Tag Archives: saxophonist

May 28: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

• 1608 ~ Claudio Monteverdi’s “Arianna,” premiered in Mantua

• 1650 ~ Gilles Hayne, Composer, died at the age of 59

• 1765 ~ Jean Baptiste Cartier, Composer

• 1777 ~ Joseph-Henri-Ignace Mees, Composer

• 1778 ~ Friedrich Westenholz, Composer

• 1780 ~ Joseph Frohlich, Composer

• 1787 ~ (Johann Georg) Leopold Mozart, Austrian Composer, Wolfgang’s father, died at the age of 67, in Salzburg.

• 1791 ~ Joseph Schmitt, Composer, died at the age of 57

• 1798 ~ Josef Dessauer, Composer

• 1805 ~ (Ridolfo) Luigi Boccherini, Italian composer and cellist, died at the age of 62

• 1830 ~ Karoly Filtsch, Composer

• 1833 ~ Johann Christian Friedrich Haeffner, Composer, died at the age of 74

• 1836 ~ Anton Reicha, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1838 ~ Thomas Busby, Composer, died

• 1841 ~ Giovanni Sgambati, Composer

• 1844 ~ Leon Felix August Joseph Vasseur, Composer

• 1883 ~ George Dyson, Composer

• 1883 ~ August Freyer, Composer, died at the age of 79

• 1883 ~ Luigi Perrachio, Composer

• 1889 ~ Jose Padilla, Composer

• 1890 ~ Viktor Ernst Nessler, Composer, died at the age of 49

• 1892 ~ Comedienne Marie Dressler made her New York City singing debut in the comic opera, “The Robber of the Rhine”.

• 1896 ~ Marius Monnikendam, Dutch choir composer

• 1898 ~ Andy Kirk, Jazz musician

• 1906 ~ Phil Regan, Singer, My Wild Irish Rose

• 1906 ~ Shields/Cobbs musical “His honor, the Mayor,” premiered in New York City

• 1910 ~ T-Bone Walker, Legendary blues guitarist

• 1914 ~ Adolf Gustaw Sonnenfeld, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1915 ~ Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Violinist

• 1923 ~ György Ligeti, Hungarian-born Austrian composer
More information about Ligeti

• 1922 ~ Carl Tieke, Composer, died at the age of 58

• 1922 ~ Otto Krueger conducted the Detroit News Orchestra, the first known radio orchestra, which was heard on WWJ Radio in Detroit, MI. The “Detroit News” owned the radio station at the time.

• 1925 ~ Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German baritone. Known for his performance of opera, notably Mozart, Strauss and Wagner, he is also famed for his interpretation of German lieder.

• 1927 ~ Bernhard Lewkovitch, Composer

• 1930 ~ Julian Penkivil Slade, Composer

• 1931 ~ Peter Talbot Westergaard, Composer

• 1932 ~ Henning Christiansen, Composer

• 1934 ~ Julian Slade, Composer

• 1934 ~ Rob du Bois, Composer

• 1936 ~ Maki Ishii, Composer

• 1940 ~ Hans Dulfer, Tenor saxophonist and director of Paradiso

• 1940 ~ Theodor Streicher, Composer, died at the age of 65

• 1940 ~ Irving Berlin’s musical “Louisiana Purchase,” premiered in New York City

• 1941 ~ Frank Sinatra joined Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra in recording “This Love of Mine” for Victor Records.

• 1943 ~ Dennis Riley, Composer

• 1944 ~ Gladys Knight, American rhythm-and-blues singer. She has won 7 Grammys, had 6 number one R&B albums, and had 11 number one R&B singles. Her music career was at its most successful point during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. She began her career as part of the group Gladys Knight and the Pips and later gained recognition as a solo artist. Her most well-known songs include “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” “Midnight Train to Georgia,” and “That’s What Friends Are For.” Knight has also made several appearances in film and television, often playing herself. Gladys Knight and the Pips were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

• 1945 ~ John Fogerty, Songwriter, singer with Creedence Clearwater

• 1945 ~ Gary Stewart, Country singer

• 1954 ~ Achille Longo, Composer, died at the age of 54

• 1957 ~ The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) was established. This is the organization that brings us the Grammy Awards for all forms of musical entertainment each year.

• 1958 ~ Mikulas Schneider-Trvavsky, Composer, died at the age of 77

• 1959 ~ Johnson and Bart’s musical “Lock up your daughters,” premiered in London

• 1963 ~ Vissarion Yakovlevich Shebalin, Composer, died at the age of 60

• 1964 ~ John Finley Williamson, conductor of the Westminster Choir, died at the age of 76

• 1964 ~ Dmitri Shostakovich completed his Ninth String quartet

• 1966 ~ Percy Sledge hit number one with his first, and what turned out to be his biggest, hit. When a Man Loves a Woman would stay at the top of the pop music charts for two weeks. It was the singer’s only hit to make the top ten and was a million seller.

