From the early 1960’s to the 1970’s/80’s, there was a period of innovation, experimentation, and musical growth for tubists. The tuba, a bass voice, in music has held the bass foundational role in musical literature ranging from the romantic period to the early days of jazz. Tuba curiously disappeared from the genre of jazz for about 25 to 30 years, and reemerged to be known as an artistically capable instrument within various genres. Founding jazz tubists redefined the tuba’s role outside of the classical realm. Since that time from the back row, tubists have been expressing a desire to be melodically equal to the other instruments within ensembles. With ever evolving innovation, many qualified tubists have emerged. The goal of my research is to highlight these tubists and their achievements for the wider music community, especially for developing musicians, in addition to exploring this unique technical and melodic development through innovation. From reading and reviewing historical articles, journals, websites, and theses, I conclude that tubists were indeed present, during the seeming jazz hiatus, honing their skills behind the scenes and working to become the musical equals of their peers who chose more melodically idiomatic instruments. Prior to researching, I expected to only find tuba gaining strides within jazz, but was able to discover tubist pioneers in popular music. My research aims to trace the path of innovation and honor those who provided my instrument a melodic voice in popular music and jazz. Presented at the 2023 Undergraduate Research Conference.