BIRTHDAYS
1865     Joe Alexander, tuba, b. Roma, Italy, d: Oct. 5, 1950, New Orleans, LA, USA. age:84. nee: Guiseppe Allesandra. Played with Jack "Papa" Laine; Johnny Provenzeno; Dominick and Joe Barocco
1918     Claire Austin, singer, b. Yakima, WA, USA. nee: Augusta Marie Austin. Studied Piano in Tacoma, WA, USA. and Drama in Seattle, WA, USA. Worked in many clubs. also w/Turk Murphy (52) and Bob Scobey ('55 -6); Has good grasp of early Blues w/vocal timbre of Bessie Smith. Played with Gene Mayl; Turk Murphy; Kid Ory; Bob Scoby; Muggsy Spanier
1930     Al Baculis, alto and tenor sax, leader, clarinet, composer, b. Montreal, Canada. d. Jan. 22, 2007, Seminole, Florida, U.S.A. Age: 76. Played with Gordie Fleming; Hal Gaylor; Billy Graham; and Yvan Landry. Wrote music for radio and TV - Composed the theme for the closing ceremonies for the 1976 Olympics.
1923     Vivian Blaine, vocals, d. 1995. née: Vivian Stapleton. Vivian is basically an Actress, but she is included here for her one great vocal on the song "I'm Just A Broadway Baby", which was composed just for her in the play "Broadway Baby Follies". Among the other songs that she has recorded are "Nobody Ddoes it Like Me" (SeeSaw); "You Can't Love Em All" (Save One For Me); "Look For The Silver Lining" (Sally); "Memory" (Dear World); "I Only Want to Laugh" (Jimmy); "Before the Parade Passes By" (Hello Dolly); "Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered" (Pal Joey); "Ev'rything's Coming Up Roses" (Gypsy); "The Ladies Who Lunch" (Company);"I'm back" and "I See Your Face Before Me" (Between the Devil); "Who's That Girl?" (Applause); and "The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me".
1949     Rainer Bruninghaus, Piano, b. Bad Pymont, Germany
1911     Alvin Burroughs, Drums, b. Mobile, AL, USA. d. Aug. 1, 1950
1945     Robert Conti, guitar, b. (South) Philadelphia, PA, USA. At age 12, Conti began playing the guitar after a short period of lessons from Philadelphia guitar virtuoso, Joe Sgro. Other than those childhood lessons, Conti is self taught. By his early teen years, his winter evenings were spent playing in a variety of groups based in the Philadelphia/New Jersey area, and touring during the summer months. After graduating high school, Conti worked locally, but mostly spent the next three years touring throughout the United States and Canada. Near the end of those 3 years, he traveled to a gig in Miami, Florida, and that gig was the beginning of Conti's 22 year residency in North Florida (Jacksonville area). During the next four years, he taught students and continued to play Jazz. Curiously, he then became involved in activities that are inconsistent with the typical personality profile of an artist/Jazz musician. In 1970, a series of unusual circumstances thrust Conti into the securities and exchange business, and for the following six years, Conti's talents as a Stock Market account executive won him a host of financial industry awards for business achievements. (Conti masterminded a highly sophisticated business strategy that produced over 500 million dollars of windfall profits for a publicly held Florida company.) By 1974, he had advanced the concept of the financial supermarket. However, by late 1975, having achieved financial independence, and growing weary of the stressful corporate and financial world, he traded in his three piece suit, and returned to the world of music. After much touring and festival appearances, he was invited to perform at a jazz festival in Southern California. There, he met a music fan, -film producer, Dino De Laurentiis, and two years later accepted a position with the De Laurentiis organization. In the summer of 1988, he permanently relocated to Irvine, California. Shortly afterwards, he suffered a serious injury from an office accident that required months of extensive medical treatment. After recovering, Conti decided to resume his musical activity instead of returning to the De Laurentiis organization. Not wishing to tour, he was lucky to meet a Marriott Hotel executive, and accepted a position to perform nightly in the lobby of an airport hotel, -a gig that was to last 10 years. Today, Conti continues to be quite active, and has recorded for several different labels.
1962     Steven Curtis Chapman, (Gospel) vocals, b. Paducah, KY, USA. During the 1980s and '90s, Chapman was been one of the most prominent performers of contemporary Christian music.
