BIRTHDAYS
1937     David Ackles, singer/songwriter, b. Rock Island, IL, USA. d. March 2, 1999, Pasadena, CA, USA (Cancer). David came from a musical family. His grandfather had been a music hall comedian and his grandmother had led an all-woman band. He studied literature at Scotland's Edinburgh University, before going on to the University of Southern California, from where he received a degree in Film Studies.
1909     Oscar Marcelo Alemán, Guitar, b. Resistencia, El Chaco Prov., Argentina, d. Oct. 14, 1980, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Alemán was the son of a perfoming family. His father, Jorge Alemán Moreira, was a guitarist, who led a folk troupe (young Oscar was a dancer) that toured Argentina and Brazil, Sadly, the family broke up, and his father committed suicide shortly after his wife's death. In 1919, Oscar, then only 10 years old, found himself alone in the streets of Santos (Brazil), but was able to get a job as 'bell hop' in a local hotel. In 1922 he got his first instrument, a 'cavaquinho' (four stringed Brazilian ukulele), and (still in Santos) learned to play by ear - throughout his career, he could never read music. Not long afterwards, he left his bellhop job and formed a duet, "Les Loups", with Gastón Bueno Lobo, a Brazilian guitarist. Both men played several string instruments: Spanish and Hawaiian guitars and cavaquinho, in all kinds of combinations. Alemán went on to a long and distinguised musical career. In 1927, 'Les Loups' went to Buenos Aires where they played in local venues, appeared on radio, and recorded with Victor. He then met a Black tap-dancer named Harry Flemming, from the Virgin Islands Flemming was an entrepreneur-dancer-adventurer-gigolo (and part-time boxer!) who traveled the world leading a revue which included a 15-piece band. In 1928, Flemming was in Argentina, and 'Les Loups' joined the company, On February 1929 they sailed to Europe and worked (mainly Spain) for the next two years, - billed as Hawaiian guitarists. In early 1931, 'Les Loups' left Flemming and Alemán gigged, both with some groups as well as a solo act, for some months in Spain. In mid-1931, he relocated to Paris, France and joined Josephine Baker's company, a job he kept on and off until 1939. When not touring with Baker. he lived in Paris, where he met many of the American ex-patriate musicians. For a while, he played with Freddy Taylor's orchestra, and was also featured on BBC broadcasts with Willie Lewis. Subsequently, he led his own bands at several Parisian venues, including the 'Chantilly'. He met Duke Ellington during the Duke's historical 1933 European tour, and was offered a place in the band, but Josephine Baker opposed it and he never joined the Duke. Interestingly, with Josephine Baker, he not only directed the orchestra, but he also sang, danced, and played string and percussion instruments, -often as a special feature. In 1940, when German forces occupied France, Alemán was repatriated with the help of the Argentinean embassy. In late 1940, soon after his arrival in Buenos Aires he formed his first 'Quinteto de Swing' with violin, rhythm guitar, bass and drums. Two of the members were violinist Hernán Oliva, and guitarist Dario 'Johnny' Quaglia. Between 1941 and 1943, the quintet recorded 10 titles for Argentinean Odeon. In 1943, the quintet was reorganized, becoming a "quintet" of six, with new men, and a piano was added. One of the new men was violinist Manuel Gavinovich. Between 1943 and 1948, this group recorded about 40 sides for Odeon. In 1959, after touring Spain and Portugal, Alemán disbanded. The public's musical tastes changed drastically after World War II.and Alemán, as well as many other musicians, fell into obscurity. In the years afterwards, he taught, had some sporadic public performances, and had some occasional recording sessions. Oscar Alemán certainly deserves a place among the great Swing guitarists. With the re-issue of a great part of both his European and Argentinean material on CD, his recordings have become available to a new generation.
