Tenor Saxophone

  1. David Murray (1955)
  2. Ken Vandermark (1964)
  3. Sonny Rollins (1930)
  4. David S. Ware (1949-2012)
  5. Houston Person (1934)
  6. Joe Lovano (1952)
  7. Joe McPhee (1939): also trumpet, alto sax
  8. Scott Hamilton (1954)
  9. Tommy Smith (1967)
  10. Charles Lloyd (1938)
  11. Fred Anderson (1929-2010)
  12. Harry Allen (1966)
  13. James Carter (1969)
  14. Peter Brötzmann (1941)
  15. Wayne Shorter (1933)
  16. Evan Parker (1944): also soprano sax
  17. Ellery Eskelin (1959)
  18. Bennie Wallace (1946)
  19. Pharoah Sanders (1940)
  20. Chris Potter (1971)
  21. Archie Shepp (1937)
  22. Jerry Bergonzi (1947)
  23. Sam Rivers (1923-2011)
  24. Chris Speed (): also clarinet
  25. Billy Harper (1943)
  26. Joshua Redman (1969)
  27. Donny McCaslin (1966)

Also: Juhani Aaltonen (1935), Eric Alexander (1968), J.D. Allen (1972), Rodrigo Amado (1964) [ts], Peter Apfelbaum (1960), Julian Arguëlles (1966), Gilad Atzmon (), Ab Baars (1955), Iain Ballamy (1964), Gato Barbieri (1934), Gorka Benitez (1966), Michael Blake (1964), Seamus Blake (1969), Ralph Bowen (), Charles Brackeen (1940), Don Braden (1964), Ari Brown (1944), John Butcher (1954), Chris Byars (1970), Fredrik Carlquist (1969), Chris Cheek (), Tom Christensen (), Tony Coe (1934), Anat Cohen () [cl], George Coleman (1935), Ravi Coltrane (1965), Ernest Dawkins (1953), John Ellis (), Ricky Ford (1954), Frank Foster (1928), Joel Frahm (1969) [as], Chico Freeman (1949), Von Freeman (1922), Jan Garbarek (1947), George Garzone (), Charles Gayle (1939), Benny Golson (1929), Jimmy Greene (1975), Rich Halley (1947), Craig Handy (1963), Jimmy Heath (1926), Fred Hess (1944), Javon Jackson (1965), André Jaume (1940) [cl], Jessica Jones (), Kidd Jordan (1935), Oleg Kireyev (), Adam Kolker (1958), Ernie Krivda (1945), Marty Krystall (1951), Ralph Lalama (1951), Yusef Lateef (1920-2013), Dave Liebman (1946) [ss], Fredrik Ljungkvist (1969), Allen Lowe (), Tony Malaby (1964), Rick Margitza (1963), Branford Marsalis (1960), Bennie Maupin (1940) [ss], René McLean (1947), James Moody (1925), Ralph Moore (1956), Hilary Noble (), Larry Ochs (1949), Ivo Perelman (1961), Rich Perry (), Courtney Pine (1964), Odean Pope (1938), Michel Portal (1935), Andrew Rathbun (), Dave Rempis (), Matt Renzi (), Bob Reynolds (), Jason Rigby (), Bob Rockwell (1945), Antoine Roney (), Bernt Rosengren (1937), David Sanchez (1968), Larry Schneider (1950), Loren Schoenberg (1958), Jacques Schwarz-Bart (1962), Trygve Seim (), Andy Sheppard (1957), Mark Shim (1973), Alan Skidmore (1942), Grant Stewart (), Marcus Strickland (1979), John Stubblefield (1945), Lew Tabackin (1940) [fl], Gary Thomas (1961), Gian Tornatore (), Assif Tsahar (1969), Mark Turner (1965), Gebhard Ullman (1957), Tim Warfield (), Ernie Watts (1945), Walt Weiskopf (1959), Frank Wess (1922) [fl], Edward Wilkerson Jr. (1955), Steve Williamson (1956), Francis Wong (), Rickey Woodard (1956),

Baritone Saxophone

  1. Hamiet Bluiett (1940)
  2. John Surman (1944): also soprano sax
  3. Joe Temperley (1929)
  4. Gary Smulyan (1956)
  5. Ken Vandermark (1964): also tenor sax, clarinet, etc.

