BIRTHDAYS
1952     Ray Anderson, Trombone/trumpet/tuba/vocals, b. Chicago, IL, USA.
1932     Ben Aronov, Piano, b. Gary, Indiana, USA.
1954     Tim Berne, sax/composer, b. Syracuse, NY, USA
1922     Max Bygraves, vocals, b. Rotherhithe, London, England. "I wanna tell you a story..." .
1895     Jimmy Cain, tenor sax, b. Columbus, OH, USA.
1953     Tony Carey, Keyboards. b. Fresno CA, USA. Carey was a member of the group 'Rainbow', before moving on to record some film soundtracks. In 1982, he had his first big hit with 'I Won't Be Home Tonight', which found its way to the top of the charts. In 1983, he had another big hit with 'Why Me?'. Carey had lived and recorded in Germany for some years before changing his residence to the Spanish island of Ibeza, where he still (2003) lives and records in his own studio.
1898     John Casimir, clarinet, leader b. New Orleans, LA, USA, d. Jan 3, 1963, New Orleans, LA, USA. Perhaps best remembered as the leader of "The Young Tuxedo Brass Band" for some 20 years up to his death. He was also a member of the "Original Tuxedo Brass Band".
1918     Dale Troy "Stoney" Cooper, C&W fiddler, b. Harman, WV, USA. Members of the Grand Ole Opry for twenty years, "Stoney" Cooper and his wife Wilma Lee were one of the premier husband-and-wife duos in country music.
1935     "Sugar Pie" Desanto, vocals, b. New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA. née: Umpeylia Marsema Balinton.
1911     Calvin Dillard, sax, b. Little Rock, AR, USA.
1922     Canray Fontenot, (zydeco) violin, b. L'Anse Aux Vachesla (between the towns of Mamou and Basile), LA, USA. d. July 29, 1995, Welsh, LA, USA. (cancer).
1937     Emile Ford, vocals, b. Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies ( grew up in Nassau, Bahamas).. né: Emile Sweetman In the mid-1950's, he went to England with hopes of becoming a sound engineer. Changing his name to Emile Ford, he formed his own combo named 'The Checkmates', whose members included his two half-brothers, George Sweetman (sax) and Dave Sweetman (bass), Ken Street, Pete Carter, Les Hart, Alan Hawkshaw, and John Cuffley. Working as 'Emile Ford & The Checkmates', they won a talent contest sponsored by Pye Records, which resulted in an audition and a contract for their first single, "Don't Tell Me Your Troubles" backed with "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For" (The legendary Joe Meek was the producer.) The 'Checkmates' met with quite a bit of success and toured Europe as well as England. However, he eventually disbanded and returned to audio engineering. It had become routine for bands to travel with their own sound systems, and Emile found many other acts happy to avail themselves of his technical expertise. After residing in Scandinavia for several years, he finally settled in California .
1923     Leonard William "Lenny" Hambro, Alto Sax/clarinet/flute, b. New York, NY, USA.
1969     Roy Hargrove, Trumpet, b. Dallas, TX, USA.
1945     Dave Hynes, drums, b. London, England. Member groups: Spencer Davis Group, Brown's Home Brew, and others.
1932     Bill Johnson, vocals, b. Augusta, GA, USA. Member: Sam & Bill Johnson. They also toured with 'The Cowsills'.
1923     Bert Kaempfert, Leader. b. Hamburg, Germany. né: Berthold Kaempfert.
1960     Gary Kemp, singer/songwriter b.Islington, London, England. Member group: Spandau Ballet. Gary was the leader and chief songwriter for this 1980s 'New Romantic' band.
1965     Anthony Kerr, vibes/composer/leader, b: Belfast, Northern Ireland. Has played with Georgie Fame; London Jazz Orch.