1964     Iain Ballamy, Tenor Sax, b. Guildford, England
1951     Kathy Baillie, (C&W) vocals/guitar, b. Morristown, NJ, USA. Member: "Baillie & the Boys"
1950     Walter Becker, bass/guitar/songwriter/producer . b. New York, NY, USA. Member group: 'Steely Dan'
1901     Charles Boulanger, Leader, d. Nov. 1967
1960     Robert Boustead, bass. Member group: 'King Kurt'
1963     Ian Brown, vocals. b. Ancoats, Gt. Manchester, England. Member group: 'Stone Roses'
1918     Beulah Bryant, vocals, b. Dayton, AL, USA.
1951     Randy California (Wolfe), rock guitar/singer-songwriter, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA. d. Jan. 2, 1997, Molokai HI, USA. swimming accident. Member group: 'Spirit'
1937     Manuel "Manny" Chavez, vocals, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA. Member: 'The Jaguars'
1967     Kurt Cobain, vocals, b. Hoquiam, WA, USA. Member group: 'Nirvana' (1994)
1950     Paul Cooper, singer, b: Tennessee, USA. member: 'Nylons' vocal group.
1951     Anthony Davis, Piano, b. Paterson, NJ, USA
1914     Milton Ebbins, songwriter, b. Springfield, MA, USA.
1940     Barbara Laine Ellis, vocals, b. Olympia, WA, USA. Member group: 'The Fleetwoods'.
1956     Riccardo Del Fra, double bass/Composer/Songwriter, b. Rome, Italy
1946     J. (Jerome) Geils, guitar, b. New York, NY, USA. Member group: 'The J. Geils Band'
1907     Richard Himber, Leader, b. Newark, NJ, d. 1966. In addition to his band leading, he also left us a few noteable popular songs such as "Cling To Me", "Day After Day" (Johnny Green/Himber tune), "Footloose and Fancy Free", "If I Should Lose You (Robin/Rainger tune)," "In the Chapel In the Moonlight (Billy Hill tune)" and "Stars Fell On Alabama. (Perkins/Parish tune)"
1945     Alan Hull, leader/singer-songwriter, b. Newcastle, England, UK. Member group: 'Lindisfarne', a Newcastle folk-based Rock band (1996)
1925     Frank Isola, Drums, b. Detroit, MI, USA. (d. Dec. 12, 2004
1906     Jack Jackson, trumpet/broadcaster, b. England, UK. Played with Jack Hylton and others.
1926     Bobby Jasper, Tenor Sax/Flute, b. Liege, Belgium, d. 1963. One of the great technicians of the tenor saxophone, and a fine flutist. As a teenager, he studied piano and clarinet. In 1945 he played with the 'Bob Shots' orchestra with some of the best Belgian Jazz musicians at their debut. (Sadi (vibraphone), Ren Thomas (guitar), Jacques Pelzer (alto sax)) In 1950 he went to Paris, becoming one of the center figures of Modern Jazz there, -and one European Jazzmen of the fifties.In the mid-fifties, he emigrated to the USA, where his Be-bop style soft sounding sax sound melded with techniques of such stars as Sonny Rollins and Warne Marsh. Still, he never lost his original creative lyricism. He was a very good Jazz composer as well, giving top creations to the musicians of the time. Bobby JASPAR was highly appreciated by the American musicians and casted there numerous recording sessions. In 1961/62 he again toured Europe giving concerts in several countries, and making some of his last recordings. He and his friend Ren Thomas (Belgian guitarist who emigrated to Canada to be close to Jaspar) they formed a quintet, -which became a Sextet in some sessions then they were joined by trumpeter Chet Baker. In early 1963, Jaspar died while in New York as a result of a serious heart condition, just 37 years old.
