BIRTHDAYS
1954     Danielle Alexander, C&W pianist, b. Fort Worth, TX, USA.
1905     Moses Asch, label founder (Folkways), b. Warsaw, Poland
1942     Ted Bluechel Jr., drums/singer/songwriter, b. San Pedro, CA, USA. Member group: 'The Association'
1908     Henry Bridges, tenor sax, b. Oklahoma City, OK, USA, d. 1986, Paris TX, USA. (Some sources say b. 1915). In the early 1920s, guitarist Charlie Christian's family moved to Oklahome City, where Charlie became friends with Bridges. Both young men often played together in local combos, before finally joining, and touring with, Alphonse Trent's wonderful "territory" band. Subsequently, Bridges joined Leslie Sheffield's band and, in 1939, Harlan Leonard's band. It has been reported that Charlie Christian touted his old friend to bandleader Benny Goodman, but before Goodman could hire Bridges, World War II intervened, and Bridges found himself playing in various U. S. Armed Forces bands. After his Service discharge, Bridges settled in California, and found a "day job" as a full time member of the U. S. Postal Service. No doubt he played a few night-time gigs at some local clubs, but by and large, he faded from the music scene.
1969     Fay Claassen, vocals, b. Nijmegen, The Netherlands. née: Felicitas Claassen. Fay first sang with various local groups, including the 'Amsterdam Jazz Quintet' and 'Tony Overwaters Group'. Shen then decided to form her own band, and uitlized the group to create her own first CD: "With a Song in my Heart".
1898     Herman Cook, harmonica. Member : 'Grand Old Opry'.
CAUTION: Do not confuse with Herman Cook, (hard 'Bop') Tenor Sax, b. July 22, 1934, Pensacola, FL, USA, d: Feb. 3, 1992, New York, NY, USA.
1932     Raymond Court, Trumpet, b. Lausanne, Switzerland
1895     Jesse Crawford, organ, b. Woodland, CA, IA, USA.
1918     Milton DeLugg, Leader, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA. Bandleader 1962 Johnny Carson's 'Tonight Show'. Also leader on the 1950 Abe Burrows 'Almanac' show.
1925     Joseph P. "Joe" Derise, piano/guitar/vocals, d. July 24, 2002, Shelton, CT, U.S.A. (Cancer) Part of the vocal group Four Jacks And A Jill. Over his career he worked with Tommy Dorsey, Marcia Hillman, Milt Hinton, The Australian Jazz Quartet and Claude Thornhill Orch.
1945     David Essig, guitar, b. Frederick, MD, IA, USA.
1893     Louis Freeman, band leader, b. Glasgow, Scotland, UK. d. March 9, 1994 CAUTION: Do not confuse with Louise Freeman, Blues vocalist.
1906     Peter Carl Goldmark, Inventor of the LP record, b. Budapest, Hungary. d. Dec. 7, 1977, Westchester county, NY, USA. Peter is remembered today as an engineer who developed the first commercial color television, and the Long Playing record. However, he was also an accomplished Cellist and Pianist who loved music and hated the short playing time of 78rpm records. By slowing down the speed to 33-1/3rpm and using vinyl instead of shellac to press the disc, Goldmark was able to add grooves and quintuple the playing time. LP (Long Play) records energized the entire music industry. Not only could Classical music now be played in their entirety, but in time, even 'Iron Butterfly' had an excuse to record "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida."
1914     Adolph Green, composer/lyricist, d. Oct. 23, 2002. (peacefully in his sleep, age 87. some sources show b. 1915), In 1960, Adolph married Phyllis Newman and the marriage resulted in two children (his son, Adam Green, daughter, Amanda Green). Over a period of more than six decades, the professional partnership of Comden and Green, lasted longer than any other Broadway composing team, The pair penned more than a dozen witty and successful Broadway musicals including 'Bells Are Ringing', 'On the Town', 'On the Twentieth Century', 'Peter Pan', 'Hallelujah', 'Baby', 'Will Rogers Follies' and others. They also co-wrote the Academy Award-nominated screenplays for 'It's Always Fair Weather', 'The Band Wagon and Singin' in the Rain', as well as 'Good News', 'The Barkleys of Broadway', 'Auntie Mame', 'What a Way to Go', 'On the Town', 'Bells Are Ringing' and others. The team also worked with other composers including Cy Coleman, Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne, Morton Gould and Andre Previn. Among their best-known songs are "The Party's Over," "Make Someone Happy," "Just in Time," "Never Never Land," "New York, New York (It's a Helluva Town)," and "I Never Met a Man I Didn't Like."
