Timeline Jazz History
Return to home
Afro-Cuban: http://afrocubweb.com
Bluenote: http://www.blunenote.com
DBRec: http://www.dbrec.com
Jazz Chops (a jazz directory): http://www.jazzchops.com
Philly Jazz: http://phillyjazz.org/
Rhapsody Films: www.cinemaweb.com/rhapsody
RMM: http://www.rmmrecords.com
1814 Nov 6,
Adolphe Sax (d.1894), instrument maker and inventor of the saxophone,
was born.
(WUD, 1994, p.1272)(HN, 11/6/98)
1863-1917 This period, titled "Gumbo," was covered in
the 1st episode of the 2001 TV production "Jazz" by Ken Burns.
(SSFC, 1/7/01, DB p.32)
1873 Nov 16, William Christopher
Handy, W.C. Handy, father of the blues famous for "St. Louis Blues,"
was born in Alabama.
(HN, 11/16/98)(MC, 11/16/01)
1883 Feb 7, Eubie Blake, ragtime
composer, pianist (Memories of You), was born.
(MC, 2/7/02)
1883 May 26, Mamie Smith, blues
singer, was born.
(HN, 5/26/01)
1884 Aug 3, Louis Gruenberg,
composer (Daniel Jazz), was born near Brest Litovsk, Poland.
(SC, 8/3/02)
1885 Jan 29, Leadbelly
(d.1949), [Huddie William Ledbetter], blues singer, was born on the
Jeter Plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana.
(http://leadbelly.lanl.gov/leadbelly.html)
1885 May 11, "King" Joseph Oliver,
jazz cornetist and bandleader, was born.
(HN, 5/11/02)
1885 May 26, Al Jolson (d.1950),
American jazz singer and silent film actor, was born in Seredzius,
Lithuania as Asa Yoelson. His father Morris was a rabbi and a cantor
and so Asa started singing early, alongside his elder brother Harry and
two elder sisters. In 1894 the family set off for America in search of
a new life.
(www.unionsquaremusic.co.uk/titlev4.php?ALBUM_ID=576&LABEL_ID=5)
1885 Sep 20, Ferdinand Lamenthe,
aka Jelly Roll Morton (d.1941), jazz pianist, composer and singer, was
born in New Orleans. He was one of the first to orchestrate jazz music
and disputed W.C. Handy's claim to be the originator of jazz and blues.
He became famous at an early age for his classically informed
improvisational piano playing often in brothels and other
nontraditional settings. With his Red Hot Peppers in the 1920s, he
pioneered the early jazz practice of reorchestrating and improvising
upon well-known standards. He also wrote many enduring jazz tunes
including the ‘London Rag’ and the ‘Jelly Roll Blues’.
(HN, 9/20/98)(MC, 9/20/01)
1886 Apr 26, Ma Rainey, [Gertrude
Pridgett], "Mother of the Blues", US blues singer, was born. [see Apr
3, 1888]
(MC, 4/26/02)
1888 Apr 3, Gertrude Bridget "Ma"
Rainey, American singer, "the mother of the blues," was born. [see Apr
26, 1886]
(HN, 4/3/01)
1889 Apr 11, Nick La Rocca, US
cornetist, composer (Tiger Rag), was born.
(MC, 4/11/02)
1893 Jun 9, Cole Porter, American
composer and lyricist, was born. His songs include "Night and Day,"
"You're the Tops," and "I Get a Kick Our of You." In 1998 William
McBrian published the biography "Cole Porter."
(CFA, '96, p.48)(HN, 6/9/99)(SFEC, 11/22/98, BR p.4)
1893 Jun 26, William "Big Bill"
Broonzy, blues singer and guitarist, was born.
(HN, 6/26/01)
1894 Feb 4, Antoine J "Adolphe"
Sax (b.1814), Belgium-born instrument maker (saxophone), died in Paris.
In 2005 Michael Segell authored ”The Devil’s Horn: The Story of the
Saxophone, From Noisy Novelty to King of Cool.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax)(SSFC,
10/16/05, p.M3)
1897 May 14, Sidney Bechet
(d.1951), jazz clarinetist and soprano saxophone player, was born.
(HN, 5/14/01)
1897 Nov 23, Willie "The Lion"
Smith, jazz and ragtime pianist, was born.
(HN, 11/23/00)
1898 Apr 15, Bessie Smith,
American blues singer, was born.
(HN, 4/15/01)
1898 Buddy Bolden, cornetist and
New Orleans brass band leader, was an early practitioner of what would
be recognized today as jazz. Bolden's 1898 brass band, Kid Ory's Creole
Band, played their early version of jazz while marching in parades, at
funerals, weddings and dances. Blues, ragtime and brass band music were
blending at the end of the 19th century into what would be known as
jazz. New Orleans was one of the key cities for the development of this
music.
(HNQ, 5/12/98)
1899 Apr 29, Edward Kennedy "Duke"
Ellington (d.1975), jazz composer and musician was born in Washington
D.C. A major influence in jazz, especially the big band sound,
Ellington orchestrated over 1,000 pieces of music during his prolific
career. Although some tunes most associated with Duke Ellington and
‘His Famous Orchestra‘ were written by others (Billy Strayhorn wrote
"Take the A Train"), Ellington capitalized on his outstanding ensemble
by writing pieces emphasizing the talents of individual performers such
as Johnny Hodges and Jimmy Blanton. In addition to big band pieces, he
also wrote for film, ballet and opera.
(HN, 4/4/98)(SFEC, 2/21/99, DB p.32)(AP,
4/29/99)(HNQ, 11/10/00)
1899 Nov 22, Hoagy Carmichael
(d.1981), American composer, was born in Bloomington, Ind. His songs
included "Georgia on My Mind" (1930) "Stardust" and over 600 other
melodies. Lyrics for Georgia on my Mind were written by Stuart Gorrell.
(WSJ, 9/9/99, p.A24)(SFC, 11/25/99, p.C22)(Econ,
7/3/04, p.16)
1900 Aug 4, Louis "Satchmo"
Armstrong, (Daniel Louis Armstrong, d.1971) jazz trumpet player, was
born in New Orleans. He developed a vocal style called "scat singing";
was a band leader, film star and worldwide celebrity; his career
spanned five decades. His autobiography “Satchmo” was published in
1954. "I got a simple rule about everybody. If you don't treat me
right, shame on you." Laurence Bergreen in 1997 wrote a biography
titled: "Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life."
(SFEC, 6/29/97, BR p.4)(AP,
12/1/99)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armstrong)
1900 George Lewis, clarinetist,
was born in New Orleans.
(WSJ, 5/15/01, p.A24)
1903 Mar 1, Leon Bismarck "Bix"
Beiderbecke, jazz cornetist (In a Mist), was born in Iowa. [see Mar 10]
(SC, 3/1/02)
1903 Mar 10, Leon Bismarck "Bix"
Beiderbecke, jazz cornetist and composer, was born. [see Mar 1]
(HN, 3/10/01)
1904 Feb 29, Jimmy Dorsey
(d.1957), orchestra leader, was born.
(HN, 2/29/00)
1904 Mar 1, Glenn Miller
(d.1944), big band leader, was born.
(HN, 3/1/98)
1904 Apr 26, William "Count"
Basie, jazz pianist (Policy Man, Blazing Saddles), was born. [see Aug
21]
(MC, 4/26/02)
1904 May 21, Fats Waller (d.1943),
[Thomas Wright], jazz singer, composer (Ain't Misbehavin'), was born in
NYC.
(MC, 5/21/02)
1904 Aug 21, William "Count"
Basie, American band leader and composer, was born. [see Apr 26]
(HN, 8/21/98)
1904 Nov 21, Coleman Hawkins, jazz
saxophonist, was born.
(HN, 11/21/00)
1905 Jul 10, Ivie Anderson, jazz
singer, was born.
(HN, 7/10/01)
1905 Aug 20, Jack Teagarden, jazz
trombonist, was born.
(HN, 8/20/00)
1906 Mar 27, Pee Wee Russell, jazz
clarinetist, was born.
(HN, 3/27/01)
1907 Aug 8, Benny Carter, jazz
musician, composer and bandleader, was born in New York.
(AP, 8/8/07)
1907 Jul 25, Johnny Hodges, jazz
musician, was born.
(HN, 7/25/02)
1907 Dec 25, Cab Calloway, band
leader and first Jazz singer to sell a million records, was born.
(HN, 12/25/98)
1908 Oct 6, Sammy Price, jazz
pianist, was born.
(HN, 10/6/00)
1909 May 1, Kate Smith (d.1986),
singer, was born.
(HN, 5/1/01)
1909 May 30, Benny Goodman was
born. He became a great clarinet player, and big band leader and was
known as the "King of Swing."
(HN, 5/30/99)
1909 Saxophonist Lester Young
(d.1959), aka "Prez," was born in Mississippi.
(SFC, 4/14/01, p.B3)
1910 May 8, Mary Lou Williams,
jazz pianist and composer, was born.
(HN, 5/7/02)
1910 May 23, Artie Shaw (d.2004),
jazz bandleader and clarinetist, was born as Arthur Jacoby Arshawsky on
the Lower East Side of NYC to poor Eastern European Jewish immigrants.
(HN, 5/23/01)(SFC, 12/31/04, p.A4)
1910 May 28, T-Bone Walker, blues
guitarist and singer, was born.
(HN, 5/28/01)
1910 Jun 23, Milt Hinton (d.2000),
jazz bassist and photographer, was born in Vicksburg, Miss.
(SFC, 12/22/00, p.D9)
1910 Oct 13, Art Tatum, American
jazz pianist, was born.
(HN, 10/13/98)
1910 About this time jazz bands
began playing in the gambling houses and brothels of the city's
notorious Storyville section.
(HNQ, 5/12/98)
1911 May 8, Robert Johnson,
bluesman, was born in Mississippi.
(HT, 5/97, p.40)
1911 Oct 24, Sonny Terry, blues
performer, was born.
(HN, 10/24/00)
1911-1996 Norma Teagarden jazz pianist. Her brother
Jack was a celebrated trombonist, brother Charlie a trumpeter, and Cub
a drummer. She joined Jack’s big band in 1942 and played in the bands
of Ben Pollack and Ada Leonard. In the late 40s she led her own band
and began teaching students. In 1963 the entire family performed
together at the Monterey Jazz Festival. She played with a strong
striding left hand and a softer right hand. Since 1975 she played at
the Washington Square Bar and Grill in San Francisco.
(SFC, 6/8/96, p.A17)
1912 Feb 19, Stan Kenton,
[Newcomb], jazz musician (Music 55), was born in Wichita, Ks.
(MC, 2/19/02)
1912 May 13, Gil Evans, jazz
pianist and composer, was born.
(HN, 5/13/01)
1912 Sep 27, W C Handy published
"Memphis Blues," the 1st Blues Song. [see Sep 28]
(MC, 9/27/01)
1912 Sep 28, W.C. Handy’s "Memphis
Blues" was published. It was the first published blues composition.
[see Sep 27]
(HN, 9/28/98)(SFC, 12/27/99, p.E3)
1912 Buddy Gilmore, drummer with
the Jim Europe Band, established drummers in the dance music of the
era. The group recorded on Victor Records. His work was later described
in the biography "A Life in Ragtime" by Reid Badger.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.9)
1913 Apr 25, Earl Bostic, alto sax
player (Flamingo, Temptation), was born in Tulsa, OK.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1913 May 16, Woody Herman
(d.1987), jazz bandleader, was born.
(HN, 5/16/01)
1914 Jul 26, Erskine Hawkins,
trumpeter, was born.
(HN, 7/26/01)
1914 Sep 11, W.C. Handy published:
"The Saint Louis Blues."
(SI-WPC, 12/6/96)(MC, 9/11/01)
1914-1918 World War I keyboard wizards included James
P. Johnson, Willie "The Lion" Smith, and Luckyeth Roberts. They created
the "Harlem Style."
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.16)
1915 Apr 4, Muddy Waters, American
blues musician, was born as McKinley Morganfield.
(HN, 4/4/01)(MC, 4/4/02)
1915 Apr 7, Billie Holiday
(d.1959), jazz and blues legend, was born. She sang "God Bless the
Child."
(HN, 4/7/99)
1915 May 14, Harry Joseph Chick
Daugherty, trombonist (Spike Jones & City Slickers), was born.
(MC, 5/14/02)
1915 Jun 9, Les Paul, American
guitarist and electric guitar innovator, was born.
(HN, 6/9/01)
1915 Jul 1, Willie Dixon, blues
musician, was born.
(HN, 7/1/01)
1915 Nov 19, Billy Strayhorn
(d.1967), composer, arranger and pianist, was born. He wrote "Take the
A Train."
(HN, 11/19/00)
1915 Jelly Roll Morton published
"Jelly Roll Blues."
(SFC, 5/24/03, p.D3)
1915-1945 Richard M. Sudhalter in 1999 authored "Lost
Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz 1915-1945.
(SFEC, 5/9/99, BR p.4)
1916 Mar 15, Harry James (d.1983),
American band leader and trumpet player, was born, He is best
remembered for his hit "You Made Me Love You."
(HN, 3/15/99)(WSJ, 11/16/99, p.A28)
1916 Oct 27, The 1st published
reference to "jazz" appeared in Variety.
(MC, 10/27/01)
1916 Jelly Roll Morton opened the
Jupiter on Columbus Ave in SF.
(SFEC, 4/12/98, p.D7)
1917 Jan, The 5-member white Dixie
Jass Band from New Orleans led by Nick LaRocca cut its first jazz
records: "Darktown Strutters’ Ball" and "Indiana" for Columbia Records
in NYC.
(SFC, 12/27/99, p.E3)(SFC, 1/19/02, p.D5)
1917 Mar 5, The 1st jazz recording
for Victor Records was released by RCA Victor in Camden, NJ. Viktor
issued "Dixie Jass Band One-Step" and "Livery Stable Blues" by The
Dixie Jass Band.
(SFC, 1/19/02, p.D5)(MC, 3/5/02)
1917 Apr 1, Scott Joplin (48),
ragtime composer (Sting), died.
(MC, 4/1/02)
1917 Apr 25, Ella Fitzgerald
(d.1996), jazz singer, was born. [see Apr 25, 1918]
(HN, 4/25/02)
1917 Oct 10, Thelonious Monk
(d.1982), jazz pianist and composer, was born. He eventually moved to
New York City where he played at various nightclubs throughout the 40s.
He began recording more in the 1950s, usually with small groups,
gaining more notoriety, but his musical influence on his fellow
musicians was already considerable, including such jazz artists as
George Russell and Randy Weston. Jazz pianist and prolific composer
Thelonious Monk, one of the early bebop musicians of the 1940s, stopped
touring and recording in the early 70s, leaving such jazz standards as
"Straight, No Chaser" and " ‘Round Midnight."
(HNQ, 2/28/01)
1917 Oct 21, Dizzy Gillespie, jazz
trumpeter, famous for Night in Tunisia and Blue ‘n’ Boogie, was born.
(HN, 10/21/98)
1917 John Lee Hooker (d.2001),
blues musician, was born in Clarksdale.
(SFC, 6/22/01, p.A1)
1917 A recording by Sophie Tucker
of W.C. Handy's "The Saint Louis Blues" sold a million copies.
(ON, 1/03, p.9)
1917-1924 This period, titled "The Gift," was covered
in the 2nd episode of the 2001 TV production "Jazz" by Ken Burns.
(SSFC, 1/7/01, DB p.32)
1918 Apr 25, Ella Fitzgerald
(d.1996), jazz singer, was born. She became known as the ‘First Lady of
Song.’ [see Apr 25, 1917]
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A1)(SFC, 4/26/97, p.A5)
1918 Dec 12, Singer Joe Williams
(d.1999) was born as Joseph Goreed in Cordele, Ga.
(SFC, 3/31/99, p.C2)
1918 Hank Jones, jazz pianist, was
born. Elvin and Thad Jones were his younger brothers.
(WSJ, 8/27/03, p.D12)
1918 The Dixie Jass Band renamed
itself to "The Original Dixieland Jazz Band" and recorded sessions with
Viktor that produced "Tiger Rag" and "Jazz Me Blues."
(SFC, 1/19/02, p.D5)
1919 Oct 11, Art Blakey, jazz
drummer, was born.
(HN, 10/11/00)
1919 Louis Armstrong joined the
Fate Marable band on a riverboat. His finest recordings include "West
End Blues" and "Potato Head Blues."
(WSJ, 1/3/95, p. 8)(WSJ, 6/03/97, p.A20)
1919-1965 Nat King Cole, popular singer, began his
career as a pianist in a jazz combo. He established int’l. fame as a
singer of ballads. His biography was made into a TV feature shown in
1998.
(SFC, 2/2/98, p.D7)
1920 Apr 8, Carmen McRae, jazz
vocalist and pianist, was born.
(HN, 4/8/01)
1920 May 3, John Lewis, jazz
pianist, was born.
(HN, 5/3/01)
1920 May 23, Helen O'Connell, big
band vocalist, was born.
(HN, 5/23/01)
1920 May 26, Peggy Lee (d.2002),
jazz singer, was born in Jamestown, ND, as Norma Dolores Egstrom.
(HN, 5/26/01)(SFC, 1/23/02, p.A2)
1920 Aug 29, Charlie "Bird"
Parker, self-taught jazz saxophonist, pioneer of the new "cool"
movement, was born.
(HN, 8/29/98)
1920 Dec 6, Dave Brubeck, jazz
pianist and composer, was born.
(HN, 12/6/00)
1920 Marian McPartland, jazz
pianist, was born in Windsor, England.
(WSJ, 6/1/00, p.A20)
1920 Artie Shaw, jazz clarinetist
and writer, was born as Avram Isaac Arshawsky.