Also: James Carter (1969) [ts], Ronnie Cuber (1941), Claire Daly (), Charles Davis (1933), Charles Evans (1978), Peter Gullin (1959), Mats Gustafsson (1964) [ts], George Haslam (1939), Fred Ho (), Howard Johnson (1941) [tuba], Scott Robinson (1959) [ts, bass sax], Colin Stetson.

Clarinet

  1. Louis Sclavis (1953)
  2. Perry Robinson (1938)
  3. Don Byron (1958)
  4. Marty Ehrlich (1955): also flute, alto sax
  5. Vinny Golia (1946)
  6. Michael Moore (1954): also alto sax
  7. Buddy DeFranco (1923)
  8. Joe Maneri (1927): died 2009
  9. Ken Peplowski (1959): also alto sax, tenor sax

Also: Alan Barnes (1959), Bernard Berkhout (), Andy Biskin (), Rüdiger Carl (1944), Ralph Carney (), Evan Christopher (1974), Anat Cohen (1975) [ts], Denis Colin (), Daniele D'Agaro (1958), Eddie Daniels (1941), Paquito D'Rivera (1948) [as,ss], Lajos Dudas (1941), Oran Etkin (), Avram Fefer (1965), Jacques Gauthé (), Ben Goldberg (), André Jaume (1940) [ts], Rolf Kühn (1929), David Kweksilber (), Antti Sarpila (1964), Chris Speed () [ts], Allan Vaché (1953), Ken Vandermark (1964) [ts,bs], Greg Wall (), Mort Weiss (1935), Michael White (1954), Doug Wieselman ().

Notes:

  • Clarinet is increasingly used as a secondary instrument by saxophone players. Many of the above play at least some saxophone, and many more saxophonists play a little clarinet.

  • Bass clarinet is covered under Miscellaneous.

Flute

  1. Dave Valentin (1954)
  2. Robert Dick (1950)
  3. Frank Wess (1922): mostly tenor sax
  4. James Newton (1953)
  5. Nicole Mitchell (1967)
  6. James Moody (1925): mostly tenor sax
  7. Mark Weinstein ()

Also: Peter Apfelbaum (1960) [ts], Jamie Baum (), Jane Bunnett (1955) [ss], Marty Ehrlich (1955) [cl,as,ss,bcl], Holly Hofmann (), André Jaume (1940) [ts,cl], Adam Kolker (1958) [ts], Hubert Laws (1942), Bradley Leighton (1961), Gerry Niewood (1943), Jeremy Steig (1942), Lew Tabackin (1940) [ts].

Notes:

  • A lot of reed players, especially saxophonists, play a little bit of flute. Few are very good at it.

Piano

  1. Keith Jarrett (1945)
  2. Matthew Shipp (1960)
  3. Abdullah Ibrahim (1934)
  4. Alex von Schlippenbach (1938)
  5. Vijay Iyer (1971)
  6. McCoy Tyner (1938)
  7. Martial Solal (1927)
  8. Uri Caine (1956)
  9. Paul Bley (1932)
  10. Cecil Taylor (1930)
  11. Myra Melford (1957)
  12. Irène Schweizer (1941)
  13. Marilyn Crispell (1947)
  14. Misha Mengelberg (1935)
  15. Satoko Fujii (1958)
  16. Ahmad Jamal (1930)
  17. Ran Blake (1935)
  18. Brad Mehldau (1970)
  19. Steve Kuhn (1938)
  20. Carla Bley (1938)
  21. Cedar Walton (1934-2013)
  22. Bobo Stenson (1944)
  23. Kenny Barron (1943)
  24. Gonzalo Rubalcaba (1963)
  25. Muhal Richard Abrams (1930)
  26. Hal Galper (1938)
  27. Herbie Hancock (1940)
  28. Dave Brubeck (1920-2012)
  29. Horace Silver (1928-2014)
  30. Ray Bryant (1931-2011)
  31. Randy Weston (1926)

