February 4

         BIRTHDAYS
1938     Joe Beard, guitar, b. Ashland, Mississippi, USA.
1931     Gil Bernal, Tenor Sax, b. New Orleans, LA, USA.
1943     Barry Beckett, C&W producer/keyboards, b. Birmingham, AL, USA.
1962     Clint Black, C&W guitar/vocals, b. Long Branch, NJ, USA.
1961     Henry Bogdan, rock bass, b. Oregon, USA. Member group: 'Helmet', Page Hamilton (lead guitarist, vocalist, and main songwriter, b. Oregon), Peter Mengede (b. Australia, 2nd Guitar), Henry Bogdan (Bass), and John Stanier (Drums). Hamilton earned a master's degree in Jazz guitar, and performance at New York's famed Manhattan School of Music. He first worked with Glenn Branca in 'Band of Susans' before forming 'Helmet'. Bogdan is also a classically trained guitarist.
1960     Tim Booth, actor/dancer/vocals, b. Shrewsbury, England. Member group: 'James'
1929     Paul Burlison, (rockabilly) guitar, b. Brownsville, TN, USA.
1925     Robert "Catman" Caffrey, sax, d. Jan. 2, 2002, New Orleans, LA, U.S.A. Some of the men with whom he worked are Roy Brown, Earl King, 'Guitar Slim', 'Smiley' Lewis, Joe Turner and Huey "Piano" Smith.
1950     Karen Carpenter, vocals, b. New Haven, CT, USA. d. February 3, 1983, Los Angeles, CA. USA.
1927     Wally Cirillo, Piano, b. Huntington, NY, USA. d. May 5, 1977
1948     "Alice Cooper", vocals, b. Detroit, MI, USA. né: Vincent Damon
1909     Harold "Duke" DeJan, Alto Sax/Leader/vocals, b. New Orleans, LA. d: July 5, 2002, New Orleans, LA, USA. In 1958, Dejan formed his Olympia Brass Band in New Orleans, which played at funerals, Mardi Gras parades, and concerts in the French Market, and other sites. (Later co-led by Milton Batiste, who, in 1997, owned the Dubat Recording Studio, and recorded CDs for such men as "Kid" Merv Campbell, and others.) The band's makeup was in the traditional New Orleans Brass Marching band format, with a lineup that varied according to which men were available on any given day. The typical instrumentation had 12 men: three trumpets (one lead, two on melody), two trombones, two saxes (or mixed clarinet and sax), tuba, snare, and bass drum. Over the years, DeJan's band had such men as trumpeters George "Kid Sheik" Colar, Andy Anderson, and Milton Batiste; trombonists Paul Crawford and Gerald Joseph; Dejan and Emanuel Paul on saxophones; Andrew Jefferson on snare, and bass drummers Henry "Booker" Glass and his son, "Papa." On several occasions, the band toured to Great Britain. They also appeared in the James Bond Agent 007 James Bond movie Live and Let Die. The 'Olympia' maintained "traditional" repertoire consisting of hymns, marches, and New Orleans-style jazz standards. His brother, Leo, was an accomplished Trumpeter. At one time or another, he was also a member of The Holy Ghost Brass Band, The Eureka Brass Band, The Moonlight Serenaders, and The Dixie Rhythm Band.