1936     James Anderson "Jimmy" De Preist, drums/composer/tympani, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA. Stud. music in High School, Grad. Univ ofPennsylvania. Attended many Festivals, Wrote Ballet Score premiered at Phila. Acad. of Music.
1954     Michel Doneda, soprano sax, b. Brive, France; Doneda is a self-taught musician. He played first in his hometown group, 'Municipal Harmony of Brive' (l'Harmonie Municipale de Brive). In 1980 (based in Toulouse), he founded the reed trio (never recorded), 'Hic Et Nunc' (with Steve Robbins and Didier Masmale), that toured France, playing mostly improvised music. He subsequently worked with Europeans musicians Fred Van Hove, Phil Wachsmann, Max Eastley, Steve Beresford, and with Americans John Zorn, Eliott Sharp, Elvin Jones. 1985 saw his first recording under his own name "Terra" (Nato label). His first recording sessions, included a quintet LP with Philipp Wachsmann (also in 1985), and he also started playing regurlarly with Lê Quan Ninh (percussion), Daunik Lazro, Be&numl;at Achiary (singer), Martine Altenburger, Barre Phillips (bassist), Paul Rogers, Tetsu Saitoh, and Kazue Sawai. The 1990s found him working with such artists as Dominique Regef (hurdy-gurdy), Keith Rowe, Gunter Muller, Bob Rainey, Giuseppe Ielasi and dancers as Masaki Iwana, Yukiko Nakamura, and Valérie Métivie. Doneda has toured Africa, Japan, Asia, USA, Canada, South America, and Russia, and has recorded about 50 records for European, Americans and Japanese labels.
1913     K. C. Douglas, (Blues) vocals/guitarist, b. (on a family farm near) Sharon, MS, USA, d. Oct. 18, 1975, Berkeley, CA, USA. (heart attack)
CAUTION: Do not confuse with KC Douglas, a female C&W line dance instructor and show producer. née: Linda Hutsell.
1905     Mendon Frank Foye, leader/tenor sax, b. . Marion Ohio, USA, d. Dec. 18, 1953. (heart attack while running to catch a bus) Foye led his own "territory" band, that played in Cleveland, Columbus, Chicago, Pittsburgh..the old Northeast North central vaudeville circuit, if you will, and was a" warm up" orchestra for all of the big bands like Benny Goodman, The Dorseys, etc. (Thanks to Andrew M. Merkel for this information. "-Mendon F. Foye was my Dad's first cousin". )
1909     Lloyd Glenn, piano/arranger, b. San Antonio, TX, USA. d. May 23, 1985, Los Angeles, CA, USA. age: 75. Played with Lowell Fulson; Kid Ory; Joe Turner
1965     Bjork Gudmundsdottir, vocals, b. Reykjavik, Iceland. Member group: The Sugarcubes. Her first, self-titled album, was a collection of Icelandic songs. Interestingly, her first two solo works were released when she was only 11 years old. From there, Bjork then went on to form a number of short-lived punk/new wave bands - 'Exodus' (when she was age 13), 'Tappi Tikarrass' (at age 14), and Kukl (age: 18) before joining 'The Sugarcubes' , a mutated pop/rock band, that enjoyed considerable international success (sold over three million albums). In 1992 , The Sugarcubes disbanded.
1968     Chauncey Hannibal, vocals, b. Patterson, NJ, USA. Member group: 'BLACKstreet'
1904     Coleman "Bean" Hawkins, Tenor Sax, b. St.Joseph, MO, USA. d. May 19, 1969. Studied Washburn College, Topeka, KS, USA. 1922-'23 he toured with 'Mamie Smith and her Jazz Hounds'. From 1924 to '34 he worked in Fletcher Henderson's band. To England 1934 in Jack, and then Mrs Jack Hylton's bands. Then toured Continent as solo act. In 1939, he returned to the USA and recorded perhaps his finest work "Body and Soul". Coleman was First to attain World fame as Tenor Saxman.