(WSJ, 5/26/00, p.W14)
1920-1955 Charlie Parker, aka "Bird," jazz
saxophonist and composer.
(WUD, 1994, p.1049)
1920s Eubie Blake,
pianist-composer-raconteur, had years of fame. He lived to be 100 and
often used the term "shout" to describe stride piano style.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.16)
1920s-1950s Louis Armstrong recorded with Decca. The
album "Highlights From Louis Armstrong's Decca Years" resulted.
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.D9)
1921 Jul 21, Billy Taylor, jazz
pianist, was born.
(HN, 7/21/02)
1922 Feb 11, "April Showers" by Al
Jolson hit #1.
(MC, 2/11/02)
1922 Apr 22, Charles Mingus
(d.1979), jazz bassist, was born.
(HN, 4/22/01)
1922 Nov 7, Al Hirt, jazz
trumpeter, was born in New Orleans, La.
(MC, 11/7/01)
1922 Louis Armstrong left New
Orleans and moved to Chicago.
(WSJ, 11/19/96, p.A18)(WSJ, 1/26/98, p.A16)
c1922 Saxophonist Benny Carter
began playing with Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway at age 15.
Ellington’s band was the Cotton Club Orchestra. His drummer up to the
1940s was Sonny Greer.
(SFC, 9/5/96, p.B2)(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.9)
1922 Fats Waller recorded "Muscle
Shoals Blues" and "Birmingham Blues" for Okeh Records. They named his
tunes with southern names and called them blues to attract black record
buyers.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.16)
1923 Feb 16, Betsy Smith makes her
first recording "Down Hearted Blues," her music reflected the
Depression era.
(HN, 2/16/99)
1923 Apr 23, Ernesto "Tito"
Puente, Latin jazz bandleader, was born at Harlem Hospital.
(HN, 4/20/98)(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.32)(SFC, 6/2/00, p.D2)
1923 Apr 25, Albert King, blues
singer/guitar (Bad Look Blues), was born in Mississippi.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1923 Louis Armstrong recorded with
the King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band: "King Oliver and His Creole Jazz
Band" on the Smithsonian label.
(WSJ, 1/3/95, p. 8)(SFC, 7/4/97, p.D9)
1923 Fletcher Henderson started
his own orchestra, which included trumpeter Louis Armstrong. He later
achieved fame as an arranger for Benny Goodman.
(AH, 4/01, p.25)
1923 Jelly Roll Morton worked his
way into the Chicago music scene and recorded his
ragtime-blues-Latin-jazz piano style on records.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.16)
1923 Darius Milhaud premiered "La
Creation du Monde" (the Creation of the World) with 19 members of the
Orchestre du Theatre du Champs-Elyssees. Fernand Leger designed the
décor and costumes. The jazz age ballet was created by Milhaud,
Blaise Cendrars and Jean Borlin.
(SFEM, 6/9/96, p.32)(SSFC, 1/7/01, p.T8)(Econ,
11/19/05, p.90)
1923-1924 The "Louis Armstrong and King Oliver"
albums were recorded on Milestone Records.
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.D9)
1923-1934 "Louis Armstrong: Portrait of the Artist as
a Young Man" is a 4 CD or cassette set by the Smithsonian Institution
Press/Columbia Legacy.
(WSJ, 1/26/98, p.A16)
1923-1925 George Antheil composed his "Jazz Symphony."
(WSJ, 6/16/98, p.A17)
1924 Jan 22, J.J. Johnson,
composer, jazz trombonist, was born.
(MC, 1/22/02)
1924 Feb 12, George Gershwin’s
groundbreaking symphonic jazz composition “Rhapsody in Blue” premiered
at Carnegie Hall with Gershwin himself playing the piano with Paul
Whiteman’s orchestra.
(AP, 2/12/98)(HN, 2/12/01)(MC, 2/12/02)
1924 Mar 27, Sarah Vaughan, 'the
Divine One,' jazz singer, was born. She was famous for singing "What a
Difference a Day Makes."
(HN, 3/27/99)
1924 Aug 29, Dinah Washington
(d.1963), singer, was born as Ruth Jones in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She
was known in the 50s as "Queen of the Harlem Blues."
(HN, 8/29/00)(SSFC, 8/22/04, p.M1)
1924 Sep 27, Bud Powell, jazz
pianist, was born.
(HN, 9/27/00)
1924 Teddy Edwards, tenor sax
player, was born. He did "Me and My Lover."
(440 Int’l. internet, 4/26/97, p.1)
1924-1928 This period, titled "Our Language," was
covered in the 3rd episode of the 2001 TV production "Jazz" by Ken
Burns.
(SSFC, 1/7/01, DB p.32)
1925 Feb 26, James Moody, US jazz
saxophonist, orchestra leader, was born.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1925 Jul 17, Jimmy Scott, jazz
singer, was born in Cleveland.
(SFEM, 10/1/00, p.14)
1925 Sep 15, Blues musician B.
B. ("Blues Boy") King was born. In the mid-1950s, while
King was performing in Twist, Arkansas, some audience members got into
a fight over a woman named Lucille. They knocked over a kerosene stove
and set the place on fire. Everybody ran outside...but when King
realized he left his guitar inside, he rushed back to retrieve it. From
then on, King named all his guitars "Lucille." [see Sep 16]
(MC, 9/15/01)
1925 Sep 16, Charlie Byrd, jazz
guitarist, was born.
(HN, 9/16/00)
1925 Sep 16, B.B. King (Benny
King), blues great famous for "Why I Sing the Blues" and "Stand By Me,"
was born. [see Sep 15]
(HN, 9/16/98)
1925 Nov 11, Louis Armstrong
recorded 1st of Hot Five & Hot Seven recordings. [see Nov 12]
(MC, 11/11/01)
1925 Nov 12, The first recording
of Louis Armstrong's "Hot Fives" was made. [see Nov 11]
(WSJ, 1/14/00, p.W2)
1925 Bennie Moten recorded "Kater
Street Rag." It’s featured on "The Real Kansas City of the ‘20’s, ‘30’s
and ‘40’s" on the Columbia Legacy label.
(SFC, 8/22/96, F4)
1925 Bessy Smith recorded "The
Empress" with Louis Armstrong.
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.D9)
1925-1927 The albums "Louis Armstrong, the Hot Fives
and Sevens, Vol. 1-3" were recorded on Columbia Legacy..
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.D9)
1926 May 25, Miles Davis, American
jazz trumpeter, was born in Alton, IL. He is considered the prophet of
the "cool" school. His albums included The Birth of Cool and Miles
Ahead.
(HN, 5/25/99)(SC, 5/25/02)
1926 Sep 23, John Coltrane
(d.1967), influential jazz saxophonist, was born in North Carolina. He
greatly influenced jazz from the `60s to the present day despite his
untimely. He moved to Philadelphia after high school where he studied
music and later worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Hodges and others.
(HN, 9/23/00)(HNQ, 3/2/01)
1926 Oct 13, Ray Brown (d.2002),
jazz bass player, was born in Pittsburgh.
(HN, 10/13/00)(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A21)
1926 Dec 11, Willie "Big Mama"
Thorton, blues singer, was born.
(HN, 12/11/98)
1927 Feb 2, Stan Getz, jazz
saxophonist, was born in Philadelphia.
(SFC, 12/28/99, p.C4)
1927 Apr 6, Gerry Mulligan, jazz
saxophonist, was born.
(HN, 4/6/01)
1927 Sep 9, Elvin Jones (d.2004),
jazz drummer, was born in Pontiac, Mich.
(SFEC, 5/21/00, DB p.44)(SFC, 5/20/04, p.B8)
1927 Sep 27, Red Rodney,
trumpeter, was born.
(HN, 9/27/00)
1927 Dec 4, Duke Ellington opened
at the Cotton Club in Harlem.
(MC, 12/4/01)
1927 Dec, In Nashville, Ten.,
after harmonica wizard DeFord Bailey played his "Pan American Blues,"
WSM Announcer Judge Hay got the idea to change the name of the show
from the "Barn Dance" to the "Grand Ole Opry."
(www.pbs.org/deford/timeline/index.html)
1927 Lee Konitz, saxophonist, was
born in Chicago. He later claimed to have invented the "cool movement"
in jazz.
(SFEM, 10/1/00, p.10)
1927 Jack Teagarden, a young white
Texan jazz trombone player, arrived in New York.
(WSJ, 4/9/99, p.W12)
1927 The Duke Ellington Band
recorded "Creole Love Song" and "Black and Tan Fantasie" on its first
Viktor record.
(SFEC, 4/25/99, p.C5)
1927 "Stardust" by Hoagy
Carmichael was first waxed on the Gennett label in Richmond, Ind.
(SFEC, 7/25/99, BR p.5)
1927-1934 The albums "Early Ellington" (Bluebird) and
Duke Ellington" (BBC) cover these years.
(SFEC, 2/21/99, DB p.33)
1927-1973 A 1999 24-CD "Duke Ellington Centennial
Edition: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings" was co-produced by Orrin
Keepnews and Steven Lasker.
(SFEC, 2/21/99, DB p.34)
1928 Mar 1, Paul Whiteman and his
orchestra recorded "Ol' Man River" for Victor Records.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1928 May 4, Maynard Ferguson, jazz
trumpeter (Roulette), was born in Verdun, Quebec.
(MC, 5/4/02)
1928 Jul 31, Horace Silver, jazz
pianist, composer and bandleader, was born.
(HN, 7/31/01)
1928 Sep 9, Julian E "Cannonball"
Adderley (d.1975), US, jazz musician (Black Messiah), was born.
Adderley was a member of the Miles Davis ensemble of the 1950s, and in
the 1960s scored a hit of his own with 'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy'.
(MC, 9/9/01)
1928 Dec 28, The last recording of
Ma Rainey, "Mother of the Blues," was made.
(MC, 12/28/01)
1928 Dec 28, Louis Armstrong made
78 rpm recording of "West End blues."
(MC, 12/28/01)
1928 Leroy Vinegar, last jazz
bassist, was born in Indianapolis.
(SFC, 9/6/99, p.A21)
1928 The album "Vol 4, Louis
Armstrong and Earl Hines" was recorded on Columbia Legacy. Also this
year Armstrong dropped his word sheet during a vocal of "Heebie
Jeebies" and improvised. This was later claimed to mark the beginning
of scat singing.
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.D9)(SFC, 7/4/98, p.E3)
1928 Bix Beiderbecke and His Gang
recorded "Thou Swell." Books about Bix were later authored by Richard
Sudhalter, Ralph Berton and Burnett James.
(SFEM, 1/16/00, p.6)
1928 Benny Carter, alto
saxophonist, began recording.
(WSJ, 7/8/96,p.A9)
1928 Ma Rainey recorded "Prove It
on Me Blues."
(SFEC, 2/1/98, BR p.1)
1928-1931 Fats Waller wrote "Honeysuckle Rose,"
"Ain’t Misbehavin," "Crazy ‘Bout My Baby," "Handful of Keys," "Sweet
Savannah Sue," "I’ve Got A Feeling I’m Falling," and "Minor Drag."
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.16)
1928-1935 This period, titled "The True Welcome," was
covered in the 4th episode of the 2001 TV production "Jazz" by Ken
Burns.
(SSFC, 1/7/01, DB p.32)
1929 Aug 16, Bill Evans (d.1980),
jazz pianist, was born. [see Aug 28]
(HN, 8/16/00)
1929 Aug 28, Bill Evans (d.1980),
pianist, was born in Plainfield, N.J. [see Aug 16]
(WSJ, 8/28/98, p.W7)
1929 Oct 16, Etta Jones (d.2001 at
72), jazz vocalist, was born in Aiken, SC.
(SFC, 10/18/01, p.A21)
1929 The 19-minute film “Black and
Tan” featured Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra.
(SFC, 7/16/08, p.E3)
1929 Avedis Zildjian III of
Constantinople, moved the family cymbal business to Massachusetts. He
took a suggestion from Jo Jones, drummer for Count Basie, and mounted
cymbals on a pole creating the "hi-hat." Another idea from Gene Kruppa,
drummer for Benny Goodman, led to a big cymbal with a lot of ping
called a "ride."
(WSJ, 5/31/96, p.B1)
1929-1930 Louis Armstrong recorded "Vol.6 St. Louis
Blues" on Columbia Legacy.
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.D9)
1930 Mar 9, Ornette Coleman, jazz
saxophonist, was born. [see Mar 19]
(HN, 3/9/01)
1930 Mar 19, Ornette Coleman was
born in Fort Worth Texas and was an early proponent of ‘free form
jazz.‘ Having taught himself to play the saxophone and read music by
age 14, Coleman moved to Los Angeles and met like-minded musicians in
the early ‘50s. His debut album in 1959, Something Else! introduced his
atonal interpretation of jazz, one free of traditional tonal structure,
which he terms ‘harmolodic.‘ Many listeners and critics have termed it
‘anarchy.‘ Coleman has continued to be an influential if controversial
figure in jazz, now producing albums under his own label (Harmolodic,
Inc.) as well as soundtracks for films. [see Mar 9]
(HNQ, 10/19/00)
1930 Mar 21, Otis Spann, blues
singer, was born in Jackson, Miss.
(WSJ, 6/28/00, p.A20)
1930 Sep 7, Sonny Rollins,
saxophonist, was born.
(HN, 9/7/00)
1930 Sep 23, Ray Charles, rhythm
'n' blues piano player and singer best known for "Hit the Road Jack"
and "Georgia on My Mind," was born.
(HN, 9/23/98)
1930 Oct 14, Robert Parker, US
saxophonist and soul singer (Barefootin'), was born.
(MC, 10/14/01)
1930 Tommy Flanagan, jazz pianist,
was born in Detroit.
(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.9)
1930 John O. Williams (1905-1996),
jazz saxophonist and composer, wrote "Froggy Bottom." It was used in
the 1996 score for the film "Kansas City."
(SFC, 12/2/96, p.D2)
1930 Duke Ellington brought his
band to Hollywood to film "Check and Double Check." His sidemen Barney
Bigard and Juan Tizol were though to be too light and had to blacken up
their faces for the film.
(SFEC, 10/11/98, BR p.8)
1930s The Kansas City style began
as a mix of ragtime, marching band and minstrel music.
(SFC, 8/22/96, F1)
1930s Bennie Moten plucked Bassie
from Page’s Oklahoma City based Blue Devils.
(SFC, 8/22/96, F4)
1930s Jo Jones in Bennie Moten’s
band in Kansas City modernized jazz drumming by shifting the basic
pulse from the bass drum to the high-hat cymbal. "As the rhythm section
Jones, pianist Bassie and bassist Walter Page played with a loose
propulsion that became the model of modern swing." The nucleus of
Moten’s band became the Basie band a few years later.
(SFC, 8/22/96, F1)
1930s-1940s Roy DeCarava, photographer, documented
Harlem and its associated Renaissance in art and culture. His work
included photographs of many notable jazz artists.
(SFEM, 1/25/98, p.6)
1931 Mar 3, Cab Calloway and his
Orchestra recorded "Minnie the Moocher" on Brunswick Records. It was
the first recording of the famous bandleader's theme song. The song was
featured prominently in the motion picture, "The Blues Brothers"
(1980), starring John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd.
(HC, Internet, 3/3/98)
1931 Aug 7, Leon Bismarck "Bix"
Beiderbecke (29), jazz cornetist (In Mist), died. In 1974 Richard M.
Sudhalter authored "Bix: Man and Legend."
(WSJ, 6/13/03, p.W12)(MC, 8/7/02)
1932 Fletcher Henderson scored a
major hit with Jelly Roll Morton's "King Porter Stomp."
(SFC, 5/24/03, p.D3)
1932 Ben Webster, tenor sax
player, recorded with the band of Bennie Moten that included Count
Basie.
(WSJ, 3/2019/98, p.W6)
1932-1947 Louis Armstrong recorded for RCA Victor and
the records "The Complete RCA Victor Recordings" resulted.
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.D9)
1933 Aug 25, Wayne Shorter, jazz
saxophonist and composer, was born.
(HN, 8/25/00)
1933 Stephane Grappelli, jazz
violinist, and Django Reinhardt, Gypsy guitarist, began playing with
bassist Louis Vola at the Hotel Claridges in Paris and went on to form
formed the Hot Club Quintet.
(SFC, 12/2/97, p.A22)
1933 The album "Duke Ellington and
His Orchestra 1933" was made on the Classics label.
(SFEC, 2/21/99, DB p.33)
1933 Art Tatum made his first
piano recordings.
(SFC, 12/28/99, p.C5)
1934 Mar 2, Doug Watkins jazz
musician (bass: Pepper-Knepper Quintet, Hank Mobley Quartet, Horace
Silver and the Jazz Messengers), was born.
(HC, Internet, 2/3/98)
1934 May 12, "Cocktails For Two"
by Duke Ellington hit #1.
(MC, 5/12/02)
1934 Nov 21, Cole Porter's musical
"Anything Goes" premiered at New York's Alvin Theatre.
(HN, 11/21/00)
1934 Dec, The Benny Goodman band
started playing on the radio show "Let’s Dance."
(AH, 4/01, p.26)
1934 In Kansas City a tenor battle
was held where 3 Kansas City players (Herschel Evans, Ben Webster and
Lester Young) jousted with Coleman Hawkins.
(SFC, 8/22/96, F4)
1934 Louis Armstrong took his band
to Paris, France.
(WSJ, 1/3/95, p. 8)
1934 Benny Carter first heard Ella
Fitzgerald sing at the Apollo Theater amateur night.
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1934 Harry "Sweets" Edison (18),
trumpeter, joined the Count Basie Orchestra. Lester Young later dubbed
him "Sweets" for the pleasing tone of his horn.
