NAMES!
One of the things I loved to do as a kid is to scour over my Baseball Encyclopedia and learn the names and nicknames of baseball players. Why would I do that, and what did I learn? Well, different eras in baseball reflect different worlds. Today’s ballplayers, for example, have nice normal names and are all good, well bred young men. Not only are David Manning, Jeff Curry and Brad Mills boring names, but no one has a nick name anymore! Go back to another generation, you get great names like Eli Grba, Waite Hoyt, Coot 
Veale, Cot Deal, Vic Raschi and my all time favorite, Urban Shocker! How can you make these up?!?
Nicknames? In baseball back in the day you’d get Dazzy, Dizzy, Preacher, The Barber, The Lip, The Babe, The Yankee Clipper…don’t these names just evoke wonderful images? Well, the same goes with jazz. One of the things that made me fall in love with it was that the players back a generation or so not only had great names, but wonderful nicknames. Nicknames denote if nothing else the fact that the possessor has some quirky piece to his personality, style or physique. I mean, do you really think guys like Chris Potter or Wynton Marsalis are going to get nicknames?
So, what we’ve done here is put together a list of some of the wonderful names of jazz artists. In no particular order. I purposely decided not to include names like Fats, Chubby or Big, as these nicknames are generic.Likewise there are no Slim Harpos or Memphis Slims, no matter how good they sound. Having said that get some music by the likes of…
1) “Satchmo” Armstrong-actually, the name was a shortening of “Satchelmouth” but either way, the greatest vocalist and trumpet player in jazz had one of the best nicknames as well.
2) “Dizzy” Gillispie-There are many reasons how John Birks got this name, but it makes no difference. It reflects the music that changed all things jazz 
forever.
3) “Slim” and “Slam”-The jive team of Bulee Gillard/g-voc (gotta love “Bulee”)and Leroy Stewart/b was an absolute hoot with stuff like “Hit That Jive, Jack” and Stewart’s singing along with his bass still sounds wonderfully fresh.
4) Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis-The smoky toned tenor was born to play with either Basie or a B3
5) Harry “Sweets” Edison-Most people believe that the Basie alumnus got his name for his gorgeous tone, but the true story is that he was notorious as 
having the worst gaseous emissions within 20 miles!
6) “Dodo” Marmarosa-I never even knew his 
name was Michael until I recently looked it up. A prototypical bebopping pianist who’s work with Charlie Barnet’s and Lester Young’s band set the standard.
7) “Cootie” Williams-Charles Melvin had such a distinctive tone that Duke Ellington wrote a classic “Concerto” for him. A hot jump tunes player as well.
8) Pharoah Sanders-his actual name was Farrell, but either way, you’re going to remember the outside sounding tenor master.
9) “Wingy” Manone-Joseph Matthews lost his arm in an accident, but it sure didn’t prevent him from playing the trumpet on some smoking sessions from the 20s through the 40s.
10) “Tricky” Sam Nanton-the trombonist who pioneered the “wah wah” sound for Ellington during the famed Jungle Years 
and beyond.
11) David “Fathead” Newman-Sax and flute specialist who made his name first with Ray Charles and then on his own. One of the warmest tenor sounds in the world. I met him a number 
of times, and was always hesitant to speak to him. What do I call him? Mr. Newman or Fathead? What do you think I did?
12) Illinois Jacquet-This was actually the middle name of Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet, the famed Texas Tenor who made such a gorgeous solo on “Flying Home” that entire sax sections now 
transcribe it.
13) Lester “Prez” Young and Billie “Lady Day” Holiday. They were always linked together, and everyone immediately knew who you were talking about if you said “Prez” or “Lady Day.” The coolest of nicknames.
14) Charlie “Bird” or “Yardbird” Parker-Another sui generis nickname. The origins are arguable, but the name still fit the man who brought in the modern age of jazz and started a whole school of disciples or imitators.
15) Jimmy “Mister 5×5” Rushing. More of a title than an actual nickname, it nevertheless is too unforgettable to leave off any list. Besides, it was the first nickname my daughter offered when asked of her favorite jazz monickers!.jpg)
16 No list would be complete without the three best names of another generation:
Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Earl 
“Fatha” Hines. Creative music reflected by creative names.
17 John Haley “Zoot” Sims. Of all the nicknames, this is the one I’d like for myself. The image of a Zoot Suit with the Reet Pleat is the look my dad had in the 40s. And to have such a warm tenor sound to go with the name is too much to bear. 