♪ Follow the Players

The Sideman Map

Every musician on every record reviewed on Vinyl Standard, and who they played with

Jazz is a sideman music. The same bassists and drummers turn up on record after record, and following them from one date to the next is how most of us found half the albums we love. Start with a player or a record, click anyone in the circle, and keep going.

 
Records
 
Musicians
 
Session Credits
Click a name to re-center. Click a dot to open the record.

Six Degrees

Pick two musicians and find the shortest chain of reviewed records between them.

Most Connected

The players who show up on the most reviewed records. Gold is as leader, cream is as sideman.

    How this works

    Every album review on this site carries a personnel block that was checked against session discographies before it went up. The map is built from those blocks and nothing else. That means it only knows about records that have been reviewed here, so the number next to Paul Chambers is how many reviewed records he is on, not his whole career. It also means every connection on the map leads to a real review you can read. When a new review is published, the map picks it up.

    Ensembles credited as a unit (a studio orchestra, a string section) are listed on the review but do not appear as players here. Looking for a specific record instead? Try the album search.