(SFC, 7/29/99, p.C4)
1935 Oct 10, Porgy and Bess
debuted at the Alvin Theater in New York City. George Gershwin composed
the music based on a 1925 novel by Dubose Heyward.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.4)
1935 In Kansas City Count
Basie formed a band that included Jo Jones, Walter Page and others.
(SFC, 12/28/99, p.C5)
1935 Duke Ellington recorded
"Reminiscing in Tempo," a 14 minute work on 4 sides of 78 rpm records.
(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.18)
1935 Ella Fitzgerald joined
drummer Chick Webb’s band.
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1935 Red Norvo, xylophone player,
joined the Paul Whiteman Orchestra where he met singer Mildred Bailey,
whom he later married.
(SFC, 4/8/99, p.C5)
1935 The Hammond organ was
introduced and became a low-cost alternative to the pipe organ. The
last Hammond B-3 was made in 1975.
(WSJ, 1/7/02, p.A16)
1935-1937 This period, titled "Swing, Pure Pleasure,"
was covered in the 5th episode of the 2001 TV production "Jazz" by Ken
Burns.
(SSFC, 1/7/01, DB p.32)
1936 Mar 8, Gabor Szabo, Hungarian
jazz pianist (Perfect Circle), was born.
(MC, 3/8/02)
1936 Bennie Goodman added Lionel
Hampton (1908-2002) to his trio that included pianist Teddy Wilson and
drummer Gene Krupa. Their performance together helped break the color
barrier that kept black and white musicians apart.
(AH, 4/01, p.25)(SSFC, 9/1/02, p.A1)
1936 Milt Hinton, bassist, joined
the Cab Calloway band and stayed for 15 years.
(SFC, 12/22/00, p.D9)
1936 Woody Herman started a
co-operative blues band with decisions made by committee.
(WSJ, 8/22/01, p.A14)
1936 Lester Young joined Count
Basie’s orchestra in Kansas City. He recorded "Lady Be Good" with a
Basie quintet.
(SFC, 4/14/01, p.B3)
1936 The first annual reader’s
poll in Down Beat Magazine put Benny Carter among the top alto sax
players.
(WSJ, 7/8/96,p.A9)
1936 Basie’s small group recorded
"Lady Be Good."
(SFC, 8/22/96, F4)
1936-1939 Theodore McRae played the saxophone and
served as arranger and musical director with the Chick Webb band.
(SFC, 3/30/99, p.F4)
1937 Lionel Hampton wrote "Flying
Home." It became a hit in 1942 propelled by a tenor sax solo by
Illinois Jacquet.
(SSFC, 9/1/02, p.A27)
1937 Theodore McRae wrote "You
Showed Me the Way" with Ella Fitzgerald, Bud Green and Chick Web.
(SFC, 3/30/99, p.F4)
1937 Sep 26, Bessie Smith, known
as the ‘Empress of the Blues,’ died in a car crash on Highway 61 near
Clarksdale, Mississippi.
(HN, 9/26/00)(HT, 5/97, p.40)
1937 Charlie Haden, bassist, was
born.
(WSJ, 12/18/01, p.A14)
1937 Bass Player Beverly Peer
(1913-1997) joined the Chick Webb Orchestra. He played behind Ella
Fitzgerald on all her early hits.
(SFC, 1/27/97, p.A20)
1937-1939 This period, titled "Swing, The Velocity of
Celebration," was covered in the 6th episode of the 2001 TV production
"Jazz" by Ken Burns.
(SSFC, 1/7/01, DB p.32)
1937-1945 Jazz sessions featuring Django Reinhardt
were recorded and later made available as a 3-disk set titled "Django
With His American Friends" on DRG Records. Included performers are Rex
Stewart (author of "Boy Meets Horn") on cornet, Frankie "Big Boy"
Goodie on tenor sax, Bill Coleman on trumpet, Coleman Hawkins, Benny
Carter, Dicky Wells and Eddie South.
(WSJ, 10/23/98, p.W12)
1938 Jan 16, The Benny Goodman
Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert featured an outstanding solo by saxophonist
Lester Young. Goodman performed at Carnegie Hall along with Count
Basie, Harry James, Lester Young, Gene Krupa, Johnny Hodges, Lionel
Hampton and 17 others. The concert was recorded and in 2000 Columbia
issued a remastered edition of the performance.
(WSJ, 8/29/96, A11)(WSJ, 1/12/00,
p.A20)
1938 Aug 16, Robert Johnson (27),
bluesman, musician and king of the Mississippi Delta blues, died 3 days
after ingesting whiskey laced with poison (probably strychnine). He has
2 grave sites around Morgan City. Columbia Records issued the first
Robert Johnson LP in 1961 titled "King of the Delta Blues Singers" and
"Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings" in 1990. His music is on "The
Complete Plantation Recordings" (Chess/MCA). Peter Guralnick later
wrote his biography. His tunes included "Love in Vain," "Cross Road
Blues" and "Ramblin on My Mind." In 1998 the video documentary "Can’t
You Hear the Wind Howl? The Life and Music of Robert Johnson" was
released. In 1999 Robert Mugge premiered his film "Hellhounds On My
Trail: The Afterlife of Robert Johnson."
(HT, 5/97, p.41)(NH, 9/96, p.54)(HT, 5/97,
p.41)(SFC, 9/23/98, p.E3)(WSJ, 10/16/98, p.W12)(SFEM, 9/26/99, p.12)
1938 Dec 23, John Hammond produced
a Carnegie Hall concert titled "From Spirituals to Swing."
(WSJ, 11/5/99, p.W11)
1938 Ella Fitzgerald recorded her
hit song "A Tisket A Tasket."
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1938 Harry James, trumpeter, heard
Frank Sinatra sing and hired him for $75 per week.
(SFC, 5/16/98, p.E7)
1938 Theodore McRae had a hit with
"Back Bay Shuffle" which he wrote with Artie Shaw.
(SFC, 3/30/99, p.F4)
1938 Artie Shaw (28), jazz
clarinetist, recorded "Begin the Beguine."
(WSJ, 5/26/00, p.W14)
1938 Jazz composer Billy Strayhorn
met Duke Ellington, who hired him on the spot.
(SFEC, 8/11/96, DB, p.52)
1938 Alan Lomax invited Jelly Roll
Morton (1885-1941) to record music and memories at the Library of
Congress. In 2005 Rounder Records published a complete, 9-hour set of
the recordings on 7 CDs plus an additional CD of Lomax interviews with
contemporaries of Morton.
(Econ, 1/21/06, p.79)
1939 Jan 6, Alfred Lion recorded
his first Blue Note session with boogie-woogie and blues pianists
Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis. He had just founded the jazz label
in New York. He was later joined by his Berlin friend and photographer
Francis Wolff.
(WSJ, 10/3/97, p.A8)(WSJ, 1/15/98, p.W10)
1939 Aug, Charlie Christian joined
the Benny Goodman band and put the electric guitar in the front line
for the 1st time.
(WSJ, 10/4/02, p.W13)
1939 Oct 2, The Benny Goodman
Sextet recorded "Flying Home."
(AP, 10/2/99)
1939 Dec 24, John Hammond produced
a 2nd Carnegie Hall Jazz concert that was a panorama of black heritage.
Selections from the 1938 & 1939 concerts were issued in 1959, 1987
and a CD set in 1999.
(WSJ, 11/5/99, p.W11)
1939 McCoy Tyner, pianist, was
born.
(SFC, 1/15/98, p.E1)
1939 Charles Edward Smith authored
“Jazzmen.”
(WSJ, 5/17/06, p.D14)
1939 Mario Bauza, Cuban oboist,
joined the Cab Calloway band as a trumpet player.
(SFEC, 9/19/99, DB p.39)
1939 Jimmy Blanton (19) played
bass with the Duke Ellington band. Blanton revolutionized the string
bass and died of TB at age 22.
(SFEC, 2/21/99, DB p.33)
1939 Trumpeter Legh Knowles
(d.1997) joined the Glenn Miller Band. He went on to record 123 records
with the band including tunes such as: "In the Mood," "Moonlight
Serenade," and "Tuxedo Junction."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, p.D8)
1938 Theodore McRae had a hit with
"Traffic Jam" which he wrote with Artie Shaw.
(SFC, 3/30/99, p.F4)
1939 John Williams, saxophonist,
led the Andy Kirk band, the Clouds of Joy.
(SFC, 12/2/96, p.D2)
1939 Gerald Wilson, bandleader,
composer and arranger, replaced Cy Oliver in the Jimmy Lunceford Band.
He was the band arranger for 3 years.
(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.14)
1939 The Decca 78 rpm album: Blues
Sung by Teddy Grace was released. It featured trombonist Sonny Lee,
Charlie Shavers on trumpet, and Billy Kyle on piano.
(WSJ, 4/11/96, p.A-16)
1939 Drummer Chick Webb died. His
band became "Ella Fitzgerald and her orchestra."
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1940 Feb 5, Glenn Miller and his
orchestra recorded "Tuxedo Junction" for RCA Victor's "Bluebird" label.
(AP, 2/5/99)
1940 Feb 10, "In The Mood" by
Glenn Miller hit #1.
(MC, 2/10/02)
1940 Feb, George Avakian, jazz
aficionado, was hired by Columbia records to research Columbia jazz
masters and assemble a series of albums. His efforts produced the "Hot
Jazz Classics," a cornerstone of the basic jazz canon.
(WSJ, 6/03/97, p.A20)
1940 Mar 3, Artie Shaw and his
orchestra recorded "Frenesi" for RCA Victor.
(AP, 3/3/98)
1940 Sep 3, Artie Shaw and his
Gramercy Five recorded "Summit Ridge Drive," "Special Delivery Stomp,"
"Keepin' Myself for You" and "Cross Your Heart" in Hollywood for RCA
Victor.
(AP, 9/3/98)
1940 Oct 7, Artie Shaw and his
Orchestra recorded Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" for RCA Victor.
(AP, 10/7/97)
1940 The Afro-Cubans Latin jazz
band, formed by Mario Bauza and Frank Grillo, a vocalist known as
Machito, made its debut bear Spanish Harlem.
(SFEC, 9/19/99, DB p.39)
1940 Ben Webster recorded
"Cottontail" and "All Too Soon" with the Duke Ellington band.
(WSJ, 3/2019/98, p.W6)
1940-1941 Rehearsal sessions of Benny Goodman were
recorded and released as a CD titled Benny Goodman: "The Rehearsal
Session 1940-1941" (Jazz Unlimited).
1940-1945 This period, titled "Dedicated to Chaos,"
was covered in the 7th episode of the 2001 TV production "Jazz" by Ken
Burns.
(SSFC, 1/7/01, DB p.32)
1941 Feb 15, Duke Ellington 1st
recorded "Take the A Train."
(440 Int’l., 2/15/99)
1941 May 7, Glenn Miller and His
Orchestra recorded "Chattanooga Choo Choo" for RCA Victor. It became
the first gold record in history.
(AP, 5/7/99)(SFC, 5/31/00, p.A23)
1941 Jul 10, Jelly Roll Morton
(b.1885 as Ferdinand Joseph Le Menthe), jazz musician, died in Los
Angeles, Ca. He was a virtuoso pianist, bandleader and composer who
some call the first true composer of jazz music. Morton was a colorful
character who liked to generate publicity for himself by bragging. His
business card referred to him as the "Creator of Jazz and Swing."
He was born September 20, 1890 in the Creole of Color community in the
Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. He
took the name "Morton" by Anglicizing the name of his step-father,
Mouton. In 2003 Howard Reich and William Gaines authored "Jelly's
Blues: The Life, Music and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton." In 2005
Rounder Records released an 8-CD set titled “Jelly Roll Morton: The
Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax.”
(SFC, 5/24/03,
p.D3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jelly_Roll_Morton)(WSJ, 11/23/05,
p.D12)
1941 Alex Kramer (d.1998 at 94)
and his wife, Joan Whitney, wrote the song "High On a Windy
Hill," which began a No. 1 hit for Jimmy Dorsey. The Canadian-born
songwriter wrote most of his 125 songs with his wife.
(SFC, 2/17/98, p.B8)
1941 Gene Kruppa, jazz drummer,
hired Anita O'Day (1919-2006) as his vocalist.
(WSJ, 7/28/99, p.A21)(SFC, 11/24/06, p.A1)
1941 Jimmy Rowles worked for the
first time with Billy Holiday and then with Ben Webster.
(SFC, 5/30/96, p.A16)
1941 Jay McShann made a hit with
"Hootoe's Blues."
(SFC, 1/6/04, p.D7)
1941 Jay McShann recorded
"Swingmatism."
(SFC, 8/22/96, F4)
1941 Chuck Wayne joined the
Clarence Profit Trio in Greenwich Village.
(SFC, 8/2/97, p.A21)
1941-1952 Jonah Jones (d.2000 at 91), trumpeter,
played with the Cab Calloway band. His albums included "I Dig Chicks"
(1959).
(SFC, 5/10/00, p.C5)
1942 Jan 21, Count Basie and His
Orchestra recorded "One O'clock Jump" in New York City for Okeh
Records.
(AP, 1/21/98)
1942 Feb 19, Tommy Dorsey and his
orchestra recorded "I'll Take Tallulah."
(MC, 2/19/02)
1942 Mar 2, Lou Reed [Louis
Firbank], vocalist, guitarist (Walk on the Wild Side, Velvet
Underground), was born in Freeport, NY.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1942 Apr 2,
Glenn Miller and his orchestra recorded "American Patrol" at the RCA
Victor studios in Hollywood.
(AP, 4/2/97)
1942 Jul 27, Benny Goodman and his
Orchestra and vocalist Peggy Lee recorded "Why Don't You Do Right" in
New York for Columbia Records.
(AP, 7/27/02)
1942 Jul 31, At midnight the
record studios fell silent in a struggle with James Caesar Petrillo
(d.1984), head of the American Federation of Musicians. Petrillo
insisted that the record industry pay a ¼ to ¾ cent
royalty to the musicians union. Decca signed an agreement in Aug, 1943,
and Columbia and Victor surrendered Nov 11, 1944.
(WSJ, 7/31/02, p.D10)
1942 Norma Teagarden joined her
brother Jack’s big band and later played in the bands of Ben Pollack
and Ada Leonard.
(SFC, 6/8/96, p.A17)
1942 John Williams, saxophonist,
began playing with Cootie Williams.
(SFC, 12/2/96, p.D2)
1942 Charlie Christian (25), jazz
electric guitarist, died of tuberculosis. In 2002 a four-CD set was
released titled: "Charlie Christian: The Genius of the Electric Guitar."
(WSJ, 10/4/02, p.W13)
1943 Jan, Singer Betty Roche
(d.1999 at 81) joined the Duke Ellington band. She replaced Ivie
Anderson just before Ellington's first Carnegie Hall concert.
(SFC, 3/2/99, p.A20)
1943 Jan, Duke Ellington led the
debut of "Black, Brown and Beige," his 44-minute piece for jazz
orchestra at Carnegie Hall in a Russian War Relief effort headed by
Harriet Moore, a communist sympathizer. One vocal piece called "The
Blues" was featured. It was conceived as an opera and the music was
based on a narrative poem he had written about a mythical African named
Boola.
(SFC, 6/25/97, p.E1)(SFC, 7/8/97, p.B3)
1943 Mar 2, George Benson, jazz,
blues guitarist (Breezin', This Masquerade), was born.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1943 Dec 15, Thomas "Fats"
Waller (39), US jazz stride piano artist (Hot Chocolate), died in
Kansas City, Mo. Guitarist Al Casey performed with Waller for 10 years
prior to WW II.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.16,18)
1943 The film "Reveille With
Beverly" starred Frank Sinatra and the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
(SFC, 5/16/98, p.E6)(WSJ, 6/18/03, p.D14)
1943 Ruben Gonzalez, pianist,
joined the Arsenio Rodriguez band. This band reconfigured traditional
Afro-Cuban son septets and sextets into a conjunto with a 4-trumpet
horn section and piano and congas in the rhythm section.
(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.32)
1943 Jimmy Rowles worked with
Woody Herman and then went into the Army.
(SFC, 5/30/96, p.A16)
1943 Ralph Burns joined Woody
Herman as pianist and arranger.
(SFC, 12/3/01, p.A17)
1943 Stan Getz at age 15 went on
the road with Jack Teagarden’s band.
(SFC, 8/8/96, p.E5)
1943 Kermit Scott (d.2002), sax
player, joined the Earl Hines orchestra. He left after 3 years.
(SFC, 2/14/02, p.A21)
1943-1944 Gerald Wilson worked with Willie Smith's
Navy Band.
(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.14)
1943-1996 Bobby Enriquez, the Wild Man of Mindanao,
was known for his fast fingerwork and style of attacking the piano. In
the Philippines he was hailed as the "Ambassador of Jazz."
(SFC, 8/10/96, p.A20)
1944 Nov 14, Tommy Dorsey and
Orchestra recorded "Opus No. 1" for RCA Victor.
(AP, 11/14/97)
1944 Nov, Glenn Miller’s Army band
recorded a number of songs in German that were designed to be played
for enemy consumption only, "allied propaganda with a clarinet lead."
(WSJ, 10/24/96, p.A16)
1944 Dec 15, Bandleader Glenn
Miller, a US Army major, was lost in a single-engine plane flight
over the English Channel en route to Paris. His music included
“Kalamazoo,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Tuxedo Junction,” and “In the
Mood.” Trombonist Glenn Miller boarded a single-engine C-64 Norseman in
England for a flight to France, where he was to make arrangements for a
Christmas broadcast. The plane never reached France and no trace of it
or its occupants was ever found. Iowa-born Glenn Miller became a
professional musician after graduating from high school. By the time he
volunteered for military service in 1942, the Glenn Miller Orchestra
was world famous and had appeared in two motion pictures. Miller
persuaded the U.S. Army to accept his service to "put a little more
spring into the feet of our marching men and a little more joy into
their hearts." For the next 18 months, Miller's 50-member band stayed
busy with morale-building concerts and radio broadcasts. No cause has
ever been established for the loss of Miller's aircraft, but the
Norseman did not have de-icing equipment on board and it is likely that
icy weather forced the plane down in the English Channel.
