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Ted Wald (b 1929) was born in New York City. He was a bass player who took part in many loft jam sessions in the early 1960s. In the summer of 1961, he met teenager Virginia McEwan in the loft and married her many years later, and they eventually settled together in Port Townsend, WA.

Thomas Wayburn (b 1934) was born and raised in Detroit, MI. A jazz drummer, Wayburn lived next door to 821 Sixth Avenue for a while and was there often in the early 1960s. He had a job translating Russian journals into English and he can be heard talking about this on Smith's tapes. He later became a chemical engineer.

Howard Williams was born in Little Rock, AR. Williams, a pianist, was one of several musicians from Little Rock who found their way to the loft at 821 Sixth Avenue. Williams lived in 823 Sixth Avenue around 1959 and remembers hearing Thelonious Monk and Hall Overton working in the loft by themselves and later with Monk's full Town Hall band.

John Wilson was a jazz trumpeter. He participated in several recording sessions with Jimmy Raney and Hall Overton in the mid-1950s and attended jam sessions and rehearsals in the Jazz Loft.

Phil Woods (b 1931) was born in Springfield, MA. An alto saxophonist, he studied with Hall Overton early in his career and participated in many jam sessions at the loft. Woods was also a member of Thelonious Monk's big bands that rehearsed in the loft in 1959, 1963, and 1964.

Dorrie Woodson (b 1934) was born in Salisbury, PA. A pianist, she moved to New York in 1955 and found her way to 821 Sixth Avenue on the suggestion of Teddy Charles, whom she had met a few months earlier at a gig in Baltimore. At 821 she met photographer Harold Feinstein, who lived there at the time, and the two married and lived together in the loft until 1957.

In this oral history, saxophonist Pete Yellin talks about coming onto the New York jazz scene in the 1950's, where he met Ronnie Cuber at a very young age. Yellin goes into detail about playing at jam sessions in various lofts, including Jimmy Stevenson's, Tom Wayburn's, and the building known as the Jazz Loft. Also of note are Yellin's memories about Sonny Clark, Gil Coggins, Lin Halliday, and Ron Free.

David X. Young (1930-2001) was born in Eastham, Massachusetts. A painter interested in jazz music, he moved into the fifth floor of the loft at 821 Sixth Avenue with Overton, Cary, and Feinstein in 1954. Young bought a piano and opened the loft to jazz musicians. He moved to a different loft in 1960, where he lived until his death.

Arthur Zitrin (b 1918) was an imminent psychiatrist affiliated with New York University Medical School and Bellevue Hospital. He also co-produced several historical documentaries and was an avid anti-death penalty activist.