1950     James Dunn, vocals, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA. Member group: 'The Stylistics'
1915     Ray Evans, lyricist, b. Salamanca, NY, USA, d. Feb, 15, 2007, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
1927     Tony Fruscella, Trumpet, b. Orangeburg, NY, USA (suburb of New York City). d. Aug.14, 1969, New York, NY, USA. (alcohol related cirrhosis of the Liver)
1944     Florence La Rue Gordon, vocals, b. USA. Member group: 'Fifth Dimension'
1925     Jutta Hipp, pianist, b. Leipzig, Germany. d. April 7, 2003, New York, NY, USA. This German Jazz pianist had the misfortune to be active in Europe during the terrible days of World War II. As a child, she studied classical piano, becoming interested in Jazz during her 'Teen years. In addition to her study of painting, she secretly played Jazz during World War II (in Germany). When the Soviets took over East Germany, Jutta and her family fled to Munich. Hipp found some local work, and in May 1952 recorded two tunes with Hans Koller, -"Stompin' At the savoy" and "All the Things You Are". During 1953-'55, she led her own quintet in Frankfurt, recording for several labels, including a session that was later released by Blue Note. One of the men with whom she worked was guiitarist Attila Cornelius Zoller (June 13, 1927- January 25, 1998), In November 1955, she relocated to New York City, where, for much of the first half of 1956, she played at the Hickory House club on 52nd Street. She led a trio (drums Ed Thigpen, and Peter Ind on bass), that also recorded two albums for the Blue Note label. She also recorded with Zoot Sims. Interestingly, she was criticized at the time for being too influenced by Horace Silver, yet her original inspiration was Lennie Tristano. However, after several months playing at the Hickory House, her other intense interest, the Visual arts, became her dominant interest, and in the late 1950s, she left music altogether. It appears that when she died, 2003, she was without family or friends to help her. She had never married. One of her neighbors, a nurse with the city of New York, helped to care for her after her discharge from a New York hospital. At the time of her demise, her brother, living in Germany, was too ill to come to the U.S. although he had visited her the previous summer. Lee Konitz and his wife are known to have visited Jutta during their trips to the U.S.A. Perhaps, Jutta had insufficient funds for a burial or a funeral, but in any event, she willed her body to Columbia University.
1975     Natalie Imbruglia, vocals/actress, b. Sydney, Australia. (Eng. pronunciation: im-broo-lee-ah)
1908     Emmanuel "Manny" Klein, Trumpet, b. New York, NY, d. May 31, 1994 at 86
1944     Florence LaRue (Gordon), vocals. member: The Fifth Dimension
1934     Wade Legge, Piano/Bass, b. Huntington, WV, USA. d. Aug. 15, 1963
1965     Chris McDaniel, Keyboards, b. Rock Springs, GA, USA. Member: "Confederate Railroad", a group formed in 1987 with members: Danny Shirley ( Vocals/Guitar, August 12, 1956), Mark Dufresne (Drums, August 6, 1953), Wayne Secrest ( Bass Guitar, April 29, 1950), Chris McDaniel (left 1999), Michael Lamb (Guitar), Gates Nichols (Steel Guitar, May 26, 1944), Jimmy Dormire (March 8,1960), and Cody McCarver (Keyboards,joined 1999)
1952     Rickie Monie, piano, b. New Orleans, LA, USA
1943     Jim Plank, drums, percussion, b. San Diego, CA, USA.
1968     Steve Queralt, bass, b. Oxford, England. Member: 'Ride'
1931     Marion Ryan, vocalist, b. Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England, UK, d. Jan. 15, 1999, Boca Raton, Florida, USA. (heart failure - a consequence of pneumonia). (CAUTION: Many sites mistakenly say she was born Marion Sapherson. Actually, her first husband was Lloyd Sapherson, and that marriage produced two sons, Paul and Barry Sapherson, who later went on to a singing career of their own using their mother's maiden name of Ryan.) She was schooled at Notre Dame in Leeds, and studied music and singing under a Madame Coran. At age of 21 her career began singing with a dance band at the Locarno in Leeds. This was in the evenings, - her "day" job was sales girl in a ladies' lingerie shop. She was spotted by Ray Ellington, whose Quartet was then providing the music for Grenada's "The Goon Show", and he signed her to sing with his group. On August 24, 1953, Ryan made her debut with Ellington at the Locarno, Glasgow, Scotland. On March 1954, Ryan made her only one recording with Ellington, "All's Going Well" . A few years later, she left Ellington with his pianist, Dick Katz, who became her personal manager. Due to her exposure on TV, she gained the opportunity to record and make numerous TV appearances. She became the resident singer on one of TV's longest running series, the musical game show "Spot That Tune". Ryan continued working throughout the 1950s and into the '60s, and even had some success in shows in the USA. Television was her main success, rather than her recordings, although she did have a number 5 hit in 1958 with "Love Me Forever". In 1967, she married the American show business millionaire, Harold Davison (Frank Sinatra's agent), and abandoned her (already fading) singing career. By the time of this second marriage, her twin sons, Paul and Barry- who had changed their surname from Sapherson (from Marion's previous marriage to Lloyd Sapherson) to Ryan, had begun their own successful singing careers. (Paul and Barry Ryan identical twins, b. Oct. 24, 1948, Leeds, Yorkshire, England, UK., --Paul d. Nov. 29, 1992, Age: 44). Sadly, Marion Ryan died just a few days before her 68th birthday. .
