Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history, with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Max Roach, and Eric Dolphy. Mingus' work ranged from advanced bebop and avant-garde jazz with small and midsize ensembles, to pioneering the post-bop style on seminal recordings like Pithecanthropus Erectus (1956) and Mingus Ah Um (1959), and progressive big band experiments such as The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963).
Mingus in 1976
Mingus in 1976 playing the double bass
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life.
Publicity portrait, c. 1940s
British pressing of "East St. Louis Toodle-Oo" (1927)
Adelaide Hall recorded Creole Love Call with Ellington in 1927. The recording became a worldwide hit.
Duke Ellington at the Hurricane Club, Broadway & W. 51St, New York City, May 1943