12 jazz greats

The first jazz album was recorded at the end of February 1917. It featured two titles, "Dixieland Jazz Band One-Step" on the A side and "Livery Stable Blues" on the B side. From this recorded event in the history of jazz, several other musicians would go on to push the genre to new levels over the century.

Louis Armstrong grew up in Storyville, New Orleans' prostitution district, where the world's first jazz musicians played in brothels and competed to be recognized as the best. In the 1930s, Armstrong revolutionized New Orleans jazz with his solos, giving them a warm and romantic sound. His talent as a showman also remains unforgettable.

Sidney Bechet played the clarinet and saxophone in the New Orleans hot jazz tradition, also known as Dixieland. He strongly contributed to the popularity of this style, playing live in Europe in the 1920s. Between 1937-1941, his most successful period, he recorded several albums and performed among others with Louis Armstrong. Bechet was the first musician to play the blues on a clarinet.

Cab Calloway was not only an exceptional musician, singer and bandleader, but also a gifted entertainer. A white tuxedo and his wide smile became his trademark. He would often perform in Harlem's Cotton Club and toured through the US and Europe. The famous "Hi De Ho Man" also developed dance moves that are seen as the precursor to Michael Jackson's "moonwalk."

Art Tatum put all other jazz pianists in the shade. As a child, he suffered from cataracts and learned music at a school for the blind. He became famous in the mid 1930s. When pianist Oscar Peterson first heard one of his recordings, he apparently believed two pianists were playing at the same time — that's how good Tatum was.

Ella Fitzgerald actually wanted to become a dancer. Yet at an amateur night at the Apollo Theater, she opted to sing instead of dance as first planned, intimidated by a previous act. She won first prize. Her unique voice conquered the jazz world. She started her solo career in 1941 and recorded albums with the star trumpet players Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie and pianist Duke Ellington.

Just like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan was discovered through her act at the Apollo Theater's amateur night contest. As one the great voices of jazz, she wanted to be recognized as more than a jazz diva, also taking on songs from Broadway musicals. Moving between styles, she performed until the end of her life in 1990.

Hollywood, 1947: With three other saxophonists, the young Stan Getz in Tony de Carlo's orchestra enthused the audience at Pete Pontrelli's Figueroa Ballroom in Los Angeles. His hit bebop song "Early Autumn" paved the way to cool jazz. His most iconic hit, the bossa nova song "The Girl from Ipanema," won a Grammy in 1965.

Born Nathaniel Adam Cole in 1919, he was influenced by the pianist Earl Hines' famous "trumpet style" and became known professionally as Nat King Cole in Chicago in 1936. He founded the King Cole Swingsters trio with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince. One of his greatest hits was the 1950 song, "Mona Lisa."

Ray Charles, a blind singer and pianist from Florida, started his career in the 1950s. Up until the 1970s, he was accompanied by his all-female singing group, the Raelettes (photo). He was a pioneer of soul music and an influentially powerful figure among African-American musicians. His songs like "Hit the Road Jack" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" remain enduring hits.

The Californian pianist and composer Carla Bley started her career with The Jazz Composer's Orchestra. In 1971, she composed her most important work, the opera "Escalator Over the Hill," which combines rock, free jazz and Indian music. The now 82-year-old musician still performs to this day.

From 1957's "Birth of Cool" sessions, instrumental to the development of cool jazz, to 1970's psychedelic "Bitches Brew," Miles Davis is remembered for a series of revolutionary milestones. The trumpeter who died in 1991 remains one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.