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Artists - J

• J C Higginbotham - Band leader Higginbotham was known for his declamatory style on trombone.
• Jack Buchanan - Jack Buchanan (1891-1957) was an aristocratic-looking British gentleman and when he appeared dressed in top hat and tails, he was the last person you would expect to sing and dance to perfection. He...
• Jack Harris - American bandleader Jack Harris was resident in the UK from 1927 to 1940. An interesting, ahead-of-its-time arrangement of I Double Dare You with Joanne Andrews is one of Jack's fine sides cut...
• Jack Hylton - Jack Hylton built up a tremendous following in the late 1920s and early 30s as Europe's greatest show band. One, Two, Button Your Shoe from the film Pennies From Heaven features the marvellous...
• Jack Jackson - Jack Jackson had been a kingpin on trumpet in the bands of  Hylton and Payne before he led his own small team in to play at the Dorchester in 1933.
• Jack Payne - Jack Payne was Director of Dance Music at the BBC and employed the cream of British musicians in his band. Tiger Rag was something of a test piece, calling for skilled musicianship.
• Jack Teagarden - Jack Teagarden (1905-64), a Texan, was the most celebrated jazz trombonist of his day but a reluctant band leader, with little appetite for business.
• Jakc Buchanan - The debonair Jack Buchanan sings three songs from three different British musical films released between 1932 and 1935, on our CD Age Of Style.
• James P Johnson - James P Johnson (1894-1955), known unflatteringly as 'The Brute', was the doyen of Harlem's piano professors. Aside from the captivating Snowy Morning Blues recorded in 1927, Johnson wrote 'The Charleston'...
• Jay Wilbur - Jay Wilbur & His Band was a fine group of musicians who existed principally in the confines of the recording studios for the Rex and Decca labels during the Thirties and Forties. Jay Wilbur, never...
• Jean Sablon - Jean Sablon, the charismatic French singer, was a performer in music halls, cabarets and theatres. His association with the jazz guitar genius Django Reinhardt produced some excellent music. Sablon was...
• Jelly Roll Morton - Ferdinand 'Jelly Roll' Morton (1890-1941), was truly colourful character from New Orleans. Self-styled as 'The Originator of Jazz, Stomps and Blues' music,
• Jessie Matthews -  Two of Jessie Matthews' best recordings were issued back to back in 1932. Not from any show or film, the songs were By The Fireside and One More Kiss.
• Jimmie Lunceford - Jimmie Lunceford created one of the greatest of black swing bands in the USA during the Thirties and Forties.
• Jimmie Noone - Clarinetist Jimmie Noone was from New Orleans. His recording of I Know That You Know was made with a group of New York musicians including the guitarist Teddy Bunn.
• Jimmy Dorsey - 1935 marked the beginning of the well-known rift between Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey. Until then they had been joint leaders of the Dorsey Brothers' Orchestra. Jimmy was left in sole charge of the band while...
• Jimmy Durante - Jimmy Durante was nicknamed ‘Schnozzle’ because of his large nose. Durante’s extrovert personality livened up a number of films in the 30s and 40s, including ‘This Time For Keeps’...
• Jo Stafford - The cool-sounding vocalist Jo Stafford emerged from the ranks of the big bands. Her later career was spent in radio with her husband Paul Weston as her accompanist and arranger.
• Joe Loss -  Surely the record for longevity as an active bandleader is held, perhaps forever, by Joe Loss. He wielded the baton for almost sixty years, from 1930 until June 1990.
• Joe Sullivan - Joe Sullivan was known for his associations with Bud Freeman and Bob Crosby. Little Rock Getaway was his best known solo, and demonstrates his debt to Hines and Waller.
• Joe Turner - Joe Turner (1907-90) travelled to Europe as Adelaide Hall's jazz accompanist, stayed on and became popular, appearing at top clubs in Paris until his death.
• Joe Venuti - Joe Venuti was a reputed improviser but attracted notoriety for his pitiless practical joking. His famous Blue Four session included Adrian Rollini, one of the few who could make the unwieldy bass saxophone...
• John Kirby - John Kirby called his six-piece music group ‘the biggest little swing band in the land,’ and it became a fixture in the clubs of New York’s ‘Swing Street’ (52nd...
• John McCormack
• Johnny Dodds
• Johnny Hamps Kentucky Serenaders
• Johnny Hodges
• Johnny Mercer
• Josephine Baker
• Judy Garland - Remembered for her role as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, this popular actress was also a talented singer with a string of hits from the American Songbook.
• June Hutton