• 1966 ~ Dmitri Shostakovich’s Eleventh String quartet, premiered in Leningrad

• 1967 ~ Dmitri Shostakovich completed his Second Violin Concerto

• 1973 ~ Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, German composer and conductor, died at the age of 73

• 1975 ~ The Doobie Brothers went gold with the album, “Stampede”. The group, formed in San Jose, CA, recorded 16 charted hits. Two made it to number one, becoming million-selling, gold record winners: Black Water in March, 1975 and What a Fool Believes in April, 1979.

• 1977 ~ Jiri Reinberger, Composer, died at the age of 63

• 1981 ~ Mary Lou Williams, Musician, died at the age of 71

• 2014 ~ James K. Randall, American composer, died at the age of 84

May 19: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

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• 1616 ~Johann Jakob Froberger, composer

• 1861 ~ Dame Nellie Melba (Helen Porter Mitchell), Australian coloratura soprano. She gave her name to Melba Toast, Peach Melba and Melba Sauce.
More information about Melba

• 1895 ~ Albert Hay Malotte, composer

• 1919 ~ Georgie Auld (John Altwerger), Musician: saxophones: bandleader; passed away in 1990

• 1921 ~ The first opera presented in its entirety over the radio was broadcast by 9ZAF in Denver, CO. The opera, “Martha”, aired from the Denver Auditorium.

• 1941 ~ The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra backed the popular singing duo of Bob Eberly and Helen O’Connell as Decca record number 3859 turned out to be Time Was – a classic.

• 1945 ~ Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend, British rock guitarist
More information about Townshend
News Items about Townshend

• 1949 ~ Dusty Hill, Musician, bass, singer

• 1952 ~ Grace Jones, Jamaican new-wave singer and songwriter

• 1954 ~ Charles Edward Ives, US composer (Unanswered Question), died at the age of 79

• 1958 ~ Bobby Darin’s single, Splish Splash, was released as the first eight-track master recording pressed to a plastic 45 RPM disc.

• 1965 ~ Roger Miller received a gold record for the hit, King of the Road. The song was Miller’s biggest hit record. It got to number four (3/20/65) on the pop charts and stayed on for 12 weeks.

• 1966 ~ Country music came to New York’s Carnegie Hall this night. Eddy Arnold debuted with an array of popular country artists in the Big Apple.

• 1968 ~ Piano stylist and vocalist Bobby Short gained national attention as he presented a concert with Mabel Mercer at New York’s Town Hall. He had been the featured artist at the intimate Hotel Carlisle for years.

• 1973 ~ Stevie Wonder moved to the number one position on the Billboard pop music chart with You are the Sunshine of My Life.

• 2001 ~ Joe Graydon, who left the FBI for show business and became a popular big band singer, TV talk show host and concert promoter, died at the age of 82. Graydon joined the FBI in 1940, spending the next six years investigating spy cases and tracking down World War II military deserters. But Graydon, who had worked his way through college singing in nightclubs and on college campuses, decided to return to music after the war. He accepted a four-month gig as a singer on the highly popular radio show, “Your Hit Parade.” A successful singing career followed, and in 1950 he was offered a job in television as well. “The Joe Graydon Show” was broadcast on Los Angeles and San Diego television stations for much of the first half of the 1950s. He later switched to managing the careers of others, including Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes, Ray Eberle and the Pied Pipers. When swing music saw a resurgence in popularity in the 1970s, he began producing Big Band concerts and shows.

April 25: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

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. 1906 ~ John Knowles Paine died.  He was the first American-born composer to achieve fame for large-scale orchestral music.

. 1913 ~ Earl Bostic, Saxophonist, bandleader

. 1915 ~ Italo Tajo, Italian bass

. 1915 ~ Sal Franzella, Jazz musician, alto sax, clarinet

. 1918 ~ Ella Fitzgerald, American Grammy Award-winning singer (12), jazz and popular music. She was discovered at age 16 at an amateur night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and went on to work with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Count Basie.

. 1923 ~ Albert King, American blues singer and guitarist

. 1923 ~ Melissa Hayden (Mildred Herman), Ballerina with the New York City Ballet

. 1926 ~ Arturo Toscanini conducted the first performance of Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Turandot” at La Scala, Milan.

. 1932 ~ Gator (Willis) Jackson, Composer, tenor sax, invented the gator horn

. 1933 ~ Jerry Leiber, Record producer with Mike Stoller

. 1945 ~ Stu Cook, Bass with Creedence Clearwater Revival

. 1945 ~ Bjorn Ulvaeus, Musician, guitar, singer with Abba

. 1946 ~ The popular Jimmy Lunceford Orchestra recorded Cement Mixer for Majestic records, tapes and CDs this day. Well, not tapes and CDs. We were still listening to 78s back then … thick, heavy ones, at that.

