BIRTHDAYS
1908     Henry James "Red" Allen Jr., Trumpet, b. New Orleans, LA, USA. d. April 17, 1967
1933     Archie Alleyne, drums, b: Toronto, ONT, Canada.
1898     Al Bowlly, vocalist/guitar/ukelele, b. Lourenco Marques, Portuguese East Africa, d. April 17, 1941, London, England, UK. (Died in a WWII Air Raid while sitting in bed.) Probably recorded more than any other vocalist - living or dead - with the possible exception of Bing Crosby. Bowlly recorded over 500 songs and appeared with orchestras led by Elizalde, Ray Noble, Lew Stone, Sydney Lipton, Geraldo and Ken Johnson, and others. A child of Greek and Lebanese parents, Bowlly was raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, and gained his initial musical experience in Singapore and India, singing with Jimmy Liquime's dance band in the mid-1920s. In 1927, he made his recording debut in Berlin, Germany, and in 1928 he arrived in London as a member of Fred Elizalde's orchestra. His 1928 release of "If I Had You" was perhaps the first popular song by an English jazz band to become popular in both America and Britain. By the beginning of the 1930s, Bowlly was an established solo artist in great demand. In 1934, he toured to New York as part of a Ray Noble "American" orchestra, that had been set up for Noble by Glenn Miller. When Miller and Noble had a falling out, Noble departed leaving Bowlly to 'front' the orchestra (which included Claude Thornhill, Charlie Spivak and Bud Freeman, among others). Soon, the NBC radio network signed him for his own radio series, which originated from the network's studios in New York's famed 'Radio City" buildings compound. In 1936, he appeared in the Hollywood film "The Big Broadcast of 1936", -starring crooner Bing Crosby! That same year, he returned to England appearing with his own band, the 'Radio City Rhythm Makers'. During the early 1940s, Bowlly partnered with Jimmy Messini for live performances on the London stages, performing even during the German air raids of World War II. Their act was called 'Radio Stars with Two Guitars'. In 1941, Bowlly died when a German bomb exploded outside his apartment.
1946     Andy Brown, drums, b. Birmingham, England. Member group: 'The Fortunes', originally called 'The Clifftones', were formed in Birmingham, England, as a vocal/harmony trio by founding members Rod Allen (b. March 31, 1944, Leicester, England), Glen Dale (b. April 24, 1943, Kent, England), and Barry Pritchard (b. April 3, 1944, Birmingham, England). In 1963, they switched to electric guitars and were joined by drummer Andy Brown (born July 7, 1946 and previously with a local band called 'The Lawmen'), along with keyboard player David Carr (b. August 4, 1943, Essex, England). music promoter Reg Calvert, then manager for London vocalist Robbie Hood (real name Mike West) renamed them "The Merry Men", as backing group for West. This arrangement did not last too long. They group enjoyed a fine recording career, after which 'The Fortunes' continued as a major attraction on the club circuit and in 1960s nostalgia shows. In 1995, founding member Barry Pritchard left the group due to ill health and became a resort operator in Spain. He died in January 1999, at age 54. Remaining original member Rod Allen continues to tour and record with the present line-up of 'the Fortunes' which also includes former 'Badfinger' keyboard player Bob Jackson as well as veteran performers Paul Hooper (drums) and Michael Smitham (guitar).
1949     Marshall Chapman, C&W/Pop vocals, b. Spartanburg, SC, USA. In addition to her eight critically acclaimed albums, her songs have been recorded by a variety of artists including Emmylou Harris, John Hiatt, Wynonna, Joe Cocker, Irma Thomas, Jimmy Buffett, Dion, Tanya Tucker, Russ Taff, Olivia Newton-John, Sawyer Brown, Mindy McCready, Greg "Fingers" Taylor, Jessi Colter, Ronnie Milsap, and The Uppity Blues Women. She has toured extensively on her own and opened shows for everybody from John Prine and Jimmy Buffett to Jerry Lee Lewis and The Ramones.