Also: Anders Aarum (), Toshiko Akiyoshi (1929), Monty Alexander (1944), Geri Allen (1957), Helio Alves (1966), Jimmy Amadie (), Lynne Arriale (1957), Jorge Lima Barreto (1949), Nik Bärtsch (1971), Django Bates (1960), Gordon Beck (1938-2011), Richie Beirach (1947), Borah Bergman (1933-2012), David Berkman (), Stefano Bollani (1972), Joe Bonner (1948), Michiel Braam (1964), Joanne Brackeen (1938), John Wolf Brennan (1954), Alan Broadbent (1947), Donald Brown (1954), John Bunch (1921), Dave Burrell (1940), George Cables (1944), Michel Camilo (1954), John Campbell (1955), Frank Carlberg (), James Carney (), Bill Carrothers (1964), Bill Charlap (1966), Cyrus Chestnut (1963), Thomas Clausen (1949), Rebecca Cline (), George Colligan (1970), Cooper-Moore (1946), Marc Copland (1948), Chick Corea (1941), Stanley Cowell (1941), Neil Cowley (), Connie Crothers (1941), Franco D'Andrea (1941), Harold Danko (1947), James Dapogny (1940), Anthony Davis (1951), Kris Davis (), Wolfgang Dauner (1935), Peter Delano (1976), Ted Des Plantes (), Niels Lan Doky (1963), Kenny Drew Jr. (1958), Eliane Elias (1960), Orrin Evans (1975), Bobby Few (1935), Anat Fort (), Don Friedman (1935), Joel Futterman (1946), Vyacheslav Ganelin (1944), Laszlo Gardony (1956), Giorgio Gaslini (1929), Moncef Genoud (1961), Darrell Grant (1962), Georg Gräwe (1956), Benny Green (1965), Burton Greene (1937), George Gruntz (1932), Tord Gustavsen (1970), Bengt Hallberg (1932), Barry Harris (1929), Kevin Hays (1968), David Hazeltine (1958), Fred Hersch (1955), Eddie Higgins (1932), Chris Hopkins (1972), Wayne Horvitz (1955), Dick Hyman (1927), Adian Iaies (1960), Ethan Iverson (), D.D. Jackson (1967), Jon Jang (1954), Guus Janssen (1951), Pandelis Karayorgis (), Roger Kellaway (1939), Rodney Kendrick (1960), Frank Kimbrough (1956), Guillermo Klein (1970), Joachim Kühn (1944), Art Lande (1947), Michel Legrand (1932), Gianni Lenoci (), Ramsey Lewis (1935), Kirk Lightsey (1937), Nils Lindberg (1933), Russ Lossing (), Harold Mabern (1936), Peter Madsen (), Carl Maguire (), Adam Makowicz (1940), Pete Malinverni (1957), Junior Mance (1928), Denman Maroney (1949), Les McCann (1935), Jim McNeely (1949), Marian McPartland (1920-2013), Mulgrew Miller (1955), Jason Moran (1975), Amina Claudine Myers (1943), Simon Nabatov (1959), Keith Nichols (1945), Walter Norris (1931), Arturo O'Farrill (), Eddie Palmieri (1936), Horace Parlan (1931), Alan Pasqua (1954), Luis Perdomo (1971), Danilo Perez (1966), Enrico Pieranunzi (1949), Jean-Michel Pilc (), Paul Plimley (1953), André Previn (1930), Howard Riley (1943), Marcus Roberts (1963), Michele Rosewoman (1953), Ted Rosenthal (1959), Renee Rosnes (1962), Jarmo Savolainen (1961), Stephen Scott (1969), George Shearing (1919), John Sheridan (1946), Sergi Sirvent (), Michael Jefry Stevens (1951), Craig Taborn (), Aki Takase (1948), Billy Taylor (1921), John Taylor (1942), Jackie Terrasson (1966), Keith Tippett (1947), Stan Tracey (1926), Bebo Valdés (1918), Chucho Valdés (1941), Fred Van Hove (1937), Albert Van Veenendaal (1956), Johnny Varro (1930), Larry Vuckovich (1936), Per Henrik Wallin (1946), Marcin Wasilewski (), Eric Watson (), Florian Weber (), Kenny Werner (1951), Mike Westbrook (1936), Gerald Wiggins (1922), Jessica Williams (1948), Larry Willis (1940), Anthony Wonsey (1972), Yosuke Yamashita (1942), Denny Zeitlin (1937).

