Al Haig, Shelly Manne, and Oscar Pettiford turn up on the earliest dated credits in 1945, and within two years Bud Powell arrives to anchor the keyboard end of the music, soon followed by Lucky Thompson, Duke Jordan, and Howard McGhee in 1948. Dizzy Gillespie threads through these early years as a recurring presence across Haig, Powell, Jordan, and McGhee, while bassist Tommy Potter binds Haig, Powell, Jordan, and Don Lamond into the same working circle. By 1949 the line widens to Kenny Dorham, Shorty Rogers, Shadow Wilson, Don Lamond, and Barney Kessel, with drummer Max Roach recurring beneath Haig, Kessel, and Powell, and Miles Davis turning up alongside the same names as the music pushes forward. Charles Mingus links Powell, Kenny Dorham, and Lucky Thompson across his sessions, while at Blue Note founder Alfred Lion and engineer Rudy Van Gelder capture the next wave — Gigi Gryce, James Moody, and Dexter Gordon — with drummer Art Blakey a constant hand across Gryce, Moody, Jimmy Heath, and Joe Gordon. From there the baton passes to Tal Farlow in 1956 and Wynton Kelly in 1957, and finally to
The spine, inception to now
1945Al Haig
1945Shelly Manne
1945Oscar Pettiford
1947Bud Powell
1948Lucky Thompson
1948Duke Jordan
1948Howard McGhee
1949Kenny Dorham
1949Shorty Rogers
1949Shadow Wilson
1949Don Lamond
1949Barney Kessel
1951Percy Heath
1951Jimmy Heath
1951James Moody
1952Stan Levey
1953Kenny Clarke
1953"Philly" Joe Jones
1953Gigi Gryce
1954Tadd Dameron
1954Clark Terry
1955Joe Gordon
1956Curtis Counce
1956Tal Farlow
The threads that bind it
Rudy Van Gelderengineer — "Philly" Joe Jones, Al Haig, Curtis Counce, Dexter Gordon, Gigi Gryce
Max Roachmusician — Al Haig, Barney Kessel, Bud Powell, Clark Terry, Curtis Counce
Tommy Pottermusician — Al Haig, Barney Kessel, Bud Powell, Don Lamond, Duke Jordan
Alfred Lionengineer — "Philly" Joe Jones, Al Haig, Dexter Gordon, Gigi Gryce, James Moody
Miles Davismusician — Al Haig, Barney Kessel, Bud Powell, Don Lamond, Duke Jordan
Art Blakeymusician — Al Haig, Gigi Gryce, James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Joe Gordon
Dizzy Gillespiemusician — Al Haig, Bud Powell, Duke Jordan, Howard McGhee, Jimmy Heath