BIRTHDAYS
1911     J. T. Adams, guitar, b. Morganfield, KY, USA.
1972     Billie Joe Armstrong, guitar/singer-songwriter. b. Berkeley, CA, USA. Member group: 'Green Day' (Grammy Award Winner)
1954     Lou Ann Barton, ('roadhouse blues') vocals, b. Fort Worth, TX, USA.
1966     Melissa Brooke Belland, vocals, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA. Member group: 'Voice Of the Beehive'
1906     Wallace Bishop, Drums, b. Chicago, IL, USA. d. 1986
1934     Hacke Bjorksten, Tenor Sax, b. Helsinki, Finland
1929     Bill Blakkestad, Drums, b. Minneapolis, MN, USA. Early on, he played with a Bob Davis group, and then with Stan Kenton's orchestra.
1949     Doyle Bramhall II, Vocals/Drums/Guitar, b. Dallas, Texas, USA
1899     Harvey Oliver Brooks, Piano/composer, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA. d. June 17, 1968
1936     Chris Burke, Clarinet, b. London, England
1935     Johnny Bush, C&W singer-songwriter/drummer, Houston, TX, USA. né: Johnny Bush Shin III.
1920     Billy Byrd, C&W guitar, b. Nashville, TN, USA. né: William Lewis Byrd
1938     John Coates Jr., Piano, b. Trenton, NJ, USA.
1926     Will Davis, Piano, b. Chicago, IL, USA. d. March 24, 1984, Detroit, MI, USA.
1923     Buddy Defranco, Clarinet, b. Camden, NJ, USA. né: Boniface Ferdinard Leonardo DeFranco
1907     Harry Dial, Drums, b. Birmingham, AL, USA, d. Jan. 25, 1987
1922     Tommy Edwards, vocals, b. Richmond, VA, USA. d. October 23, 1969, Richmond, VA, USA. A somewhat forgotten vocalist of the 1950s. Over his active 10 year career, he recorded 18 times, but his only No. 1 tune is "It's All In The Game."
1949     Fred Frith, composer/arranger/multi-instrumentalist, b. Heathfield, East Sussex, England, UK. Co-founder of the British underground band 'Henry Cow' (1968-'78)
1977     Chris Gentry, guitar, b. Camden, London, England. Member group: 'Menswear' comprised of vocalist Johnny Dean (b. Dec. 12, 1971), guitarist Simon White, guitarist Chris Gentry (b. Feb. 23, 1977), bassist Stuart Black, and drummer Matt Everett.
1926     Elmer Gill, piano/vibes/leader, d. May 28 or 29, 2004
1925     Ron Goodwin, b. Plymouth, England, U.K. d. Jan. 8, 2003
1892     James F. Hanley, songwriter, b. Renselaer, IN, USA, d. Feb. 8, 1942,, Douglaston, NY, USA.
1933     "Spike" Heatley, Double Bass, b. London, England, UK. né: Brian John Heatley.
1947     Ron Hockett, clarinet/alto sax, b. Evanston, IL, USA, (same birthday as Buddy DeFranco). Ron has played with a great many of the early Chicago Dixieland Jazzmen including Jimmy McPartland, Bud Freeman, Bud Wilson, Rosy McHargue, and Joe Rushton. As a child, he also often heard Bix Beidebecke playing live when Bix came to Princeton to play at house parties of his friend. He has played with George Brunis, the Salty Dogs, Was a saxophonist in the U.S. Marine Band for 29 years. Among his activities, he and French clarinetist Michel Mardiguian had a nice two-clarinet group called 'Clarinet Connection'. In 1997, he appeared with Johnny Varro's 'Swing Seven' at the Arbors March of Jazz, along with Dan Barrett, Randy Sandke, Brian Ogilvie, Frank Tate, and Joe Ascione. In 1998, he played at the Odessa Jazz Festival, with Polcer, Sandke, Reinhardt, Ascione, and Ralph Sutton, Marty Grosz, and John Pizzarelli. He retired from the Marine Band in May of 1999, and moved to San Antonio, TX, USA where he became a permanent member of the 'Jim Cullum band'.
