I am not desperately good at painting living, breathing subjects. But jazz musicians are a different matter; they're strange people anyway so you can take as many liberties as you like, going for the "effect" rather than the "likeness". That's my excuse, anyway.
Gerry Mulligan is/was a childhood hero of mine. In fact, all of the musos on this page are heroes of mine.
If you're puzzled as to who these people are/were, don't worry - that's simply a sign of the times. Jazz is a "minority" sport. Though it might surprise you to learn that there was a time when Jazz was considered "pop"music!
Dizzy's puffed-cheeks method of blowing his instrument even had us musicians mystified for a while. Then we realised that each muso has his own way of doing things, and that it is the end result that justifies the means.
All us sax players have attempted to emulate "The Trane" from time to time! And very few of us managed to do it.
Herbie was not the first jazz musician to use the flute, but he was the man who persuaded me to buy one!
If you do not know who Miles Davis is, then there's a possibility that you are too young to be surfing the net!
Mingus was one of the early trendsetters.
Garrett could swing the hind legs off a donkey!
I don't think I need to say anything about Louis Armstrong
I could fill pages with things I would like to say about "Cannonball"