BIRTHDAYS
1926     Vic Ames, vocals. né: Victor Urick. Member group: The Ames Brothers
1889     Felix Arndt, composer, b. Harmon-on-Hudson, NY, USA, d. Oct. 16, 1918, New York, NY, USA .
1851     Emile Berliner, , gramophone inventor, b. Hanover, Germany, d. August 3, 1929, Washington, DC, USA.
1901     Jimmy Blythe, Piano, b. Louisille, KY, USA. d. 1931
1911     Vet Boswell, vocals, b. Birmingham, AL, USA. Member of famed 'Boswell Sisters'
1952     Warren Cann, Drums, b. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Member group: Ultravox
1946     Cher, vocals, b. El Centro, CA, USA. né: Cherilyn Sarkasian LaPierre. aka: Cher Bono. First fame as "Sonny and Cher" vocal duo. In 1998, Cher became the first female artist over the age of 50 to have a No. 1 hit on the US charts. (The song was "Believe".)
1967     Kit Clark, Accordion/Vocals, b. Dundee, Scotland, UK. Member group: 'Danny Wilson', Formed 1985 by singer Gary Clark, his brother Kit Clark, and percussionist Ged Grimes
1907     Rod Cless, Clarinet, b. Lenox, IA, USA. d. 1944
1944     Joe Cocker, Rock singer-songwriter. b. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, UK. né: John Robert Cocker
1896     "Jaybird" Coleman, harmonica, b. Gainesville, AL, USA.
1981     Sean Conlon, Piano, b. Leeds, England, UK. Member group: 'Five Guys'
1960     Sue Cowsill, vocals, b. Newport, RI, USA. Member group: 'The Cowsills'
1947     Steve Currie, Bass, b. Grimsby, England, UK. d April 28, 1981 (car crash in Portugal, near his home at Val Da Parra). Member group: 'T-Rex'
1933     Charles Davis, Baritone/Tenor Sax, b. Goodman, MI, USA.
1902     Oscar Davis, (C&W) artist management/promoter, b. Providence, RI, USA.
1932     Bob Florence, leader, Piano composer, arranger, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA
1911     Milt Gabler, Record Shop co-owner/label owner (Commodore Records'), d. 2001
1958     Ray Gallon, piano/composer. Working in and around the New York City area, Gallon has performed, and recorded, with such artists as Lionel Hampton, George Adams, Art Farmer, Ron Carter, and T. S. Monk. Besides playing in local venues, he has toured Europe, Canada, Japan and North America with a variety of artists. He has also performed at The White House Gala and The Kennedy Center Salute in Washington, D.C.. Gallon holds a BFA and MA in music composition from "City College of New York", and has taught in the music department.
1955     Steve George, vocals. Member group: 'Mr Mister'
1919     George Gobel, guitar/vocals/actor, "WLS National Barn Dance (Guitar), and TV comedian, b. Chicago, IL, USA.
1966     Tom Gorman, rock guitar. Member group: 'Belly'
1931     Tommy Gumina, Accordion, b. Milwaukee, WI, USA.
1936     Rufus Harley, Bagpipes/tenor sax, b. (near ) Raleigh, NC, USA. d. July 31, 2006, Germantown, PA, USA. (prostate cancer). ( some sources say d. Aug. 1, 2006). He was born of African-American and Cherokee heritage. He and his mother moved to Philadelphia when he was still a young boy. In high school he played up several wind instruments ( saxophone, flute, oboe and clarinet. ) During his career, he recorded with such Jazz stars as Herbie Mann, John Coltrane and Dizzie Gillespie. Among his own four albums (Atlantic label), "Scotch & Soul" was the first to command critical notice (the other 3 were "Bagpipe Blues", "Soul, A Tribute to Courage", and "King/Queens"). On stage, Rufus Harley either wore a Macleod tartan kilt - or African dress complemented by a horned Viking helmet. Once asked how to play the jazz bagpipes, Harley answered: "You play off the air that's in there."
1921     Jimmy Henderson, trombone/leader, b. Wichita Falls, TX, USA, d. June 1, 1988, New York, NY, USA. (NOTE: Henderson was NOT born in 1954.) At just age six, he began taking piano lessons, and then studied the trombone while in high-school. At just age 13, Henderson was a Musician's Union member, and the 'first chair' with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra. In 1935, at age 14, he received a scholarship to the 'Cincinnati Conservatory of Music'. After receiving his degree, he spent some years touring with the Hal McIntyre, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, and the Dorsey Brothers Orchestras. In early 1954, Henderson relocated to Los Angeles, and for the next 20 years was a busy 'sessions' man. He also formed his own orchestra which was active for 15 years, mostly in the TV studios. In the the mid-1970s, he assumed leadership of the Glenn Miller Orchestra (March 31, 1975 - May 31, 1981). Henderson retired in 1981.