Organ

  1. Eddy Louiss (1941)
  2. John Medeski ()
  3. Larry Goldings (1968)
  4. Joey DeFrancesco (1971)
  5. Melvin Rhyne (1936)
  6. Vince Seneri ()

Also: Papa John DeFrancesco (), Barbara Dennerlein (1964), Cor Fuhler (), Mike LeDonne (1956), Gene Ludwig (1937), Barney McClure (), Amina Claudine Myers (1943), Jeff Palmer (1951), Wayne Peet (), Jamie Saft (), Dr. Lonnie Smith (), Jeppe Tuxen (), Dan Wall (), Robert Walter (), Sam Yahel ().

Electronic Keyboard/Synthesizer

  1. Craig Taborn ()
  2. Chick Corea (1941)

Also: Marco Benevento (1977), Marc Copland (1948), Jan Hammer (1948), Lyle Mays (1953), Vince Mendoza (1961), Hiromi Uehara (1979).

Notes:

  • I don't have very good notes on who plays electric keyboards when. Some vote-getters I didn't have listed: Uri Caine, Matthew Shipp, Jamie Saft, Wayne Horvitz, Geoffrey Keezer, Django Bates, Thomas Lehn, Adam Benjamin, Jason Lindner.

Guitar

  1. Bill Frisell (1951)
  2. Jim Hall (1930)
  3. Wolfgang Muthspiel (1965)
  4. John Abercrombie (1944)
  5. John McLaughlin (1942)
  6. James Blood Ulmer (1942)
  7. Nels Cline (1956)
  8. Marc Ribot (1954)
  9. Howard Alden (1958)
  10. Joe Morris (1955)
  11. Raoul Björkenheim (1956)
  12. Marc Ducret (1957)
  13. John Scofield (1951)
  14. Billy Jenkins (1954)
  15. Bucky Pizzarelli (1926)
  16. Anders Nilsson ()
  17. Pat Martino (1944)
  18. Pierre Dørge (1946)
  19. Pat Metheny (1954)
  20. Jim McAuley (1946)
  21. Rez Abbasi (1965)
  22. Kenny Burrell (1931)
  23. Ralph Towner (1940)
  24. Mundell Lowe (1922)
  25. Herb Ellis (1921): nothing since 2002

Also: Ron Affif (1965), Noël Akchoté (), Diego Barber (1978), Roni Ben-Hur (), Will Bernard (), Peter Bernstein (1967), Gene Bertoncini (1937), Ryan Blotnick (1983), Paul Bollenback (1959), Jean-Paul Bourelly (1960), Joshua Breakstone (1955), Bobby Broom (1961), Jimmy Bruno (1953), Ila Cantor (), Larry Carlton (1948), Philip Catherine (1942), Eugene Chadbourne (1954), Joe Cohn (), Bill Coon (), Larry Coryell (1943), On Ka'a Davis (), Al DiMeola (1954), Joe Diorio (1936), Christy Doran (1949), Scott DuBois (1978), Bruce Eisenbeil (1968), Liberty Ellman (1971), Christian Escoudé (1947), Kevin Eubanks (1957), Scott Fields (1959), Chris Flory (1953), Jamie Fox (), Mimi Fox (1956), Dominic Frasca (), Fred Fried (1948), Jay Geils (1946), Egberto Gismonti (1947), Mick Goodrick (1945), Gordon Grdina (), Marty Grosz (1930), Jostein Gulbrandsen (1976), Mary Halvorson (1980), Fareed Haque (1963), Joel Harrison (), John Hart (1961), Ken Hatfield (), Skip Heller (1965), Steve Herberman (), Amos Hoffman (), Allen Holdsworth (1946), Charlie Hunter (1968), Tomas Janzon (), Hilmar Jensson (1966), Chris Jentsch (), Randy Johnston (1956), Rodney Jones (1956), Vic Juris (1953), Henry Kaiser (1952), Spencer Katzman (1974), Steve Khan (1947), Wayne Krantz (), Julian Lage (1988), Bireli Lagrene (1966), Jon Larsen (1959), Piers Lawrence (), Nguyen Lê (1959), Peter Leitch (1944), Luis Lopes (), Lionel Loueke (), Russell Malone (1963), Pete McCann (), Paul Meyers (), Dom Minasi (1943), Ben Monder (), Michael Musillami (), Bern Nix (), Oz Noy (), Michael Occhipinti (), Miles Okazaki (1974), Mark O'Leary (), Kevin O'Neil (), Jeff Parker (), Andreas Petterson (1964), John Pizzarelli (1960), Mikkel Ploug (1978), Jimmy Ponder (1946), Doug Raney (1957), Hans Reichel (), Lee Ritenour (1952), Adam Rogers (), Kurt Rosenwinkel (), Keith Rowe (), Nick Russo (), Terje Rypdal (1947), Helmut Joe Sachse (), Michel Sajrawy (), Samo Salamon (1978), Will Sellenraad (), Brad Shepik (1966), James Silberstein (), Mark Solborg (1972), Billy Stein (), Lenny Stern (), Mike Stern (1953), Dave Stryker (1957), Martin Taylor (1956), Ximo Tebar (1963), Steve Tibbetts (1954), David Torn (1953), David Tronzo (), Johnnie Valentino (1957), Corrie van Binsbergen (1957), Frank Vignola (1965), Ulf Wakenius (1958), Torben Waldorff (), Doug Wamble (), Mark Whitfield (1967), Anthony Wilson (), Jacob Young (1970).