. 1952 ~ Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist

. 1956 ~ The rock ‘n roll legend, Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel went No.1.

. 1970 ~ DJs around the U.S. played the new number one song, ABC, quite often, as the Jackson 5 reached the number one spot in pop music for two weeks. ABC was the second of four number one songs in a row for the group from Gary, IN. I Want You Back was their first. ABC was one of 23 hits for Michael, Tito, Jackie, Jermaine and Marlon. ABC was knocked out of first place by The Guess Who and their hit, American Woman.

. 1973 ~ The group, The Sweet, received a gold record for the hit Little Willy. The English rocker band recorded four hits in addition to their first million-seller, Ballroom Blitz, Fox on the Run, Action and Love is like Oxygen. Little Willy was a top-three hit, while the group’s other gold record winner, Fox on the Run made it to the top five.

. 2000 ~ David Merrick, one of Broadway’s most flamboyant and successful theatrical producers who created “Gypsy,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “42nd Street,” died in London at the age of 88. During his long career as arguably Broadway’s most successful producer, Merrick won all the major theatrical awards, including 10 Tony Awards just for “Hello, Dolly!” He was best-known for his musicals but he produced many non-musicals as well.

. 2007 ~ Bobby “Boris” Pickett, American singer-songwriter (Monster Mash), died from leukemia at the age of 69

April 24: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

. 1706 ~ Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian music scholar and composer

. 1792 ~ La Marseillaise composed by French army officer Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle

. 1913 ~ Violet Archer, Canadian pianist and composer

. 1916 ~ Stanley Kauffmann, Theatre critic for the New York Times

. 1922 ~ (Samuel) Aaron Bell, Jazz musician, bass, composer

. 1923 ~ Freddy Scott, Singer

. 1928 ~ Johnny Griffin, Jazz musician, tenor sax

. 1934 ~ Shirley Boone (Foley), Singer, married to singer Pat Boone since 1953

. 1934 ~ Shirley MacLaine, Entertainer, Academy Award-winning actress, sister of actor Warren Beatty

. 1934 ~ Laurens Hammond, in Chicago, IL, announced the news that would be favored by many churches across the United States. The news was the development of the pipeless organ — and a granting of a U.S. patent for same.
Read more about the Hammond Organ

. 1936 ~ Benny Goodman and his trio recorded China Boy for Victor Records. Gene Krupa, Teddy Wilson and Goodman recorded the session in Chicago.

. 1937 ~ Joe Henderson, Musician, composer. He played live in sextet at San Francisco’s Keystone Korner and also played with Blood Sweat and Tears

. 1942 ~ John Williams, Guitarist

. 1942 ~ Barbra Streisand, American actress and singer of popular music, Grammy Award-winning Best Female Pop Vocalist (1963-1965, 1977, 1986), Best Songwriter in 1977, Academy Award-winning Best Actress, Oscar for Best Song (Evergreen in 1976)
Read a news item about Barbra Streisand

. 1943 ~ Richard Sterban, Musician: bass, singer with The Oak Ridge Boys

. 1945 ~ Doug Clifford, Drummer with Creedence Clearwater Revival

. 1954 ~ Billboard magazine, the music industry trade publication, headlined a change to come about in the music biz. The headline read, “Teenagers Demand Music with a Beat — Spur Rhythm and Blues” … a sign of times to come. Within a year, R&B music by both black and white artists became popular.

. 1959 ~ Your Hit Parade ended after a nine-year run on television and many more years on radio. The show debuted in 1935. On the final show, these were the top five songs on Your Hit Parade:
1 Come Softly to Me
2 Pink Shoelaces
3 Never Be Anyone Else but You
4 It’s Just a Matter of Time
5 I Need Your Love Tonight

. 1965 ~ Game of Love, by Wayne Fontana and The Mindbenders, made it to the top spot on the Billboard music chart. Game of Love stayed for a short visit of one week, before Peter Noone and Herman’s Hermits took over the top spot with Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter.

. 1968 ~ Climaxing his birthday celebration, the Who’s drummer, Keith Moon, accidentally drove a Lincoln Continental into a hotel swimming pool in Flint, Mich.

. 1969 ~ The singing family, The Cowsills, received a gold record for their hit single, Hair, from the Broadway show of the same name.

. 2000 ~ Singer and pianist George Paoa, whose smooth voice and mellow style introduced generations of tourists to Hawaiian music, died. He was 65. For more than 40 years, Paoa entertained vacationers at isle hotels with a repertoire of old Hawaiian standards, light jazz and hapa-haole music, a tourist favorite with its blend of English lyrics and Hawaiian melodies. Paoa played with the jazz recording star Martin Denny in the 1960s and two of his children sang on his 1994 album, “Walking in the Sand.”

