In 1931 in jazz:

Gerald Marks (October 13, 1900-January 27, 1997), was an American composer best known for the song "All of Me" which he co-wrote with Seymour Simons and has been recorded about 2,000 times. He also wrote the songs "That's What I Want for Christmas" for the film Stowaway starring Shirley Temple, and "Is It True What They Say About Dixie" recorded by Al Jolson and Rudy Vallee.

The success of his song "All of Me" led him to become a member of ASCAP, and he remained active in the organization for decades, serving on its board of directors from 1970 to 1981.

Seymour Simons, (January 14, 1896 - February 12, 1949) was an American Pianist, Composer, Orchestra Leader, and Radio Producer.

Simons returned to Detroit after service in World War I and built a reputation as a pianist and songwriter, providing material for stage stars Nora Bayes and Elsie Janis. In 1919 he wrote "Just Like a Gypsy" with Bayes, who, in addition to being a popular entertainer, was already a songwriter best known for “Shine on Harvest Moon”, written with her performer/husband Jack Norworth in 1910. "Just Like a Gypsy" was recorded in 1941 by Maxine Sullivan and in 1946 by Peggy Lee.

A collaboration in 1926 with Richard Whiting produced “Hello, Baby,” recorded by Ruth Etting, and the popular “Breezin’ Along With the Breeze”, in conjunction with Haven Gillespie, which was first recorded by Josephine Baker, used in the film Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), and sung by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in their 1954 film, The Long, Long Trailer. The trio also collaborated on “(I’m in Love with You) Honey” (1928) which appeared in the film, Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945). With Gus Kahn, Simons wrote “Just Can’t Be Bothered with Me” (1929) and “Sweetheart of My Student Days” (1930).

Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" cornet and trumpet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the music's focus from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly recognizable deep and distinctive gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also greatly skilled at scat singing (vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics).

Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over," whose skin-color was secondary to his music in an America that was severely racially divided. It allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for a black man. While he rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, he was privately a strong supporter of the Civil Rights movement in America.^{[citation needed]}

Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer.

Nicknamed The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and, along with Louis Armstrong, a major influence on subsequent jazz vocalists.

The 1900 census indicates that Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in July 1892. However, the 1910 census recorded her birthday as April 15, 1894, a date that appears on all subsequent documents and was observed by the entire Smith family. Census data also contributes to controversy about the size of her family. The 1870 and 1880 censuses report three older half-siblings, while later interviews with Smith's family and contemporaries did not include these individuals among her siblings.

Bessie Smith was the daughter of Laura (née Owens) and William Smith. William Smith was a laborer and part-time Baptist preacher (he was listed in the 1870 census as a "minister of the gospel", in Moulton, Lawrence, Alabama.) He died before his daughter could remember him. By the time she was nine, she had lost her mother and a brother as well. Her older sister Viola took charge of caring for her siblings.