The Pittsburgh-born singer and bandleader Billy Eckstine started his career in
1939 with the influential Earl Hines playing trumpet and singing with Hines'
Grand Terrace Orchestra. He played on the orchestra's version of 'Stormy Monday
Blues' and from there his reputation began to grow.
By 1944 Eckstine felt confident enough to start his own big band - The Billy
Eckstine Orchestra, an ensemble widely credited with being the first bop big
band and served as a springboard for the careers of many notable jazz performers
including Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Art Blakey and Charl...