Born August 21, 1906, in Red Bank, NJ, William Basie was the son of two musicians. As a teenager he studied with two jazz piano masters, Fats Waller and James P. Johnson. In 1934 he founded his own band, recorded extensively with Decca records and toured the world, winning numerous honors and awards. He died April 26, 1984 in New York.

Sites relating to the Swing Era band leader and trombonist.

Pianist, arranger, and Grammy-winning leader of a big band known as Limited Edition, active professionally since 1959.

The King of Swing. Legendary jazz band leader and clarinetist.

Submit sites related to jazz musician Woody Herman.

Woody Herman (1913-1987) was an American jazz reed player and big band leader.

Fifteen-piece band founded in the mid-1990s, playing concerts at Lincoln Center and worldwide.

Jazz big band leader, leading the Stan Kenton Orchestra from 1941 until his death in 1979. Kenton was a pianist and did much of the composing and arranging for his band.

Swing Era trombonist and band leader born in Clarinda, Iowa on March 1, 1904. He took up the trombone while young to earn extra money and, after dropping out of College, headed out to Los Angeles, where he started playing with Ben Pollack's orchestra. His first band, formed in 1937, lasted less than a year. His second band floundered as well, until being invited to play at the Glen Island Casino in 1939, after which it became hugely successful. In 1942 he joined the Army Air Corps where he was made Captain and formed the Army Air Force Band to entertain the troops in Europe. On December 15, 1944, he boarded a plane from Bedfordshire to Paris. The plane was lost over the English Channel and he was never seen again.