Jazz Trumpet

Whether it's the '50s-style "cool school" that flips your wig or Dixieland that sets your toes a-tapping, somewhere there's a trumpeter blowing notes you need to hear. Not to blow our own horn too much, but we've combed through nine decades' worth of le trompette to bring you the best trumpeters of all time. Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis, though only 25 years apart in age, represent the alpha and the omega of the modern era. Our first two selections, for instance, recorded 31 years apart, actually express the span between the jet engine and the Model T.

Ray Nance's step-out on "Take The 'A' Train" is one of the most famous solos of the big band era; surprisingly, he also played the violin with Duke Ellington's band. Wynton Marsalis, arguably the most famous trumpeter in the post-Miles Davis era, is featured here on the Duke Ellington-composed "Melancholia," but his playing is very reminiscent of early Miles. And Donald Byrd's take on Charlie "Bird" Parker's "Chasing the Bird" proves them to be birds of a feather.

If you're wondering who's playing horn on Duke Ellington's "The Prowling Cat," it's William Alonzo "Cat" Anderson . . . and he's certainly not prowling. Mark Isham, who won a Best New Age Performance GRAMMY® in 1990, shows off his jazz chops in "And Miles to Go . . . Before He Sleeps." And Jack Sheldon, better known to Gen Xers as the guy who sang "Conjunction Junction," leads his band through a particularly tasty cover of "Green Dolphin Street."

Some played it sweet, some played it shrill, some hit the impossible high notes, some hung languidly in the lower register. Ever since the dawning of jazz — heck, ever since the angel Gabriel blew that famous note — we've had a special place in our hearts for the man with the horn. From Art Farmer to Ziggy Elman, nine decades of the trumpet's unique place in jazz history are on showcase right here. Whether your tastes lean toward bebop or "cool school," big band or small combo, we've got the sounds you can't help but dig.