1958     Leroy Jones, Trumpet/flugelhorn/vocal, b. New Orleans, LA, USA.
1952     Uwe Kropinski, acoustic guitar, b. East Berlin, East Germany. Kropinski originally studied Classical and Jazz guitar at the "Musikhochschule Hanns Eisler" in East Berlin, and soon was freelancing as a Jazz artist. In addition to playing several projects as a leader, he has also worked as a soloist. He has worked in duos with David Friesen (bass in USA), Michael Heupel (flute - Germany), Dieter Köhnlein (piano - Germany) or Volker Schlott (alto sax, soprano sax - Germany). Performing in trios, he has played with Cecil BcBee (bass - USA) and Pheeroan AkLaff (drums - USA). In quartets, he has worked with Gary Barone (tb), Alan Jones (dr), and David Friesen (bass - USA), and he also played in the quartet 'Doppelmoppel' with Konrad Bauer (tb), Johannes Bauer (tb) and Helmut Sachse (guitar - Germany). Kropinski and his friend David Friesen collaborated on a guitar book "Guitar; Departure". (They had originally met in Munich, Germany in 1987 at a Jazz concert.) Beginning in 1989, he began to play a special guitar (with 39 frets) custom made for him by the Dutch luthier Theo Scharpach (Achterste Aa 14, NL 5571 Bergeyk). He has composed music for an animated film, and has toured in almost every European country. Since the early 1990s, he has also worked as a photographer; providing the photographs for his own, and for other artists, CD-covers. His photographs have been exhibited several times as 'Uwe Theo Kropinski'
1933     Charles Kynard, organ, 1933, d. 1979
1975     Brian (Thomas) Littrell, vocals, b. Lexington, KY, USA. Member group: 'Backstreet Boys'
1954     Claire Lynch, (Bluegrass) Vocals/Guitar/Piano, b. Albany, New York, USA. Member: "Claire Lynch and the "Front Porch String Band" (Rounder Records). Formed in 1974, and over the years, members have included Claire Lynch and (married 1976) Larry Lynch (Mandolin, Fiddle, Bouzouki, Vocals), Alan O'Bryant (Banjo, Vocals), Kenny Smith (Guitar, Bass, Vocals), Chuck Holcomb (Banjo, Bass, Vocals), Jim Hurst (Guitar, Vocals), Missy Raines (String Bass), and Michael McLain (Banjo, Mandolin, Vocals)
1918     Phillip Moore, Piano/composer, b. Portland, OR, USA, d. May 13, 1987, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
1963     Darek "Oles" Oleszkiewicz, bass. b. Wroclaw, Poland
1908     Seymour Osterwall, tenor sax, leader, d. Aug. 3, 1981. Osterwall led a great Swedish Jazz band. Other Swedish Jazzmen include Arne Huphers, Nisse Lind, Thore Ehrling, Gosta Torner, Putte Wickman, Bengt Hallberg, Lars Gullin, Arne Domnérus, Ernst Rolf's Jazz Band, Helge Lindberg's Crystal Band, Swedish Paramount Orchestra, Fredrik Ljungkvist, Fredrik Nordstrom Quintet, Magnus Lindgren & The Swedish Radio Jazz Group, Mats Holmquist Stora Stygga Big Bad Band, Lennard Åberg, Bosse Broberg & Nogenja Jazz Soloist Ensemble, etc.
1972     Neil Primrose, drums, b. Glasgow, Scotland. Member group: 'Travis', consisted of Neil Primrose, Fran Healy (singer/songwriter, b. July 23, 1973), Andy Dunlop (guitar, b. March 16, 1972, Glasgow, Scotland ), and Dougie Payne (bass, b. Nov. 14, 1972, Glasgow, Scotland ), - all of whom met in Glasgow, Scotland, while studying art.
1960     Mark Reilly, guitar/vocals/remixer, b. U.K. Member group: 'Matt Bianco', consisted of Mark Reilly (vocals), Danny White (keyboard), and Kito Poncioni (bass guitar), and Basia Treztwraleska (vocals, b. Poland).
