BIRTHDAYS
1945     "Sweet Pea" Atkinson, vocals, b. Oberlin, OH, USA. Member group: 'The Boneshakers'. "Sweet Pea" left his 14-year-long job on the Chrysler automobile assembly line to sing for such Detroit R&B groups as the Exquisites and Energy (a then-unknown Detroit producer named Don Was worked with Energy). 'Sweet Pea' has since gone on to sing with such stars as Elton John, Lyle Lovett, Bonnie Raitt, Neil Diamond and Brian Wilson.
1947     Billy Bang, Violin, b. Mobile, AL, USA
1966     Nuno Bettencourt, rock guitar, b. Praia da Vitoria (on the island of Terceira) The Azores (an archipelago governed by Portugal). né: Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt. When he was four, his family moved to Boston, MA, USA, and as a teenager, he played drums, bass, and keyboards, finally settling on guitar. 1985 member group 'Extreme', their 1991 single "More Than Words" charted US No.1 and UK No.2. Extreme disbanded in 1996.
1930     Edwin J. "Eddie Bo" Bocage, Vocals/Piano, b. New Orleans, LA, USA
1895    Harry Brooks, b. Homestead, PA, USA, d. 1970. (Do you enjoy listening to his co-composition - "Ain't Misbehavin'" ?)
1927     Pearl Butler, C&W vocals, d. March 1, 1988. née: Pearl Dee Jones. member: 'Carl and Pearl Butler'
1953     Mike Cavadini, keyboard, b. North Haven, CT, USA. Member: 'Garry & Moodswingers'
1956     Steve Coleman, Alto Sax, b. Chicago, IL, USA.
1913     John Elbert Collins, guitar, b. Montgomery, AL, USA. d. Oct 4, 2001, Los Angeles, CA, USA. (some sources claim b. 1912). From 1935-1950, he worked with such Swing Era stars as Nat "King" Cole, Art Tatum, Roy Eldridge, Billie Holiday, and Lester Young. His longest association was with Nat "King" Cole, 1951-1965. He soloed infrequently, and was known mainly for his rhythm work,. Collins later taught music in the Los Angeles, California area. He was the son of bandleader and pianist Georgia Gorham, herself a jazz-age pioneer and talented pianist, who had worked in New York City before her son's birth, as an accompanist to W.C. Handy.
1934     Leonard Cohen, composer, b. Montreal, QUE, Canada. Among his best known compositions are "Dress Rehearsal Rag", "So Long Marianne", "Sisters of Mercy", and "Bird On A Wire". Among the artists who recorded his tunes are Joe Cocker, Judy Collins, Jennifer Warnes, and the Neville Brothers.
1922    Frank Comstock, arranger/piano/Leader/composer
1941     Rich Corpolongo, flute/alto sax, b. Chicago, IL, USA
1941     Jim Cullum Jr., Cornet/trumpet, b. San Antonio, TX, USA
1957     Alannah Currie, vocals/sax, b. Auckland, New Zealand. Member group: The Thompson Twins, 1984 single "Hold Me Now" charted US No.3.
1948     Michael Cuscuna, Writer/producer/label owner (Mosaic Records), b. Stamford, CT, USA. Early on in his career, Cuscuna played Drums, Saxophone, and Flute. As a producer, he has worked with Bonnie Raitt, Dexter Gordon, Woody Shaw, and McCoy Tyner, among others.
1927    John "Johnny" Dankworth, Leader/alto sax, b. London, UK
1921     William "Bill" DeArango, (Bebop) guitar/record shop owner, b. Cleveland, OH, USA, d: December 26, 2005 in East Cleveland, OH, USA, Age: 84. (died of Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease).
1911    Frank DeVol, leader, b. Moundsville, W.Va. USA
1957     Sheldon Dunaway, guitar, b. LA, USA. Played with 'Rockin' Dopsie Jr.
1902     Jack Erby, piano, b. Fort Worth, TX, USA. Backed singer Monette Moore
1949     Garth Fundis, producer, b. Lawrence, KS, USA. One of Nashville's most respected producers, he was Trisha Yearwood's original producer, and has worked with such stars as Alabama, and Don Williams. Garth also helped Keith Whitley to create some of his best work while Keith was still in the midst of a chaotic personal life.
1938     Eric Gale, Guitar, b. New York (Brooklyn), NY, USA. d. 1994
1936     Gogi Grant vocals. b. Philadelphia, PA, USA. née: Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg. She was given the name "Gogi" by Dave Kapp, the head of Artists and Repertory at RCA Records, who liked to patronize a restaurant called "Gogi's LaRue"
1920     Joe Guy, Trumpet, b. Birmingham, AL, USA. d. 1962
1956     John Harle, Soprano Sax, b. Newcastle, England
1960     David Hemmingway, drums/vocals, b. Hull?, England. Member group: 'Housemartins', 1986 singles "Caravan Of Love", "The Beautiful South", 1990 single "A Little Time" all charted UK No.1. (15 other UK top 40 singles.)