(WSJ, 10/24/96, p.A16)(SFC, 1/7/97, p.A18)(AP,
12/15/97)(HNPD, 12/15/98)
1944 Rehearsal sessions of Art
Tatum, piano giant, was to be released on CD in 1996 by Smithsonian
Folkways.
(WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-12)
1944 Flip Phillips, tenor
saxophonist (29), joined Woody Herman’s First Herd.
(SFC, 8/20/01, p.A15)
1944 Milt Jackson set up a jazz
quartet called the Four Sharps in Detroit right after his release from
the Army. His nickname, Bags, was acquired from a drinking binge
following his release.
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C2)
1945 May 8, Keith Jarrett, jazz
musician, film composer (Nachtfahrer), was born in Allentown, Pa.
http://www.ecmrecords.com/ecm/bio/47.html
(MC, 5/8/02)
1945 Jun 4, Anthony Braxton, jazz
composer and saxophonist, was born.
(HN, 6/4/01)
1945 The 18-minute film “Caldonia”
featured saxophonist and band leader Louis Jordan.
(SFC, 7/16/08, p.E3)
1945 Hadda Brooks (d. 2002 at 86)
sang the hit "Swingin’ With the Boogie," her 1st record.
(SFC, 11/23/02, p.A19)
1945 Ella Fitzgerald recorded
"Flying Home." It was the first recording to included scat singing.
(SFC, 6/5/99, p.B3)
1945 Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie
Parker recorded dazzling improvisations on cuts for Guild that included
"Dizzy Atmosphere" and "All the Things You Are."
(SFC, 8/24/98, p.B1)
1945 Dizzy Gillespie called on
Milt Jackson to join him in New York.
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C2)
1945 Don Lamond (d.2003 at 82),
jazz drummer, joined Woody Herman's Herd replacing Dave Tough. The 1st
Herd band broke up in 1946. A 2nd Herd dissolved in 1949.
(SFC, 12/26/03, p.A24)
1945 Jazz pianist Bud Powell
experienced a brutal police beating.
(SFEC, 3/16/97, DB p.42)
1945 Anita O'Day did a 2nd stint
with the Gene Krupa band.
(WSJ, 7/28/99, p.A21)
1945-1946 Kay Starr recorded with Barney Bigard. In
1999 Baldwin Street Music released "Kay Starr With Barney Bigard: The
Complete Lamplighter Recordings 1945-1946."
(WSJ, 9/10/99, p.W6)
1945-1956 This period, titled "Risk," was covered in
the 8th episode of the 2001 TV production "Jazz" by Ken Burns.
(SSFC, 1/7/01, DB p.32)
1946 Barry Ulanov (d.2000 at 82)
authored "Duke Ellington," the 1st such biography.
(SFC, 5/8/00, p.A21)
1946 The film "Jivin’ in Be-Bop"
featured Dizzie Gillespie and Ray Brown.
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A21)
1946 Teddy Edwards (d.2003 at 78)
recorded the 1st bop solo for tenor sax with Howard McGhee's ensemble's
recording of "Up in Dodo's Room."
(SFC, 4/24/03, A21)
1946 In NYC the Gillespie band
with Milt Jackson recorded "A Night in Tunisia," "Anthropology," and
"Two Base Hit."
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C2)
1946 Al Hirt (1922-1999), trumpet
player, began his professional career as a member of the Benny Goodman
Orchestra.
(SFC, 4/27/99, p.C4)
1946 Jimmy Rowles rejoined Woody
Herman and played with a number of dance bands including those of Les
Brown, Tommy Dorsey, Goodman, and Burch Stone.
(SFC, 5/30/96, p.A16)
1946 Bobby Troupe (d.1999 at 80)
wrote "Route 66" as he drove across the country. He played Tommy Dorsey
in the film "The Gene Krupa Story."
(SFC, 2/11/99, p.A25)
1946 Chuck Wayne was the guitarist
in the Woody Herman Herd band. They recorded the Ralph Burns 3-part
composition "Summer Sequence." Wayne had discovered be-bop from pianist
George Washington in a Dixieland band led by clarinetist Joe Marsala
after 2 years in the army.
(SFC, 8/2/97, p.A21)
1946-1950 Tex Beneke led the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
(SFC, 5/31/00, p.A23)
1947 Esquire magazine gave John
Collins (d.2001) its New Star award as best guitarist. Collins joined
Nat King Cole in 1951.
(SFC, 10/23/01, p.C2)
1947 Eddie Anderson, publicist and
jazz buff, claimed to have waved a check for $1000 in front of Joe
Glaser, the manager of Louis Armstrong, and got Armstrong to play an
"All-Star" session without the big band. The group performed at Town
Hall and played old-time tunes like "Muskrat Ramble," and "Butter and
Egg Man."
(WSJ, 6/26/97, p.A16)
1947 Dizzie Gillespie played at
Carnegie Hall with Ella Fitzgerald and Charlie Parker.
(AH, 4/01, p.28)
1947 Sonny Rollins (17) started
playing bebop on tenor sax with Thelonious Monk while still in high
school. They later recorded the "Brilliant Corners" album.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.9)
1947 In Chicago Muddy Waters hired
Otis Spann (17), blues pianist and singer.
(WSJ, 6/28/00, p.A20)
1947 Ahmet Ertegun and Herb
Abramson founded Atlantic Records in NYC. In 2001 Ertegun authored his
memoir "What’d I Say."
(WSJ, 7/6/01, p.W10)
1947 Ray Brown (1926-2002), jazz
bass player, married singer Ella Fitzgerald. They divorced in the early
1950s.
(HN, 10/13/00)(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A21)
1947-1951 Jimmy Rowles worked with Bob Crosby.
(SFC, 5/30/96, p.A16)
1947-1951 Jack Teagarden worked as a sideman with
Louis Armstrong.
(WSJ, 4/9/99, p.W12)
1948 Barry Ulanov (d.2000 at 82)
authored "The Incredible Crosby."
(SFC, 5/8/00, p.A21)
1948 Jun, In SF Blanco’s Cotton
Club under Barney Deasy opened at what is now The Great American Music
Hall. It was intended to be a fancy nightspot with only black artists
and black workers, but open to the public. It opened with a big splash
but only lasted a few months due to price increases for large
orchestras.
(SFEC, 2/8/98, DB p.34)
1948 In NYC a group of young jazz
players gathered at the apartment of Gil Evans on West 55th and crafted
a music that was later tagged as “the birth of the cool.” Miles Davis
led the group that also included Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis and John
Carisi. This followed the recent disbanding of band led by Claude
Thornhill (d.1965), in which Gill Evans was an arranger.
(WSJ, 7/5/08, p.W12)
1948 Tex Beneke and His Orchestra
produced their album: "Shooting Star."
(SFC, 5/31/00, p.A23)
1948 Gerry Mulligan at 20 wrote
for Gene Kruppa's band.
(G&M, 1/31/96, p.A-11)
1948 Ella Fitzgerald recorded "How
High the Moon."
(SFC, 6/15/96, p.D2)
1948 Roy Haynes, drummer, replaced
Tiny Kahn in the Lester Young Sextet.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.18)
1948 In SF the Say When Club on
Bush St. opened. Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday later performed
there. On Geary St. Ciro’s club also opened featuring black artists.
(SFEC, 2/8/98, DB p.35)
1948 Tito Puente in his first job
as band leader led the Picadilly Boys for Sunday matinees at the
Palladium in NYC.
(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.31)
1948 Don Tosti (1923-2004), jazz
musician born as Edmundo Martinez Tostado, made the 1st million-selling
Latin song “Pachuco Boogie.”
(SFC, 8/4/04, p.B7)
1949 Jan 22, Police broke into Rm.
203 of the Mark Twain Hotel in San Francisco and arrested Billie
Holiday (1915-1959) and her manager, John Levy, on charges of
possession of opium. Her defense attorney, Jake Erlich, fingered Levy
as an informer and persuaded the jury to return a verdict of not guilty.
(SFC, 5/19/96, DB,
p.39)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday)
1949 Dec 6, Leadbelly (64),
[Huddie William Ledbetter], blues singer, died. He was born January 29,
1885, on the Jeter Plantation near Mooringsport, Louisiana.
(http://leadbelly.lanl.gov/leadbelly.html)
1949 Jaki Byard, pianist, joined
alto saxophonist Earl Bostic.
(SFC, 2/16/99, p.A18)
1949 Bill Doggett, pianist and
organist, joined the Louis Jordan rhythm and blues group.
(SFC, 11/21/96, p.C7)
1949 Lionel Hampton hired singer
Jimmy Scott on the recommendation of New Orleans pianist Paul Gayten.
(SFEM, 10/1/00, p.14)
1949 B.B. King, blues guitarist
and singer changed his on-air name to B.B. King from Beale Street Blues
Boy. Born Riley B. King in Indianola, Mississippi, King grew up in the
gospel-spiritual traditions rich in the Mississippi delta. He worked
for a time as a disk jockey in Memphis, starting as the Beale Street
Blues Boy. He kept the shortened B.B. King when he made a record in
1949. A tireless performer known to work up to 300 different venues in
a year, King nevertheless did not get a wider audience until the late
60s, when numerous rock guitarists credited his influence in their
work.
(HNQ, 10/10/00)
1949 Gerry Mulligan and Gil Evans
conceived an experimental group and recorded the Birth of the Cool
under the leadership of Miles Davis. In 1944, Davis attended what is
now the Julliard School before leaving to play in band primarily led by
Charlie Parker. He led his own group for a short time in 1948 to 1949
and their studio recordings became Birth of the Cool.
(G&M, 1/31/96, p.A-11)(HNQ, 2/26/01)
1949 Walter Bishop, jazz pianist,
made his first recording.
(SFC, 1/29/98, p.B2)
1949 Oscar Peterson, jazz pianist,
was invited to play at the Philharmonic concert at Carnegie Hall.
Onstage were Ella Fitzgerald, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Buddy Rich
and Ray Brown.
(SFEC, 8/16/98, DB p.52)
1949-1951 Bud Powell’s recordings feature Max Roach
on drums. Ray Brown or Curly Russell are on bass. The trio renditions
are in fact piano/drum duets. In contrast is the 1950 Bud Powell
recording with Buddy Rich on drums.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.42)
1949-1952 Chuck Wayne, guitarist, was part of the
George Shearing Quintet.
(SFC, 8/2/97, p.A21)
1949-1952 Roy Haynes played and recorded with Charlie
Parker’s quintet.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.18)
1949-1956 "The Complete Prestige Recordings of Sonny
Rollins" is a set of 7 CDs with a 48-page booklet by Fantasy Records
and Orrin Keepnews.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.38)
1950 Alan Lomax authored “Mister
Jelly Roll”
(WSJ, 9/27/08, p.W10)
1950 Jimmy Scott and the Lionel
Hampton Orchestra made a hit with "Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool."
(SFEM, 10/1/00, p.6)
c1950 Guitarist Kenny Burrell (19)
led a band at the Detroit Klein’s Showbar with Yusef Lateef and Tommy
Flanagan.
(WSUAN, V.52, p.8)
1950 In SF Jimbo’s Bop City, an
after-hours club, opened on Post St. Players such as Art Tatum, Dizzy
Gillespie, and Gerry Mulligan played there, as well as John Handy, Pony
Poindexter, John Coltrane and Frank Fisher.
(SFEC, 2/8/98, DB p.35)
1950-1965 The 1998 film "The Legend of Bop City" by
Carol P. Chamberland was about the SF Fillmore jazz scene from
1950-1965.
(SFEC, 11/1/98, DB p.48)
1950s Barry Ulanov (d.2000 at 82)
authored A History of Jazz in America" and "A Handbook of Jazz."
(SFC, 5/8/00, p.A21)
1950s Jimmy Rowles took jobs with
Charlie Parker, Benny Carter and Chet Baker. Chet Baker played in Army
bands.
(SFC, 5/30/96, p.A16)(SFC, 5/31/96, D8)
1950s Mike Lipskin studied with
Willie "The Lion" Smith and later produced the RCA Victor "Vintage
Jazz" series.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.18)
1951 Nat King Cole disbanded the
King Cole Trio to concentrate on his singing.
(WSJ, 11/16/99, p.A28)
1951 Thelonious Monk recorded
"Criss Cross" and "Straight, No Chaser" with Milt Jackson.
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C2)
c1951 In Detroit Kenny Burrell
(20) played with the Dizzy Gillespie band that included John Coltrane
and Milt Jackson for a month. He turned down an offer to tour with the
band and instead enrolled into Wayne State Univ. where he graduated
with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1955.
(WSUAN, V.52, p.8)
1951 The Milt Jackson Quartet was
formed with John Lewis, piano, Ray Brown on bass, and Kenny Clarke on
drums.
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.B5)
1951 Stan Getz (23), fresh out of
the Woody Herman Band, recorded some solo work for Roost Records.
(SFC,11/28/97, p.C3)
1951 Dr. Billy Taylor became the
house pianist at Byrdland and played with Lee Konitz, Roy Eldridge and
others.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.18)
1951 Joe Williams had a minor hit
with King Kolax singing "Everyday I Have the Blues."
(SFC, 4/1/99, p.E3)
1951 Sidney Bechet, clarinetist
and composer, moved to France. He settled there and composed several
orchestral pieces that included "La Colline du Delta" (The Hillside on
the Delta).
(WSJ, 8/24/00, p.A20)
1951-1955 Walter Bishop (d.1998), jazz pianist,
played with Charlie Parker.
(SFC, 1/29/98, p.B2)
1952 Artie Shaw , jazz
clarinetist, published his meditative memoir "The Trouble with
Cinderella: An Outline of Identity."
(WSJ, 5/26/00, p.W14)
1952 The Modern Jazz Quartet was
begun with John Lewis on piano, Kenny Clarke as drummer, Percy Heath
(d.2004) as bassist, and Milt Jackson in vibes. The group was
originally called the Milt Jackson Quartet and had its genesis in the
Gillespie big band.
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C2)(SFC, 4/30/05, p.B4)
1952 Orrin Keepnews and Record
Changer publisher Bill Grauer founded the Riverside jazz label in New
York City to re-issue jazz albums from the ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.29)
1952 B.B. King made No. 1 on
Billboard’s R&B charts with his song "Three O’Clock Blues."
(SFEM, 12/15/96, BR p.8)
1952 Gerry Mulligan began playing
a new type of jazz on the west coast. He used just two horns, a bass
and drum for a quartet with no piano player. Chet Baker played a wispy
trumpet against Mulligan's spry baritone sax. Bob Brookmeyer on valve
trombone soon replaced Baker and then Art Farmer came in on trumpet.
They opened at the Haig club in LA and sparked the "West Coast jazz"
style of cool jazz.
(G&M, 1/31/96, p.A-11)(WSJ, 6/19/02, p.A1)
1953 Jan 6, Dizzy Gillespie threw
a party for his wife Lorraine at Snookie’s in Manhattan. His trumpet’s
bell was bent upward in an accident, but he liked the sound and had a
special trumpet made with a raised bell.
(SFEC, 7/27/97, DB p.34)
1953 Nat Hentoff became the NYC
editor of Down Beat. Willie "the Lion" Smith, Harlem stride pianist,
soon became his mentor.
(WSJ, 12/30/03, p.D8)
1953 Soupy Sales (1926-2009) began
his “Soupy’s On” 5-day-a-week variety show in Detroit on WXYZ-TV. The
theme song was Charlie Parker’s "Yardbird Suite." Many jazz giants
played on his show but very little film footage survived. His “Lunch
with Soupy Sales” went national in October 1959, on the ABC television
network.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soupy_Sales)(DFP,
7/28/96, p.F1,8)(AP, 10/23/09)(SFC, 10/23/09, p.A8)
1953 The German jazz critic,
Joachim Berendte, described the drum playing of Max Roach: He destroyed
the belief that jazz can swing only in 4/4 time... he plays entire drum
solos in waltz rhythm (and) superimposes 5/4 over 3/4, as in a fugue."
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.42)
1953 Randy Weston was the first
artist produced by Orrin Keepnews.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.33)
1953 Paul Bley, pianist, recorded
"Introducing Paul Bley" with Charles Mingus and Art Blakey. He later
wrote the autobiography "Stopping Time:
(SFEM, 10/1/00, p.12)
1953 Django Reinhardt, Gypsy jazz
guitarist, died at age 43.
(SFC, 12/4/97, p.E3)(WSJ, 10/23/98, p.W12)
1954 Aug 12, Pat Metheny, jazz
guitarist (As Wichita Falls), was born.
(SC, 8/12/02)
1954 Louis Armstrong recorded
"Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy" on Columbia.
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.D9)
1954 Misty, written by pianist
Errol Garner, was released on his Verve album “Contrasts.” Wyatt “Bull”
Ruther (1923-1999) played the bass lines.
(SFC, 2/25/08, p.E13)
1954 Clifford Brown and Max Roach
formed a quintet.
(WSJ, 2/15/96, p.A-12)
1954 The first Newport Jazz
Festival was organized by George Wein and held on the lawn of the
Lorrilard estate in Newport, R.I.
(SFC, 6/30/96, B9)
1954 Tal Farrow, guitarist.
recorded "Tal" on Verve Records.
(SFC, 7/29/98, p.A20)
1954 The film "The Glenn Miller
Story" starred Jimmy Stewart.
(SFC, 7/3/97, p.E4)
1954 Stan Getz, tenor sax player,
was arrested for trying to rob a drugstore in Seattle and served a
6-month sentence.