1968     Alex James, bass guitar, b. Bournemouth, England. Member groups: 'Blur', and 'Me Me Me'
1891     Charlie "Fess" Johnson, Piano, b. Philadelphia, PA, USA. d. Dec. 13, 1959, New York, NY, USA.
1948     Lonnie (LeRoy) Jordan, Keyboards/vocals, b. San Diego, CA, USA. Member group: 'War'
1970     Geoff Keezer, Piano, b. Eau Claire, WI, USA.
1929     L. B. Lawson, guitar
1942     Andrew Love, tenor sax, b. Memphis, TN, USA.
1952     Lorna Luft, Singer/actress. Lorna is the daughter of singer/actress Judy Garland and producer Sid Luft; sister of singer/actress Liza Minnelli
1966     Lisa & Teresa McCarter, (C&W) vocals, b. Sevierville, TN, USA. Member group: 'The McCarters', a vocal trio consisting of Jennifer (b. 1964), and her twin sisters Lisa and Teresa. Daughters of an amateur banjo-playing father and gospel-singing mother, the girls first tried Clog dancing, but met with little success. Then, Jennifer began picking on her father's Martin guitar, and learned to sing while her sisters would add harmony to the vocals. After some work in local venues, the trio moved to Nashville, where they eventually had an audition with Randy Travis' manager, Kyle Lehning. In 1987, the McCarters signed a contract with Warner Bros. They did some albums, and toured, but found only a modicum of success, and were finally released from Warner Bros. Certainly not to demean the McCarters, three lovely, talented ladies, but, Sevierville is best known as the birthplace of singer Dolly Parton.
1970     Francis MacDonald, vocals/guitar, b. Glasgow, Scotland. Member group: 'Teenage Fanclub', a Rock/Pop group formed in Glasgow, Scotland (1989).
1930     Jack Maurice Millman, composer/trumpet/fluegelhorn/arranger, b. Detroit, MI, USA. Music Maj at L.A. City College. Has had own combos and worked briefly with Stan Kenton and Perez Prado.
1948     Alphonse Mouzon, Drums, b. Charleston, SC, USA. He studied Music and Drama at City College of New York, and Medicine at Manhattan Medical School. In the 70's Mouzon and Larry Coryell co-founded the band 'The Eleventh House'. In 1995, the Jazziz Magazine Annual readers Poll voted him 2nd Best Multi-Instrumentalist. Among the men with whom he has played are Miles Davis, George Benson, Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana.
1936     Cisco Normand, drums/vibes/piano/composer, b. Windsorm, ONT, Canada
1974     Kelsi Osborn, C&W vocals, Utah, USA. Member group: SHeDAISY, a group with sisters Kristyn, Kelsi and Kassidy Osborn.
1926     Charlie Palmieri, Composer, piano, teacher, keyboards, organ, percussion, b. New York, NY, USA, d. Sept. 12, 1988, New York (Bronx), NY, USA. (Heart Attack). Charlie was the brother of composer/pianist Eddie Palmieri.
1945     Ron Philpott, bass/guitar/arranger/composer, b. Sydney-nsw, Australia. Played with Ed Wilson 1959-65; Warren Daly; 1965 to early '70s touring with his wife Caron; Judy Bailey 1974; Doug Foskett's quartet 1974-76; The Last Straw; Kindred Spirit; Jack Grimsley's Channel 10 Orchestra; Judy Bailey's groups.
1941     David Porter, singer-songwriter, b. Memphis, TN, USA.
1912     Eleanor Powell, Dancer/Actress. d. 1982
1907     Buck Ram, songwriter/arranger/producer, b. Chicago, IL, USA. Worked with 'The Platters'
1940     "Mac" Malcolm John Rebennnack (aka: "Dr John"), (R&B) Piano/Organ/guitar/singer/songwriter, b. New Orleans, LA, USA. "Dr. John" is an ardent disciple of another R&B pianist, -"Professor Longhair", né: Henry Roeland Byrd.( b. Dec. 19, 1918, Bogalusa, LA, USA, d. Jan. 30, 1980, USA). 'Dr. John' is the consummate New Orleans-style musician. A fine musicologist, and a wonderful pianist, his playing incorporates Jazz, funk, rock and roll, and, of course, R&B.
1929     Alexander William James "Alex" Revell, clarinet, b. Highgate-London, UK. Played with Chris Barber; Colin Kingwell; steve lane; graham stewart; george webb
1960     Brian Ritchie , Acoustic and electric bass, xylophone, didgeridoo, conch shell, bouzouki, shakuhachi (Japanese flute), vocals, b. Milwaukee, WI, USA. Member group: 'The Violent Femmes'
1925     Sal Salvador, Guitar/leader/composer, b. Monson, MA, USA, d. Sept. 22, 1999.
1902     Arthur Schutt, Piano, Arranger, composer, b. Reading, PA, USA. d. Jan. 28, 1965, San Francisco. CA, USA. Played with Bix Biederbecke and with Benny Goodman
1933     Jean Shepard, (C&W) vocals, b.Pauls Valley, OK. USA. née: Ollie Imogene Shepard. Growing up in Bakersfield, CA, she began her musical career while still a teenager, playing bass in an all-female band called the 'Melody Ranch Girls' (formed in 1948). A few years later, she was discovered by Hank Thompson, who set her up for a record deal at Capitol Records. Shepard didn't record during the 1980s and '90s, but continued performing at the Grand Ole Opry, and on tour, particularly in the U.K., where she enjoys a strong fan base.