1942     Dave Lovelady, Drums. Member group: The Fourmost
1932     Claude Leveillee, piano/composer, b: Montreal, Canada. Accompanied Edith Piaf, and others.
1949     Lena Mosley, vocals, b. Mobile, AL, USA.
1915     Bob Newman, C&W Guitar/Singer-Songwriter/Upright Bass, b. Cochran, GA, USA, d. Oct. 8, 1983 Member: "The Georgia Crackers"
1897     Henry W. Ragas, piano, b: New Orleans, LA, USA. d. Feb. 18, 1919
1928     Ronald Alan "Ron" Simmonds, trumpet/arranger/vocal, b: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada ( spent much of his adolescence in England), d. Oct. 24, 2005, Vania, Spain (intestinal cancer that had metastasized to the liver and other places). Played with very many of the great British, German and American jazz orchestras. Simmonds had a multitude of talents. He was a gifted arranger and composer, and when he lived in Berlin, had his own weekly jazz programme on the American State Department-sponsored RIAS radio channel. For ten years he was Chief Editor (North America and the Far East) for the Deutsche Welle, Cologne and Studio Berlin. At 17, Simmonds began to study the trumpet, and at age 19 . joined the Tommy Simpson Orchestra. In 1949, after Simpson's retirement, Simmonds worked in a seeming endless number of big bands. first in the Oscar Rabin and Leon Ray bands. With the Vic Lewis band, he worked with such well known British stars as Ronnie Scott, Ronnie Chamberlain, Bert Courtley, and Johnny Keating. In 1953, after a stint with the Squadronaires, Simmonds replaced trumpeter Albert Hall in drummer Jack Parnell's fledgling orchestra, working off and on with Parnell for the next ten years, including a stint with the bandleader's Associated Television studio orchestra. For three years, Simmonds was a member of the pit orchestra for the London production of 'West Side Story'. He also appeared with Kenny Baker's Dozen in support of 'The Goon Show' and 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium'. In 1960, Simmonds left Parnell to join bandleader Ted Heath, where he replaced trumpeter Bobby Pratt. In 1962, he signed on with John Dankworth, but in 1963 relocated to Munich, West Germany, where he oftened freelanced with visiting American bands including those of Lionel Hampton, Stan Kenton, Quincy Jones, and Henry Mancini. In 1965, Simmonds settled in West Berlin and became a staple of German symphony orchestras. He also recorded with the Acker Bilk orchestra, and subsequently hosted his own weekly jazz showcase on the American State Department's RIAS radio network. RIAS also broadcast a children's story and two plays that were written by Simmonds, who also authored several film scripts. From 1971 to 1980, he served with Peter Herbolzheimer's Rhythm Combination and Brass. Following a dental operation, his lower lip was left paralyzed and Ron's trumpeting career came to an abrupt halt. Down but now defeated, Simmonds recasted himself as a concert pianist, and joined the Radio Saarbrücken Symphony Orchestra. In 1993, he retired to the Costa Blanca, (Spain) where he and fellow expatriates, who also served under Heath and Dankworth, occasionally gigged together.
1948     Bland Simpson, C&W guitar/composer, b. Durham, NC, USA. Member: 'The "Red Clay Ramblers"
1938     Neil J. B. Steeper, trumpet/valve trombone/leader/vocals, b: Melbourne-VIC, Australia. Neil has worked with Stan Allworth; Viv Carter; Clean Living Clive's; Fortified Few 1966; Terry Fowler; 'Kipper' Kearsley; Margaret Moriarty; Olympia Jazz Ensemble; Dave Rankin; Gordon Reed; John Sharpe; Stanley's Steamers; Steeper's Stompers; Ken Tratt.
1978 Abel Talamantez, vocals, b. Texas, USA. with Menudo - Cannonball
1922     Blanche Thomas, Vocals, b: New Orleans, LA, USA. d: April 21, 1977, New Orleans, LA, USA. With: Alvin Alcorn; Paul Barbarin; Louis Cottrell; Al Hirt; Art Hodes; Franz Jackson; Bill Reinhardt and Joe Robichaux.