(SFC, 8/8/96, p.E5)
1954-1955 Herbie Nichols, pianist, recorded for Blue
Note.
(SFC,11/28/97, p.C3)
1954-1958 Chuck Wayne (d.1997 at 74) was the musical
director for Tony Bennett.
(SFC, 8/2/97, p.A21)
1954 Whitney Balliet began writing
jazz articles, mostly for the New Yorker. In 2000 his "Collected Works:
A Journal of Jazz 1954-2000" was published.
(SFC, 12/31/00, BR p.5)
1955 The film "The Man with the
Golden Arm" by Otto Preminger was produced. It starred Frank Sinatra
and Kim Novak and was a daring film on drug addiction. The jazz score
was by Elmer Bernstein.
(TOH, 1982, p.1956)(TVM, 1975, p.364)
1955 George Avakian, jazz expert,
got Miles Davis to sign a contract with Columbia, and brought him
together with Gil Evans for the album "Miles Ahead."
(WSJ, 6/03/97, p.A20)
1955 Saxophonist Ernie Wilkins
(d.1999) wrote the tune "Every Day (I Have the Blues), which was
recorded by Count Basie with singer Joe Williams. Wilkins later joined
Dizzie Gillespie's band and went on to write for Tommy Dorsey and
Lionel Hampton before moving to Copenhagen in 1980.
(SFC, 6/7/99, p.A20)
1955 Billy Holiday rehearsed with
pianist Jimmy Rowles. A CD was later released titled "The Complete
Billy Holiday on Verve" (Verve/Polygram).
(WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-12)
1955 Verve Records was founded by
impresario Norman Granz. He had recorded many jazz artists for the Jazz
at the Philharmonic tours that he’d begun a decade earlier. Verve was a
successor to the Clef label.
(SFC, 1/10/96, p.D1)(WSJ, 7/28/99, p.A21)
1955 Nat Hentoff had a
conversation with Clifford Brown and quotes him: "Our own policy is to
aim for the musical extremes of both excitement and subtle softness,
whenever each is necessary, but with a lot of feeling in everything. We
want to create emotional and intellectual tension."
(WSJ, 2/15/96, p.A-12)
1955 Ella Fitzgerald recorded the
double LP Cole Porter Song Book.
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1955 Connie Kay replaced Kenny
Clarke on drums for the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ).
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C2)
1955 Thelonious Monk began to
record with Riverside Records.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.29)
1955 Anita O'Day was the first
vocalist to record on the new Verve label, established by Norman Granz.
(WSJ, 7/28/99, p.A21)
1955 Joe Williams, singer,
recorded "Everyday I Have the Blues" with Count Bassie. The 2 remained
worked together from 1954-1961. Williams succeeded Jimmy Rushing in the
Basie band.
(SFC, 3/31/99, p.C2)(SFC, 4/1/99, p.E3)
1955 Artie Shaw , jazz
clarinetist, quit the music business.
(WSJ, 5/26/00, p.W14)
1955 Charlie Parker, jazz
saxophonist, died. In 1973 Ross Russell published the biography "Bird
Lives! The High Life and hard Times of Charlie (Yardbird) Parker."
(SFC, 1/29/98, p.B2)(SFC, 3/24/00, p.D6)
1955-1958 Jack Teagarden recorded for Capital Records
and a Mosaic box set of 4 CDs was later released featuring him over
this period.
(WSJ, 4/9/99, p.W12)
1956 Nov 4, Arthur Tatum (Art
Tatum, 46), US jazz pianist and composer, died.
(MC, 11/4/01)
1956 Nov 10, Billie Holiday
returned to the New York City stage at Carnegie Hall after a three-year
absence.
(MC, 11/10/01)
1956 The film "The Benny Goodman
Story" starred Steve Allen as Benny Godman.
(SFC, 11/1/00, p.A19)
1956 Louis Armstrong recorded with
Ella Fitzgerald "Ella and Louis" on Verve.
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.D9)
1956 Jazz great Clifford Brown was
featured on Soupy’s On in Detroit and played "Memories of You" by Eubie
Blake and Gershwin’s "Lady Be Good." A few months later he was killed
in an auto accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike at the age of 25.
(DFP, 7/28/96, p.F1)
1956 Rosemary Clooney (1928-2002)
recorded the "Blue Rose" album with Duke Ellington and his orchestra.
(WSJ, 7/2/02, p.D7)
1956 Chris Connor (1927-2009),
jazz singer, made a hit with “I Miss You.” Her song “Trust in Me”
reached the hit charts in 1957.
(SFC, 9/1/09, p.C5)
1956 Clifford Brown, jazz trumpet
player, was killed in a car crash at the age of 25.His original tunes
included Joy Spring and Blues Walk.
(WSJ, 2/15/96, p.A-12)
1956 Bill Doggett (1916-1996),
pianist and organist, made his blues hit "Honky Tonk."
(SFC, 11/21/96, p.C7)
1956 The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ)
with Connie Kay, Percy Heath, John Lewis and Milt Jackson, began
recording for Atlantic Records. Their European tour was well received.
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C2)(SFC, 3/31/01, p.A21)
1956 Sonny Rollins recorded "Sonny
Rollins Plus 4," "Tenor Madness" and "Saxophone Colossus." The Colossus
album on Prestige featured drummer Max Roach, pianist Tommy Flanagan,
and bassist Doug Watkins and a masterpiece of motivic development in
the tune "Blue 7."
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.38)
1956-1961 Charles Mingus, composer and bassist, made
a set of recordings with Atlantic Records. The albums included:
"Pithecanthropus Erectus," "The Clown," "Blues and Roots," and "Oh
Yeah." In 1997 "Passions of a Man: The Complete Atlantic Recordings," a
6 CD set, was released.
(SFC,11/28/97, p.C3)(SFEM, 10/4/98, p.14)
1956-1961 Bud Shank recorded over this period and in
1998 1 5-CD set, The Pacific Jazz Studio Sessions: 1956-1961," was
released on Mosaic Records.
(SFEM, 12/12/98, p.8)
1956-1961 This period, titled "The Adventure," was
covered in the 9th episode of the 2001 TV production "Jazz" by Ken
Burns.
(SSFC, 1/7/01, DB p.32)
1957 Jun 12, James F "Jimmy"
Dorsey (53), US orchestra leader, died.
(MC, 6/12/02)
1957 Nov 29, John Coltrane and the
Thelonius Monk quartet performed together for a show at Carnegie Hall.
Tapes of the performance, recorded by Voice of America, were mislabeled
and lost until 2005.
(SFC, 10/4/05, p.E8)
1957 Jazz drummer Chico Hamilton
wrote the film music for "The Sweet Smell of Success."
(SFEC, 5/11/97, DB p.37)(SFEC, 3/1/98, DB
p.48)(SFEC, 10/17/99, DB p.46)
1957 The jazz opera "Shinbone
Alley" opened on Broadway. It was written by Joe Darion with music by
George Kleinsinger.
(SFC, 6/22/01, p.D4)
1957 Louis Armstrong spoke out
against the US government during the 1957 Little Rock, Ark.
school troubles. "The way they are treating my people in the South, the
government can go to hell."
(WSJ, 9/27/95, p.A-16)(WSJ, 6/26/97, p.A16)
1957 Charlie Byrd recorded his
first record: "Jazz Recital."
(SFC, 12/3/99, p.D7)
1957 Blue Note recorded John
Coltrane and "Blue Train."
(WSJ, 1/15/98, p.W10)
1957 Capital Records put out a
12-inch album titled “Birth of the Cool.” It included recordings from
1949-1950 singles by a NYC nonet under Miles Davis.
(WSJ, 7/5/08, p.W12)
1957 Ella Fitzgerald and Duke
Ellington collaborated on a song book set, The Duke Ellington Songbook.
A CD-release was made in 1994 titled The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song
Books (Verve).
(WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-12)(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1957 Ella Fitzgerald recorded the
Rodgers and Hart Songbook.
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1957 Johnny Heartsman recorded
"Johnny’s House Party," a top 20 R&B hit.
(SFC, 1/1/97, p.C2)
1957 Elvin Jones recorded "A Night
at the Village Vanguard" on Blue Note with a pianoless Sonny Rollins
trio and Wilbur Ware on Bass. One track features Pete La Roca.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1957 Thelonious Monk recorded
alone on Round Midnight. A CD was later released titled Thelonious
Monk, Thelonious Himself (Riverside Original Jazz Classics). Monk also
wrote "Crepuscule with Nellie," a ballad to his wife (d.2002).
(WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-12)(SFC, 6/28/02, p.A26)
1957 Sonny Rollins recorded "Way
Out West" and "A Night at the Village Vanguard."
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.38)
1957 A TV special was made titled
"The Sound of Jazz." In it Gerry Mulligan can be seen sitting next to
Coleman Hawkins in a band led by Count Basie with Ben Webster and Benny
Morton.
(G&M, 1/31/96, p.A-11)
1957 Barney Wilen, French
saxophonist sat in with Miles Davis on a session for "Ascenser pour
l’Echafaud" (Elevator for the Scaffold), a classic film by Louis Malle.
(SFC, 5/28/96, p.A15)
1957-1960 Miles Davis and Gill Evans collaborated to
produce their masterpieces: "Miles Ahead," "Porgy and Bess," and
"Sketches of Spain."
(SFC, 9/1/96, DB p.42)
1958 Mar 28, W.C. Handy, the
"Father of the Blues," died in New York at age 84.
(AP, 3/28/08)
1958 Oct 6, Jimmy Lyons agreed to
become the musical consultant for the Monterey Jazz Festival, the day
after he directed the 1st Monterey Jazz Festival, which featured Louis
Armstrong, Gerry Mulligan, Turk Murphy, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington
and Dizzie Gillespie.
(SFC, 6/30/96, B9)(SFC, 4/7/01, p.B3)
1958 John Benson Brooks composed
his "Alabama Concerto."
(SFC, 11/27/99, p.C4)
1958 Art Kane gathered 4 decades
of jazz greats in Harlem for a group photo.
(SFEC, 10/17/99, DB p.46)
1958-1960 Billy Higgins (d.2001), drummer, played
with Ornette Coleman’s quartet.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.)
1958-1965 Grover Sales (d.2004 at 84), author and
teacher, served as publicist for the Monterey Jazz Festival. His books
included "Jazz: America's Classical Music."
(SFC, 2/25/04, p.A19)
1959 Mar 2, Miles Davis began
recording "Kind of Blue" with John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly,
Philley Joe Jones, Paul Chambers and Bill Evans. Modes rather than
chords formed the basis for improvisation on "So What" and "Flamenco
Sketches." In 2000 Ashley Kahn authored "Kind of Blue," The Making of
the Miles Davis Masterpiece. Eric Nisenson authored "The Making of Kind
of Blue: Miles Davis and His Masterpiece."
(SFC, 8/24/98, p.B1)(SFEC, 11/5/00, BR p.1)
1959 May 14, Sidney Bechet,
clarinetist and pioneer jazz composer, died.
(WSJ, 8/24/00, p.A20)(www.sidneybechet.org/bio.html)
1959 May, John Coltrane,
saxophonist, recorded outtakes that were later produced as part of
CD-set called The heavyweight Champion: John Coltrane the Complete
Atlantic Recordings (Rhino/Atlantic).
(WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-12)
1959 Jul 17, Billie Holiday
(b.1915), jazz and blues singer, died in NYC at age 44. In 1956 William
Dufty (d.2002) authored the biography "Lady Sings the Blues." In 2000
Robert O’Meally authored "Lady Day: The Many Faces of Billie Holiday."
(SFEM, 10/1/00, p.4)(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A24)(SSFC,
7/12/09, p.42)
1959 Jaki Byard joined trumpeter
Maynard Ferguson's orchestra for 2 years. He met saxophonist Eric
Dolphy and recorded with him the album "Outward Bound."
(SFC, 2/16/99, p.A18)
1959 Ornette Coleman formed a
quartet with drummer Billy Higgins and bassist Charlie Haden. They made
their debut at the Five Spot Café in NYC.
(WSJ, 7/16/97, p.A20)(WSJ, 6/8/00, p.A22)
1959 Herbie Mann (1930-2003)
formed his Afro-Jazz Sextet.
(SFC, 7/3/03, p.A2)
1959 Charles Mingus recorded with
Columbia. In 1998 "The Complete Columbia 1959 Recordings" was released.
(SFEM, 10/4/98, p.A14)
1959 The film "The Gene Kruppa
Story" starred Sal Mineo, James Darren and Bobby Troup as Tommy Dorsey.
It was directed by Don Weis.
(TVM, 1975, p.204)(SFC, 2/11/99, p.A25)
1959 Pharoah Sanders, born as
Ferrel Sanders, became "Little Rock" when he brought his sax to the Bay
Area’s jazz scene.
(SFC, 3/16/01, p.C1)
1959 The Dave Brubeck Quartet
recorded "Take Five," written by Paul Desmond. In 2005 Doug Ramsey
authored “Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond.”
(SFC, 2/12/99, p.C14)
1959 Lalo Schifrin premiered his
5-movement suite "Gillespiana" with Dizzie Gillespie at Carnegie Hall.
(SFC, 9/23/96, D1,3)
1959 Ronnie Scott (1927-1996)
opened the Ronnie Scott jazz club in Soho, London.
(SFC, 12/25/96, p.A22)
1959 Patrick Henry (d.1999)
founded the Bay Area KJAZ-FM radio. He sold the station to Ron Cowan in
1980 and it went off the air in 1995 when Cowan sold the frequency to
KZSF, a Spanish language station.
(SFEC, 12/12/99, p.C6)
1959 Lester Young, tenor
saxophonist and aka the "Prez", died at 49. He was nicknamed Prez by
Billie Holiday. His recordings include "The Complete Lester Young"
(Mercury), "Prez and Sweets" (Verve), "The Jazz Giants" (Verve), "Prez
and Teddy Wilson" (Verve), "The President Plays with the Oscar Peterson
Trio" (Verve) and "The Lester Young Trio" (Verve). Emile Rogier Heier
(d.1997 at 55) later wrote "Lester Leaps In, " a biography of the jazz
saxophonist Lester Young. David Meltzer later authored ""No Eyes:
Lester Young."
(WSJ, 8/21/96, p.A12)(SFC, 9/18/97, p.C2)(SFC,
4/14/01, p.B3)
1959-1964 Bud Powell, pianist, lived and worked in
Paris.
(SFEC, 3/16/97, DB p.42)
1960 Feb 13, Ella Fitzgerald, live
in concert, recorded "Mack the Knife," in the album "Ella in Berlin."
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1960 The John Coltrane quartet
with Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner and Jimmy Garrison recorded the album "My
Favorite Things."
(SFEC, 5/21/00, DB p.44)
1960 John Lewis directed the
Monterey Jazz Festival and featured Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and
Eric Dolphy. Jimmy Lyons and many others in the crowd wailed that "that
stuff isn’t jazz." "Evolution of the Blues" by Joe Hendricks,
commissioned for the festival was first performed. Lalo Schifrin’s
"Gillespiana" suite was also preformed.
(SFC, 6/30/96, B9)(SFC, 9/23/96, D1)
1960 J.J. Johnson introduced his
"El Camino Real" and sketch for Trombone and Orchestra" at the Monterey
Jazz Festival. Johnson had mastered bebop style on his slide trombone.
(SFC, 2/10/01, p.B3)
1960 The film "Cinderfella"
starred Jerry Lewis, Ed Wynn, Judith Anderson and Anna Marie
Alberghetti. It featured Count Basie and his orchestra.
(SFC, 11/27/98, p.C6)
1960 Wes Montgomery recorded "The
Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery" album. The quartet included
Tommy Flanagan.
(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.9)
1960 Gerry Mulligan played a
priest in the movie version of Jack Kerouac's "The Subterraneans." The
film starred George Peppard and was directed by Ranald MacDougall.
(TVM, 1977, p.687)(SFEC, 9/29/96, DB p.44)
1960s The "Phil and Quil" album
featured Phil Woods, Gene Quill and bassist Burgher Jones (d.2000 at
76).
(SFC, 6/20/00, p.A24)
1960s Barney Wilen was a French
pioneer of free jazz.
(SFC, 5/28/96, p.A15)
1960s Prof. Frank Kofsky (d.1997
at 62) wrote "John Coltrane and the Jazz Revolution of the 1960s." He
also wrote "Black Music, White Business."
(SFC,11/26/97, p.C6)
1961 Jun 25, Jazz trio Paul
Motion, drums, Bill Evans, piano, and Scott LaFaro recorded a
performance at the Village Vanguard in NYC in which each man functioned
as an equal rather than as an accompaniment to the leader. The
recording changed the idea of the piano trio.
(WSJ, 1/24/06, p.D8)
1961 Jul 6, Rocco Scott LaFaro
(b.1936), jazz bassist, died in an automobile accident in New York
state.
(http://geocities.com/chuck_ralston/10slfchr.htm#Scott LaFaro
Chronology)
1961 Jaki Byard recorded "Here's
Jaki" with drummer Roy Haynes. Byard also began teaching around this
time at the New England Conservatory of Music.
(SFC, 2/16/99, p.A18)
1961 Ella Fitzgerald recorded "The
Harold Arlen Songbook."
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1961 Eddie Harris (1934-1996),
tenor saxophonist, recorded the theme music for the film Exodus. He
later invented the "saxobone," a saxophone with a trombone mouthpiece
and the electric sax. He later wrote much of the music on "The Bill
Cosby Show."
(SFC, 11/8/96, p.A25)
1961 Roy Haynes, John Coltrane,
McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison made a live recording at the Village
Vanguard that came out as the "Newport ‘63" album on Impulse records.
One track featured Eric Dolphy.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1961 John Lewis composed music for
Lew Christensen’s ballet "Original Sin." The libretto was by Kenneth
Rexroth.
