Noted jazz figures by period
Early jazz musicians:
- Jelly Roll Morton
- Joe King Oliver
- Louis Armstrong
- Original Dixieland Jass Band
- Sidney Bechet
- Bix Beiderbecke
- Red Nichols
Middle period
- Paul Whiteman
- Benny Goodman
- Glenn Miller
- Artie Shaw
- Tommy Dorsey
- Jimmy Dorsey
- Cab Calloway
- Fats Waller
- Charlie Christian
- Count Basie
- Duke Ellington
Modern innovators
Noted jazz figures by instrument
- Baby Dodds
- Paul Barbarin
- Dave Tough
- Big Sid Catlett
- Joe Morello
- Cal Tjader (bongos)
- Chick Webb
- Tony Williams
- Max Roach
- Paul Wertico
- Antonio Sanchez
- Buddy Rich
- Kenny Clarke
- Elvin Jones
- Billy Higgins
- Bill Johnson
- Pops Foster
- Wellman Braud
- Steve Brown
- Al Morgan
- Milt Hinton
- Jimmy Blanton
- Ray Brown
- Oscar Pettiford
- Charles Mingus
- Eugene Wright
- Paul Chambers
- Stanley Clarke
- Ron Carter
- Steve Rodby
- Charlie Haden
- Stuart Hamm
- Dave Holland
- Dr. Art Davis
- Gary Willis
- Alphonse Picou
- Big Eye Louis Nelson Deslile
- Alcide Nunez
- Wilber Sweatman
- Jimmy Noone
- Larry Shields
- Johnny Dodds
- Sidney Bechet
- Barney Bigard
- Jimmy Hamilton
- Benny Goodman
- Edmond Hall
- Peanuts Hucko
- Artie Shaw
- Pee Wee Russell
- Woody Herman
- Pete Fountain
- Buddy DeFranco
- Jimmy Giuffre
- Louis Sclavis
- Lonnie Johnson
- Eddie Lang
- Charlie Christian
- Wes Montgomery
- Barney Kessell
- Herb Ellis
- Snoozer Quinn
- Emily Remler
- Django Reinhardt
- Joe Pass
- Pat Martino
- George Benson
- Jim Hall
- Scott Henderson
- Larry Coryell
- Pat Metheny
- Bill Frisell
- John McLaughlin
- Stanley Jordan
- Kenny Burrell
- Tal Farlow
- Grant Green
- Jimmy Raney
- Chuck Wayne
- Derek Bailey
- Jelly Roll Morton
- Willie The Lion Smith
- James P. Johnson
- Earl Hines
- Duke Ellington
- Count Basie
- Fats Waller
- Art Tatum
- Dave Brubeck
- Bud Powell
- Brad Mehldau
- Thelonious Monk
- Bill Evans
- Oscar Peterson
- Chick Corea
- Herbie Hancock
- Keith Jarrett
- Cecil Taylor
- Lyle Mays
- Fred Simon
- Horace Tapscott
- Sidney Bechet (soprano)
- Luciano Caruso (soprano)
- Coleman Hawkins (tenor)
- Adrian Rollini (bass, baritone, goofus)
- Lester Young (tenor)
- Ben Webster (tenor)
- Johnny Hodges (alto)
- Harry Carney (baritone)
- Dexter Gordon (tenor)
- Cannonball Adderley (alto)
- John Coltrane (tenor, soprano, flute)
- Paul Desmond (alto)
- Gerry Mulligan (baritone)
- Charlie Parker (alto)
- Evan parker (soprano)
- Wayne Shorter (tenor, soprano)
- Stan Getz (tenor)
- Hank Mobley (tenor)
- Sonny Rollins (tenor)
- Zoot Sims (tenor)
- Branford Marsalis (tenor, soprano)
- Rahsaan Roland Kirk (all saxes - including some of his own creation)
- Kenny Garrett (alto)
- Joshua Redman (tenor)
- Ornette Coleman (alto)
- Anthony Braxton (alto)
- Steve Coleman (alto)
- Buddy Bolden
- Freddie Keppard
- Joe King Oliver
- Louis Armstrong
- Bix Beiderbecke
- Tommy Ladnier
- Henry Red Allen
- Fats Navarro
- Roy Eldridge
- Clifford Brown
- Dizzy Gillespie
- Miles Davis
- Chet Baker
- Donald Byrd
- Lee Morgan
- Freddie Hubbard
- Humphrey Lyttelton
- Woody Shaw
- Don Cherry
- Cuong Vu
- David Douglas
- Markus Stockhausen
- Kid Ory
- Tom Brown
- Charlie Green
- Roy Palmer
- Miff Mole
- J.C. Higgenbotham
- Dickie Wells
- J.J. Johnson
- Kai Winding
- Jack Teagarden
- Steve Turre
- Bob Brookmeyer
- Ray Anderson
- Louis Armstrong
- Mildred Bailey
- Cab Calloway
- Betty Carter
- Eva Cassidy
- Billy Eckstine
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Lena Horne
- Johnny Hartman
- Billie Holiday
- Etta James
- Sheila Jordan
- Peggy Lee
- Bobby McFerrin
- Anita O'Day
- Jimmy Rushing
- Bessie Smith
- Frank Sinatra
- Sarah Vaughan
- Dinah Washington
- Ethel Watters
- Leo Watson
- Joe Williams
Multi-instrumentalists
- Sidney Bechet (clarinet, soprano sax, trumpet, bass, drums)
- Eric Dolphy (bass clarinet, clarinet, flute, alto sax)
- Yusef Lateef (tenor sax, flute, oboe, many other woodwinds)
- Jaki Byard (alto sax, piano)
- Ray Nance (trumpet, violin)
- Mark Ledford
- Benny Carter (alto sax, trumpet)
- Ira Sullivan (various reeds and brass)
- David Moss (vocals, drums, electronics)
- Sun Ra
- John Surman (saxes, clarinets, piano, synthesizer)