Acoustic Bass

  1. William Parker (1952)
  2. Charlie Haden (1937-2014)
  3. Gary Peacock (1935)
  4. Dave Holland (1946)
  5. Mark Dresser (1952)
  6. Ben Allison (1966)
  7. Arild Andersen (1945)
  8. Barry Guy (1947)
  9. Ron Carter (1937)
  10. John Lindberg (1959)
  11. Ray Drummond (1946)
  12. Reid Anderson ()
  13. Peter Washington ()
  14. Miroslav Vitous (1947)
  15. Mark Helias (1950)
  16. Mario Pavone (1939)
  17. Reggie Workman (1937)
  18. Adam Lane (1968)
  19. Drew Gress (1959)
  20. Cecil McBee (1935)
  21. Christian McBride (1972)
  22. Avishai Cohen (1971)

Also: Josh Abrams (), Jason Ajemian (), Pablo Aslan (), Gregg August (), Omer Avital (), Jean-Jacques Avenel (), Juan Pablo Balcazar (), Carlos Barretto (), Michael Bates (), Michael Bisio (1955), Mike Boone (), Neal Caine (), Leonardo E.M. Cioglia (), Greg Cohen (), Scott Colley (1963), Graham Collier (1937), Todd Coolman (), Anthony Cox (), Stephan Crump (), Alexis Cuadrado (), Lars Danielsson (1958), Richard Davis (1930), Santi Debriano (), Furio DiCastri (1955), Christian Minh Doky (), Dominic Duval (1944), Moppa Elliott (1978), Charles Fambrough (1950), Simon Fell (1958), Ken Filiano (), Joe Fonda (1954), Michael Formanek (1958), Stephane Furic (), Renaud Garcia-Fons (1962), Geoff Gascoyne (), Bruce Gertz (), Terje Gewelt (), Hans Glawischnig (1970), Eddie Gomez (1944), Larry Grenadier (1966), Henry Grimes (1935), John Hébert (1972), Jonas Hellborg (), Devin Hoff (), Lindsey Horner (), Fernando Huergo (), Anne Mette Iversen (), Jeff Johnson (), Marc Johnson (1953), Anders Jormin (1957), Arthur Kell (), Kent Kessler (), Ruslan Khain (), Meinrad Kneer (1970), Steve LaSpina (1954), Joelle Léandre (1951), Jay Leonhart (1940), Chris Lightcap (1971), Ken McBride (), Ron McClure (1941), Pierre Michelot (1928), Charnett Moffett (), Glen Moore (1941), Michael Moore (1945), Joe Morris (1955) [g], Wilber Morris (), George Mraz (1944), Nicki Parrott (), John Patitucci (1959), Buell Neidlinger (1936), Roberto Occhipinti (1955), Darek Oleszkiewicz (1963), Eivind Opsvik (), Barre Phillips (1934), Lonnie Plaxico (1960), Pekka Pohjola (), Bruno Råberg (), Larry Ridley (1937), Paul Rogers (1956), Ari Roland (1972), Ed Schuller (), Avery Sharpe (1955), Todd Sickafoose (), Alan Silva (1939), Sirone (1940), Esperanza Spalding (1984), Harvie S (1948), Henri Texier (1945), Danny Thompson (1939), Nicolas Thys (1968), Giovanni Tommaso (1941), Eric van der Westen (1963), Mads Vinding (1948), Eberhard Weber (1940), Rodney Whitaker (1968), Matt Penman (1974), Robert Hurst (1964),

