"Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something." - Frank Zappa

The Jazz Nickname Game

There are a lot of great jazz musicians who had interesting nicknames - in each grouping below, there are three real names of jazz musicians, and one fake name - can you pick which name is the imposter in each set?    

jazz instruments, including trumpet, keyboard, saxophone and drum

Group #1:
  • Cannonball Adderley
  • Lovie Austin
  • Bombastic Billerbeck
  • Billy Bang


Group #2:
  • Count Basie
  • Bix Beiderbecke
  • Bunny Berigan
  • Bubbles McCoy


Group #3:
  • Hotdog Houlihan
  • Tubby Hayes
  • Baby Dodds
  • Lockjaw Davis


Group #4:
  • Kid Ory
  • Hot Lips Page
  • Pillowhead Peterson
  • Zoot Sims


Group #5:
  • Shorty Miller
  • Jabbo Smith
  • Pharoah Sanders
  • Fats Waller


Score =

Correct answers:


If you like this game, give a try to the More Jazz Nicknames Game.






Salvador Dali at Artsology Artsology offers free online games about the arts, and delivers investigations into topics in the visual arts, music, and literature. Artsology is a good resource for fun learning about the arts for people of all ages and is enjoyed by students, homeschoolers, and adults. Follow us on Twitter or become a fan of our Facebook page. Miles Davis at Artsology

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