. 2001 ~ Jazz singer Al Hibbler, who was known for his rich baritone and exaggerated phrasing, died at the age of 85. Hibbler is best remembered as one of Duke Ellington’s most colorful vocalists. Hibbler went solo in the 1950s and enjoyed his biggest hit, Unchained Melody. Another of his hit songs was After the Lights Go Down Low. The Mississippi native, who was blind from birth, joined Ellington’s band in 1943 and became popular for singing tunes with the band that included Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me and I’m Just a Lucky So and So. Hibbler’s penchant for distorted vocal effects were described by Ellington as “tonal pantomime.” Hibbler started his professional singing career in the 1930s, after vocal studies at the Conservatory for the Blind in Little Rock, Ark. After winning amateur concerts in Memphis, Tenn., he led a group in Texas and toured with Kansas City bandleader Jay McShann in 1942. Hibbler went on to record with Ellington’s son, Mercer Ellington, Billy Taylor, Count Basie, Gerald Wilson and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. He sang When the Saints Go Marching In at Louis Armstrong’s funeral.

. 2016 ~ Billy Paul [Paul Williams], American singer (Me & Mrs Jones), died at the age of 81

November 25 ~ On This Day in Music

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. 1787 ~ Franz Gruber, composer of Silent Night. The song was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village in present-day Austria. A young priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before. He had written the lyrics of the song “Stille Nacht” in 1816.

The melody was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, schoolmaster and organist in the nearby village of Arnsdorf. Before Christmas Eve, Mohr brought the words to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the Christmas Eve mass. It is unknown what inspired Mohr to write the lyrics, or what prompted him to create a new carol.

. 1896 ~ Virgil Thomson, American composer, conductor and music critic
Read quotes by and about Thomson
More information about Thomson

. 1924 ~ Paul Desmond, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for composing that group’s greatest hit, “Take Five”.

. 1925 ~ Derroll Adams, Country singer, played with Jack Elliott

. 1931 ~ Nat Adderley, Musician, cornet, mellophone, French horn, trumpet, brother of Cannonball Adderley

. 1941 ~ Percy Sledge, Singer

. 1949 ~ Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, by Johnnie Marks, appeared on the music charts and became THE musical hit of the Christmas season. Although Gene Autry’s rendition is the most popular, 80 different versions of the song have been recorded, with nearly 20,000,000 copies sold.

. 1955 ~ Following a summer at the top of the American pop charts, Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and His Comets became the #1 song in Great Britain.

. 1959 ~ Steve Rothery, Guitarist with Marillion

. 1960 ~ Amy Grant, Singer

. 1965 ~ Dame Myra Hess, British pianist died

. 1966 ~ Stacey Lattisaw, Singer

March 19: Today’s Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

. 1872 ~ Sergei Diaghilev, Russian impresario; founder of the Ballets Russes
More information about Diaghilev

. 1873 ~ Max Reger, German composer
Read quotes by and about Reger
More information about Reger

. 1900 ~ Charles-Louis Hanon, French piano pedagogue and composer, died
More about Hanon’s exercises

. 1917 ~ Dinu Lipatti, Rumanian pianist and composer
More information about Lipatti

. 1923 ~ Janine Dacosta, French pianist

. 1930 ~ Ornette Coleman, American jazz alto saxophonist and composer
More information about Coleman

. 1941 ~ Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra recorded one of their biggest musical successes. It became one of Decca Records’ all-time greats. Green Eyes featured vocalists Helen O’Connell and Bob Eberly.

. 1946 ~ Ruth Pointer, Singer from The Pointer Sisters

. 2001 ~ Cuba-born entertainer Tony Alvarez of “El Show de Olga y Tony” died at age 85. Alvarez was best known for the television and radio programs he hosted with his wife, singer Olga Chorens. He began his career in Cuba in the 1940s as a singer and model, starring in a tango program on Channel Azul. In the 1960s, Alvarez and Chorens moved to Puerto Rico, where they began “El Show de Olga y Tony.” They later moved to New York, where they performed on WABC-TV, WPIX-TV and WNJU-TV from 1965 to 1972.

. 2001 ~ Elena Del Rubio, whose 60-year singing career with her sisters as the Del Rubio Triplets got a boost with campy covers of 1980s tunes, died of cancer. She was believed to be in her 70s. “It was a terrible blow to me,” said Milly, the only surviving sister. “Now I’m left alone.” Another triplet, Eadie, died in 1996. The sisters lived together in a mobile home overlooking the ocean. The trio that promoted itself as “3 Gals 3 Guitars 1 Birthday” performed for six decades in showcases ranging from television comedy to retirement homes. The three were in their 60s when they hit the Hollywood scene, dressed in identical miniskirts, go-go boots and big blonde hairdos. Calling themselves “song stylists,” the sisters’ diverse acts included mariachi strolling, country western music, Hawaiian-Calypso and holiday theme music.