Electric Bass

  1. Bob Cranshaw (1932)
  2. Steve Swallow (1940)
  3. Stanley Clarke (1951)
  4. Jamaaldeen Tacuma (1956)

Also: Lorenzo Feliciati (), Melvin Gibbs (), J.A.Granelli (), Hugh Hopper (), Monk Hughes (), Chris Morrissey (1980), John Patitucci (1959), Massimo Pupillo (), Phil Upchurch (1941), Victor Wooten (1964),

Drums

  1. Jack DeJohnette (1942)
  2. Andrew Cyrille (1939)
  3. Roy Haynes (1926)
  4. Hamid Drake (1955): percussion
  5. Rashied Ali (1935): died 2009
  6. Han Bennink (1942): percussion
  7. Billy Drummond (1959)
  8. Bill Stewart (1967)
  9. Gerry Hemingway (1955)
  10. Lewis Nash (1958)
  11. Tony Oxley (1938)
  12. Joey Baron (1955)
  13. Bobby Previte (1957)
  14. Matt Wilson (1964)
  15. Bill Bruford (1948)
  16. Jim Black (1967)
  17. Sunny Murray (1937)
  18. John Hollenbeck (1968)
  19. Peter Erskine (1954)
  20. Billy Hart (1940)
  21. Paul Lytton (1947)
  22. Roberto Juan Rodriguez ()
  23. Louie Bellson (1924): died 2009
  24. Chico Hamilton (1921)

Also: Aaron Alexander (), Carl Allen (1961), Barry Altschul (1943), Scott Amendola (), Charly Antolini (1937), Ray Appleton (), Joe Ascione (1961), Donald Bailey (1934), Ginger Baker (1939), Andrew Barker (), Richie Barshay (1983), Dick Berk (1939), Chuck Bernstein (1940), Ignacio Berroa (1953), John Bishop (), Todd Bishop (), Cindy Blackman (1959), Brian Blade (1970), Cecil Brooks III (1961), Roy Brooks (1938), Anthony Brown () [perc], Guillermo E Brown (1976), Will Calhoun (), Terri Lyne Carrington (1965), Michael Carvin (1944), Joe Chambers (1942) [vibes], Mike Clark (), Gerald Cleaver (1963), Alex Cline (1956), Jimmy Cobb (1929), Billy Cobham (1944), Jerome Cooper (1946), Duduka Da Fonseca (), Les DeMerle (1946), Ramón Díaz (), Whit Dickey (1954), Bruce Ditmas (), Harris Eisenstadt (1975), Kahil El'Zabar (1953) [perc], Pierre Favre (1937), Alvin Fielder (1935), Al Foster (1944), Bob French (), Tobias Gebb (), Jerry Granelli (), Lou Grassi (1947), Milford Graves (1941) [perc], Carola Grey (), Jake Hanna (1931), Eric Harland (1978), Winard Harper (1962), Louis Hayes (1937), Phil Haynes (1961), Jon Hazilla (), Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez (1963), Motohiko Hino (1946), Ari Hoenig (), William Hooker (1946), Owen Howard (), Daniel Humair (1938), Ken Hyder (1946), Susie Ibarra (), Ronald Shannon Jackson (1940), Sven-Ake Johansson (1943), Manu Katché (1958), Franklin Kiermyer (1956), Pete LaRoca (1938), Victor Lewis (), Paul Lovens (1949), Mat Marucci (1945), Billy Martin (1963) [perc], Jean Martin (), Eric McPherson (), Francisco Mela (1968), Cody Moffett (), Louis Moholo (1940), Ravish Momin () [perc], T.S. Monk (1949), Stanton Moore (), Bob Moses (1948), Alphonse Mouzon (1948), Idris Muhammad (1939), Paal Nilssen-Love (1974), Kevin Norton (1956), Kresten Osgood (1976), Leon Parker (1965) [perc], Clarence Penn (1968), Ben Perowsky (), Ralph Peterson (1962), Eddie Prévost (1942), Dafnis Prieto (1974), Bernard Purdie (1939), Alvin Queen (1950), Abbey Rader (), Tom Rainey (1957), Mike Reed (1974), Steve Reid (1944-2010), Ben Riley (1933), Gino Robair (), Aldo Romano (1941), Jordi Rossy (), Bobby Sanabria (), Antonio Sanchez (1971), George Schuller (), Kendrick Scott (1980), Asaf Sirkis (1969), Ted Sirota (1969), Warren Smith (), Günter "Baby" Sommer (1943), Tyshawn Sorey (1980), Harvey Sorgen (), Klaus Suonsaari (1959), EJ Strickland (1979), Thomas Strønen (1972), Akira Tana (1952), Fred Taylor (1954), Tom Teasley (), Ed Thigpen (1930), Dylan van der Schyff (), Nasheet Waits (), Jeff "Tain" Watts (1960), Paul Wertico (1953), Lenny White (1949), Jeff Williams (1950), Ethan Winograd ()