CAUTION: Do not confuse with another Jimmy Henderson who was a popular singer and songwriter in the 1930s and '40s. While not too many recall this Jimmy, his composition "I Miss You So" continues to be somewhat popular (especially with nostalgia fans). The tune was also recorded by singer Paul Anka and Charlie Rich. As well as singing, Jimmy played both the Guitar and the Tiple (a small, 12-string Spanish guitar). Jimmy was a member of the "Cats & the Fiddle', a group founded in 1937 by amalgamating two earlier, separate bands: the "Harlem Harmony Hounds," led by singer Austin Powell, and a Chicago-based trio of Jimmie Henderson, Chuck Barksdale and Ernie Price. The trio needed a lead singer, and Powell fitted the role perfectly, and the initial four-part vocal - instrumental line-up was born. Listen now to the 'Cats and the Fiddle' playing (ca. 1938) "We Cats Will Swing", with Henderson playing guitar and vocalizing. Besides singing lead, Austin Powell played four-stringed tenor guitar (a normal sized instrument with just the lower four strings), Jimmie Henderson was a first tenor and tipple player; and second tenor Ernie Price played both the tipple and the guitar, while Chuck Barksdale sang bass and played bass fiddle. In 1940, Henderson suffered a bout with meningitis, and died later the same year.
NOTE: The Tiple was widely used by vocal groups in former times, for both melody and rhythm accompaniment However, by the early 1950s, it had (sadly) fallen out of favor.
1961     Nick Heyward, guitar/vocals/songwriter. Member group: 'Haircut 100',
1942     Jill Jackson, vocals, b. McCamey, TX, USA. Member group: 'Paul & Paula'. In 1963, their release " Hey Paula" made it to No. 1 on the USA Charts.
1950     Victor Lewis, drums/leader, b. Omaha, Nebraska, USA
1940     "Shorty" Long, vocals, b. Birmingham, AL, USA.
1936     Sterling Magee, vocals, b. Mount Olive, MS, USA. Member: 'Satan & Adam'
1963     Brian "Nasher" Nash, guitar. Member group: 'Frankie Goes To Hollywood'
1944     Chuck Nessa, record producer, b. near Story City, IA, USA. He was raised on his father's farm helping raise pigs, corn and soy beans. His father was a Big Bands fan, especially Jimmy Lunceford and Artie Shaw. "Chuck" dabbled in piano and trumpet for a number of years before attending the University of Iowa (1962-'65 Iowa City, - did not matriculate) where he majored in English. In 1963, he married Ann, and in 1966, relocated to Chicago, IL, USA, where he managed the Jazz Record Mart, where he was able to convince Jazz Record Mart management, and Delmark Records owner Koester, to record members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), then still a fledgling "free jazz" organization. In 1967, he started 'Nessa Records'. He was able to support his family (son born in '70, daughter in '74) and the label with "day jobs" in music retailing and wholesaling. Nessa has also done some freelance production work for other labels. He currently (2002) resides in Whitehall, MI. USA.
1932     Pauline Oliveros, accordion/composer/clarinet/bass-flute/sopranino, b. Houston, Texas, USA.
1962     Ralph Peterson, Drums, b. Pleasantville, NJ, USA
1924     Dave Pochonet, drums, d. ?
1937     Teddy Randazzo, singer-songwriter, b. New York, NY, USA.
1906     Lyda Roberti, actress, singer, b. Warsaw, Poland, d. March 12, 1938, Los Angeles, California, USA (heart attack) (From imdb.com) "Lyda's father was German clown Roberti, her mother a Polish trick rider. As a child performer, she toured Europe and Asia with the Circus in which she was born, leaving it (and her reportedly abusive father) in Shanghai, China. In this truly international city, Lyda became a child cafe entertainer and learned the fractured English that became her trademark. Around 1927, she emigrated to California, finding work in vaudeville, where she was "discovered" in 1930 by Broadway producer Lou Holtz and became an overnight star in his 1931 show 'You Said It'. Lyda's unforgettable stage and screen character was a sexy blonde whose charming accent and uninhibited man-chasing were played for hilarious laughs. From 1932-35 she made 8 comedy and musical films mainly at Paramount, with Fields, Cantor, and other great comedians; her unique singing style was also popular on the radio and records. Her health declining from premature heart disease, she briefly replaced the late Thelma Todd in Hal Roach comedy shorts with Patsy Kelly and appeared in 3 features for MGM and Columbia, then retired from film work a few months before her fatal heart attack at age 31."
