Who was your first

Ferrari's post beat me to to it.Jazz is not Black or White.It is America's Music and appreciated all over the world

True of course, Ferrari, I was thinking more of the hard core crowd of those times. I heard Mulligan live in Paris many years ago, collected LPs of all the names you have mentioned, but even in my early years I found their music "intellectual and contrived" in comparison to what Parker, Miles, Coltrane etc.etc had to offer, I found their music gutsier, dirtier. I loved Chet, but he never shook me down to my guts or made me grin as sometimes Dizzy could. It's all personal taste of course. The very origin of jazz however, if I am informed right and no matter to what happened to this strand of music later, is black after all.

Detlof ,I would not call Chet Baker or Gerry Mulligans music contrived in any way.You might be referring to the different styles of the day. East Coast vs. West Coast with East Coast being more straight ahead and trying push the envelope so to speak

Detlof,

Detlof, FWIW, I think we share a 'personal taste' in jazz.

A question. Is Chet singing music an oxymoron? I wasn't part of the jazz culture when he was on the scene. Who was his audience? I enjoyed his trumpet playing some, but then he would pause and 'sing'. Glad he wasn't playing dinner jazz. Or jazz at dinner. :-)

Goldeneraguy, it makes sense what you say of course. Besides this is all purely personal. I don't pretend to be an expert. All I am recounting is the fact, that today, now quite old, I still am moved by the music of those names I mentioned, while the likes of Baker or Mulligan et al don't really get me involved. It is "interesting" for me, but that's it. I does not get below skin level.But this is off-topic anyway. So my apologies and I'll shut up.