Truth is, the finest jazz contributors were white, dating back to Bix. How about Desmond, Konitz, Kenton, Pepper, Shank, Sheldon, Ferguson, Mulligan, Baker, Evans, Charlop, Woods, Getz, Cohn, Brubeck, Hamilton, Vache, Daniels, Zoot, Pass, Martino, DiFrancesco.....and on and on. These guys took the art form way beyond its primitive beginnings.
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Wow. Really? The finest? All white guys?
Truth is, maybe 2 or 3 of the guys you mention above have had a lasting impact on the language of jazz. Our lists overlap a bit in that regard.
But to have a list of the finest jazz contributors and not even mention Monk, Diz, Bird, Satchmo, Cannonball, the Trane, Kenny Burrell, Ellington, Basie ... should I go on?
The original Pat Metheny Group was what got me into Jazz as a teenager....their “White Album” from 1977, is still the finest true blend of rock and jazz. Pat and Lyle were just amazing in how they could take their influences, Ornette Coleman and Bill Evans, and combine them into a more accessible rock-like sound, with Mark Egan’s Jaco-like bass playing. I never get tired of playing that album.