1968     Jimi Haha, (lead) vocals, b. Annapolis, MD, USA. Member group: Jimmie's Chicken Shack
1931     Wynton Kelly, Piano, b. Jamaica, W.I., d. April 12, 1971, Toronto, Canada. (Wynton Kelly Trio)
1952     Peter Kingsbery, singer/songwriter/bass/keyboards, b. USA. Member group: 'Cock Robin', consisting of Peter Kingsbery, vocalist Anna LaCazio, drummer Louis Molino III, and guitarist Clive Wright. Band was formed: 1984 and disbanded: 1990, and restarted in the fall of 2002..
1890     Fate Marable, Piano/Leader, b. Paduca, KY, USA. d. Jan. 16, 1947, One of the Original New Orleans Black Bands. Often worked on the old Sternwheeler Mississippi Riverboats.
1935     Ronnie Mathews, Piano, b. New York, NY, USA.
1971     Donna Matthews, guitar, b. Newport, Gwent, England. Member group: 'Elastica'. In 1991, after leaving 'Suede', Justine Frischmann (b. Twickenham, Middlesex, England. Sept. 16, 1969, guitar and vocals) formed 'Elastica' with Justin Welch (b. Nuneaton, West Midlands, England, Dec. 4, 1972, drums -formally of 'garage rock' band 'Spitfire'), Annie Holland (b. Brighton, East Sussex, England, August 26, 1965, bass), and Donna Matthews (b. Newport, Gwent, England, Dec. 2, 1971, guitar). In 1995, Dave Bush (keyboards) was added, and Holland also left and was replaced by Abby Travis. Travis later left and was replaced by Sheila Chipperfield (b. June 17, 1976). They disbanded in Sept. 2001. (Frischmann has gone on to write TV commercial jingles.)
1952     Michael McDonald, singer/songwriter/keyboard/guitar, b. St. Louis, MO, USA. Member group: 'The Doobie Brothers'. One of the more distinctive and popular singer-songwriters who emerged from the 1970's rock scene. In 1982, after the Doobie Brothers disbanded, McDonald began his own successful solo career.
1941     Tom McGuinness, guitar/vocals, b: England Member groups: Blues Band / Manfred Mann / McGuiness Flint / The Hanfreds
1968     Nathan Gregor "Nate" Mendel, (rock) bassist, b. Seattle, WA, USA. Member group: 'Foo Fighters', who consisted of David Eric 'Dave' Grohl (b. Jan. 14, 1969, Warren, WA, USA: Vocals, Guitar, Drums), Chris Shifflet (b. May 6, 1971, in Los Angeles, CA. USA: Guitar, backing vocals), Taylor Hawkins (b. Feb. 17, 1972 in Laguna Beach, CA, USA: Drums), Pat Smear (né: Georg Ruthenberg, b. Aug. 5, 1959, Los Angeles, CA, USA: Guitar, backing vocals), William Goldsmith (b. July 4, 1972: Drums), and Franz Stahl (b. Oct. 30, 1962: Guitar, backing vocals).
1896     Mike Mosiello, Trumpet/cornet/leader, b. Frasso Telesino, Italy, d. June, 3, 1953, Asbury Park, NJ, USA. né: Michael Angelo Mosiello.
1943     David Munden, drums, b. Barking, England U. K. Member group: 'Tremmeloes' a group formed in 1959 by Brain Poole ( vocals, b. Nov. 2, 1941, Barking, England), Ricky West (lead guitar), Alan Blakely (rhythm guitar), Alan Howard (bass guitar) and Dave Munden (drums). Originally, the band copied Buddy Holly's style, and built up a fanbase performing at US airbases (in England), and dance halls. In 1962, on New Years Day, they had an audition with Decca. The producer involved had been told he could sign just one of the two groups auditioning that day. He chose 'Brian Poole & The Tremeloes'. He turned down 'The Beatles'.