1901     Fred Robinson, Trombone, b. Memphis, TN, USA. d. 1984
1946     Jordan Sandke, trumpet, b. Chicago, IL, USA.
Jordan's younger brother Randy Sandke, b. Chicago, IL, USA. is a trumpeter, composer and arranger, who started his career as a trumpeter. His first lessons were from his older brother, but he subsequently studied at Roosevelt University with Reinhold Schilke, a legendary teacher and trumpet maker, who was with the Chicago Symphony for many years. Randy later developed a hernia in his throat causing him to turn down an offer to join Janis Joplin's band. After being cured by a surgical operation, he decided to take up the guitar and, for the next decade, worked as a guitarist in New York City. After this ten years, a friend persuaded him to return to the trumpet, and Randy sat in one night with Vince Giordano's Nighthawks orchestra, and then remained with them for the next 5 years. During this time, he also played with saxophonist Bob Wilber. Wilbur brought him to the attention of Benny Goodman, and Randy became a part of Benny Goodman's last band (1985-1986). He played with Goodman until Benny 's death in June of 1986. Sandke has also recorded with such well known Jazzmen as Ray Brown, Buck Clayton, Michael Brecker, George Wein's Newport All-Stars, John Hendricks, Ralph Sutton, Kenny Davern, John Pizzarelli, Al Grey, Dizzy Gillespie, The World's Greatest Jazz Band, Flip Phillips, Clark Terry, Mel Tormé, Joe Williams, Susannah McCorkle, Billy Eckstein, Kenny Burrell, Ira Sullivan, Doc Severinson, and many others, including such entertainers as Woody Allen, Bill Cosby and Steve Allen. In 1968 he formed a rock band with Michael Brecker that featured a horn section and they played at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival. Since then, he has performed at festivals, clubs and concerts around the world, performing extensively throughout Japan, the United States of America, Canada and India. He has toured Europe over 20 times. Sandke has received two NEA grants for his original compositions, and his work has been performed atNew York's famed Carnegie Hall, and the Greenwich House (also in New York City). In 1995 the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra performed three of Sandke's orchestral pieces. The famed Carnegie Hall Jazz Band has performed four of his suites and has recorded one of Sandke's arrangements. He has been named in the Downbeat Critics poll as a "talent deserving wider recognition. Sandke has recorded several albums as a leader for the Jazzology and Concord labels.
1944     Lew Soloff, Trumpet, b. New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA. (raised in Lakewood, New Jersey). Studied at Juilliard (NYC) and then freelanced in New York studios and live with Maynard Ferguson, Joe Henderson and Clark Terry and others. Part of Blood, Sweat & Tears during 1968-'73. In 1973, Soloff became closely associated with Gil Evans. Soloff has played with Carla Bley; George Gruntz's Concert Jazz Band, and the Manhattan Jazz Quintet. He can also be heard on several recordings with Ray Anderson (T'bone).
1941     Buffy Sainte-Marie, singer/songwriter, b: Piapot Reserve, Craven, Saskatchewan, Canada.
1981     Chris Thile, mandolin/vocals, b. Oceanside, CA, USA. In 2001, the Instrumental Bluegrass Music Association awarded him the title of 'Mandolin Player of the Year'.
1949     Stefan Waggershausen, vocals, b. Germany. Best known release: "Hallo, Engel".
1937     Nancy Wilson, Vocal, b. Chillicothe, OH, USA. née: Nancy Sue Wilson
1928     Buddy Wise, Tenor Sax, b. Topeka, KS, USA. d. July 1955
1894     Jimmy Yancey, Piano, b. Chicago, IL, USA. d. Sept. 17, 1951. (some sources say b. 1898)
1950     Krzysztof Zgraja, flute
1948     'Billy Zoom', multi-instrumentalist, b. Savannah, IL, USA. né: Tyson Kindell. 'Billy' is the son of a Big Bands sax/clarinet player, who inherited his father's love of music. At a very young age, Kindell began playing a variety of instruments, including violin, accordion, piano, clarinet, tenor sax, banjo, and guitar; eventually becoming proficient at a staggering nine instruments.
         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1940.    Larry Clinton Orchestra recorded "Limehouse Blues" (Victor)
1963.    Addison Farmer, bass, died in New York, NY. Age: 34
1972.    James C. Bracken, label co-owner: (Vee Jay), died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 62
1980.    Nathan McCalla, label owner (Calla), died in Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA.
1990.    Hal Worthington, vocals, died in Washington, DC. Age: 42

         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
1942    "I Don't Want To Walk Without You", Harry James
1942    "Rose O'Day", Kate Smith
1946    "Wire Brush Stomp", Gene Krupa Trio (Krupa/C.Ventura/Teddy Napoleon)
1946    "Lover", Gene Krupa Orch.
1961    "Apache", Jorgen Ingmann
1961    "Surrender", Elvis Presley
1961    "Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes)", Carla Thomas
1965    "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", (Woody) Herman's Hermits
1971    "Me And Bobby McGee", Janis Joplin
1971    "She's A Lady", Tom Jones
1971    "Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted", Partridge Family
1971    "Help Me Make It Through The Night", Sammi Smith
1971    "Just My Imagination (Running Away With M"), The Temptations
1982    "Do You Believe In Love", Lewis, Huey & The News
1982    "Chariots Of Fire - Titles", Vangelis
1988    "Get Outta My Dreams Get Into My Car", Billy Ocean
1993    "Two Princes", Spin Doctors