(SFC, 4/7/01, p.B3)
1961 Thelonious Monk left
Riverside Records in favor of Columbia.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.29)
1961 Cedar Walton joined Art
Blakey’s Jazz Messengers after working with J.J. Johnson, Sonny Rollins
and the Art Farmer/Beny Golson Jazztet in New York.
(SFC, 9/15/96, DB p.47)
1961 Scott LaFaro, bassist in the
Bill Evans trio, was killed in a car crash. Drummer Paul Motian was the
3rd member of the trio.
(WSJ, 8/28/98, p.W7)
1961 Booker Little (23), trumpet
player and composer, died.
(WSJ, 3/25/04, p.D6)
1961-1965 John Coltrane played with McCoy Tyner,
Elvin Jones, and Jimmy Garrison. Recordings from this period were
released in 1998: "John Coltrane, The Classic Quartet: Complete
Impulse! Studio Recordings.
(SFC, 11/27/98, p.C3)
1961-2000 This period, titled "A Masterpiece by
Midnight," was covered in the 10th episode of the 2001 TV production
"Jazz" by Ken Burns.
(SSFC, 1/7/01, DB p.32)
1962 Charlie Byrd (guitar), Ketter
Betts (bass) and Stan Getz (saxophone) recorded "Jazz Samba." It became
a million seller.
(SFC, 12/3/99, p.D7)
1962 Miles Davis and Gill Evans
collaborated to produce "Quiet Nights," a bossa nova album.
(SFC, 9/1/96, DB p.42)
1962 The jazz tune "Easy Money"
was written by Benny Carter.
(SI-WPC, 1997)
1962 The John Coltrane album "Live
at the Village Vanguard" was produced.
(SFC,11/28/97, p.C3)
1962 Drummer Roy Haynes recorded
the "Out of the Afternoon" album with Roland Kirk, woodwinds, and Tommy
Flanagan, piano.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1962 The album "Elvin" on the OJC
label featured Elvin Jones, Thad and Hank Jones, plus Frank Foster on
sax and others.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1962 Dexter Gordon (d.1990), the
first to translate Charlie Parker’s bebop mode to the tenor saxophone,
expatriated to Europe.
(Wired, 5/97, p.198)
1962 Bluesman John Lee Hooker had
his only hit single on the pop charts: "Boom Boom Room."
(SFC, 10/4/97, p.E1)
1962 Charles Mingus staged a
performance of his epic "Epitaph," a piece that mixed symphonic tone
poems with brassy big-band jazz. This was the only staging of the piece
during his lifetime and was not a success. It was used in the 1998 film
Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog."
(SFEC, 4/12/98, DB p.56)
1962 Tito Puente released his "El
Rey Bravo" album that featured his classic "Oye Como Va." The song was
made famous by Santana in 1970.
(SFC, 6/2/00, p.D2)
1962 Bass Player Beverly Peer
(1913-1997) joined singer-pianist Bobby Short.
(SFC, 1/27/97, p.A20)
1962 Lou Rawls (1935-2006)
released his 1st solo jazz album “Stormy Monday” recorded with the Les
McCann Trio.
(AP, 1/6/06)(SFC, 1/6/06, p.B5)
1962 Sonny Rollins recorded "The
Bridge" on RCA Victor. He did 6 albums on the RCA label.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.38)(SFC,11/28/97, p.C3)
1963 Aug 31, Dick Gibson (d.1998),
jazz lover, held his first Gibson Colorado Jazz Party at the Hotel
Jerome in Aspen. He flew in some of the world’s top jazz musicians and
began an annual Labor Day weekend tradition that lasted 30 years.
(WSJ, 3/20/07, p.D6)
1963 Dec 14, Dinah Washington
(b.1924), known in the 50s as "Queen of the Harlem Blues," died of
barbiturate poisoning in Detroit. In 2004 Nadine Cohodas authored
“Queen: The Life and Times of Dinah Washington.”
(SSFC, 8/22/04, p.M1)
1963 The album "Afro Blue
Impressions" on the Pablo label featured Elvin Jones, John Coltrane,
Jimmy Garrison and McCoy Tyner in the classic Coltrane quartet.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1963 The album "Illumination" on
Impulse featured Elvin Jones with Jimmy Garrison, McCoy Tyner, Prince
Lasha and Sonny Simmons on alto saxes, and Charles Davis on baritone
sax.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1963 The entire Teagarden family
performed together at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Since 1975 Norma
Teagarden played at the Washington Square Bar and Grill in San
Francisco.
(SFC, 6/8/96, p.A17)
1963 Miles Davis heard Tony
Williams playing drums with saxophonist Jackie McLean and hired him.
Williams stayed with Davis until 1969. Their recording included
"E.S.P.," "Nefertiti and "Filles de Kilamanjaro."
(SFC, 2/25/97, p.B2)
1963 Jazz saxophonist Joe
Henderson began recording for Blue Note.
(SFEC, 1/5/97, DB p.32)
1963 Sonny Rollins recorded "On
the Outside."
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.38)
1963 Herbie Nichols (43), pianist,
died of leukemia.
(SFC,11/28/97, p.C3)
1963 Jack Teagarden, jazz
trombonist, died in New Orleans at age 59. His last recording was from
the 1963 Monterey Jazz Festival: "A Hundred Years From Today: Jack
Teagarden Family and Friends Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival."
(WSJ, 4/9/99, p.W12)
1964 Ella Fitzgerald recorded "The
Jerome Kern Songbook."
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1964 Carla Bley (born as Carla
Borg) formed the Jazz Composers Orchestra with Michael Mantler.
(WSJ, 2/13/00, p.A24)
1964 Saxophone player Sam Rivers
worked with Miles Davis.
(SFEC, 8/10/97, DB p.41)
1964 Wayne Shorter joined the
Miles Davis quintet with pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and
drummer Tony Williams.
(SFEC, 8/31/97, DB p.35)
1964 Ben Webster moved to Europe
and was based in Copenhagen.
(WSJ, 3/2019/98, p.W6)
1965 Sep 16, The "original first"
Sacred Concert was performed by Duke Ellington, his band, singers
Esther Merrill and Jon Hendricks, dancer Bunny Briggs, the Herman McCoy
Choir, drummer Louis Belson and many others at the SF Grace Cathedral.
(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.16)
1965 Artie Shaw, former jazz
clarinetist, authored the novel "I Love You, I Hate You, Drop Dead."
(WSJ, 5/26/00, p.W14)
1965 Louis Armstrong sang "Hello
Dolly." The song was written by Jerry Herman for the remake of the
Thornton Wilder play "Matchmaker." The name of the play was changed to
"Hello Dolly" after the song became a hit before the play opened.
(SFEC, 12/1/96, BR p.1)
1965 Blues Alley, a Georgetown
legend, began business and in 1998 was the oldest continuously
operating jazz supper club.
(BS, 5/3/98, p.7R)
1965 Keith Jarrett began working
with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and after a few months joined Charles
Lloyd's quartet for several years.
(SFEC, 2/28/99, DB p.37)
1965 Jerome Richardson (d.2000 at
79), saxophonist and flutist, helped found the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis
Orchestra. His work eventually appeared in over 4,000 recordings.
(SFC, 6/28/00, p.A21)
1965 Koko Taylor (1928-2009,
Chicago blues singer, made a hit with “Wang Dang Doodle” and made it
signature piece.
(SFC, 6/5/09, p.B6)
1965 Nat King Cole, pianist and
singer, died of lung cancer. In 1999 Daniel Mark Epstein authored the
biography "Nat King Cole."
(WSJ, 11/16/99, p.A28)
1965 Comic actress Judy
Holliday died of cancer. She was companion to Gerry Mulligan and the
two wrote songs and recorded a record that was later released as
Holliday with Mulligan.
(G&M, 1/31/96, p.A-11)
1965-1968 The Miles Davis "Complete Columbia Studio
Recordings" of this period featured his second legendary quintet with
Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. A 6-CD set
was re-issued in 1998.
(SFEC, 3/29/98, DB p.48)
1966 Sonny Rollins recorded "East
Broadway Run Down" on Impulse. It featured Elvin Jones, Freddie Hubbard
on trumpet, and Jimmy Garrison.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.38)(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1966 Pianist Bud Powell died (41).
He was considered the father of "bebop piano."
(SFEC, 3/16/97, DB p.42)
1966 The Blue Note label of Alfred
Lion was sold to Liberty Records. It was later transferred to EMI.
(WSJ, 10/3/97, p.A8)
1966-1975 Bill Evans played jazz at the Village
Vanguard in New York and his work was secretly recorded by Mike Harris.
(SFEC, 11/10/96, DB p.35)
1967 Jul 17, John Coltrane
(b.1926), jazz composer-musician died in Huntington, N.Y. He gained
attention through recordings as part of Miles Davis’ quintet in the
50s. By 1960, following critical acclaim, Coltrane was leading his own
quartet that eventually dissolved in 1965. He worked with various
musicians for the next two years until succumbing to liver cancer in
1967. Coltrane’s style, developed over the years from influences
ranging from Miles Davis’ forms of modal improvisation to Eastern
musical theory, has influenced and been imitated by numerous jazz
musicians since. His album’s included "Kulu Se Mama" written by Juno
Lewis (d.2002). In 2002 Ashley Kahn authored "A Love Supreme: The Story
of John Coltrane’s Signature Album.” In 2007 Ben Ratliff authored
“Coltrane: The Story of Sound.”
(SFC, 4/23/02, p.A18)(SSFC, 12/8/02, p.M5)(AP,
7/17/07)(Econ, 11/10/07, p.104)
1967 Sep 25, Stuff Smith (b.1909),
jazz violinist, died in Munich, Germany.
(http://nfo.net/calendar/sep25.htm)
1967 The Orquesta de Musica
Moderna, a Cuban government sponsored group, was formed. It was the
basis for the jazz group Irakere co-founded by Paquito D’Rivera and
Arturo Sandoval. Chucho Valdes became leader and pianist for Irakere.
[see 1970]
(SFC, 6/16/96, BR p.42)(SFC, 4/6/01, p.C15)
1967 Alfred Lion retired from Blue
Note and Frances Wolff continued the label.
(WSJ, 1/15/98, p.W10)
1967 Billy Strayhorn, jazz pianist
and composer, died. of esophageal cancer at age 51. The biography:
"Lush Life, A Biography of Billy Strayhorn" was written in 1996 by
David Hajdu.
(SFEC, 8/11/96, DB, p.52)
1967-1968 Louis Armstrong recorded "What a Wonderful
World."
(SFC, 7/4/97, p.D9)
1967-1971 Saxophonist Sam Rivers was featured with
Cecil Taylor.
(SFEC, 8/10/97, DB p.41)
1968 John Benson Brooks composed
his "Avant Slant."
(SFC, 11/27/99, p.C4)
1968 Sonny Rollins recorded "Sonny
Rollins in Denmark."
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.38)
1968 The album "The Ultimate
Elvin" on Blue Note featured Elvin Jones on drums, Jimmy Garrison and
Joe Farrell on woodwinds.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1968 George Lewis (b.1900),
clarinetist, died.
(WSJ, 5/15/01, p.A24)
1968-1978 Tommy Flanagan worked as pianist and
musical director for Ella Fitzgerald.
(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.9)
1969 Feb 15, Charles Ellsworth
Russell (b.1906), aka Pee Wee Russell, jazz clarinet player, died in
Alexandria, Va. His albums included “Portrait of Pee Wee” (1958).
(www.britannica.com/eb/article-9064474)(WSJ,
5/17/06, p.D14)
1969 Aug 19, Miles Davis and
associates began a 3-day session recording the album "Bitches Brew"
with Tony Williams on drums at Columbia's 30th Street Studio. Other
players included Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Airto Moreira, Herbie
Hancock, Bennie Maupin, John McLaughlin, Billy Cobham, Chick Corea and
Lenny White. The album was released in the spring of 1970 and became a
commercial success.
(SFEC, 7/27/97, DB
p.40)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitches_Brew)
1969 Toshiko Akiyoshi (b.1929),
jazz pianist and composer, married saxophonist Lou Tabackin.
(SFEM, 10/5/97,
p.16)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiko_Akiyoshi)
1969 Dave Brubeck (b.1920)
composed "The Gates of Justice," a 45-minute oratorio for chorus,
tenor, bass-baritone, brass, percussion and jazz trio.
(SFEC, 4/6/97, DB
p.33)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Brubeck)
1969 Tony Williams (1945-1997),
American jazz drummer, left Miles Davis and helped form the Jazz-rock
fusion trio Lifetime with guitarist John McLaughlin and organist Larry
Young.
(SFC, 2/25/97,
p.B2)(www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=920671037)
1970 Apr 24, Otis Spann, blues
singer, died in Chicago at age 40.
(WSJ, 6/28/00, p.A20)
1970 Stanley Turrentine (d.2000),
saxophonist, made his biggest hit with "Sugar."
(SFC, 9/13/00, p.A23)
1970 Miles Davis played a concert
at the Fillmore West in SF. A 1997 CD of the concert was issued
titled "Black Beauty."
(SFEC, 3/29/98, DB p.48)
1970 Jesus (Chucho) Valdez formed
his jazz group Irakere. [see 1967]
(SFC, 6/16/96, BR p.42)
1970 Saxophonist Sam Rivers opened
Studio Rivbea in a lower Manhattan loft. It became a hotbed for new
improvised music.
(SFEC, 8/10/97, DB p.41)
1970 Wayne Shorter and keyboardist
Joe Zawinful formed the pioneering fusion band Weather Report.
(SFEC, 8/31/97, DB p.35)
1970 Johnny "Hammond" Smith
recorded "Breakout" featuring Grover Washington Jr.
(SFC, 12/18/99, p.C5)
1970s Ornette Coleman wrote his
orchestral work "Skies of America."
(WSJ, 7/16/97, p.A20)
1971 Whitney Balliett authored his
5th book on jazz "Ecstacy at the Onion.’
(WSJ, 1/02/00, p.A20)
1971 Jul 6, Louis Armstrong
(b.1900), jazz and blues musician widely known as "Satchmo," died. His
innovations of early day blues and Dixieland music inspired the swing
eras of the 1920s and 1930s. He invented skat, a technique of singing
jazz improvisations. Louis spoke out against the US government during
the 1957 Little Rock, Ark. school troubles. "The way they are treating
my people in the South, the government can go to hell." A 32 cent
memorial stamp was issued by the Post Office in 1995. Armstrong smoked
marijuana every day of his adult life, was unfaithful to each of his
four wives, was arrested 4 times and consorted freely with prostitutes,
pimps and mobsters. His biographies include: "Louis Armstrong: An
American Genius" by James Lincoln Collier (1983); "Satchmo" by Gary
Giddins (1988); and "Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life" by Laurence
Bergreen (1997). In 1999 Joshua Berrett published "The Louis Armstrong
Companion."
(WSJ, 9/27/95, p.A-16)(WSJ, 6/26/97, p.A16)(WSJ,
3/10/99, p.A20)
1971 Sep 2, Jay Migliori (d.2001),
jazz saxophonist, joined Supersax. The 5 saxophone section specialized
in orchestrated Charlie Parker solos.
(SSFC, 9/9/01, p.A28)
1971 Vocalist Dee Dee and
trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater joined the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra
in New York.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.36)
1971 Franzo King founded the John
Coltrane African Orthodox Church on Divisadero St. in San Francisco.
King named himself Bishop King and played tenor sax every Sunday at
noon for services.
(WSJ, 1/26/99, p.A16)
1971 Grover Washington Jr.
released his debut album "Inner City Blues."
(SFC, 12/18/99, p.C5)
1971 Zez Confrey (b.1895),
composer and pianist, died. His compositions included "Kitten on the
Keys" (1921) and "Dizzy Fingers" (1923).
(WSJ, 6/3/03, p.D5)
1971 Frances Wolff, head of the
Blue Note label, died.
(WSJ, 1/15/98, p.W10)
1972 Ella Fitzgerald recorded
"Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong."
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1972 The album "Live at the
Lighthouse" on Blue Note featured Elvin Jones, Jimmy Garrison, and sax
men Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1972 Orrin Keepnews was offered
the position of heading up operations at Fantasy Records and he worked
there until 1980. Fantasy had purchased his last label Milestone
Records.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.29)
1972 Charles Mingus recorded his
album "Let My Children Hear Music."
(SFEM, 10/4/98, p.17)
1973 Aug 18, Gene Krupa
(1909-1973), drummer, played for the final time with Benny Goodman
Quartet.
(www.drummerman.net/)
1973 Oct 16, Gene Krupa (b.1909),
US jazz and big band drummer, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Krupa)
1973 Herbie Hancock led his fusion
band on the smash hit jazz-funk album "Headhunters."
(SFEC, 8/31/97, DB p.35)
1973 Jazz saxophonist Joe
Henderson moved to San Francisco.
(SFEC, 1/5/97, DB p.32)
1973 Ben Webster, tenor saxophone
player, died in Amsterdam. A documentary by Johan van der Keuken was
made earlier called: "Big Ben: Ben Webster in Europe."
(WSJ, 3/2019/98, p.W6)
1973-1985 Richard Boone (d.1999 at 68), trombonist
and scat singer, played with the Danish Radio Big Band, considered one
of the world's best.
(SFC, 2/11/99, p.A25)
1974 May 24, Duke Ellington
(b.1899) died of cancer in NYC. He had composed some 2,000 works. In
1991 Mark Tucker (d.2000) authored "Ellington: The Early Years." In
1993 Tucker edited "The Duke Ellington Reader."
(SFEC, 2/21/99, DB p.32)(SSFC, 12/10/00,
p.C17)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Ellington)
1974 Aug 9, Trumpeter Bill Chase
(b.1934) and 3 members of the Chase Band died in a plane crash while
enroute to a performance in Minnesota. Lead guitarist Angel South (aka
Lucien Gondron d. 1998 at 55) had struck out on his own solo career.