1907     Paul Pendarvis, Leader, d. 1987
1941     P. J. Perry, alto sax, b. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. P. J. is the son of bandleader Paul Perry (Tenor sax/Leader; né: Paul Guloien, b. 3 Oct 1916, Wadena (north-east of Regina, Canada, Norwegian parents.) At just age 14, P.J. was already playing in his father's band, and at age 15, was freelancing in Vancouver, Canada. At age 18, he turned down an offer from Terry Gibbs (b. Oct 13, 1924, New York, NY, USA), to join his American band. With the exception of a few short periods in Europe, Perry has spent most of his career in Canada, where he is fairly well known.
1945     Ruth Poe, C&W vocals, b. (near) Big Creek, MS, USA. Member: "The Poe Sisters"
1932     Gene Russell, piano, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA. d. May 3, 1981, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
1950     John Wesley Ryles, C&W vocals, b. Bastrop, LA, USA.
1914     Edward Ernest "Eddie" Sauter, trumpet, Arranger, Composer, Leader (Sauter/Finegan Band), b. New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA. d. April 21, 1981, Nyack, NY, USA. Studied Trumpet and drums. Matriculated Columbia Univ.(NY) playing on Cruise ships during Summers vacations. Studied theory at Juilliard. Played with Archie Bleyer orch 1932. 1935-39 arranging for Red Norvo band. 1939 wrote for Benny Goodman ("Benny Rides Again") and in 1940 wrote for Artie Shaw band ('The Maid With The Flaccid Air'). These were his best 'Jazz' years with his writing showing good techical innovation while still 'swinging'. Also wrote for Tommy Dorsey, Ray McKinley and Woody Herman bands. In 1952, he and Bill Finegan formed a recording only orch., which later was used for Club/TV dates too. They gave up Jazz improv. and turned to novel instrumental effects. Disbanded May 1957. Sauter took job at Sudwestfunk radio in Baden Baden, Germany. Back to USA in 1959, where he and Bill Finegan writing Radio Commercials.
1963     "Razzle", drums, b. England. Member group: (heavy metal band) 'Hanoi Rocks', a group anchored by songwriter Andy McCoy and singer Michael Monroe. Perhaps the best recalled line-up consisted of Michael Monroe (né: Matti Fagerholm, vocals), Andy McCoy (né: Antti Hulkko, songwriter), 'Nasty Suicide' (né: Jan Stenfors), Sami Yaffa (né: Sami Takamaki) and "Razzle" (né: Nicholas Dingley, b. England) on drums. After an interesting career, the band called it quits in 1985.
1950     John Wesley Ryles, C&W Singer-Songwriter/Guitar, b. Bastrop, LA, USA
1960     Rick Savage, drums, b. Sheffield, U.K. Member group: 'Def Leppard'.
1902     Homer Smith, vocals, b. Florence, AL, IA, USA. Member: 'The Southernaires '
1981     Britney Spears, Actress/vocals, b. Kentwood, LA, USA. Britney is basically an actress, but she has several vocal albums to her credit. On January 12, 1999 her first album, "Baby, One More Time" was released and quickly reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts. On May 1, 2000, her second album, "Oops...I Did It Again" was released. It too was a chart topper selling 1.3 million copies in its first week.
1914     "Pops" Staples, guitar, b. Winona, MS, IA, USA. Member: 'The Staple Singers'
1926     Rob Swope, Trombone, b. Washington, DC, USA. d. Jan. 9, 1967 né: George Robert Swope. Rob is the brother of trombonist Earl Swope
1917     Sylvia Syms, Vocals, b. New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA, d. May 10, 1992, New York, NY, USA. A wonderful 'singer's singer' - Frank Sinatra called her 'The World's Greatest Caberet Singer'. Unfortunately, she was often confused with the British actress, Sylvia Syms who was born in 1934. (Both ladies died in 1992 -the British actress was 58 and our vocalist was 79). While Sylvia was a mainstay of the supper-club circuit and enjoyed a second career on the Broadway stages, her roots were in Jazz. She was forever influenced by the sounds of "Swing Street" - New York's famed 52nd Street. It was there that she met Billie Holiday (Sylvia bought Billie her 'First Gardenia'*), pianist Art Tatum and Benny Carter among many others. While Sylvia could, and did, sing in very many different styles and genres, she is best recalled today as a truly talented Jazz vocalist. (* Billie Holiday's "trademark" was wearing a pure white gardenia in her hair, over her left ear.)