Percussion

  1. Kahil El'Zabar (1953): drums
  2. Hamid Drake (1955): drums
  3. Han Bennink (1942): drums
  4. Zakir Hussain (1951)
  5. Poncho Sanchez (1951)
  6. Trilok Gurtu (1951)
  7. Airto Moreira (1941)
  8. Susie Ibarra ()
  9. Cyro Baptista (1950)
  10. Candido Camero (1921)

Also: Gregg Bendian (1963), Big Black (1934), Anthony Brown () [d], Pete Escovedo (1935), Sammy Figueroa (), Billy Fox (1965), Milford Graves (1941) [d], Giovanni Hidalgo (), Jerry Leake (), Billy Martin (1963) [d], Bobby Matos (1941), Marilyn Mazur (1955), Ravish Momin () [d], Steve Noble (), Leon Parker (1965) [d], Jose Luis "Changuito" Quintana (), Dom Um Romao (1925), Adam Rudolph (), Daniel Sadownick (), Janine Santana (), John Santos (), Satoshi Takeishi (), Arto Tuncboyaciyan (), Nana Vasconcelos (1941), Glen Velez ()

Notes:

  • Many jazz drummers have an extended percussion palette, some to the point of primarily marketing themselves as percussionists. In Latin Jazz, and in various other world musics, you find percussionists who do not bother with drum kits. This category skews slightly in their direction, but not consistently so. My own records are often unclear.

Vibes

  1. Karl Berger (1935)
  3. Joe Locke (1959)
  4. Gary Burton (1943)
  5. Bobby Hutcherson (1941)
  6. Khan Jamal (1946)
  7. Steve Nelson (1955)

Also: Ben Adams (1976), Jason Adasiewicz (), Roy Ayers (1940), Joe Chambers (1942) [d] Teddy Charles (1928), Tim Collins (), Walt Dickerson (1931), Mike Dillon (), Terry Gibbs (1924), Gunter Hampel (1937), Stefon Harris (1973), Matthias Lupri (), Mike Mainieri (1938), Hendrik Meurkens (1957), Matt Moran (), Dave Pike (1938), Chuck Redd (), Dave Samuels (1948), Steve Shapiro (1963), Mark Sherman (1957), Mattias Ståhl (), Gust William Tsilis (1954), Bill Ware (1959), James Westfall (1981)

Violin

  1. Jason Kao Hwang ()
  2. Jenny Scheinman ()
  3. Regina Carter (1966)
  4. Mat Maneri (1969): viola
  5. Michal Urbaniak (1943)
  6. Philipp Wachsmann (1944)
  7. Svend Asmussen (1916)
  8. Jean-Luc Ponty (1942)

Also: Sam Bardfeld (), Zach Brock (), Charles Burnham (), Sara Caswell (), Tineke de Jong (), Phil Durrant (), John Ettinger (), Mark Feldman (), Jeff Gauthier (1954), Christian Howes (1972), Carla Kihlstedt (), Didier Lockwood (1956), Mark O'Connor (1961), Daniel Bernard Roumain (1971), Rob Thomas (), Aaron Weinstein (), Michael White (1933), Carlos Zingaro (1948), Jesse Zubot ().