. 2001 ~ Randall Hylton, a bluegrass performer who wrote Room at the Top of the Stairs, died in St. Thomas Hospital after suffering an aneurysm. He was 55. Hylton, who played guitar in the fingerpicking style of Chet Atkins and Merle Travis, was known for his ability to instantly write songs to fit any occasion. The 6-foot-6-inch performer also told jokes, did impersonations and could do guitar tricks, such as playing a song backward or two songs at once. Hylton’s songs were performed by more than 150 singers, including Ralph Stanley, Vern Gosdin, Mac Wiseman, Leo Kottke and Lester Flatt.

. 2001 ~ Herbie Jones, a jazz musician who worked with Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, died of complications from diabetes. He was 74. Jones, a jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger and educator, toured five continents with the Ellington band. His recorded arrangements for the band were El Busto, Cootie’s Caravan, The Prowling Cat and The Opener, and he contributed to Ellington’s first and second Sacred Concerts. After leaving the Ellington band, Jones became the first director of Arts and Culture Inc., a New York City alternative school, and as a volunteer directed the Bugle Corps of the Police Athletic League in Harlem. In Ellington’s 1973 memoir, “Music Is My Mistress,” he called Jones “a great asset” to his orchestra in the 1960s. Jones often played first trumpet but rarely soloed.

. 2015 ~ Peter Katin died.  He was a British classical pianist and pedagogue.

September 14: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

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• 1741 ~ George Frederick Handel completed his The Messiah. It took the composer just 23 days to complete the timeless musical treasure which is still very popular during the Christmas holiday season.

• 1814 ~ Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled “The Defence of Fort M’Henry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”

• 1888 ~ Michael Haydn (1737) Austrian composer

OCMS 1760 ~ Luigi Cherubini, Italian composer
More information about Cherubini

• 1814 ~ Frances Scott Key, an attorney in Washington, DC, was aboard a warship that was bombarding Fort McHenry (an outpost protecting the city of Baltimore, MD). Key wrote some famous words to express his feelings. Those words became The Star-Spangled Banner, which officially became the U.S. national anthem by an act of Congress in 1931.

• 1910 ~ Lehman Engel, American composer, conductor and writer

• 1927 ~ Gene Austin waxed one of the first million sellers. He recorded his composition, My Blue Heaven, for Victor Records.

• 1941 ~ Priscilla Mitchell, Singer

• 1946 ~ Pete Agnew, Bass, singer with Nazareth

• 1947 ~ Jon ‘Bowzer’ Bauman, Singer with Sha Na Na

• 1950 ~ Paul Kossoff, Guitarist with Free

• 1954 ~ Barry Cowsill, Singer with The Cowsills

• 1959 ~ Morten Harket, Singer with a-ha

• 1964 ~ Mary Howe, American composer and pianist (Sand), died at the age of 82

• 1973 ~ Donny Osmond received a gold record for his hit single, The Twelfth of Never. The song, released in March of 1973, was one of five which turned gold for the young Osmond. His other solo successes were Sweet & Innocent, Go Away Little Girl, Hey Girl and Puppy Love.

• 1985 ~ The first MTV Video Music Awards were presented at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The Cars won Best Video honors for You Might Think and Michael Jackson won Best Overall Performance and Choreography for his Thriller video.

• 2002 ~ Jazz saxophonist and bandleader Paul Williams, whose 1949 Rhythm and Blues hit, The Huckle-Buck, was covered by Frank Sinatra, died, at the age of 87. Williams scored one of the first big hits of the R&B era in 1949 with The Huckle-Buck, based on Charlie Parker’s “Now’s the Time.” It was the biggest-selling record in the Savoy label’s 60-year history, topping the R&B charts for 14 weeks, and spawned vocal versions by Sinatra and others. The Huckle-Buck was one of three Top 10 and five Top 20 R&B hits Williams scored for Savoy in 1948 and 1949. Other Top 10 hits were 35-30 in 1948 and Walkin’ Around in 1949. Williams was later part of Atlantic Records’ house band in the ’60s and directed the Lloyd Price and James Brown orchestras until 1964. After leaving the music business temporarily, he opened a booking agency in New York in 1968. Born July 13, 1915, in Birmingham, Alabama, Williams played with Clarence Dorsey in 1946, and then made his recording debut with King Porter in 1947 for Paradise before forming his own band later that year. Saxophonists Noble “Thin Man” Watts and Wild Bill Moore, trumpeter Phil Guilbeau, and vocalists Danny Cobb, Jimmy Brown, Joan Shaw, and Connie Allen were among Williams’ band members.