1954     Curtis Salgado, singer/harpist, b. Everett, Washington, USA.
1952     Jerry Shirley, drums, b. Wattenham Cross, London, England. Member group: 'Humble Pie'
1972     Steve Sparkman, C&W guitar/vocals. member: 'The Clinch Mountain Boys'
1941     John Steel, drums, b. Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, England. Member group: 'The Animals'
1945     John Stubblefield, Tenor-soprano Sax, b. Little Rock, AR, USA, d. July 4, 2005, New York (The Bronx), NY, USA
1931     "Tater" Tate, C&W vocals/guitar, b. Gate City, VA, USA. né: Clarence E. Tate
1963     Kevin 'Noodles' Wasserman, guitar, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA. Member group: 'The Offspring'
1942     Kenny Wertz, singer/guitarist, b. Washington, D.C., USA. Member: "The Flying Burrito Brothers"
1906     Art Wooten, vocals, d. Oct. 6, 1986

         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1926.    The "Charleston" was the newest dance craze sweeping the U.S.A. John Giola (of New York City) entered a Charleston endurance dance marathon and becoame famous by dancing the Charleston, non-stop, for 22 hours and 30 minutes.
1937.    Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Orchestra recorded "A Study in Brown" (Decca Records).
1951.    "Private" Cecil Gant, piano, died in Nashville, TN, USA. Age: 37
1961.    Alphonese Picou, clarinet, piano. died.in Los Angeles, CA< USA (Cancer-leukaemia) Age: 82
1975.    Louis Jordan, sax/songwriter, died in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Age: 66
1976.    Columbus Brooks, guitar, died in Jackson, MS
1982.    Alex Harvey, vocals, died in Belgium. Age: 46
1982.    Don DeMichael, drums, vibes, writer, died
1983.    "Uncle" Walt Phelps, harmonica, died in Asheville, NC
1894.    Adolphe Sax, inventor of Saxophone, died in Paris, France. Age: 79
1987.    "Liberace", pianist, died in Palm Springs, CA, USA. Age: 68
1989.    Kenneth "Jethro" Burns, mandolin, died in Evanston, IL, USA. Age: 69 Member: "Homer & Jethro"
1991.    Pearl Williams Jones, gospel vocals, died in Washington, DC, USA. Age: 59
1992.    Herman "Junior" Cook, tenor sax, died in New York (Manhattan), NY, USA. Age: 57
2000.    Joachim Berendt, writer, producer, died in Hamburg, Germany
2001.    J.J. Johnson, trombone, arranger, composer, leader, died in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
2003.    Charles Biddle, bass, died in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2005.    Warren Vache Sr., bass, died in Rahway, N.J. Age: 90.

         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
     1943     "It Started All Over Again", Tommy Dorsey
     1943     "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To", Dinah Shore
     1949     "Red Roses For A Blue Lady", Guy Lombardo Orch.
     1949     "I Love You So Much It Hurts", The Mills Brothers
     1956     "I'll Be Home", Pat Boone
     1967     "Ruby Tuesday", Rolling Stones
     1967     "Love Is Here And Now You're Gone", The Supremes
     1978     "Lay Down Sally", Eric Clapton
     1984     "Here Comes The Rain Again", The Eurythmics
     1984     "Got A Hold On Me", Christine McVie
     1989     "You're Not Alone", Chicago
     1989     "Girl You Know It's True", Milli Vanilli