1943 C. F. "Fred" Turner, Member: Bachman~Turner Overdrive
1903     Ford Lee "Buck" Washington, Vocals/Dancer/piano/trumpet/comic, b. Louisville, KY, USA. d. Jan. 31, 1955, New York, NY, USA.
1947     Bob Weir, guitar, b. Atherton, CA, USA. né: Robert Hall Weir. Member: Grateful Dead, Uncle Joe's Band, and others.
1903     "Big" Joe Williams, Vocals/guitar, Vocalist, b: Crawford, MI, USA. As a very young man, Joe spent many years in Work Gangs along the Mississippi River, and slowly began playing his guitar and singing at Picnics and Dances. In 1930, he was in Chicago and in 1931 recorded for Paramount under the name of King Solomon Hill. During the Depression Years, he again worked in Levee work gangs on the Mississippi, and didn't again begin singing until 1938 when he recorded for Bluebird Records. "Highway 49" and "Please Don't Go" are two of his better known recordings. In late '40s, he was playing in St. Louis, -teamed with another singer, Charley Jordan, He last recorded in St. Louis in 1959. Note: This Joe Williams should not be confused with another famous Joe Williams (né: Joseph Goreed) who worked extensively with the Benny Moten's Kansas City Band and later with the Count Basie's Band.
1969     Wendy Wilson, vocals. Member: Wilson-Philips Daughter of Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson
1954     Lee Allen Zeno, bass/producer, b. Lafayette, LA, USA. Worked with Black Top Records.
   Notable Events on this date include:
1959.    Minor "Ram" Hall, drums/leader, died in Sawtelle, CA, USA. Age: 61
1968.    Edric Connor, vocals, died in London, England, UK. Age: 54
1969.    Leonard S. Chess, Label owner (Chess), died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 52
1973.    'Capital Radio', Britain's first legal comercial station goes on-air.
1973.    Gene Krupa, drums, died in Yonkers, NY, USA. Age: 64. (born: 1909)
1974.    Morris Harris, vocals, died in Syracuse, NY, USA. Age: 59 Member: 'The Ink Spots'
1977.    Milt Raskin, piano, died in Los Angeles (Hollywood), CA, USA.
1979.    "Mother" Esther Mae Scott, guitar, died in Washington, DC, USA. Age: 85
1981.    Edward Heyman, lyricist, died in Jalisco, Mexico. (perhpaps his best lyric - the song "Body and Soul")
1982.    Doyle Wilburn, guitar/vocals (member: "Wilburn Brothers"), died Nashville, TN, USA. Age: 52
1983.    George Liberace, violinist on the 'Liberace Show', died. age: 72
1984.    Don Reno, C&W guitar/vocals (member: "Reno & Smiley"), died Charlottesville, VA, USA. Age: 58
1987.    Dana Suesse died. Age: 75. Composed hit tune "You Ought to be in Pictures" (Janet Gaynor sang in in the film.)
1990.    Art Blakey (Sr.), drums, died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 71
1992.    Theresa Needham, vocals, died in Chicago, IL, USA. Age: 80 Member: 'Theresa's Lounge'
1999.    Ella Mae Morse, vocal, died in Bullhead City, Arizona, USA. (respiratory failure)
2001.    Etta Jones, vocals, died in Mount Vernon, New York, USA. (cancer)
   Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
1939   "I'm Coming Virginia", Will Bradley Orch. (recording date)
1941   "Fry Me Cookie, with a Can of Lard", recorded by Will Bradley Orch. (Columbia). Ray McKinley was featured.
1947   "New Texas Playboy Rag", Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys (recording date)
1961   "I Understand (Just How You Feel) ", - G-Clefs
1961   "Tower Of Strength ", - Gene McDaniels
1961   "Please Mr. Postman ", - Marvelettes
1965   "Taste Of Honey ", - Herb Alpert and the Tiajuana Brass
1965   "Get Off Of My Cloud ", - Rolling Stones
1971   "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) ", - Marvin Gaye
1976   "More Than A Feeling ", - Boston
1982   "Steppin' Out ", - Joe Jackson
1982   "Muscles ", - Diana Ross