• 2009 ~ Patrick Swayze, American actor, dancer, and songwriter (Dirty Dancing), died at the age of 57

August 8: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

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Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

 

 

 

• 1886 ~ Pietro Yon, Italian composer
More information about Yon

• 1899 ~ Russell Markert, Choreographer, founded and directed the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes

• 1905 ~ André Jovilet, French composer and conductor

• 1907 ~ Benny Carter, American jazz solo saxophonist, trumpeter, composer and arranger

• 1921 ~ Roger Nixon, American composer

• 1921 ~ Webb Pierce, Singer

• 1923 ~ Jimmy Witherspoon, Singer

• 1923 ~ Benny Goodman was 14 years old as he began his professional career as a clarinet player. He took a job in a band on a Chicago-based excursion boat on Lake Michigan.

• 1926 ~ Urbie (Urban) Green, Musician, trombonist who played with Cab Calloway

• 1932 ~ Mel Tillis, Singer, songwriter

• 1933 ~ Joe Tex (Arrington, Jr.), Singer

• 1934 ~ Bing Crosby became the first singer to record for the newly created Decca Records. His songs, Just A-Wearyin’ For You and I Love You Truly, were recorded as Decca number D-100.

• 1938 ~ Connie Stevens (Concetta Ingolia), Singer

• 1939 ~ Philip Balsley, Singer with The Statler Brothers

• 1941 ~ Les Brown and His Band of Renown paid tribute to baseball’s “Yankee Clipper”, Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees, with the recording of Joltin’ JoeDiMaggio on Okeh Records. From that time on, DiMaggio adopted the nickname, Joltin’ Joe.

• 1949 ~ Keith Carradine, Actor and composer, whose recording of I’m Easy reached No. 17 on the U.S. charts in 1976.

• 1950 ~ Andy Fairweather-Low, Musician, guitar, singer with Amen Corner

• 1958 ~ Harry (Harry Lillis III) Crosby, Singer and actor, son of Bing Crosby and Kathryn Grant

• 1958 ~ Chris Foreman, Musician, guitar with Madness

• 1960 ~ Tell Laura I Love Her, by Ray Peterson, wasn’t a big hit in Great Britain. Decca Records in England said the song was “too tasteless and vulgar for the English sensibility.” They destroyed 25,000 of the platters this day.

• 1961 ~ The Edge (David Evans), Musician, guitar with U2

• 1974 ~ Roberta Flack received a gold record for the single, Feel Like Makin’ Love. Flack, born in Asheville, NC and raised in Arlington, VA, was awarded a music scholarship to Howard University in Washington, DC at the age of 15. One of her classmates became a singing partner on several hit songs. Donny Hathaway joined Flack on You’ve Got a Friend, Where is the Love and The Closer I Get to You. She had 10 hits on the pop charts in the 1970s and 1980s.

• 1975 ~ Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderly passed away

• 1997 ~ Duncan Swift, jazz pianist, died at the age of 74

• 2017 ~ Glen Campbell died at the age of 81. He was an American singer, songwriter, musician, television host, and actor.

July 1: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

 

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

 

• 1586 ~ Claudio Saracini, Composer

• 1592 ~ Marc A Ingegneri, Italian violinist and composer, died

• 1662 ~ Simon Ives, Composer, died at the age of 61

• 1663 ~ Franz Xaver Murschhauser, Composer

• 1688 ~ Johann Ludwig Steiner, Composer

• 1691 ~ Marc’Antonio Pasqualini, Composer, died at the age of 77

• 1735 ~ James Lyon, Composer

• 1742 ~ Bohuslav Matej Czernohorsky, Czech monk and composer, died at the age of 58

• 1764 ~ Georg Christoph Grosheim, Composer

• 1784 ~ Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, composer, son of J.S. Bach, died
More information about Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

• 1805 ~ Georg Ritschel, Composer, died at the age of 60

• 1883 ~ Manuel Gregorio Tavarez, Composer, died at the age of 39

• 1899 ~ Cavan O’Connor, Singer

• 1908 ~ Peter Anders, German opera singer

• 1910 ~ Marius Petipa, French ballet dancer and choreographer, died

• 1914 ~ Earle Warren, Alto sax player

• 1915 ~ Willie Dixon, Blues Musician

• 1917 ~ William Gillock, Educational Music Composer

• 1925 ~ Erik Alfred Leslie Satie, French composer, died at the age of 59
More information about Satie

• 1926 ~ Hans Werner Henze, German composer

• 1927 ~ Hans Eklund, Composer

• 1928 ~ Volker Wangenheim, Composer

• 1930 ~ Leslie Caron, Dancer

• 1933 ~ Strauss and von Hofmannsthal’s opera “Arabella,” premiered in Dresden
More information about Strauss

