BIRTHDAYS
1931     David Baker, Trombonecello/educator, b. Indianapolis, IN, USA. né: David Nathaniel Baker Jr.
1905     "Black Ace" aka: B. K. "Babe" Turner, slide guitar, b. Hughes Springs, TX, USA. 'Black Ace' was one of the few Bluesmen to play their guitar in Hawaiian style -on the lap, using a slide. During the 1920, he worked at local venues in Greenville, TX, with "Smokey" Hogg (né: Andrew Hogg, Blues vocals, b. Jan. 27, 1914, Westconnie, TX, USA, d. May 1, 1960, McKinney, TX, USA. aka: "Texas Smokey" Hogg.) During the 1930s Turner, Hogg, and Buddy Woods often worked together, although Turner did make some solo tours. From 1936 - 1941, Turner had a show on Fort Worth radio station KFJZ. In 1937, he recorded for the Decca label. In 1941, he may have appeared in the film "The Blood of Jesus", but if so, he was completely uncredited. (The film, intended primarily for Black audiences, is interesting in that it was one of the very few attempts at Black independent filmmaking in the 1930s and '40s. Spencer Williams, who portrayed Andy on the "Amos and Andy" radio show, wrote, directed, and starred in this film.) Turner spent the WWII years serving in the U.S.Army. upon his service demobilization, he worked mostly at non-musical "day jobs", although he did record an LP for the Arboolie label.
1951     Alex Blake, bassist/composer/leader, b. Panama City, Panama. né: Alejandro Blake Feuron Jr.
1945     Cameron Brown, Bass/arranger/educator, b. Detroit, MI, USA.
1920     Marshall Brown, Trombone, b. Framingham, MI, USA. d. Dec 13, 1983, New York, NY, USA.
1925     "Lightin'" Chance, ('Grand Ole Opry' staff) bassist, b. Como, MS, USA. né: Floyd Taylor Chance
1962     Ray Coburn, vocals, b. Canada. Member: Canadian pop group 'Honeymoon Suite'.
1934     Hank Crawford, Alto-tenor-baritone Sax/piano/keyboards/arranger, b. Memphis, TN, USA. né: Benny Ross Crawford, Jr.
1920     Luigi Creatore, producer/leader, b. New York, NY, USA. Member: 'Hugo & Luigi'
1910     Jerome Darr, Guitar, b. Baltimore, MD, USA, d. Oct 29, 1986, New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA. This guitarist had a very interesting, and varied, career. While not well documented, it is known that he began his career working in a "Jug" type band, 'The Washboard Serenaders' (1933-'36), even touring Europe with the group. He would go on to on Blues sessions, and with the changing times, on to bebop sessions, and even backed up "Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers". Near the end of his career, he most often worked with trumpeter Jonah Jones' group.
1947     Paco De Lucia, (flamenco) guitar, b. Algeciras, Cadiz, Spain. né: Francisco Sanchez Gomez. Paco is the son of flamenco guitarist Antonio Sanchez. the brother of a flamenco guitarist Ramon, and flamenco singer, Pepe de Lucia.
1967     Donald Dillon, guitar/keyboard, b. Tyler Town, MS, USA. Worked with the group: 'Blind Boys Of Alabama'
1925     Billy "The Kid" Emerson, piano, b. Tarpon Springs, FL, USA.
1962     Christy Forester, C&W vocals, b. Fort Oglethorpe, GA, USA. Member: 'Forester Sisters'
1918     David "Panama" Francis, Leader/drums, b. Miami, FL USA, d. Nov. 13, 2001 né: David Francis, Drums
1921     Louis Freichel, Piano, tuba, vibes, composer arranger, guitar, keyboards, b. Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
1951     Nick Gilder, vocals, b. London, England, UK (raised in Vancouver, Canada)
1965     Gabrielle Glaser, vocals/guitar. Member group: 'Luscious Jackson', an all-girl group consisting of Jill Cunniff (vocals, bass, guitar), Gabrielle Glaser (vocals, guitar), Kate Schellenbach (drums), and Vivian Trimble (keyboards, backing vocals
1926     Freddie Hart, C&W vocals/guitar, b. Lockapoke, AL, USA. né: Fred Segrest.
1934     "Harmonica Slim" (né: Travis L. Blaylock), harmonica, b. Douglassville, TX, USA.