1923     Hal Smith, (C&W) fiddler/businessman. né: James Harrell Smith. While Hal did work with many fine C&W musicians, he may still be best recalled as a businessman. Willie Nelson cut a number of demos for 'Pamper Music', a publishing company co-owned by Ray Price and Hal Smith. At one time, Hal also owned Redrock Canyon Grill (the Hal Smith Restaurant Group based in Norman, OK), and then bought the 'The Renfro Valley Barn Dance' show. He married another Country star, Velma Williams Smith, (b. Logan County, Kentucky, July 27, 1924). Performing with her sister Mildred, as the Williams Sisters, they first gained notice in 1942 when they became members of 'Roy Acuff's Smoky Mountain Boys and Girls'. Velma Williams played the bass and sang. When Rachel Veach left Acuff's band, Velma was briefly billed with 'Bashful Brother Oswald and his Big Sister'. About 1948, Velma also left Acuff and married Hal Smith, who was then the fiddler for Ernest Tubb. She continued active in music all during the Nashville Sound era, where her distinctive rhythm guitar playing earned session appearances on many of Chet Atkins' RCA acts, including Jim Reeves, Dottie West, and Skeeter Davis.
CAUTION: Do not confuse with the Hal Smith, the Jazzman, who was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1953 (and raised in La Jolla, California). In the early 1960s, he became interested in Jazz when he heard the 'Firehouse Five Plus Two' at Disneyland), and, in 1963, took up drums. Early on, he was greatly influenced by the live performances of Ben Pollack's orchestra, Nick Fatool, Fred Higuera, Smokey Stover, Wayne Jones and others. Except for study with Jake Hanna in 1983, He is self-taught. Since 1978, he has been a full-time musician.
And another Hal Smith, (b. Aug. 24, 1916, d. Jan. 28, 1994, Age: 77, Heart attack) actor on the Andy Griffiths TV show.
1957     Francesca Tanksley, pianist composer, b. Vincenza, Italy (as a U. S. Citizen, and raised in Munich, Germany) At age seven, she began studying piano, and at sixteen she attended Boston's famed Berklee College of Music, where she studied Jazz piano and composition. After Berklee, she returned to Munich and began her professional career performing with various European jazz groups. She then moved to New York City and joined Melba Liston's group, 'Melba Liston & Co.'. She has appeared at major U. S. Jazz clubs and festivals, including the 'Kool Jazz Festival at New York's Carnegie Hall' with Dizzy Gillespie. She has performed throughout Europe, East and Southeast Asia, Scandinavia and South America as well as in the United States, and appears on numerous CD releases. Ms Tanksley was a featured artist on Marian McPartland's widely acclaimed National Public Radio series, 'Piano Jazz', and she appeared in the documentary, 'Women In Jazz' by Burrill Crohn. Among the groups and musicians with whom she has worked are the Billy Harper Quintet, the Erica Lindsay Quintet, Slide Hampton, Cecil Payne, Howard Johnson, Sheila Jordan, David Newman, Nick Brignola, Jay Clayton, Clifford Jordan and Charles Davis. Tanksley holds a Master's Degree in Music from New York's Queens College, and is the recipient of the Graduating Master's Award, the Eubie Blake Scholarship Award and the ASCAP Louis Armstrong Composer's Scholarship Award, 1995. She has conducted jazz workshops at numerous colleges, including the University of Southern California at Santa Cruz, Hampton University, Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute, and Bard College. Currently (2004), Tanksley serves as faculty at New School University’s Jazz and Contemporary Music Program in New York City.