1895/9    Paul Howard, tenor sax/leader, b. USA. d. 1980, USA.
1862    Robert A. "BoBo" King, composer, b. New York, NY, USA d. April. 13, 1932, New York, NY USA
1941     Richard Knox, vocals, b. IL, USA. Member group: 'The Dirty Dozen'
1933     Steve McCall, drums, percussion, d. May 24, 1989. (Some sources claim b. Sept. 30)
1895     Bob Miller, vocal, songwriter, record company executive, b. Memphis, TN, USA, d. 1955. Bob Miller was one of Country music's most prolific and imaginative songwriters. During the early 1920s, Miller was the pianist for the Idlewild Orchestra, a dance band which performed on the 'Idlewild', a Mississippi River paddlewheel steamer. He also later led his own orchestra (including 'Bob Miller & His Hinky Drinkers '). 1928 found him working in New York city as an arranger for the 'Irving Berlin Music Publishing Company' before subsequently establishing his own 'Bob Miller Publishing Company'. Over his career, he composed numerous blues and popular tunes (well over 7000), but mostly 'Hillbilly' types, including such hits as "Eleven Cent Cotton and Forty Cent Meat" (a 'prison' genre song), the World War II hit "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere", and "Twenty One Years" (another 'prison' genre tune) "Twenty One Years", an overwhelming, instant success, inspired a long chain of answer songs including, among others, "The Answer To Twenty-One Years", "New Answer To Twenty-One Years", "Woman's Answer To Twenty-One Years", "After Twenty-One Years", "The End Of Twenty-One Years", "Last Of The Twenty-One Year Prisoner" and, finally, "The Twenty-One Year Prisoner Is Dead" (many of these were successful). A true "Tin Pan Alley' man, Miller was always alert to expoiting - in tune - any newsworthy incident of the day. With the ending of World War II, Miller phased himself out of the business as an active participant and tended to his copyrights.
CAUTION: Do not confuse with Bob Miller - Guitar & Vocals, who leads his own group, 'The Blue Avengers'. As a teenager, living in London, he played in pub bands and worked as a freelance studio guitarist. Returning home to the United States, Bob attended the prestigious 'Berklee School of Music', after which he became a sessions guitarist. The group is managed by Alana Miller, who also does the Lead Vocals. She spent ten years as an actress, singer-songwriter in New York City, and was the lead singer in several bands performing at clubs like Lion's Den, Atlantis and West End Gate. Currently *(2006), Bob Miller's "day job" is running his own "The Rochester Group", a software company.
1927     "Red" Mitchell, Bass/Piano, b. New York, NY, USA. d. Nov. 8, 1992: age 65. né Keith Moore Mitchell
1967     Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, vocals/guitar, b.Burbank, CA, USA. Twin sons of 60's singer Ricky Nelson, Matthew was born 45 minutes before his twin brother Gunnar. 1990 single "Can't Live Without Your Love and Affection" charted US No.1 (but only 54 in the UK).
1924     Jackie Paris, singer/guitar, b. Nutley, NJ, USA, d. June 17, 2004, New York, NY, USA. Age: 79. (bone Cancer.) née: Carlo Jackie Paris. As a child, with encouragement from friends such as famed dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and an uncle who had been a guitarist in Paul Whiteman's orchestra, Jackie broke into vaudeville with a 'song and dance' act. The early 1940's found him working as a singer/and guitarist in New York city. During WW2, he served in the U. S. Army for two years before returning to New York in 1946, where he found some work on that city's famed 52nd Street - "Jazz Street", working sometimes as leader of his own trio, and other times as a sideman (most notably with Charlie "Yardbird" Parker). During his career, Jackie toured with, and performed with, the Charlie Parker Quintet (Miles Davis, Max Roach, Duke Jordan and Tommy Potter). For two years during the 1950's, he toured with Lionel Hampton Big Band where he was billed as "The Voice". He also recorded with the original Dizzy Gillespie Big Band. Jackie also recorded the first vocal rendition of Thelonius Monk's classic standard "Round Midnight", and was the first vocal artist on Mingus' label 'Debut', with "Portrait" and "Paris in Blue", which Mingus wrote for him. (Jackie was one of Mingus' favorite singers.) In his later years Paris taught master classes, and gave private lessons while continuing to record and perform. In 2001, he recorded "The Intimate Jackie Paris," for the small 'Hudson' label. Curiously, a career that amassed glowing reviews and the admiration of his peers, never brought him great fame. Still, -he will always be recalled as one fine singers of the Jazz vocals era.
