zachsd

Hm, hard to say.

-Miles Davis
-John Coltrane
-Thelonious Monk
-Charles Mingus

Throw in a drummer, maybe Art Blakey, and you'd have quite the quintet.

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James

That's the same names I posted! High five!

zachsd

Respect.

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SATCHMO

Wait, you mean Max Roach, right?

Pet_Sounds

It would probably a good idea to have some variety in terms of instruments. For example, one could make a case for including Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis, but all three play the trumpet, so it would be rather skewed.

Of the three I mentioned, Louis Armstrong is probably the face to go with.

To represent saxophone, John Coltrane is hard to argue with.

A pianist should be included -- either Oscar Peterson or Thelonious Monk. Somebody more knowledgable about jazz than I can make that decision.

And for the fourth, perhaps a vocalist or a drummer should be represented. Ella Fitzgerald, perhaps? I don't know enough about jazz drummers to nominate somebody.

But my personal favourites are Brubeck, Coltrane, Miles, and Peterson.

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Everybody's dying just to get the disease

bluestate

I'd have to go with this as well...

p.j.

Tony Williams.