1963     John Colianni, piano/arranger/conductor/leader, b. Paterson, New Jersey, USA
1945     Dave Cousins, songwriter/guitar/vocals/dulcimer/banjo/recorder, b. England. Member group: 'The Strawbs', a British folk-prog group led by singer-guitarist Dave Cousins (the only continuous member of the group). When Cousins was preparing the first Strawbs record. he asked Sandy Denny to join the group, and soon after her acceptance she recorded "All Our Own Work" with the Strawbs, in Copenhagen. Sandy then went on to become one of Britain's finest singers before her untimely demise at just age 31.
1923     Larry Dale, guitar, b. Wharton, TX, USA. né: Ennis Lowery
1935     Kenny Davern, Clarinet, soprano sax, b. Huntington, NY, USA. d. Dec. 12, 2006, Sandia Park, New Mexico, USA. At age of 16, he sat in with many of the legendary groups in New York City. At age 19, joined Jack Teagarden's band. 1955-'65, worked with bands of Phil Napoleon and Pee Wee Erwin. In late '50s, with Billy Butterfield. Herman Autry. and Ruby Braff, after which he formed his own group for a stay at "Nick's" in New York City. A year's tour in 1963 with the Dukes of Dixieland, followed by engagements in New York and Canada with "Wild Bill" Davison, Bud Freeman, and Shorty Baker. Appeared at the some of the many festivals and jazz societies. In 1973, appeared with Bob Wilber with the group "Soprano Summit" on their first recording. Toured the U.K. and Australis with the 'World's Greatest Jazz Band' and appeared in film 'The Hustler' (starring Paul Newman) as well as the Broadway show Marathon-33 and the Off- Broadway show One Mo' Time. In early '80's formed the 'Blue Three' with Dick Wellstood and Bobby Rosengarden. They recorded and toured the US and abroad. Also recorded with Ralph Sutton, Gus Johnson, Dick Wellstood, and Art Hodes. His 1985 recording "The Very Thought of You" won the Music Trades Association Award as the Best Jazz Record of the Year in England, Just a few years before, the English Jazz Journal Reader's Poll voted him Number One Clarinetist in the World. Kenny remains very active today.
1924     Dolores Gray, vocals/actress, b. Chicago, IL, USA. Among the shows in which she appeared are 'Designing Woman', and 'Kismet'
1930     Jack Henry Greene, C&W Vocals.
1913     Haywood Henry, Baritone Saxophone, b. Birmingham, AL, USA. d. Sept. 15, 1994. (some sources show Jan. 10, as his date of birth)
1941     Roderick "Rod" Hicks, bass guitar/drums/vocals, b. Detroit, MI, USA. Member groups: 'Sixers House Band' (Philadelphia basketball club) / 'Paul Butterfield Blues Band', was comprised of Paul Butterfield, harmonica, (b Dec. 17, 1942, Chicago IL, USA, d. May 4, 1987, Hollywood CA, USA), Billy Davenport (drums, b. ca. 1933, Chicago, IL, USA), Mike Bloomfield (b. July 28, 1943, Chicago IL, USA, d. Feb 15, 1981 (found dead in his car from a drug O.D), Elvin Bishop (guitar, b. Oct. 21, 1942, Tulsa, OK, USA), Mark Naftalin (keyboards, b. Minneapolis, MN, USA), and Jerome Arnold (bass guitar).
1937     "Blind Joe" Hill, guitar, b. Dunbar, W. Va, USA.
1916     Bob "BoBo" Jenkins, guitar, b. Forkland, AL, USA.
1952     George Kahn, (Jazz) pianist, composer, synthesizer, arranger (classically trained at Brandeis University)
1925     Horry King, Reeds, b. Perth, Australia
1953     Earl "Wire" Lindo, keyboards/reggae vocals, b. Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Member group: 'Bob Marley & the Wailers'
1948     Kenny Loggins, vocals/songwriter, b. Everett, WA, USA. né: Kenneth Clark Loggins. Member: 'Loggins & Messina'
1906     Herb Magidson, composer/lyricist
1944     Mike McGear (McCartney), vocals. Paul McCartney's brother; he changed his name in the mid-1960s so as not to be perceived as riding on his brother's coattails. As a member of the Rock group 'Scaffold', they had some success in Great Britain with a pair of 1960s singles "Thank U Very Much" and "Lily Pink".
