William Johnson Coleman (August 4, 1904 in Paris, Kentucky – August 24, 1981 in Toulouse) was a jazz trumpeter from the swing era.

He had his musical debut in 1927. Coleman's first recordings were with the Luis Russell orchestra, but all solos on record went to the rising star Henry "Red" Allen. This led to Bill Coleman's departure from the band. By 1935 he worked with Fats Waller. In 1935 he also moved for the first time to France. This led to his working with European musicians like Django Reinhardt in the mid-1930s. He later spent time in Egypt working with Herman Chittison. In 1941-42 he was with Andy Kirk's Clouds of Joy. In 1943 he worked with the American saxophonists Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins.

He returned to France in 1948 and spent the rest of his life there in part due to racial segregation. In 1974 he received the Ordre National du Mérite.

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American composer, pianist, and big-band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions. In the opinion of Bob Blumenthal of The Boston Globe "In the century since his birth, there has been no greater composer, American or otherwise, than Edward Kennedy Ellington." A major figure in the history of jazz, Ellington's music stretched into various other genres, including blues, gospel, film scores, popular, and classical. His career spanned more than 50 years and included leading his orchestra, composing an inexhaustible songbook, scoring for movies, composing stage musicals, and world tours. Several of his instrumental works were adapted into songs that became standards. Due to his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, and thanks to his eloquence and extraordinary charisma, he is generally considered to have elevated the perception of jazz to an art form on a par with other traditional genres of music. His reputation increased after his death and the Pulitzer Prize Board bestowed on him a special posthumous honor in 1999.

Albert Nicholas (May 27, 1900, New Orleans, Louisiana – September 3, 1973, Basel, Switzerland) was an American jazz reed player.

Nicholas's primary instrument was the clarinet, which he studied with Lorenzo Tio in his hometown of New Orleans. Late in the 1910s he played with Buddy Petit, King Oliver, and Manuel Perez. He spent three years in the Merchant Marines and then joined up again with Oliver in Chicago from 1925 to 1927. After time in East Asia and Egypt, he returned to New York City in 1928 and played with Luis Russell until 1933, playing there with Red Allen, Charlie Holmes, and J.C. Higginbotham. Later he played with Louis Armstrong (with Russell) and Jelly Roll Morton (recorded 1929, 1939).

The Dixieland jazz revival of the late 1940s reinvigorated his career; he played with Art Hodes, Bunk Johnson, and Kid Ory, and had a regular gig with Ralph Sutton in 1948. In 1953 he moved to France; except for recording sessions in the U.S. in 1959-60, he remained there for the rest of his life.