• 1935 ~ James Cotton, blues vocalist

• 1939 ~ Louis Davids (Simon David), Cabaret performer/chorus performer, died

• 1941 ~ Twila Tharp, Choreographer

• 1941 ~ John Gould, British composer and musical comic

• 1942 ~ Andrae Crouch, Gospel Singer

• 1945 ~ Debbie Harry, American singer

• 1946 ~ June Montiero, American vocalist

• 1947 ~ Clarence Lucas, Composer, died at the age of 80

• 1950 ~ Edward Faber Schneider, Composer, died at the age of 77

• 1954 ~ Fred Schneider, Singer for pop-punk band the B-52s

• 1956 ~ Elvis Presley appeared wearing a tuxedo on the Steve Allen Show

• 1960 ~ Benjamin Britten’s cantata “Carmen Baseliense,” premiered in Basel
More information about Britten

• 1963 ~ The Beatles recorded She Loves You & I’ll Get You

• 1964 ~ Pierre Monteux, French/American conductor, died at the age of 89

• 1965 ~ Claude Thornhill, Composer, died at the age of 55

• 1967 ~ “Funny Girl”, the story of Fanny Brice, closed at Winter Garden Theater New York City after 1348 performances
More information about Fanny Brice

• 1967 ~ The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, went #1 for 15 weeks

• 1968 ~ John Lennon’s first full art exhibition (You are Here)

• 1969 ~ John & Yoko were hospitalized after a car crash

• 1969 ~ Shelby Singleton bought Sun Records from Sam Phillips

• 1970 ~ Jimi Hendrix first recording session (New York City)

• 1972 ~ “Follies” closed at Winter Garden Theater New York City after 524 performances

• 1972 ~ “Hair” closed at Biltmore Theater New York City after 1750 performances

• 1973 ~ Mario La Broca, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1973 ~ “Jesus Christ Superstar”, by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice, closed at Mark Hellinger New York City after 711 performances

• 1978 ~ “Act” closed at Majestic Theater New York City after 233 performances

• 1982 ~ John Everett Watts, Composer, died at the age of 51

• 1982 ~ Shon Coco Palm, (Jacobo JM Palm), Curaçan Composer, died

• 1982 ~ ABC national music radio network scheduled premiere, but it never happened

• 1988 ~ Hellmuth Christian Wolff, Composer, died at the age of 82

• 1988 ~ Lex van Delden, Dutch Composer and writer, died at the age of 68

• 1995 ~ “Kiss of the Spider Woman” closed at Broadhurst New York City after 906 performances

• 1996 ~ Placido Domingo became art director of Washington Opera

• 2015 ~ Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer, died at the age of 88

• 2018 ~ Dame Gillian Lynne [Pyrke], British dancer, choreographer and actress, known for Broadway work on “Cats” and “The Phantom of the Opera,” died at the age of 92

and

 

June 29: On This Day in Music

Posted by MaryO on

today

 

 

 

 

Be sure your student reads and listens to Today’s Daily Listening Assignment

• 1696 ~ Michel Lambert, Composer, died

• 1738 ~ Constantin Reindl, Composer

• 1783 ~ August Alexander Klengel, Composer

• 1842 ~ Josef Labor, Composer

• 1850 ~ Joseph Paul Skelly, Composer

• 1864 ~ Anton Beer-Walbrun, Composer

• 1870 ~ Joseph Carl Breil, Composer

• 1871 ~ Luisa Tetrazzini, Italian operatic singer. Her dazzling technique made her one of the most famous sopranos of her time.

• 1874 ~ Georg Gohler, Composer

• 1885 ~ Andre Gailhard, Composer

• 1886 ~ George Frederick Boyle, Composer

• 1888 ~ First (known) recording of classical music made, Handel’s Israel in Egypt on wax cylinder

• 1893 ~ Aare Merikanto, Composer

• 1897 ~ Ottmar Gerster, Composer

• 1901 ~ Hendrik Diels, Flemish conductor

• 1901 ~ Nelson Eddy, American baritone and actor, often performed with Jeanette MacDonald

• 1903 ~ Rentaro Taki, Composer, died at the age of 23

• 1908 ~ Rene Gerber, Composer

• 1908 ~ Leroy Anderson, Composer
Read more about Anderson

• 1910 ~ Frank Loesser, American songwriter and composer of musical comedies

• 1911 ~ Bernard Herrmann, Composer

• 1914 ~ Rafael Kubelík, Czech-born Swiss conductor and composer of operas, symphonies and concertos

• 1922 ~ Ralph Burns, Musician, pianist, composer and arranger

• 1922 ~ Elmer J. ‘Mousey’ Alexander, Drummer with Alexanders the Great

• 1923 ~ Chou Wen-Chung, Chinese composer

• 1923 ~ Gustave Adolph Kerker, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1924 ~ Ezra Laderman, American composer

• 1925 ~ Hale Smith, Composer

• 1929 ~ Michio Mamaia, Composer

• 1936 ~ Leonard Lee, American vocalist

• 1938 ~ Billy Storm, Singer with the Valiants

• 1938 ~ Edmund Falkiner, Jazz saxophonist

• 1940 ~ Viacheslav Artyomov, Composer

• 1941 ~ Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Polish statesman and pianist, died in New York at the age of 80