    Byron Morris, alto, tenor and soprano sax, b. Roanoke, Virginia, USA. Byron is the son the late saxist James William "Jim Billy" Morris (b. Feb. 18, 1916, Roanoke, VA USA, d. Feb. 8, 1985). In high school, he played alongside pianist Don Pullen in a band called 'The Junior Aristocrats' (named for "The Aristocrats", a swing band his father led from 1947-1960). In 1959. he graduated from high school, and in 1964, graduated from Tuskegee University with a degree in engineering. Ever since, he has had a "day job" in engineering, (working for IBM, and the U.S. government) while playing music at nights and on weekends. Not long after leaving Tuskegee, he moved to Washington, DC, where he played in both R&B and jazz bands all through the 1960s. In 1972, Byron, together with trumpeter Vincent McEwan and composer Gerald Wise, co-founded the band 'Unity', which also often featured the female vocalist Jay Clayton. The band recorded a few times (4) before finally disbanding. Since then, the group occasionally reforms for various gigs. Other bands Morris has co-founded include 'Three Saxes for Lester' and the 'Swingin' Saxes'. Morris, who owns his own "By-Mor" label, has continued to perform and record with subsequent versions of 'Unity'. In 1998, the group added pianist Hilton Ruiz. After hurricane 'Katrina' hit the southern coast of the U. S. A., Ruiz was one of the musicians who left home to perform and to raise money for the victims of New Orleans. That evening, while walking into one of the restaurants in the 'French Quarter' of old New Orleans, he tripped on some fault of the sidewalk, and went into a coma. Seven days later, he died without ever coming out of the coma.
1959     David Lee Murphy, C&W singer-songwriter/guitar, b. Herrin, IL, USA. David Lee Murphy has told interviewers that his music is "Saturday night in a pickup truck with the windows rolled down having a good time party music". It's Country music that moves the feet as well as the heart. Among his best selling releases are "Dust on the Bottle", "Party Crowd" and "The Road You Leave Behind".
1933     Donald Payne, Bass, b. Wellington, TX, USA.
1915     'Chano' Pozo, Conga Drums, b. Havana (Matanzas), Cuba, d. Dec. 2, 1948, New York City, NY, USA. (Murdered in a Bar Room Brawl.) né: Luciano Pozo y Gonzalez. Brother of Francisco "Chino" Pozo y Gonzalez.    Chano was Cuban born (and a member of the Black Cuban Abakua secret society), he descended from Nigerian slaves brought to Cuba to work the sugarcane fields. He is recalled today as one of the founders of "latin jazz". His meeting with Dizzy Gillespie was a seminal moment in both their lives. Chano had arrived in New York in 1947. He and Dizzy began playing together, and Dizzy became imbued with a love of Cuban rhythms (Dizzy's ear had always been keenly attuned to Rhythm - some of his music - "Salt Peanuts" (based on a George Gershwin tune) for example, are in many respects a Drum Rhythm played in melodic form.) The music they made together came to be known as "CuBop" - an amalgam of Cuban Jazz and BeBop. The tunes that Dizzy's big band played included "Cubana Be," "Cubana Bop," and two co-composed by Chano "Tin Tin Deo" and Manteca". It all ended for Chano in 1948. Chano owned a hot temper and, just one month short of his 34th birthday, he was killed during an argument in a Harlem bar over a dispute for drugs. "Cabito", a veteran of World War 2 killed him (because Chano slapped his face). Luis "Sabu" Martinez took over Chano Pozo's chair in the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band after Pozo's death In addition to Chano and Sabu Martinez (a Puerto Rican bongo player), Chino (not Chano) Pozo, and Carlos Vidal all played in Gillespie's orchestra. At that time, Dizzy (very early in his career) was enamored with the Afro-Cuban music. He was not alone, - Stan Kenton, Billy May, and Charlie Parker were also experimenting with Cuban percussion within the Jazz form. Chano's contribution to 'Latin-Jazz' is enormous and has effected the attitudes of Jazz musicians throughout the USA.