1930     Ted Harvey, drums, b. Chicago, IL, USA.
1941     John Hicks, (Jazz) piano, b. Atlanta, Georgia, USA, d. May 10, 2006, New York, NY, USA. (internal hemorrhaging that could not be stopped). Jazz pianist John Hicks (who passed away just after midnight on a Wednesday morning), received his first piano lessons from his mother. When Hicks was fifteen, the family moved to Saint Louis, Missouri in order for his father, the Reverend Hicks, to take over the pulpit of Union Memorial Methodist Church. After graduating high school and attending Lincoln University, the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, and Julliard School of Music in New York City, Hicks relocated to New York City from St. Louis by accepting his first road gig with singer Della Reese. Subsequently, Hicks became so firmly established among the most in-demand, 'sessions' jazz pianists and composers, and on the live appearance scenes, that critics permanently affixed the adjective "ubiquitous" to his name. As a leader or first-call sideman, Hicks was equally adept at playing inside or outside the chord changes, presenting sparkling ballads or burning up the keyboard at torrid tempos. He had graced the stages of New York's famed Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Kennedy Center, Spivey Hall, and a host of international jazz festivals.
1940     Ray Hildebrand, vocals, b: USA, He was the 'Paul' in 'Paul & Paula' vocal group.
1913     Louise King, vocalist. One of the Kings Sisters Vocal group, best recalled for their days with Alvino Rey band.
1943     Albert Lee, C&W sessions guitar/singer-songwriter/Piano/Mandolin/Hambone, b. Herefordshire, Great Britain.
1943     Sal Marquez, trumpet'fluegelhorn, b. El Paso, Texas, USA. Sal has also contributed his music to the 1996 film 'Grace of My Heart'.
1943     Gwen McCrae, vocals, b. Pensacola, FL, USA. née: Gwen Mosley. Gwen and her husband George McCrae were part of the Miami-based T.K. Records stable, and the disco explosion.
1942     Reinhard Mey, Singer/Songwriter, b: Germany
1956     Lee Roy Parnell, (C&W) vocals/guitar, b. Abilene, TX, USA.
1948     Payne, Trevor, (gospel) piano, b. Black Rock, Barbados (West Indies)
1905     Harry Revel, composer, b. London, England, UK, d. Nov. 3, 1958, New York, NY (Cerebral Hemmorhage). Among his songs are: "Did You Ever See A Dream Walking", "Stay As Sweet As You Are", "Love Thy Neighbor" (a huge Bing Crosby hit), and "Paris in the Spring". In 1935, The team of Mack Gordon and Harry Revel received nine Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards, for nine different songs.
1924     Rita Reys, Vocal, b. Rotterdam, Netherlands
1924     Matt Ross, Piano/Organ/guitar, b. South Sheilds, County Durham, England, UK.
1949     Marilyn Scott, singer-songwriter, b. Arcadia, California, USA
1942     Carla Thomas, vocals, b: Memphis, TN, USA
1919     George Treadwell, Trumpet/manager, b. New Rochelle, NY, USA. d. May 14, 1967. (Managed singers Sarah Vaughan, Ruth Brown, and 'The Drifters')
1922     Denny Vaughan, piano, vocals, arranger, manager, b. Toronto, Ont, Canada, d. Oct. 2, 1972, Montreal, Canada. né: Charles Steward Dennis Vaughn. (Possibly born 1921). In his teenage years, he was already performing on CFRB radio and with Horace Lapp. Vaughn studied at the University of Toronto. During the World War II, 1944-1945, he toured Europe with 'The Army Show', then featuring the Canadian Army Band of the Allied Expeditionary Force, led by Robert Farnon. Between 1945-'9, he was resident in England, where he sang, arranged and recorded with the British dance bands of Carroll Gibbons, George Melachrino, and especially (1947-'9) Geraldo. He became one of England's leading singing idols (tagged as 'the English Sinatra'). In 1949 he was again with his WWII buddy, Robert Farnon now heard on the BBC's 'Journey into Melody'. In 1951, Vaughn was in New York city where he was an arranger for vocalists Eddie Fisher, Ezio Pinza, and Kate Smith. In 1952, he returned to Toronto, starring first on CBC radio and then (1954-'7) on CBC TV's 'Denny Vaughan Show'. In 1959, he moved to Montreal, where he led the Queen Elizabeth Hotel Orchestra, which was heard on CBC radio. From 1967 until shortly before his death, Vaughan was in Hollywood working as a bandleader, and also as the choral director for such TV programs as 'The Smothers Brothers' Show' and 'The Glen Campbell Hour'.
