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Influential artists are those players whose improvisational creativity is so strong that it attracts the attention and emulation of other players. It is a fact, though, that, by its very nature, the playing of these artists is sometimes a challenge to understand.
When the listener’s goal is to gain understanding of the work of artists as different from each other as Louis Armstrong and John Coltrane, it often is easier to approach their playing by first developing an insight into the musical constructions of the lesser personalities who have been influenced by them.
For each artist listed here, there is a breakdown of those lesser players who have been influenced by him. In many cases, the influence goes beyond the influential artist’s major instrument, so players of other instruments are presented as well.