1902     Jerome Don Pasquall, Tenor Sax, b. Fulton, KY, USA d. 1971
1928     Vi Redd, Alto Sax/Vocal, b. Los Angeles, CA, USA. née: Elvira Redd Goldberg.
1937     Peter Schmidli, Banjo/Guitar, b. Basle, Switzerland
1981     Keith Semple, vocals/composer, b.Larne, N. Ireland (NOT Belfast!) Member group: One True Voice, 2002 single "Sacred Trust/After You're Gone" charted UK No.2.
1968     Ben Shepherd, bass, b. Okinawa, Japan (the son of a U.S. serviceman). né: Hunter Benedict Shepherd Member group: Soundgarden, 1994 UK No.12 single Black Hole Sun.
1902     Steve Smith, vocals, Member group: Lawrence Welk Show.
1922     Ed Swanston, piano, organ, b. USA, d. June 13, 2003, USA.
1929     Joseph "Joe" Temperley, saxes, clarinet, flute, b. Fife, Scotland, UK. First studied the alto sax, but recorded on the tenor with Harry Parry in 1949, Jack Parnell in 1953, and Tony Crombie in 1954. He recorded on baritone with the tenor saxophonist Tommy Whittle from 1955 to 1956, but only achieved national prominence while with Humphrey Lyttelton's (UK) band 1958 to 1965, playing tenor and baritone sax. Made several recordings with the group. Temperley came to New York City in December of 1965 and subsequently toured the USA. 1966-1967 performed with Woody Herman. He has also played with Buddy Rich, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis, Clark Terry and Duke Pearson. In 1974, he replaced Harry Carney in the Duke Ellington band. In 1980, he appeared in Broadway show 'Sophisticated Ladies'. His film soundtrack credits include: Cotton Club, Biloxi Blues, and Tune in Tomorrow (composed by Wynton Marsalis). In 1991 he released his "Nightingale" album, recorded in London. (Later releases include "Sunbeam" and "Thu ndercloud", with pianist Dave McKenna.) Along the way he has performed and recorded with Benny Carter, Jon Hendricks, Buck Clayton, Joe Henderson, and Freddie Hubbard among others. Mr. Temperley co-founded the FIFE Youth Jazz Orchestra (in his hometown in Scotland), where musicians ages 7 to 17 to play in three full-size bands. An original member of the Lincoln Center (New York) Jazz Orchestra. He is still performing and touring.
1892    Roy Turk , lyricist, b. New York, NY, USA, d. November 30, 1934, Hollywood, CA, USA.
1954     Peter White, Guitarist/Keyboards, b. Luton, Bedfordshire, England, UK.
1910     Francis Williams, Trumpet, b. McConnell's Mills, PA, USA, d. Oct. 2, 1983
1979     Rick Woolstenhulme, drums, b. Aurora, CO, USA. Member group: Lifehouse, His father played piano and guitar, his mother played piano, and his more famous brother (Sean Woolstenhulme with the Los Angeles band, 'The Calling') plays guitar. .
1938     Monica Zetterlund, Vocalist/actress, b. Hagfors, Värmlands län, Sweden, d. May 12, 2005, Stockholm, Sweden. (Apartment fire). née: Monica Nilsson. Her career began when she started singing in her father's band. From that beginning, she would go on to recordings, and a career as a motion picture actress. At home, in her native Sweden, she won high praise for singing Jazz songs in her native tongue. In 1960, she appeared on "The Steve Allen Show" during her tour of the USA, and later recorded with Thad Jones (Sax) and with trumpeter Thad Jones. Her 1964 recording of "Waltz for Debby", made with pianist Bill Evans, is possisbly her most famous release. As an actress, Zetterlund starred in over 24 Swedish films, as well as appearing on TV, and stage plays. Her first film was 1964's "Svenska Bilder", and her last was 1980's "Barna från Blåsjöfjället". That was followed by her appearances in three (mini) TV Series; "Time Out" (1982), "Kulla-Gulla" (1986), and "Morsarvet" (1993). In her last years, Monica suffered from 'scoliosis', a disabling disease that twists the spine, making it difficult to move. She would have to be helped onto the stage, and sang her numbers while seated. Her public appearances became fewer and fewer as the disease largely confined her to her apartment. Still, her warmth and wonderful personality never left her. In 2000, during an interview on Sweden's TV4, she said: "In my dreams, I run like I used to, and life is easy and filled with pleasure". Firefighters found Zetterlund's charred body in her bed, after responding to a fire in her central Stockholm apartment. Swedish media reports said she had been smoking in bed. Monica was married three times and had one daughter, actress Eva-Lena Zetterlund, from her first marriage.
         Notable Events on this date include:
1946.    WNBC-TV, New York became the first TV station to promote a motion picture, showing scenes from 'The (Al) Jolson Story'.