1898     Alex Hyde, violin/leader, d. July 7, 1956
1944     Karl Jenkins, keyboards/woodwinds
1924     Buddy Jones, Bass, b. Hope, AR, USA, d. June 9, 2000 (Pancreatic Cancer). né: Burgher William Jones. Toured with the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey bands. Jones was a childhood friend of the late Virginia Kelley, mother of President Clinton. At 17, Jones went to the University of Kansas City, where he met and befriended saxophonist Charlie Parker. Jones later introduced Parker to Chan, -Parker's wife to be. Under Parker's influence, Jones decided to make music his career, and studied the String Bass while in the U.S. Navy. He worked with Charlie Ventura in 1947 before moving to Los Angeles, where he played with some small Jazz groups. In 1949, he played with Joe Venuti (in LA), as well as with Ina Ray Hutton Orch. In 1950, Jones moved to New York and played in the Elliot Lawrence band, when its arrangers included Al Cohn, Tiny Kahn and Johnny Mandel. Also worked with Buddy De Franco, Gene Williams, and Lennie Tristano Quintet. As a staff musician for CBS in New York in the 1950s and 1960s, Jones played for the Jack Sterling morning radio show and in studio bands behind Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra. (He was still with Sterling in 1960.) Jones can be heard on the well-known ``Phil and Quill'' album recorded by saxophonists Phil Woods and Gene Quill. Jones worked as a consultant with Lenny Niehaus and Clint Eastwood on the motion picture ``Bird,'' a biography of Parker. In 1996, Jones was inducted into the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame.
1905     "Hoppy" Jones, vocals, d. Oct. 18, 1944. né: Orville Jones. member: 'The Ink Spots'
1928     Betty Jackson King, (gospel) vocals, Chicago, IL, USA. Member: 'Jacksonian Trio'
1933     Bobby Lewis, vocals, b. Hodgerville, KY, USA. Best recalled tune: "Tossin' and Turnin'"
1941     Herbie Lewis, Bass, b. Pasadena, CA, USA.
1939     John Leyton, vocals, b. Great Britain. Best release: "Johnny remember me"
1904     Enric Madriguera, b. Barcelona, Spain, d. Sept. 5. 1973, Danbury, CT, USA. . A child prodigy of the violin, Enric arrived in the US at the age of 14 with his sister Paquita Madriguera, a child prodigy of the classical piano. They were sponsored by the Aeolian Company and toured the US. After Paquita went to South America ---much later marrying Andres Segovia, Enric went to Havana and became director of the Havana Symphony. He fell in love with Cuban Ensemble music with he introduced to NY audiences in the 1920's. The (NYC) Lincoln Center Library did an exhibition on Swing and Latin Music (1997) in which Enric had a large part. His orchestra of the 1930's and '40s came after his Cuban orchestra. Enric was not only a pioneer in bringing Cuban Ensemble music to the U.S.A (in mid-1920s), but very greatly helped in popularizing Rumba, Tango, and Conga, through his Radio, stage and recordings.
1947     Jimmy Madison, drums, b. Cincinnati, OH, USA. At just age 12, Madison was already performing professionally. At age 19, he was part of Trumpeter Don GOldie's group then playing in Miami, FL, and shortly afterwards, Madison joined the Lionel Hampton group, then playing at the Metropole in New York city. During his career, he has also led his own small groups. Among the many Jazz artists with whom Madison has worked are Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, Stan Getz, John Lewis, Marian McPartland, Al Cohn, Bobby Hackett, Art Farmer, Red Rodney Ron Carter, George Benson, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Ray Baretto, Dave Matthews, Joe Farrell, Chet Baker, Hubert Laws, Maceo Parker, James Brown, Richie Havens, Nina Simone, Anita O’Day, Shirley MacLaine, and even The Joffrey Ballet.
1970     Timothy "Tim" Mahoney, guitar, b. Omaha, NB, USA. Member group: '311'' a group formed in 1990 in Omaha, Nebraska consisting of by five self-described "friends for life" singer/guitarist Nick Hexum, singer S.A. Martinez, guitarist Tim Mahoney, drummer Chad Sexton and the bassist known only as P-Nut
1937     Mickey McGill, vocals, b. Chicago, IL, USA. Member: 'The Dells'
1917     Adrian "Lazy" Ade Monsbourgh, multi-instrumentalists/Leader, b. Melbourne, Australia. d. July 19, 2006, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
1935     Anne Phillips, Vocals/Piano, b. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1941     Gene Pitney, C&W vocals, b. Hartford, CT, USA, d. April 5, 2006, Wales, UK. né: Gene Frances Allen Pitney. Some of his other songs included "Today's Teardrops" (used by Roy Orbison), "Rubber Ball" (a millin seller in 1960 for Bobby Vee), and "Every Breath I Take" (1962). In 1963, Pitney collaborated with Burt Bacharach on "Liberty Valance" and "Only Love Can Break A Heart". Pitney was one of the earliest singers to use material penned by Randy Newman, including "Nobody Needs Your Love" which was a big 1966 hit in Great Britain. (Curiously, despite his having 14 Top 40 hits in America, Pitney was always more popular in England.) He took a break from touring int he 1970s, but resumed in the 1980s, and continued so til his demise.(He died, while touring, in a hotel room in Wales, UK)
