Clifford died young in a car accident on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1956, but in his short life he had already developed a huge reputation for being one of the coolest — and hottest — bebop players. Always musical, singable, infectious in the best way. Here is his classic group.

A vintage video where the music still rings true and clear because of Jamal’s terrific, crystalline lines and controlled touch. One of the cats around the piano is Ben Webster.

All I need to say is Sarah Vaughan. But listen to this all-star group, including Roy Haynes on drums. Sarah’s husband at the time wrote the song. Listen to her scat and listen for her quotation from Bizet’s Carmen. This is as good as music gets.

A breakneck tempo that nevertheless seems comfortable — this is the sign of master musicians. Anita kills with a scat/vocalese rendition that takes you on a new trip around this Gershwin classic. I love it. And check out the outfits. Oh, my, so wonderful!

Miles Davis with a mute in his horn had the most swinging articulation. Here’s the classic recording from him, captured in the late 1950s (some say 1956, some say 1957), the personnel on this track include John Coltrane on sax, the swinging Red Garland on piano, Philly Joe Jones on drums, and the absolutely tasty Paul Chambers on bass, a beloved musician who tragically suffered from drug addiction and died of tuberculosis. He’s known in part because of the song written in his honor, called “Mr. PC” — composer, John Coltrane himself. But he he was so loved other top musicians wrote songs in his memory: Sonny Rollins, Tommy Flanagan — even the Barenaked Ladies bass player, Jim Creeggan. This cut has the grooviest set of cats you’ll find.

Benny Goodman, along with Glenn Miller and Paul Whiteman, helped define the big band sound in the United States, which reached its maturity in the 1940s. This song, written in 1936, has a throbbing, percussive tone with strong drums (played by Gene Krupa, widely regarded as one of the top two or three big band drummers ever) and wild trumpets, led by Harry James, who founded his own band in 1939. “Sing, Sing, Sing” was Goodman’s signature tune … and it was written by the great Louis Prima, who later when on to have his own band that was busy in the 1950s and 1960s. (Prima worked a lot with Rosemary Clooney, one of my favorite singers.) Benny Goodman said of this song, “was a big thing, and no one-nighter was complete without it.”