(http://jazzworks.wordpress.com/2007/11/02/bill-chase-1934-1974/)
1974 Stan Getz, tenor sax, and the
Bill Evans Trio with Eddie Gomez on bass and Marty Morell on drums
recorded 2 sessions. A CD was re-issued in 1996 titled "But Beautiful."
(SFEM, 7/21/96, p.4)
1974 Wayne Shorter recorded his
"Native Dancer" album that featured Herbie Hancock and introduced the
Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento.
(SFEC, 8/31/97, DB p.35)
1974 The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ)
broke up but reunited in 1981 for a series of concerts.
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.B5)
1975 Aug 8, Julian "Cannonball"
Adderley (b.1928), sax player, died of a stroke.
(SFC, 1/5/00,
p.C3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannonball_Adderley)
1975 Norma Teagarden began playing
at the Washington Square Bar and Grill in San Francisco.
(SFC, 6/8/96, p.A17)
1976 Feb 6, Vince Guaraldi
(b.1928), jazz pianist, died in Menlo Park, Ca. He wrote "Cast Your
Fate to the Wind" and composed for the Charley Schulz "Peanuts" cartoon
specials.
(SFEC, 10/18/98, DB
p.44)(www.imdb.com/name/nm0345279/)
1976 Albert Murray authored
"Stomping the Blues."
(SFC, 1/27/01, p.B2)
1976 The album "Summit Meeting" on
Vanguard featured Elvin Jones, Clark Terry, James Moody and others.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1976 Alex Acuna attained
prominence as percussionist for the "Weather Report." He is now a
leading percussionist in Latin music.
(WSJ, 5/31/96, p.B1)
1977 May 30, Paul Desmond
(b.1924), jazz alto saxophonist, died in NYC.
(http://musicbase.h1.ru/PPB/ppb2/Bio_224.htm)
1977 Drummer Roy Haynes recorded
"Thankyou, Thankyou" on Galaxy with George Cables on piano, Bobby
Hutcherson on vibes, and John Klemmer on sax.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1977 Jimmy Rowles recorded an
album with Stan Getz called “The Peacocks.”
(SFC, 5/30/96, p.A16)
1978 The Cuban jazz band Irakere
performed at the Newport Jazz Festival.
(SFC, 6/16/96, BR p.42)
1978 Sonny Rollins recorded
"Milestone Jazz Stars in Concert."
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.38)
1979 Jan 4, Charles Mingus (56),
the most accomplished bassist in jazz history, died of Lou Gehrig’s
disease. In 1999 the film "Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog" was
written and directed by Don McGlynn. In 2000 Gene Santoro authored
"Myself when I Am Real: the Life and Music of Charles Mingus."
(WSJ, 4/18/97, p.A16)(SFC, 4/27/98, p.E3)(SFC,
5/21/99, p.C3)(SFEC, 8/20/00, BR p.9)(WSJ, 8/22/00, p.A24)(MC, 1/4/02)
1979 Aug 25, Stan Kenton (67),
orchestra leader (Music 55), died.
(MC, 8/25/02)
1979 Dizzy Gillespie, jazz
trumpeter, published his autobiography: "To Be Or Not to Bop."
(SFEC, 8/29/99, BR p.4)
1979 The album "Straight Life" on
OJC featured altoist Art Pepper with Billy Higgins, Flanagan and
bassist Red Mitchell.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1979 The album "Tokyo Encore" on
Dreyfus featured Art Pepper, Billy Higgins, pianist George Cables and
bassist Tony Dumas on straight-ahead bop and post-bop treatments live.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1979 Rosetta Reitz (1924-2008)
founded Roseta Records to remaster and promote recordings by woman in
the early history of jazz. By 1995 she completed 17 albums.
(SFC, 11/18/08, p.B5)
1980 Aug 31-Sep 8, Bill Evans made
live recordings at the Village Vanguard just weeks before his death.
They were scheduled to be released by Warner Bros. in 11/96.
(WSJ, 9/11/96, p.A20)(SFC, 10/16/00, p.B1)
1980 Sep 15, Bill Evans (b.1929),
jazz pianist, died. In 1998 Peter Pettinger published "Bill Evans: How
My Heart Sings."
(SFEC, 11/10/96, DB p.35)(WSJ, 8/28/98, p.W7)(SFC,
10/16/00, p.B1)
1980 Jimmy Rowles recorded the
album: "Jimmy Rawles Plays Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn."
(SFC, 5/30/96, p.A16)
1980 The album "Bridgework"
featured the drumming of Billy Higgins.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1980 Ella Fitzgerald recorded "A
Perfect Match: Ella and Basie" and "Digital III at Montreux."
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1980 The film "Sun Ra: A Joyful
Noise" was made by Robert Mugge.
(SFEC, 2/27/00, DB p.14)
1980 The Microscopic Septet formed
out of a downtown Manhattan music scene. The jazz ensemble broke up in
1992, but reunited in 2006 for a brief tour to celebrate the 2-volume
CD “History of the Micros.”
(WSJ, 12/26/06, p.D8)
1980 In Rhode Island the Newport
Jazz Festival featured a "Swinging Taps" evening with tap dancer Chuck
Green (d.1997 at 78).
(SFC, 3/8/96, p.A21)
1981 Dec 27, Hoagy Carmichael
(b.1899), US actor, songwriter (Stardust), died in California at age
82. His songs included "Stardust" and over 600 other melodies.
(WSJ, 9/9/99, p.A24)(SFC, 11/25/99,
p.C22)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoagy_Carmichael)
1981 Eugene Kalbacher (d.1999 at
47) and Jeff Levenson founded the Hot House jazz magazine in NYC.
(SFC, 6/15/99, p.C6)
1981 Ella Fitzgerald recorded
“Ella Abraca Jobim.”
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1981 Thomas Chapin (d.1998 at 40),
saxophonist, took over the leadership of the Lionel Hampton orchestra.
He led the group for 6 years and maintained a position in Chico
Hamilton’s band. Chapin recorded 15 albums that included "Sky Piece" on
the Knitting Factory label.
(SFC, 2/17/98, p.B8)
1981 Mary Lou Williams, jazz
pianist and composer, died. In 2000 Lindah Dahl authored "Morning
Glory: A Biography of Mary Lou Williams."
(WSJ, 4/24/00, p.A36)
1982 Feb 17, Thelonious S. Monk
(b.1917), US, jazz pianist, composer (Blue Monk), died. Monk, one of
the early bebop musicians of the 1940s, stopped touring and recording
in the early 70s, leaving such jazz standards as "Straight, No Chaser"
and " ‘Round Midnight." In 2009 Robin D. G. Kelley authored “Thelonious
Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original.”
(HNQ,
2/28/01)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelonious_Monk)(SFC, 11/26/09,
p.F7)
1982 Feb 26, Gabor Szabo (45),
Hungarian jazz pianist (Perfect Circle), died.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1982 The album "Among Friends" on
Evidence featured pianist Cedar Walton’s trio with Billy Higgins and
bassist Buster Williams. This was the first of a decade’s worth of
Walton-Higgins collaborations.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1982 National Public Radio
featured the Taylor Made Piano series. The book "Jazz Piano -- A Jazz
History" by Taylor was adopted from the series.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.16)
1982 The Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz
Orchestra featuring Lou Tabackin was revived in New York.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.)
1982 Tom Stoddard published "Jazz
on the Barbary Coast, " and anthology of oral histories and essays.
(SFEC, 4/12/98, p.D7)
1982 Don McGlynn made a film
documentary about alto saxophonist Art Pepper. The 50 min. film "Art
Pepper: Notes From a Jazz Survivor" starred Harry Dean Stanton.
(SFC, 5/21/99, p.C3)(USAT, 11/12/99, p.2E)
1982 The film "Gil Scott-Heron:
Black Wax" was made by Robert Mugge.
(SFEC, 2/27/00, DB p.14)
1982 The Jazz Masters Awards were
established by the National Endowment for the Arts.
(WSJ, 11/19/03, p.D12)
1983 Jul 5, Harry James (67),
swing-era bandleader, trumpet player, died.
(MC, 7/5/02)
1983 Apr 22, Earl Hines (b.1903),
jazz pianist and bandleader, died in Oakland, Ca. He was one of jazz’s
greatest pianist and was universally known as Earl “Fatha” Hines.
(SFC, 2/13/08,
p.E1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Hines)
1983 The first San Francisco Jazz
Festival was held.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.24)
1983 The MJQ toured Japan.
(SFC, 3/31/01, p.A21)
1983 Keith Jarrett formed the
Standards Trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette.
1983 Stan Getz began to teach at
the Stanford Jazz Workshop.
(SFEM, 10/1/00, p.25)
1983 Harry James, trumpet player,
died of cancer, broke miserable and largely forgotten. In 1999 Peter J.
Levinson authored the biography "Trumpet Blues: The Life Story of Harry
James."
(WSJ, 11/16/99, p.A28)
1984 Apr 26, William "Count"
Basie, jazz piano great, died on his 80th birthday. Joe Williams
sang "Come Sunday," Duke Ellington’s prayer for the liberation of
Afro-American people, at the funeral. Conald "Tee" Carson replaced
Basie as the head of the Count Basie Orchestra.
(SFEM, 10/5/7, p.10)(SFC, 2/19/00, p.A21)(MC,
4/26/02)
1984 Max Harrison authored "The
Essential Jazz Record, Vol. 1, Ragtime to Swing." Volume 2, "Modernism
to Postmodernism" was released later. Both were reissued in 2000.
(WSJ, 4/24/00, p.A36)
1984 The album "Mr. Billy Higgins"
on RIZA featured Higgins on drums.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1984 The film "Gospel According to
Al Green" was made by Robert Mugge.
(SFEC, 2/27/00, DB p.14)
1985 The film "Louie Bluie" was
about blues fiddler Howard Armstrong (d.2003) and made by Terry Zwigoff.
(SFEC, 6/28/98, DB p.52)(SSFC, 8/3/03, p.A31)
1985 Orrin Keepnews formed
Landmark Records, a boutique label that allowed him to explore new
recordings.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.29)
1985 Bruce Lundvall and Michael
Cuscuna revived and regenerated the Blue Note label.
(WSJ, 1/15/98, p.W10)
1986 Jun 13, Benny Goodman (77),
the clarinet-playing "King of Swing," died in NYC.
(AP, 6/13/97)
1986 Jun 17, Singer Kate Smith
died in Raleigh, N.C., at age 79.
(AP, 6/17/97)
1986 "American Musicians:
Portraits in Jazz" by Whitney Balliett was published. An expanded
version came out in 1996.
(WSJ, 11/19/96, p.A18)
1986 The documentary film
"Ornette: Made in America" was about the jazz saxophonist Ornette
Coleman and made by Shirley Clarke (d.1997 at 72).
(SFC, 9/25/97, p.B2)
1986 The Bertrand Tavernier film
"Round Midnight" featured Dexter Gordon as jazz artist Bud Powell, and
mixed in elements in the life of saxophonist Lester Young.
(SFEC, 3/16/97, DB p.42)
1986 Dee Dee Bridgewater moved to
Paris and began to establish a large following for her jazz vocals.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.14)
1986 The film "Saxophone Colossus"
was made by Robert Mugge. It was about Sonny Rollins.
(SFEM, 9/26/99, p.12)
1986 Sonny Rollins recorded
"G-Man."
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.38)
1986 Thad Jones, the brother of
Elvin Jones, died at age 53. He played the trumpet and co-piloted the
Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra.
(SFEC, 5/21/00, DB p.44)
1987 Oct 28, Woody Herman (74), US
jazz clarinetist and composer, died. [see Oct 29]
(MC, 10/28/01)
1987 Oct 29, Woody Herman
(b.1913), US jazz clarinetist and composer, died in Los Angeles at age
74. The government had just seized his home for back taxes. His manager
Abe Turchen had not paid taxes on musician salaries for 3 years. Gene
Lees later authored "Leader of the Band: Woody Herman."
(AP, 10/29/97)(WSJ, 8/22/01, p.A14)
1987 Alfred Lion, founder of the
Blue Note label, died.
(WSJ, 1/15/98, p.W10)
1987 Jeannie Cheatham,
singer-pianist, recorded the album "Homeward Bound." The album featured
jazz critic Stanley Dance (d.1999 at 88) chanting on the track
"Sometimes It Be That Way."
(SFC, 3/1/99, p.A19)
1987 Gerry Mulligan recorded
Symphonic Dreams with the Houston Symphony. The recording includes his
Entente, a composition for baritone sax and orchestra.
(G&M, 1/31/96, p.A-11)
1987 John Santos formed the
Machete Ensemble in the SF Bay Area. From Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean
music the band moved to Latin jazz and traditional classic jazz.
(SFEC,10/26/97, DB p.49)
1987 Buddy Rich (b.1917), jazz
drummer, died.
(SFC, 6/1/01, p.C11)
1988 May 13, Chet Baker (b1929),
jazz trumpet player, died in Amsterdam after "falling" from a hotel
window. A documentary on his life: "Let’s Get Lost," produced and
directed by Bruce Weber, was released in [1987] 1989. Baker played with
Gerry Mulligan in a pianoless quartet that brought him fame as a
leading member of the West Coast "cool school." Baker’s personal memoir
"As Though I Had Wings" was written in the late 70s and published in
1997. In 2000 J. De Valk authored "Chet Baker: His Life and Music." In
2002 James Gavin authored the biography "Deep in a Dream."
(SFEM, 10/1/00, p.4)(WSJ, 5/16/02,
p.D7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chet_Baker)
1988 May 28, Melvin J. Oliver
(b.1910), US jazz composer (Sy Oliver), orchestra leader, died in NYC.
(http://nfo.net/usa/o2.html)(http://tinyurl.com/q4uva)
1988 Mark Tucker helped write
"Jazz From the Beginning," an autobiography of early jazz musician
Garvin Bushell.
(SSFC, 12/10/00, p.C17)
1988 Clint Eastwood made his film
"Bird," an ode to Jazz musician Charlie Parker.
(SFC,10/31/97, p.C7)
1988 Dick Wellstood, jazz pianist,
died at 59. His solo piano recording "Live at the Sticky Wicket" became
available in 1998.
(WSJ, 6/5/98, p.W14)
1989 Jan 21, Billy Tipton
(b.1914), jazz musician, died. Billy passed for a man for over 50 years
with 5 marriages. In 1998 Diane Wood Middlebrook published "Suits Me:
The Double Life of Billy Tipton."
(SFEC, 6/28/98, BR
p.1,8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Tipton)
1989 Miles Davis wrote his
autobiography.
(SFC,11/14/97, p.C12)
1989 Gunther Schuller authored
“The Swing Era.”
(WSJ, 9/27/08, p.W10)
1989 Artie Shaw, former jazz
clarinetist, authored the novel "The Best of Intentions."
(WSJ, 5/26/00, p.W14)
1989 The film "Let’s Get Lost" was
made by Bruce Weber and featured jazz-man Chet Baker.
(SFEC, 6/28/98, DB p.52)
1990 Apr 3, Sarah Vaughan (66),
Jazz singer, died in suburban Los Angeles.
(AP, 4/3/00)
1990 Apr 25, Dexter Gordon (67),
jazz saxophonist, died in Philadelphia.
(SS, 4/25/02)
1990 Ella Fitzgerald recorded "All
That Jazz."
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A10)
1990 The film "Listen Up: The
Lives of Quincy Jones" with Oprah Winfrey was produced.
(SFC,10/26/97, Par p.A12)
1990 Glenn Spearman, saxophonist
and composer, formed the Glenn Spearman Double Trio. The group recorded
3 CDs.
(SFC, 10/10/98, p.A21)
1991 Feb 20, Quincy Jones’ "Back
on the Block" was named album of the year at the 33rd Annual Grammy
Awards.
(AP, 2/20/01)
1991 Jun 6, Stan Getz (b. 1928),
jazz saxophonist, died in California, at age 64. His biography, "Stan
Getz" by Donald Maggin, was published in 1996.
(SFC, 8/8/96, p.E5)(AP, 6/6/01)
1991 Sep 28, Jazz great Miles
Davis died in Santa Monica, Calif., at age 65.
(AP, 9/28/01)
1991 "The Jazz and Blues Lover’s
Guide to the US" by Christiane Bird was published by Addison-Wesley.
(NH, 9/96, p.62)
1991 Jazz saxophonist Joe
Henderson signed with Verve Records. His first 3 albums with Verve
were: "Lush Life," "So Near, So Far," and "Double Rainbow."
(SFEC, 1/5/97, DB p.32)
1992 The CD "Live at Maybeck
Recital Hall" on Concord Jazz featured Cedar Walton and Billy Higgins.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1992 Drummer Roy Haynes
recorded "Te Vou!" on Dreyfus with Donald Harrison on sax, David
Kikoski on piano, Pat Metheny on guitar, and Wilbur Ware on bass.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1993 Jan 6, Jazz trumpeter Dizzy
Gillespie died in Englewood, N.J., at age 75. In 1999 Alyn Shipton
published "Groovin' High: The Life of Dizzy Gillespie."
(SFEC, 7/27/97, DB p.34)(AP, 1/6/98)(SFEC, 8/29/99,
BR p.4)
1993 Dee Dee Bridgewater received
a Grammy nomination for her album "Keeping Tradition."
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.14)
1993 Ron Carter, bass player,
recorded his album "Friends" that included works by Rachmaninoff and
Chopin.
(WSJ, 2/26/97, p.A16)
1993 The album "It Don’t Mean a
Thing" on Enja featured Elvin Jones with Nicholas Payton, Sonny
Fortune, Delfeayo Marsalis, Willie Pickins, Cecil McBee and others.