Miscellaneous Instruments

Brass: French Horn, Tuba

  1. Bob Stewart (1945): tuba
  2. Howard Johnson (1941): tuba
  3. Tom Varner (1957): french horn
  4. Jim Self (): tuba
  5. Mike Walbridge (1937): tuba

Also: French Horn: Adam Unsworth (); Tuba: Vince Giordano (), Marcus Rojas (), Jim Shearer (), Ben Stapp (1982),

Reeds: Bass Clarinet, Oboe, Bassoon, Misc. Saxophones (Sopranino, Manzello/Stritch, C-Melody, Bass)

  1. David Murray (1955): bass clarinet; mostly tenor sax
  2. Michel Portal (1935): bass clarinet; mostly tenor sax
  3. Scott Robinson (1959): bass sax, c-melody sax
  4. Louis Sclavis (1953): bass clarinet; mostly clarinet
  5. Paul McCandless (1947): oboe
  6. Steve Adams (1952): sopranino sax
  7. Michael Marcus (1952): manzello, stritch
  8. Lindsay Cooper (1951): sopranino sax
  9. Wolfgang Fuchs (): sopranino sax

Also: Bass Clarinet: Denis Colin (), Carlo Actis Dato (1952), Marty Ehrlich (1955) [cl,fl,as], Avram Fefer (1965) [cl], Matt Lavelle (1970) [t], Stefan Haslebacher (1983), Gebhard Ullman (1957) [ts]; Oboe:; Bassoon: Michael Rabinowitz (1955), Daniel Smith ().

Guitar-Like: Banjo, Mandolin, Oud

  1. Rabih Abou-Khalil (): oud
  2. Béla Fleck (1958): banjo
  3. John Gill (1951): banjo
  4. Mike Marshall (1960): mandolin

Also: Banjo: Eddie Erickson (), Michael Franks (1944), Marty Grosz (1930), Cynthia Sayer (); Mandolin: Hamilton de Holanda (1976), David Grisman (1945); Oud: Anouar Braham (1957), Gordon Grdina ().

Strings: Viola, Cello, Harp

  1. Erik Friedlander (): cello
  2. Ernst Reijseger (1954): cello
  3. David Darling (1941): cello
  4. Mat Maneri (1969): viola; violin
  5. Hank Roberts (1955): cello
  6. Edmar Castaneda (1978): harp

Also: Viola: Philipp Wachsmann (1944) [v]; Cello: Tristan Honsinger (), Fred Katz (1919), Peggy Lee (1963), Daniel Levin (1974), Fred Lonberg-Holm (1962), Tony Moore (), Deidre Murray (), Tomas Ulrich (), Eberhard Weber (1940); Harp: Carol Robbins ().

Accordion/Bandoneon

  1. Richard Galliano (1950): accordion
  2. Dino Saluzzi (1935): bandoneon
  3. Andrea Parkins (): accordion

Also: Accordion: Stian Carstensen (), Satoko Fujii (1958) [p], Will Holshouser (), Klaus Paier (), Gary Versace ().

Harmonica

  1. Toots Thielemans (1922)
  2. Hendrik Meurkens (1957)

Also: Adam Glasser (), Enrico Granafei (), Ron Kalina ()

Multiple Exotic Instruments

  1. Bill Cole (1937): didgeridoo, shenai, sona, piri
  2. Cooper-Moore (1946): diddley bow
  3. Zusaan Kali Fasteau (): ney

Also: Hans Kennel () [alphorn, buchel],

Electronics/Turntables

  1. George Lewis (1952): trombone
  2. Wolfgang Mitterer ()
  3. DJ Logic (): turntables

Also: Electronics: Richard Teitelbaum (1939) [p], Philipp Wachsmann (1944) [v].

Truly Miscellaneous Instruments

  1. Steve Turre (1948): conch shells