# Jazz Legends

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-legends/70238>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 26, 2001, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-legends/70238 "2001-06-26T19:58:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Zweistein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/54ee81/32.png) [@Zweistein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zweistein)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-legends/70238/1 "2001-06-26T19:58:39Z")

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Some jazz legends’ nicknames are English noble titles:  
Nat ‘King’ Cole, ‘Count’ Basie, ‘Duke’ Ellington…  
Is there a story behind it ?

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-legends/70238/2 "2001-06-26T22:59:42Z")

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Nah. It’s pretty much like everything else. “Hey, that fellow certainly plays the piano well! He’s a regular KING OF THE KEYBOARD!” “Say, that fat guy sure can hit a baseball! He’s the SULTAN OF SWAT!”

I always liked that Billie Holiday dubbed tenor saxophonist Lester Young the “President.” Nice 'n democratic. And it shortens nicely to “Prez.”

Guys I’ve gigged with refer to me as the “Alderman.”

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-legends/70238/3 "2001-06-26T23:01:21Z")

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What I meant by “like everything else” was that comparison to royalty is a simple shorthand for suggesting quality of performance, common to any field of endeavor.

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**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\
**Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-legends/70238/4 "2001-06-26T23:12:02Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> After quitting the band, Basie began working solo and leading his own trio, eventually becoming co-leader of a group called the Barons of Rhythm. It was during a radio broadcast with the Barons in 1935 that he received his famous nickname. The announcer thought “Bill Basie” was too plain a name and decided, since there were well-known bandleaders called Earl and Duke, to call him “Count” Basie. ([Site](http://www.parabrisas.com/d_basiec.html))

> [@](#):
>
> The nickname “Duke” was given to him even before high school. It was a childhood friend who noted Ellington’s impeccable taste in dress, food, and lifestyle. He carried himself like one of means. He was a natural aristocrat, tall, debonair, and urbane, with a sophisticated manner at all times. ([Site](http://www.galegroup.com/freresrc/blkhstry/bio/ellingtond.htm))

> [@](#):
>
> Nat’s middle nickname “King” came from Wesley Prince, the bass player in the “King Cole Trio,” who dubbed him that from the Mother Goose nursery rhyme “Old King Cole” ([Site](http://www.duke.edu/~al4/facts.html))

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-legends/70238/5 "2001-06-27T02:46:58Z")

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Hey, **ArchiveGuy** …don’t fuck with the **Alderman.**

One snap of my fingers, and your garbage don’t get picked up for six weeks.