Premature death in jazz musicians: fact or fiction?

Birth years ranged from 1862 to 1938; 16 births occurred before 1900, 23 between 1900 and 1909, 19 between 1910 and 1919, 22 between 1920 and 1929, and five between 1930 and 1939. Comparison with national values showed that 70 (82%) of the musicians exceeded their life expectancy; four-fifths of the Black men, three fourths of the White men, and all the women lived longer than expected as shown in this frequency distribution.