1956     Anthony Vitale-Paule, guitar, b. Durban, S. Africa
1968     Brad Warren, guitar/vocals, b. Tampa, FL, USA. Member group: 'The Warren Brothers' -Brad and Brett, learned music from their father, a proficient C&W guitar picker, and their church-singing mother. The boys were full-time musicians while still in their teens, and were averaging 300 shows a year by the early 1990s.
1902     Peetie Wheatstraw, Piano, b. Ripley, TN, USA. d. 1941
1946     Carl Wilson, guitarist, d. Feb. 6, 1998. Member: 'The Beach Boys' vocal group.
1936     Wilmer Wise, trumpet, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA. Member group: 'Weather Report' Studied music at the Settlement Music School. Though basically a Classical musician, this excellent studio musician has also played the theme for the McNeil/Lehrer Report on the Public Broadcasting Service, as well as working in other 'Pop' music sessions. As a member of 'Music from Marlboro', Wise toured Europe. In 1965, after returning from Europe, he became the first African-American musician to join the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He also served as an Adjunct Professor at Morgan State University. Five years later, in 1970, he resigned from the Baltimore Symphony and the Peabody, relocated to New York city, where he pursued a career as a free-lance musician. Wise went on to perform and record with Leonard Bernstein, Philip Glass and Steven Sondheim and others. Immediately after his return from Europe with the premier Music from Marlboro tour, Wilmer Wise became the first African-American musician to join the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Music. He also served as an Adjunct Professor at Morgan State University. In 1970 he resigned from the Baltimore Symphony and the Peabody to pursue a career as a free-lance musician in New York City. Wise went on to perform and record with Leonard Bernstein, Philip Glass and Steven Sondheim and others. Wise has performed on Broadway, and at Marlboro, with cellist Pablo Casals and pianist Rudolph Serkin (born March 28, 1903, Eger, Bohemia; died May 9, 1991).
1953     Betty Wright, 'Soul' Singer, b. Miami, FL, USA.
1940     Frank Vincent Zappa, Guitar/Singer/Composer, b. Baltimore, MD, USA. d. Dec. 4, 1993, Los Angeles, CA, USA. (Cancer). His quotations are "must reading": for any intelligent person.
         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1941.    PeetieWheatstraw, piano/songwriter, died in East St. Louis, IL, USA. Age: 39
1963.    Clifford Gibson, guitar, died in St. Louis, MO, USA. Age: 62
1971.    Charlie Fuqua, vocals, died in New Haven, CT, USA. Age: 60. Member: 'The Ink Spots'
1982.    Jerome Scott, bass, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 27
1985.    Bruce Springsteen's album, "Born in the USA", passed Michael Jacksons "Thriller" becoming second longest-lasting LP in the top 10 (79 weeks). Only Julie Andrews "The Sound of Music" lasted longer: 109 weeks.
1988.    Rudy Barbee, (gospel) vocals, died in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Age: 84
1989.    John Jacob Bailes, C&W star, and member of 'The Bailes Brothers" died. Age: 71
1992.    Albert King, C&W guitar, died in Memphis, TN, USA. Age: 69. (né: Albert Nelson)
1993.    Harold Morrison, Banjo/Guitar/Steel Guitar/Dobro/Comedian, and member of 'The Smoking Bluegrass', died. Age: 62
2004.    Mack Vickery, C&W singer/songwriter, died Nashville, TN, USA. Age: 66. Vickery also recorded as 'Atlanta James', and 'Vick Vickers'.
         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
1945     "High How The Moon", Stan Kenton Orch, June Christy on voc.
1944     White Christmas, - Bing Crosby
1944     I Dream Of You, - Andy Russell
1944     White Christmas, - Frank Sinatra
1951     Blue Tango, - Leroy Anderson
1959     Go, Jimmy, Go, - Jimmy Clanton
1959     Running Bear, - Johnny Preston
1963     Drag City, - Jan and Dean
1968     Crimson & Clover, - Tommy James
1974     Pick Up The Pieces, - Average White Band
1974     Some Kind Of Wonderful, - Grand Funk Railroad
1985     When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get, - Billy Ocean
1985     My Hometown, - Bruce Springsteen, Bruce
1991     Diamonds And Pearls, - Prince