1915     Keg Purnell, Drums, b. Charleston, WV, USA. d. June 25, 1965
1942     Paul Revere, keyboards/vocals, b: Boise, ID, USA. Member group: 'Paul Revere and The Raiders'
1974     John Rich, C&W singer-sisngwriter, b. Amarillo, TX, USA. Member group: 'Lonestar'
1950     Paul Steve Ripley, C&W Vocals/Guitar/Drums, b. Oklahoma, USA. Member: "The Tractors", a group formed in 1989 in Tulsa, Oklahoma with Steve Ripley, Walt Richmond (b. April 18, 1947, Tulsa, OK, USA, Keyboards, Accordion, Drums, Horns, Bass Vocals ), Ron Getman (b. Dec 13, 1948, Bristow, OK, Lead Guitar, Steel Guitar, Dobro, Mandolin, Vocals), Casey Van Beek (b. Dec 1, 1942, Holland, Bass Guitar, Vocals), and Jamie Oldaker (b. Sept 5, 1951, Centerville, Utah, Drums, Percussion)
1913     Shirley Ross, Pops Vocalist, d. March 9, 1975
1925     David "Davey" Schildkraut, tenor-Alto sax, b. New York, NY, USA. d. Jan. 1, 1998, New York, NY, USA. age: 72
1959     Kathy Valentine, bass. Member group: 'The Go-Go's', were initially formed as a punk band in the late 1970's, the girls--lead vocalist Belinda Carlisle (b. Aug. 17.1958, Hollywood, CA, USA), Kathy Valentine, guitarists Jane Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey, and drummer Gina Schock. For five years, the ladies had some successful recordings. In 1985, the girls disbanded. Carlisle scored solo hits with "Mad About You" and "Heaven is a Place on Earth." Caffey (with then-unknown Meredith Brooks) formed a new band called 'The Graces' and Wiedlin achieved minor success with her late 1980's pop tune, "Rush Hour."
1942     Danny Williams, vocals, b. South Africa. He has been dubbed " "Britain's Johnny Mathis" for his easy going, stylish way with a ballad. Curiously, all of his hits occurred in the U.K., with the exception of one, "White on White." In 1964, his single "White on White" climbed up to the Top 10 in the U.S.A but ironically bombed in the U.K.
1943     Leona Williams, C&W singer-songwriter, b. Vienna, MO, USA. née: Leona Belle Helton.
1923     Joe Willie Wilkins, guitar, b. Davenport, MS, USA. Member: 'King Biscuit Boys'
1925     Sam Woodyard, Drums, b. Elizabeth, NJ, USA. d. Sept. 20, 1988.
1936     Eldee Young, Bass/cello, b. Chicago, IL, USA. Best remembered for his work with the Ramsey Lewis Trio

         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1924.   26 year old George Gershwin completed the score of "Rhapsody in Blue".
1947.   Doctor Clayton, vocals, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 47
1954.   Muddy Waters records "I'm Your Hootchie-Cootchie Man" (Chess Records -Chicago).
1958.   Gibson Corporation patents the "Flying V" guitar.
1964.   Cyril Davies, vocals, died in Eel Pie Island., UK. Age: 32. Member: 'Blues Incorporated'
1980.   Carl White, vocals, died in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Age: 48. Member: 'The Rivingtons'
1980.   Larry Williams, piano, died in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Age: 44
1981.   Chink Martin, tuba, Bass, guitar, died in New Orleans, LA, USA. Age: 94
1985.   Johnny Guarnieri, piano, died in Livingston, New Jersey, USA. (while onstage during a performance with Dick Sudhalter.) né: John Albert Guarnieri
1992.   Arthur "Babe" Clark, all reeds, died in Chicago, IL, USA.
1998.   Owen Bradley, died. this day. Age: 82. Bradley, perhap more than anyone else, helped make Nashville the Country music recording capital.
1999.   Fred Hopkins, bass, died. Age: 51

         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
       1943 Moonlight Becomes You,- Bing Crosby
       1943 Why Don't You Fall In Love With Me,- Dinah Shore
       1949 Far Away Places,- Perry Como
       1956 Rock And Roll Waltz,- Kay Starr
       1967 Nothin' Yet, (We Ain't Got),- Blues Magoos
       1967 98.6,- Keith
       1978 Emotion,- Sang, Samantha
       1984 Innocent Man, An,- Billy Joel
       1984 Let The Music Play,- Shannon
       1989 She Wants To Dance With Me,- Rick Astley
       1989 Walking Away,- Information Society