1950     Livingston Taylor, singer/songwriter/guitar/actor, b. Boston, MA, USA.
1935     Peter Warren, Bass/cello, b. Hempstead, NY, USA.
1927     B.L. "Slim" Williamson, (C&W) vocals/guitar, b. Arcade, GA, USA. Due to the great economic depression of the 1930s, "Slim" got only to the 8th grade in elementary school before quitting to help provide for the family. By age 14, he was working 12 hour days in a local grocery store. However, he did teach himself to play the guitar, and before long was fronting his own country music band. The band got a job performing on the local radio station. One night, the announcer lost his commercials, and "Slim" quickly wrote our some new ones for him. This earned him a position as a DJ. He soon gave up his singing career and became a full time broadcaster. On July 13th, 1948, not too long after that, he married his one and only wife, the former Mirl Eddins. In 1957, while working as a DJ for WIMO, a radio station in Winder, Georgia. He met a 19 year old young man, Leon Holmes, who wanted to make a record. The youngster had no money, didn't know where to start, and had a heart disorder so severe that the doctors had given him six months to live. It was to help this lad that "Slim" formed Peach Records & Peach Publishing (BMI) and released a Leon Holmes recording. In its short life span (1957-1963), Peach Records released recordings not only by Holmes, but also by such stars as Del Reeves, Ott Stephens, Lewis Pruitt, and others. Hw would go on to have a wonderful business career in Country Music.
1971     Alex Wilson, piano, arranger, keyboards, bass, tuba, vocal, leader. b. Great Britain. At an early age, Wilson's amateur pianist father taught his son to play piano. But he also had classical guitar lessons and auditioned on both instruments for the Vienna Conservatoire when he was 11. Although born in Britain, his grandfather was a minister in the government of Sierra Leone and he spent the first two years of his life in West Africa, before returning to England. When Wilson was age 10, his father's job took the family first to Vienna and then Geneva, where he spent his teenage years. He soon formed a high school jazz band, composed a jazz concerto for the school orchestra, and augmented his piano playing by learning saxophone, trumpet and bass. He later said "That gave me an awareness of different instruments which has helped me hugely as an arranger". Wilson had still not decided to become a professional musician and took a degree in electronic engineering, studying first at York, England, and then Santa Barbara, California, where he also found time to play in a West Coast fusion band. Back in Britain, he attended a jazz summer school at London's Guildhall and was a finalist two years running for the Young Jazz Player of the Year. A chance encounter with one of the judges in the second year, John Dankworth, got him a scholarship to Dankworth's summer jazz school, and on September, 1993 he turned professional. He has been performing and making great music ever since.
1968     Eli Yamin, piano
1949     Randy Zehringer, rock guitar, b. Celina, OH, USA. Member group: The McCoys

         Notable Events on this date include:
1934.    Cole Porter's 'Anything Goes' opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York, and ran for 420 performances. The title song "Anything Goes" is still a worldwide standard, but it's other melody, "Blow Gabriel Blow" didn't fare as well.
1958.    Joe Morris, trumpet, died in Phoenix, AZ, USA. Age: 36
1968.    Nat Story, trombone, died in Evansville, IN, USA. Age: 63. in Lucky Millinder Orch.
1975.    Fiddlin' Joe Martin, violin, died in Walls, MS, USA. Age: 75. Worked with Son House, among others.
1978.    Berry "Pops" Gordy Sr., vocals, died in Los Angeles, CA, USA. Age: 90
2001.    Ralph Burns, composer, arranger, piano, died in Los Angeles, California, USA.
2002.    Hadda Brooks, piano, vocal, died in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

         Songs Recorded/Released this date include:
     1938    "Hold Tight", Jimmy DorseyOrch., with Andrews Sisters voc.
     1941    "Blues In The Night", Shaw, Artie
     1947    "Golden Earrings", Lee, Peggy
     1953    "Changing Partners", Page, Patti
     1960    "You're Sixteen", Burnette, Johnny
     1960    "Many Tears Ago", Francis, Connie
     1960    "Wonderland By Night", Kaempfert, Bert & His Orchestra
     1964    "Dance, Dance, Dance", Beach Boys
     1964    "Goin' Out Of My Head", Little Anthony & The Imperials
     1964    "Come See About Me", Supremes
     1970    "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is", Chicago
     1970    "No Matter What", Badfinger
     1970    "One Less Bell to Answer", Fifth Dimension
     1970    "Black Magic Woman", Santana
     1970    "Stoned Love", Supremes
     1981    "Turn Your Love Around", Benson, George
     1981    "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)", Hall & Oates
     1987   ", Need You Tonight "INXS