1907     Dick Reinhart, (Western Swing) vocals, b. Tishomingo, OK, USA.
1969     Jon Randall, C&W acoustic guitar, b. Dallas, TX, USA. né: John Randall Stewart
1907     Charlie Spivak, Leader/trumpet, b. Kiev, Ukraine, d. Mar. 1. 1982 Greenville, SC, USA.
1947     Dodie Stevens, vocals, b. USA. né:e: Geraldine Ann Pasquale. Best recalled release: "Pink Shoe Laces"
1938     Buck Trent, C&W banjo, b. Spartanburg, SC, USA. né: Charles Wilburn Trent
1911     Orrin Tucker, Leader, b. St. Louis, MO, USA. (Still active. 2003)
1926     Noble "Thin Man" Watts, tenor sax, b. DeLand, FL, USA. One of the hottest tenor saxman on the 1950s R&B scene.
1942     Klaus Weiss, Drums, b. Gevelsberg, Germany
1974     Bryan White, C&W vocals/guitar, b. Lawton, OK, USA.
1942     Gail Wynters, vocals
1939     Ronnie Zito, Drums, b. Utica, NY, USA.
         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1931.    "Uncle" Jimmy Thompson, early C&W performer on the 'Grand Ole Opry' show, died.
1954.    Doris Day's single, "Secret Love", hit #1 on U.S. Charts.
1962.    Gene Chandler's single "Duke of Earl" hit #1 on U. S. Charts.
1967.    Smiley Burnette, (Western) singer-songwriter/actor/comedian, died. Age: 55
1969.    Paul Barbarin, drums, died in New Orleans, LA, USA. Age: 69
1975.    Eck Robertson, C&W fiddler, died. Age: 87
1982.    Thelonious Monk, piano, died in Weehawken, NJ, USA. (stroke) Age: 64
1984.    Andrew "Blueblood" McMahon, bass, died in Monroe, LA, USA. Age: 57
1992.    Sallie Blaire, vocals, died in Baltimore, MD, USA. Age: 68. Sang with Cab Calloway's orch.
1993.    Sammy Lowe, trumpet/arranger/producer, died in Birmingham, AL, USA. Age: 74
1993.    Al Rivers, vocals, died in Portland, OR, USA. Age: 65. Member: 'The Ink Spots'
1993.    Morgan Smith, Apollo Theatre photograper, died in New York (Manhattan), NY, USA. Age: 83
1996.    "Gus" Hardin, C&W vocalist. née: Carolyn Ann Blankenship, died in a car crash. Age: 50 ("Gus" was b. April 9, 1945, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, d. Feb. 17, 1996, in a two-car, head-on collision on Highway 20, just 60 miles east of her home in Tulsa OK). Leon Russell once said "she sounds like a combination of Tammy Wynette, Otis Redding and a truck driver." In 1984, "Gus" underwent two intraocular lens transplant operations in Tulsa and through the skills of her Opthalmologist (Dr. Ned Reinstein), was, in late June 1984, able to see her first audience, in Houghton, Michigan.

         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
1933    "Casa Loma Stomp",- Glen Gray Orch.
1944    "Mairzy Doats",- Merry Macs
1950    "Rag Mop", Wills,- Johnnie Lee
1954    "Cross Over The Bridge",- Patti Page
1958    "Wonderful Time Up There, A",- Pat Boone
1958    "It's Too Soon To Know",- Boone, Pat
1962    "Percolator (Twist)",- Billy Joe & The Checkmates
1962    "Midnight In Moscow",- Ball, Kenny
1962    "Her Royal Majesty",- Darren, James
1962    "Twistin' The Night Away",- Sam Cooke
1968    "I Thank You",- Sam & Dave
1973    "Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)",- Deodato
1973    "Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First",- Gladys Knight,& The Pips
1979    "Sultans Of Swing",- Dire Straits
1984    "Thats the Way Love Goes", - Merle Haggard
1990    "I Wish It Would Rain Down",- Phil Collins
1990    "Keep It Together",- Madonna
1990    "Get Up! (Before The Night Is Over)",- Technotronic