1916     Charlie Ventura, Tenor-alto-soprano-baritone-bass Sax, leader, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA. d.1992. The 4th of 13 children. Started on C-Melody sax in 1931, but in later years also played Soprano, Alto, Baritone and Bass sax, with the Tenor Sax as his main instrument. Worked in Father's hat factory. In 1940-2 while working in Navy shipyard during the day, he frequently 'jammed at night with such men as Gillespie, DeFranco, Bill Harris and Roy 'Little Jazz' Eldridge.Between '42-3 and again '44-6 tenor sax with Krupa; '43-4 with Teddy Powell's band; '46-7 led his own big band; and from '47-9 led his own small 'Bop' combos. Led own big band '50, then form 'Dec '50 to '54 run his own nightclub, The Open House' (in Philadelphia). Worked with Krupa trio Jan-June 1952, and toured Japan in late '50s with Krupa, after which he led small groups in various Las Vegas NV clubs. Won 1946 Esquire New Star Award; 1945 Down Beat Poll Award for best Tenor Sax and in '49 Down Beat Poll award for best small combo.
1953     Roger Dale Walker, strings/vocals, b. Keokuk, IA, USA. Worked with "Buckwheat Zydeco"
1960     Sydney Youngblood, vocals/guitar, b. San Antonio, TX, USA. né: Sydney Ford.
         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1937.    Joe Smith, trumpet, died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 35. Played with Bessie Smith
1949.    Boogie Woogie pianist Albert Ammons died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 42.
1955.    Charles "Cow Cow" Davenport, piano, died in Cleveland, OH, USA. Age: 61
1959.    Sidney Desvigne, trumpet, died in Pacoima, CA, USA
1962.    Mercy Dee Walton, piano/songwiter, died in Murphys, CA, USA. Age: 47
1980.    Fred Flynn, piano/clarinet, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 75. Played with Bessie Smith
1983.    Sonny King, alto sax, died in Portland, OR, USA. Age: 52
1983.    Jerry Irby, (Honky-Tonk) Singer-Songwriter/Guitar, died. Age: 65 (b. October 20, 1917, Pineland, Texas, USA)
1986.    Paul Bascomb, tenor sax, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 76
1986.    Marvin Hughes, piano, died in Nashville, TN, USA. Age: 75. Marvin is best recalled for creating the Nashville number system of chord charts.
1988.    Joe Berson, harmonica, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 30. Played with Jimmy Rogers
1988.    James Bryant, piano, died in Lowell, IN, USA. Age: 32. Played with Jimmy Johnson
1988.    Larry Exum, bass, died in Lowell, IN, USA. Age: 43. Played with Blues/guitarist/singer Fenton Robinson (b. Sept. 23, 1935 in Greenwood, MI, USA. d. Nov. 25, 1997, Rockford, IL, USA)
1989.    Clement Tervalon, trombone, died in New Orleans, LA, USA. Age: 74. Played with Bessie Smith
1998.    Bob Haggart, bass, composer died in Venice, FL, USA. (Cardiac Arrest. b. March 13, 1914)
1998.    Roy Burrowes, trumpet, died in London, England, UK
1999.    Charlie Byrd, guitar, died in Annapolis, Maryland, USA. (lung cancer) Age: 74
2002.    Mal Waldron, piano, composer, arranger, died in Brussels, Belgium
         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
1936     Stompin' at the Savoy, - Benny Goodman Orch.
1943     I'll Be Home For Christmas, - Bing Crosby
1949     Old Master Painter, The, - Dick Haymes voc.
1949     I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas, - Yogi Yorgesson
1957     Oh, Boy!, - Buddy Holly
1957     Great Balls Of Fire, - Jerry Lee Lewis
1967     Woman, Woman, - Gary Puckett and The Union Gap
1972     Keeper Of The Castle, - Four Tops
1972     Your Mama Don't Dance, - Loggins and Messina
1978     Every 1's A Winner, - Hot Chocolate
1989     Free Fallin', - Tom Petty
1989     Downtown Train, - Rod Stewart