• 1942 ~ Dmitri Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, premiered

• 1943 ~ Roger Ruskin Spear, English saxophonist, kazoo with The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

• 1945 ~ Little Eva (Boyd), Singer

• 1946 ~ “Are You with It?” closed at Century Theater New York City after 264 performances

• 1946 ~ “Billion Dollar Baby” closed at Alvin Theater New York City after 219 performances

• 1948 ~ Ian Paice, Musician, drums with Paice Ashton Lord

• 1953 ~ Jules van Nuffel, Composer, died at the age of 70

• 1955 ~ Bill Haley and His Comets reached the top of the pop music charts with Rock Around the Clock. The smash hit stayed there for eight straight weeks. The song was featured in the film Blackboard Jungle. Most consider the hit song the first rock ’n’ roll single.

• 1963 ~ “Little Me” closed at Lunt-Fontanne Theater New York City after 257 performances

• 1963 ~ The Beatles’ 1st song From Me to You hits UK charts

• 1964 ~ Milenko Zivkovic, composer, died at the age of 63

• 1966 ~ Arthur Meulemans, Belgian Composer, died at the age of 82

• 1968 ~ Tiptoe Through the Tulips by Tiny Tim peaked at #17

• 1969 ~ Shorty Long, Soul singer and pianist, died at the age of 29

• 1969 ~ Vesselin Stoyanov, Composer, died at the age of 67

• 1970 ~ NBC presented an evening of exciting and entertaining TV with the award-winning Liza Minelli Special.

• 1980 ~ “Sweeney Todd” closed at Uris Theater New York City after 557 performances

• 1984 ~ Singer Bruce Springsteen kicked off his first U.S. tour in three years, before 17,700 fans at the Civic Center in St. Paul, MN. Music critics called the Boss, “the most exciting performer in rock.”

• 1992 ~ “Salome” opened at Circle in Sq Theater New York City for 9 performances

• 1994 ~ Kurt Eichhorn, Conductor, died at the age of 85

• 1994 ~ Ray Crane, Trumpeter, died at the age of 63

• 1998 ~ Horst Jankowski passed away

• 2001 ~ Kimo Wilder McVay, a veteran talent agent who promoted singer Don Ho into an international star, died at the age of 73. McVay introduced Ho, known for his song Tiny Bubbles, to tourist audiences in the 1960s at his Duke Kahanamoku’s nightclub in Waikiki. He represented Hawaii’s top talents in an up-and-down career that spanned nearly five decades, but slowed his work when diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago. McVay was the son of Navy Capt. Charles B. McVay III, who was found guilty at a court-martial trial of failing to steer a zigzag course to evade a Japanese submarine that sank the USS Indianapolis in 1945. The younger McVay’s years of trying to clear his father’s name resulted in congressional action last year to exonerate the Indianapolis’ skipper, who committed suicide in 1968.

• 2002 ~ Rosemary Clooney, the mellow-voiced singer who co-starred with Bing Crosby in “White Christmas” and staged a dramatic comeback after her career was nearly destroyed by drugs and alcohol, died. She was 74. Clooney soared to fame with her 1951 record of Come on-a My House, and became a star in television and films. Her career was sidelined by her marriage to Oscar-winning actor Jose Ferrer and the births of their five children. The pair divorced, and her attempts to return to performing were sabotaged by her erratic behavior. Having undergone a series of emotional upsets – she was devastated by Martin Luther King’s assassination, and was present in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles when Robert F. Kennedy was shot – the blond singer had a breakdown during a 1968 engagement in Reno. She underwent harrowing confinement in a psychotic ward, then began rebuilding her life, gradually resuming her career and reaching new heights as a singer. She performed a concert with Crosby in the Christmas of 1975 at the Los Angeles Music Center, and the pair continued on to Chicago, New York and London. Clooney won a new record contract, and singing dates poured in. In 1995, she received an Emmy Award nomination for guest actress in a drama series for her role on “ER” with her nephew, actor George Clooney. He is the son of her brother, former television news anchor Nick Clooney. In 1996, Clooney married Hollywood dancer Dante DiPaolo.

• 2002 ~ Edmund Anderson, a former stockbroker and producer who was close friends with musician Duke Ellington, died. He was 89. Anderson and Ellington met in 1936 and remained friends until Ellington’s death in 1974. Anderson was said to have pressed Ellington to perform at Carnegie Hall, which he did for the first time in 1943. Anderson worked for his father’s brokerage, Anderson & Company, but had a strong interest in music and also produced broadcasts for radio, including a program known as “The Edgar Bergen-Charlie McCarthy Show.” He also composed music, including the love song Flamingo, written in collaboration with Ted Grouya and recorded by Ellington and his band.