20th-century jazz composers

Garrett_List

Garrett List (September 10, 1943 – December 27, 2019) was an American trombonist, vocalist, and composer.
List was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He studied at California State University, Long Beach, and the Juilliard School. He was a member of Italian band Musica Elettronica Viva from 1971. In 1980, he began teaching at the Royal Conservatory of Liège. List died in Liège, Belgium, aged 76.

Calvin_Carter

Calvin Tollie Carter (May 27, 1925 – July 9, 1986) was an American record producer, record label manager and songwriter of jazz and pop songs.
Calvin Carter was born in Gary, Indiana, in 1925. He joined Vee-Jay Records, founded by his sister Vivian Carter and her husband James Bracken, in 1953 and became its principal A&R man and producer, in charge of recording sessions. According to AllMusic, he was responsible for giving "direction and vision" to the company, which mainly recorded R&B acts such as Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, Billy Emerson and Jimmy Reed. In the 1960s, Vee Jay Records was the first American company to sign The Beatles and helped to establish The Four Seasons as a major-selling group.
After Vee Jay was forced to close by financial problems, Calvin Carter worked at Liberty Records, running their soul subsidiary, Minit Records, for a while and working with Canned Heat. He produced leading blues artist, Little Milton for Chess Records in the late 1960s and Betty Everett for Fantasy Records in the early 1970s. He had first signed her for Vee Jay a decade earlier, producing several hits for her including "The Shoop Shoop Song". He recorded jazz musicians such as Eddie Harris and Gene Ammons while with Vee Jay.His best-known song, "I Ain't Got You", was recorded by both Jimmy Reed and Billy Boy Arnold in 1955 and later covered by The Yardbirds in 1964 (as the B-side to their "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" single), by The Animals on their 1965 UK release Animal Tracks, by Aerosmith in 1978 on their Live! Bootleg album, by Blue Öyster Cult in 1975 on their On Your Feet or on Your Knees album (as "Maserati GT (I Ain't Got You)"), by The Blues Brothers in 1980 on their Made in America album, by Molly Hatchet on their The Deed Is Done album, and by the Belgian band The Baboons in 2011 (on their Back Scratch album).
Burt Bacharach has stated that it was Calvin Carter who really gave him his first big break when Carter, who was head of A&R at Vee Jay Records, called him to say that Jerry Butler wanted to do his song 'Make It Easy On Yourself'. Carter asked him to fly out to New York and to basically take charge of the recording session. Bacharach said that was the first time anyone had allowed him to be in control. He said "I just went from there".Carter died in Oak Forest, Illinois, in 1986, aged 61.

J._J._Johnson

J. J. Johnson (January 22, 1924 – February 4, 2001), born James Louis Johnson and also known as Jay Jay Johnson, was an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.
Johnson was one of the earliest trombonists to embrace bebop.

Bernard_Vitet

Bernard Vitet (26 May 1934 – 3 July 2013) was a French trumpeter, multi-instrumentist and composer, co-founder of the first free jazz band in France (1964) together with François Tusques, Michel Portal Unit (1972) and Un Drame Musical Instantané with Jean-Jacques Birgé and Francis Gorgé in 1976.

Lanny_Steele

Robert L. Steele ("Lanny") (December 30, 1933 – October 21, 1994) was an American jazz pianist, educator, composer, and jazz festival promoter. He founded the Texas Southern University Jazz Ensemble.Steele graduated from Lamar High School in Houston, Texas. He studied music at the University of North Texas College of Music, where he was a member of the One O'Clock Lab Band.
He was a pianist for Arnett Cobb. He taught music at Texas Southern University, where he created the TSU Jazz Ensemble. He also founded the Juneteenth Blues Festival (Houston), a commemoration of the liberation of Texan African-Americans from slavery. He helped organize the Houston Jazz Festival and was a co-founder of SUMArts.

William_Franklin_Lee_III

William Franklin Lee III, aka Bill Lee (February 20, 1929-October 23, 2011) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, author, and music educator who was renowned for pioneering comprehensive music education, including jazz, at the collegiate level. He led the University of Miami School of Music and was the University of Miami's third music school dean from 1964 to 1982.In 1989, Lee retired from the University of Miami but continued to work in music education at other institutions. He was distinguished professor emeritus of music theory and composition and emeritus composer in residence. Lee was vice-president and provost at the University of Miami and president and executive director of IAJE.His son Will Lee played bass guitar for Late Night with David Letterman and Late Show with David Letterman.

Ian_Carr

Ian Carr (21 April 1933 – 25 February 2009) was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator. Carr performed and recorded with the Rendell-Carr quintet and jazz-fusion band Nucleus, and was an associate professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He also wrote biographies of musicians Keith Jarrett and Miles Davis.