Piano Day, an annual worldwide event founded by a group of like-minded people, takes place on the 88th day of the year – in 2024 due to Leap Year it’s the 28th March – because of the number of keys on the instrument being celebrated.  More about Piano Day.

. 1880 ~ Rosina Lhevinne, piano teacher

. 1881 ~ Modest Mussorgsky, Russian composer, died from alcoholism. Best known for his “Pictures from an Exhibition” and the opera “Boris Godunov.”

. 1890 ~ Paul Whiteman, Bandleader, Washboard Blues, Ol’ Man River, Felix the Cat, Heartache and Ain’t Misbehavin’

. 1903 ~ Rudolph Serkin, Austrian concert pianist: “An artist of unusual and impressive talents in possession of a crystalline technique, plenty of power, delicacy, and tone pure and full.”
“A masterly musician … a scholar of profound art without pedantry, with the loftiest conceptions of beauty, whose every thought and emotion is for the glory of his art.”

. 1905 ~ Frances Clark, Music Educator

. 1915 ~ Jay Livingston, Composer

. 1923 ~ Thad Jones (Thaddeus Joseph Jones), Trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn, played with Count Basie, Thelonious Monk; bandleader for Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, composer

. 1930 ~ Robert Ashley, American composer

. 1930 ~ Eric Dixon, Saxophonist/flutist with the Count Basie Orchestra

. 1930 ~ Bill Anthony, Jazz musician, bass

. 1939 ~ Hal Kemp and his orchestra recorded Three Little Fishies for Victor Records.

. 1942 ~ Samuel Ramey, American bass

. 1943 ~ Sergei Rachmaninov, Russian composer and virtuoso pianist, died in California; best known for his piano concertos and his Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini”.

. 1944 ~ WQXR radio in New York City, owned by The New York Times newspaper, banned singing commercials from its airwaves as of this day. Understandable, since the station has always been the classical music voice of Manhattan and there aren’t many classical singing commercials.

. 1945 ~ Chuck Portz, Bass with The Turtles

. 1947 ~ Barry Miles, Musician: keyboardist

. 1949 ~ Milan Williams, Keyboards, drums, trombone, guitar with Commodores

. 1955 ~ Reba (Nell) McEntire, Multi-Grammy, CMA, ACM Award-winning singer

. 1958 ~ W.C. Handy died.  He was known as the “Father of the Blues“.

. 1963 ~ Alec A Templeton, composer/pianist (Alec Templeton Time), died at the age of 52

. 1964 ~ Radio Caroline debuted as the first pirate radio station to broadcast off the coast of England. On this day in 1964, the combination of rock music and lively disk jockey patter played to a huge audience in Great Britain; but well out of reach of British authorities. However, that didn’t stop them from trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to shut down the radio station ship. Radio Caroline had become competition to the staid and usually dull British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Today, all that is different, as there is licensed radio competition throughout Great Britain. The BBC and the giant, government-owned network has caught up with the times by offering five different services to appeal to wide audiences. They are simply known as ‘Radio 1′ through ‘Radio 5′ … No ‘Zees’, ‘Qs’ or ‘Bees’, just numbers that include a rock channel, a talk channel, a nostalgia/easy listening channel, a classical/fine arts channel and a news channel.

. 1969 ~ Joe Cocker played his first American concert. He entertained fans at Billy Graham’s Fillmore East in New York City.

. 1974 ~ The group, Blue Swede, received a gold record for the single, Hooked on a Feeling.

. 1974 ~ Dorothy Fields passed away

. 1980 ~ Dick (Richard Benjamin) Haymes passed away.  He was an Argentine actor and singer. He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, an actor, television host, and songwriter

. 1981 ~ The group, Blondie, featuring Debbie Harry, received a gold record for the tune, Rapture. At the time, the pop~rock hit was perched at the top of the pop music charts. Blondie had eight charted hits. Four of them were million sellers, beginning with their first release, Heart of Glass in 1979. Four of the eight hits were number one on the charts, as well.

. 1985 ~ Roger Waters of Pink Floyd made radio history. His Radio City Music Hall concert in New York was broadcast live using a new high-tech sound system called ‘holophonics’. It is said to have recreated the stage experience in amazing detail.

. 1986 ~ More than 6,000 radio stations of all format varieties (even Muzak) played We are the World simultaneously at 10:15 a.m. EST. The promotion became part of the biggest participatory event in history by linking a human chain of millions of people from sea to sea. Ken Kragen was the promotion genius behind the plan that raised millions of dollars and created awareness for the African famine relief project.

USA for Africa musicians

Conductor

• Quincy Jones

. 2001 ~ Moe Koffman, one of Canada’s best-known jazz musicians, died of cancer at the age of 72. Koffman, whose best known for his flute piece, Swinging Shepherd Blues, was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. He was for decades a regular fixture at the modest Toronto jazz club, George’s Spaghetti House. Koffman, who also played saxophone and clarinet, composed and arranged many of his own pieces. A formidable break in his career came in 1948 after he won a record deal with New York’s Mainstream Records from a magazine contest. He recorded two records with the music house before moving back to Toronto. He received the Order of Canada in 1993 for his outstanding work and service to the arts.

. 2012 ~ Earl Scruggs, American bluegrass musician, died from natural causes at the age of 88