1948.    The Four Freshmen, who became one of the most popular singing groups of the 1950s, began their professional career with a gig in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Their Capitol Records Hits included "It's a Blue World", "Charmaine", and "Love is Just Around the Corner".
1962.    Curley Weaver, guitar, died in Covington, GA, USA. Age: 56
1963.    James "Pete" Brown, alto sax, died in New York, NY, USA. Age: 56
1973.    Ben Webster, tenor sax, died in Amsterdam, Holland. Age: 64
1982.    Karel Krautgartner, clarinet, alto sax, arranger, composer, leader, died
1984.    Steve Goodman, C&W guitar/songwriter, died in Seattle, WA, USA. Age: 36. (leukemia)
1988.    Sam Woodyard, drums, died in Paris, France Age: 63.
1989.    Charley Booker, guitar, died in South Bend, IN, USA. Age: 64
1991.    Gene Gilbeaux, piano, died in Las Vegas, NV, USA
1994.    Jimmy Hamilton, tenor sax/clarinet, died in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, USA. Age: 77.
1996.    Paul Weston, arranger, conductor, died in Santa Monica, California, USA.
1997.    Dick Shearer, trombone, died. in Batavia, IL, USA. Age: 1 day before his 57th birthday. (b. Sept. 21, 1940)
2004.    Skeeter Davis, member Grand Ole Opry, died in a Nashville hospital. Age: 72 (breast cancer)
         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
1909    The Minstrel Boy, -Arthur Pryor's band. tune: Gumble
1926    You're Burning Me Up, -Wolverines. tune: Frisch; Bergere; Gorman
1926    Crazy Quilt, -The Wolverines. tune: Van Loan
1927    There's a Cradle in Caroline (voc.v.del.), -Ben Bernie and his orch.
1927    The Best Things in Life Are Free, - Frank Black and his orch.
1927    Varsity Drag (voc. f.b.), -Frank Black and his orch.
1928    Why (Do I Love You Like I Do) (voc. e.r.), -The Clevelanders.
1921    Why Dear ?, -Joseph C. Smith's orch.
1921    Salomay , -Joseph C. Smith's orch.
1928    Cairo Rag, -Cannon Jug Stompers.
1928    Bugle Call Rag, -Cannon Jug Stompers. tune: pettis-meyers-schoebel
1929    Harvey, -Mill's Hotsy Totsy Gang. tune: h. carmichael.
1929    March of the Hoodlums, -Mill's Hotsy Totsy Gang.
1929    Stardust, -Mill's Hotsy Totsy Gang. tune: h.carmichael-m.parish
1929    You're So Different, - Blue Steele and his orch.
1929    Why Was I born, -Leo Reisman and his orch.
1929    Ain't Misbehavin', -Fess Williams Royal Flush orch. tune: waller-brooks-razaf
1929    Sweet Savanah Sue, -Fess Williams Royal Flush orch. tune: razaf-waller-brooks
1932    You'll Get By (with the twinkle in your eye), -Hal Kemp and his Orch.
1933    Be Careful, -Freddy Martin and his Orch.
1937    Diminuendo in Blue, -Duke Ellington and his Orch
1937    Crescendo in Blue, -Duke Ellington and his Famous Orch.
1937    Dusk in the Desert, -Duke Ellington and his Orch, Tune: Ellington; Mills
1937    Chatterbox, -Duke Ellington and his Famous Orch., Tune: Stewart; Ellington; Mills
1937    Harmony in Harlem, -Duke Ellington and his Orch
1939    Lilacs in the Rain, - Hal Kemp and his Orch.
1939    My Prayer, -Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye
1939    I Like To Recognize The Tune, -Gene Krupa and his orch.
1939    Are You Having Any Fun, -Horace Heidt Musical Knights
1940    Beat Me Daddy (Eight To A Bar), - Will Bradley Orch.
1940    Only Forever, - Bing Crosby
1945    Along The Navajo Trail, - Bing Crosby
1945    It's Only A Paper Moon, - Benny Goodman,
1945    On The Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe, - Judy Garland
1946    Aren't You Kinda Glad We Did It, -Gene Krupa and his orch.
1946    There is No Breeze to cool the flame of love, - Gene Kkrupa and his orch.
1946    Wrap your Troubles in Dreams, -Woody Herman and his Herd
1946    Oklahoma City, -paul howard cotton pickers
1946    Somebody Else's Trouble, -Paul Howard Cotton Pickers
1946    Thrill is Hone, -Dinah Shore voc.
1946    Rumours Are Flying, - Frankie Carle
1969    Suspicious Minds, - Elvis Presley
1975    Who Loves You, - Four Seasons
1975    Bad Blood, -Neil Sedaka,