1935     Dino Saluzzi, Bandoneon, accordion, flute, banjo, vocal, percussion, b. Campo Santo, Argentina
1924     Virginia Jensen Schweitzer (aka: Prunella Cornpone), Vocals/ banjo/fiddle/mandolin, d. July 29, 2002, Miami, FL, USA, (Respiratory failure) She co-founded Corn Country, originally named The Stone Age Music Society.
1931     Louis Smith, Trumpet/Leader, b. Memphis, TN, USA.
1931     Bud Spires, harmonica, b. ?Bentonia, MS, USA.
1908     Jimmy Stewart, actor, b. Philadelphia, IN, USA, d. July 2, 1997, Los Angeles, CA, USA. (Lung Embolism). né: James Maitland Stewart. While just about everyone in the world knows Jimmy as an actor, - very few folks know that he loved the Accordion, and playing it was his life-long joy. Jimmy took the instrument with him wherever he traveled. This fact alone qualifies him for a place on this Musician's Diary. Jimmy matriculated from Yale University (he was friends with fellow student Joshua Logan) where he studied Architecture. Logan convinced him to joined the newly formed 'University Players' in Massachusetts, where he would meet Henry Fonda and Margaret Sullivan. Incidentally, during his long career, he in two films of interest to musicians. In the 1936 film 'Born to Dance', starring Eleanor Powell), he sang Cole Porter's "Easy To Love", and in the 1954 film 'The Glenn Miller Story' he portrayed the famous leader. During WW2, Stewart enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a private and rose to the rank of Brigadier General - highly decorated. (It is said that he flew in over 1000 missions over enemy territory.) He retired from the Air Force in 1968. Sadly, his son died while fighting in the Viet Nam war.
1958     Jane Wiedlin, rock guitar/vocals, b. Oconomowoc, WI, USA. Member group: 'The Go-Go's'

         Notable Events occuring this date include:
1851.    Emile Berliner, inventor of the gramophone, born in Hanover, Germany, died August 3, 1929.
1920.    Canadian Marconi Company station XWA in Montreal, Quebec aired North America's (world's?) first scheduled radio broadcast.
1932.    James Wesley "Bubber" Miley, trumpet, died at just age 29, in New York City, ( tuberculosis, - induced by his alcohol abuse). Miley barely out-lived his contemporary and fellow jazz trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke, whose life was also cut short due to alcohol abuse. (and who also died in New York city). "Bubber" was b. April 3, 1903, Aiken, South Carolina, USA..
1941.    Harry James orchestra recorded "You Made Me Love You" (Columbia).
1944.    Vincent Rose, leader, composer died in Rockville Center, New York, USA. (b. June 13, 1880, Palermo, Sicily, Italy)
1947.    Michel Warlop, violin, 1947 died in Bagnères de Luchon, France. Age 36. (Tuberculosis - perhaps induced by alcoholism) (b.Jan. 23, 1911, France)
1964.    Rudy Lewis, vocals, died in New York, NY. Age: 28. Member: 'The Drifters'
1969.    Ralph Pena, bass, died (car accident) Age 42. (b .Feb 24, 1927 )
1975.    "Bon Bon" Tunnell, vocals, died in Philadelphia, PA. Age: 72. Best recalled for singing with Jan Savitt orchestra.
1977.    Lafayette "Thing" Thomas, guitar, died in Brisbane, CA. Age: 48
1978.    Ivan B. Browning, vocals, died in Los Angeles, CA. Age: 87. Member: 'The 4 Harmony Kings'
1979.    Albert Lipschultz, magazine founder (Downbeat), died in Chicago, IL.
1979.    Bill Rank, trombonist, died (b. June 8, 1904)
1982.    Monk Montgomery, bass, died in Las Vegas, NV. Age: 60
1982.    Pinell Curry, drums, died in Chicago, IL. Age: 47
1985.    Johnny Fuller, guitar, died in Oakland, CA. Age: 56
1986.    Clyde E. B Bernhardt, vocals/trombone, died in Newark, NJ, USA. Age: 80
1988.    Dick Jacobs, arranger/producer, died in New York NY. Age: 70
1993.    Clarence "Swamp Blues" Edwards, guitar, died in Baton Rouge, LA. Age: 60
2006.    Tommy Watt, British pianist, leader, arranger, composer, died, Bristol, England, UK