(SFEM, 5/11/97, p.32)
1993 Joshua Redman recorded
"Joshua Redman" in a debut album that included his meditation on "Body
and Soul."
(SFC, 8/24/98, p.B1)
1993 Mar 9, Bob Crosby (b.1913),
swing-era bandleader (Bobcats), died of cancer.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Crosby)
1994 Apr 16, Ralph Ellison
(b.1914), author of "Invisible Man," died in New York of pancreatic
cancer at age 80. His unfinished novel "Juneteenth" was published in
1999. His books also included "Living With Music." In 2002 Lawrence
Jackson authored "Ralph Ellison: Emergence of Genius."
(AP, 4/16/99)(WSJ, 6/18/99, p.W13)(WSJ, 6/14/02,
p.W11)
1994 The documentary film "A Great
Day in Harlem" told the story of the 1958 photograph by Art Kane of 4
decades of jazz greats.
(SFEC, 10/17/99, DB p.46)
1994 Toshiko Akiyoshi, jazz
pianist and composer, recorded solo "Live at Maybeck Hall."
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.16)
1994 Ron Carter, bass player,
recorded his album "Ron Carter Meets Bach".
(WSJ, 2/26/97, p.A16)
1994 Wayne Shorter and Herbie
Hancock reunited to record the Grammy winning album "A Tribute to
Miles."
(SFEC, 8/31/97, DB p.35)
1994 Mayor Emanuel Cleaver of
Kansas City spent $140,000 in public money to buy a plastic saxophone
that belonged to Charlie Parker.
(WSJ, 11/19/97, p.A20)
1994 Connie Kay, drummer for the
MJQ, died. The Modern Jazz Quarter reunited for its last performance
with Mickey Roker sitting in for Kay. Kay was replaced by Percy heath’s
brother Albert "Tootie" Heath and continue to play until Jackson’s
death in 1999.
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C2)(SFC, 3/31/01, p.A21)
1994 Raymond Scott, composer born
as Harry Warnow in Brooklyn, died. He mixed jazz, classical and klezmer
sounds as backdrop for cartoons in the 1930s. In 1991 the compilation
CD "The Music of Raymond Scott: Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights"
was produced.
(SSFC, 1/4/04, p.E3)
1995 Apr 16, Cleo Brown (b.1909),
boogie pianist, died in Denver, Colorado.
(www.musicweb-international.com/encyclopaedia/b/B269.HTM)
1995 Apr, Don Grolnick
(1948-1996), pianist, songwriter and producer, was musical director for
the Rainforest Foundation concert at Carnegie Hall. An album by his
Latin jazz group, Medianoche, was to be released in 8/96.
(SFC, 6/4/96, p.A19)
1995 The Rizzoli book "The Blue
Note Years" was published.
(WSJ, 10/3/97, p.A8)
1995 Dee Dee Bridgewater released
her album "Love and Peace -- A Tribute to Horace Silver."
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.9)
1995 Ornette Coleman and his band
Prime Time released the album "Tone Dialing."
(WSJ, 7/16/97, p.A20)
1995 David G. Monette presented
Wynton Marsalis with a $30,000, 24-karat gold-plated trumpet.
(WSJ, 1/29/00, p.A24)
1995 Don Cherry (b.1937), jazz
trumpet player, died near Malaga, Spain of liver failure on Dec. 19,
1995.
(WSJ, 10/23/95, p.A-1)
1995 Phil Hardyman (d.1998 at 65),
teacher at the Jazzschool in Berkeley, was the Bammie Award for
outstanding music educator.
(SFC, 5/29/98, p.D7)
1995 John Larkin (d.1999 at 57),
jazz pianist and songwriter, released his debut album "Scatman's World."
(SFC, 12/9/99, p.A25)
1996 Jan 20, Gerry Mulligan,
baritone saxophonist, died in Darien, Conn. at 68. He helped create the
cool jazz movement.
(WSJ, 1/22/96, p.A-1)
1996 Jan, Nonesuch released
"Passion Flower: Fred Hersch Plays Billy Strayhorn."
(WSJ, 1/31/97, p.A16)
1996 May 25, Barney Wilen, French
saxophonist, died at age 59.
(SFC, 5/28/96, p.A15)
1996 May 28, Jazz pianist and
composer Jimmy Rowles died at age 77.
(SFC, 5/30/96, p.A16)
1996 May 31, The Zildjian Co.,
maker of percussion equipment, under directions from Alex Acuna is
developing new cymbals to be played with open palms.
(WSJ, 5/31/96, p.B1)
1996 Jun 15, Ella Fitzgerald, jazz
singer, died at age 78.
(SFC, 6/16/96, p.A1)
1996 Jun 16, "But Beautiful, A
Book About Jazz" by Geoff Dyer was reviewed by Ted Gioia. The book
profiles 8 jazz musicians: Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Lester
Young, Bud Powell, Art Pepper, Chet Baker, Ben Webster, and Charles
Mingus.
(SFC, 6/16/96, BR p.10)
1996 Aug 15, Joseph DiLauro,
pianist, died at age 88. He had accompanied Cab Calloway, the Ink
Spots, Joe Penner, Ray Bolger and Vaughn Monroe. During the depression
he conducted the Akron Civic Concert Orchestra.
(SFC, 8/19/96, p.C2)
1996 Aug 16, Miles Goodman
(1949-1996), jazz record producer and composer, died. He composed or
orchestrated for such films as Footloose, La Bamba, and Being There.
(SFC, 8/20/96, p.A18)
1996 Aug 22, Verve Records
released the new "Kansas City" movie soundtrack.
(SFC, 8/22/96, F4)
1996 Sep 11, There was a review of
"Big Band Renaissance: The Evolution of the Jazz Orchestra," compiled
by Bill Kirchner and released by The Smithsonian Institution.
(WSJ, 9/11/96, p.A20)
1996 Oct 6, The new "Images of
Jazz: Photographs by Lee Tanner" was reviewed.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.13)
1996 Oct 23-Nov 3, The 14th annual
San Francisco Jazz Festival.
(SFEM, 10/6/96, p.23)
1996 Oct 11, Johnny Costa
(b.1922), pianist, died. He played the theme to Mr. Roger’s
Neighborhood and was the show’s musical director for 30 years. He was
also the music director for the Mike Douglas Show. His jazz albums
include: Johnny Costa (trio) Plays Mister Roger’s Neighborhood.
(SFC, 10/15/96, p.A19)
1996 Nov 5, Eddie Harris
(1934-1996), tenor saxophonist, died. His recordings included "Freedom
Jazz Dance" and "Compared to What."
(SFC, 11/8/96, p.A25)
1996 Nov 6, The new Karrin Allyson
album "Collage" from Concord Jazz was reviewed. Her first album was "I
Didn’t Know About You." She was backed by world-class local musicians
from Kansas City.
(WSJ, 11/6/96, p.A21)
1996 Nov 20, "Reading Jazz: A
Gathering of Autobiography, Reportage, and Criticism from 1919 to Now,"
ed. by Robert Gottlieb was reviewed along with "American Musicians II:
Seventy-One Portraits in Jazz" by Whitney Balliett.
(WSJ, 11/19/96, p.A18)
1996 Dec 23, Ronnie Scott (69),
saxophonist, died of an accidental barbiturate overdose in London. He
had founded Scot’s Club in Soho in 1959.
(SFC, 2/7/97, p.D9)
1996 Dec 27, Johnny Heartsman,
blues guitarist, died in Sacramento, Ca. He also played the organ,
piano and flute. He played with Jimmy Wilson, Johnny Fuller, Joe Simon,
Al King, and Tiny Powell. He recorded "Johnny’s House party" in 1957.
His album "The Touch" came out in 1991.
(SFC, 1/1/97, p.A22)
1996 Whitney Balliet, jazz critic
for the New Yorker magazine, authored “American Musicians II,” an
expanded version of his work from a decade earlier.
(WSJ, 9/27/08, p.W10)
1996 Robert Gottlieb edited
“Reading Jazz,” an anthology of writing on jazz.
(WSJ, 9/27/08, p.W10)
1996 Dec, Herbie Hancock helped
produce "Living Jazz," a CD-ROM historical tour of Jazz.
(SFEC, 12/7/96, BR p.6)
1996 Carl Woideck published
"Charlie Parker--His Music and Life."
(MT, Spg. ‘97, p.11)
1996 The Buena Vista Social Club,
a Cuban recording group organized by Ry Cooder, recorded its debut
album (released in 1997), at EGREM studios in Havana. The group
featured Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez, Compay Segundo, Omara Portuondo, Ry
Cooder and others. In 1999 the documentary film "Buena Vista Social
Club" was made by Wim Wenders.
(SFC, 5/29/99, p.B1)(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.31)
1997 Feb, Orrin Keepnews accepted
the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Governors Award for
Outstanding Achievement at the Bay Area GRAMMY Nominees Celebration.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.28)
1997 Mar 10, LaVern Baker (67),
rhythm and blues singer, died. She had been discovered as a teenager by
Fletcher Henderson in Chicago singing as "Little Miss Sharecropper."
(SFC, 3/12/97, p.A9)
1997 Mar 27, World renowned
classical harpist De Wayne Fulton died at 64. He pioneered the
amplification of harps for performing jazz and pop on the instrument.
(SFC, 3/28/97, p.D2)
1997 May 7, The Oakland Jazz club
Yoshi’s was scheduled to open at its new location at Jack London Square
in Oakland.
(SFEC, 5/4/97, DB p.37)
1997 Jun 2, Adolphus "Doc"
Cheatham (91), trumpeter, died in Washington.
(WSJ, 6/03/97, p.A1)
1997 Jun 21, Arthur Prysock,
singer, died at age 74. He was best known for his album "In the Mood."
He received Grammy nominations in 1987 and 1988.
(SFC, 6/24/97, p.A19)
1997 Jul 3, Blues guitarist Johnny
Copeland (b.1937), the "Texas Twister," died. His 1985 "Showdown" album
with Albert Collins (d.1993) and Robert Cray won a Grammy for best
traditional blues recording.
(SFC, 7/5/97, p.C3)
1997 Jul 29, Chuck Wayne (aka
Charles Jagelka), jazz guitarist, died at 74. He wrote instruction
books for guitarists under the series title "The School of Chuck
Wayne." He played be-bob and recorded with Dizzie Gillespie on the
albums "Groovin High" and "Blue-n-Boogie." In the 1970s he played often
in a duo with guitarist Joe Puma.
(SFC, 8/2/97, p.A21)
1997 Sep 5, The new Kansas City
Jazz Museum opened next to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
(WSJ, 11/19/97, p.A20)
1997 Sep, "The Riverside Records
Story, " a 4 CD label overview on Fantasy Records was released along
with "Monterey Jazz Festival: 40 Legendary Years," a 3 CD collection on
Clint Eastwood’s Malpaso Records label.
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.29)
1997 Dec 1, Stephane Grappelli,
jazz violinist, died in Paris. In the mid-30s the Quintet of the Hot
Club of France, with Grappelli and Django Reinhardt, recorded "Tiger
Rag," "Dinah," and "Lady Be Good." His albums included "Live at
Carnegie Hall, "Jazz Round Midnight," "Plays Jerome Kern," "Tivoli
Gardens" (1979), "Satin Doll," ‘’Stardust," ‘For Django," and "Plays
Gershwin."
(SFC, 12/2/97, p.A22)(SFC, 12/4/97, p.E3)
1997 Dec 21, Johnny Coles (71),
jazz trumpeter, died in Philadelphia. His records included "The Warm
Sound of Johnny Coles" and "Little Johnny C."
(SFC,12/26/97, p.B6)
1997 Dec 31, David Rosenbaum (82),
jazz historian, died in Manteca. He owned the Melrose Record Shop on
Fillmore and Rhythm Records on Sutter Street in SF. Poet Maya Angelou
worked in his store when she was a Mission High schoolgirl then named
Marguerite Johnson.
(SFC, 1/6/98, p.A17)
1997 The Monterey Festival
commissioned Gerald Wilson to write a work in commemoration of its 40th
anniversary and Wilson wrote "Theme for Monterey."
(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.16)
1997 Wayne Shorter, saxophonist,
and Herbie Hancock, pianist, released their new CD "1+1."
(SFEC, 8/31/97, DB p.35)
1997 The Smithsonian published the
4-CD collection of Blue Note recordings: "Hot Jazz on Blue Note," along
with a 96-page book by Don Morgenstern, director of Jazz studies at
Rutgers Univ.
(WSJ, 10/3/97, p.A8)
1997 Chronicle Books released a
series of books on the Paris Jazz club, Aerobleu: "Pilot’s Journey" by
the owner Max Morgan; "Observations from the Bar and Martini Diaries"
by manager Leslie Ann Nash. Also published was "Jazz" by photographer
William Claxton and "Seeing Jazz: Artists and Writers on Jazz."
(SFEM, 10/5/97, p.6)
1997 Ted Gioia, musician and
writer, published "The History of Jazz." He had also written "The
Imperfect Art" and "West Coast Jazz."
(SFEC,12/14/97, BR p.5)
1997 Bass Player Beverly Peer
(1913-1997) died.
(SFC, 1/27/97, p.A20)
1997 Tony Williams (51), jazz
drummer, died in Daly City. He had worked with Miles Davis and helped
form the jazz-rock fusion trio Lifetime. His latest recording was
"Wilderness."
(SFC, 2/25/97, p.B2)
1998 Jan 24, Walter Bishop Jr.,
jazz pianist, died at age 70 in Manhattan. He recorded with Miles
Davis, Charlie Parker and others.
(SFC, 1/29/98, p.B2)
1998 Jan, Tom Brown, radio
personality and jazz lover, died in LA at age 67. He ran a jazz club in
Cleveland and went on to Philadelphia where he did the radio show "The
Thomas Brown Affair" from 1960-1968. He then moved to SF where he
worked on KNBR for 9 years.
(SFC, 1/28/98, p.A15)
1998 Feb 6, Rev. John Garcia
Gensel (80), head of the "jazz ministry" at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
in NYC, died.
(SFC, 2/11/98, p.A24)(SFC, 4/27/05, p.D10)
1998 Jul 2, Errol Parker, drummer
pianist and composer, died in Manhattan at age 72. He was born Raphel
Schecroun in Oran, Algeria, and was known for the song "Lorre," a
classical jazz hit in France. He started his Sahara Records label in
1967 and issued over a dozen records. He wrote a memoir in 1995
published by Cadence Books.
(SFC, 7/7/98, p.A20)
1998 Jul 25, Tal Farrow,
guitarist, died at age 77. He was an early follower of bebop and was
influenced by the playing of Bud Powell.
(SFC, 7/29/98, p.A20)
1998 Sep 26, Betty Carter, jazz
singer, died at age 69 of pancreatic cancer.
(SFC, 9/28/98, p.D3)
1998 Oct 3, John Gordon
Markham, SF jazz drummer, died at age 72.
(SFC, 10/8/98, p.C4)
1998 Oct 8, Glenn Spearman,
saxophonist and composer, died at age 51. A collection of his poems and
philosophy: "Musaphysics," was published in 1997 by Small Press
Distribution in Berkeley.
(SFC, 10/10/98, p.A21)
1998 Oct 31, The 16th annual SF
Jazz Festival began. It was to be an 11-day, 26-show marathon.
(SFC, 11/2/98, p.E1)
1998 Bob Haggart, jazz artist and
arranger, died at age 84. He wrote "South Rampart Street Parade" and
"What’s New." He was part of the Bob Crosby Orchestra, known as the Bob
Cats, from1935 to 1942.
(SFC, 12/7/98, p.A25)
1998 Gary Giddins authored
"Visions of Jazz: The First Century."
(SFEC, 10/11/98, BR p.8)
1998 Angela Y. Davis wrote: "Blue
Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith and
Billie Holiday.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, BR p.1)
1998 The film Charles Mingus:
Triumph of the Underdog was directed by Don McGlynn.
(SFC, 4/27/98, p.E3)
1998 Eric Nisenson wrote: "Blue:
The Murder of Jazz." Scott DeVeaux wrote: "The History of Bebop: A
Social and Musical History."
Ted Gioia wrote: "The History of Jazz."
(WSJ, 1/30/98, p.A12)
1999 Jan 6, Michel Petrucciani,
jazz pianist, died at age 36. He suffered from osteogenesis imperfecta,
aka glass bone disease, that restricted his height to 3 feet. His
albums included "Michel Plays Petrucciani" (1986), "Pianism" (1986),
and "Promenade With Duke" (1993).
(USAT, 1/7/99, p.1D)
1999 Jan 21, Charles Brown
(b.1922), African-American rhythm and blues pioneer, died. In 1947 his
song “Merry Christmas Baby” became a perennial hit.
(SFC, 2/21/08,
p.E8)(http://elvispelvis.com/charlesbrown.htm)
1999 Feb 11, Jaki Byard (76), jazz
pianist, saxophonist and teacher, was shot dead in his home in Queens.
(SFC, 2/16/99, p.A18)
1999 Mar 4, Theodore McRae, jazz
arranger and composer, died at age 91.
(SFC, 3/30/99, p.F4)
1999 Mar 28, Joe Williams, jazz
singer, died in Las Vegas at age 80. Critic Will Friedwald in his book
"Jazz Singers" compared Williams to Jimmy Rushing.
(SFC, 4/1/99, p.C2)
1999 Apr 6, Red Norvo, born as
Kenneth Norville in Beardstown, Ill., died at age 91. He is credited
with introducing the xylophone to jazz. He and his wife, singer Mildred
Bailey, recorded such hits as "Rockin' Chair," "Please Be Kind," "Says
My Heart," and "Have You Forgotten So Soon?"
(SFC, 4/8/99, p.C5)
1999 Jun 5, Mel Torme (b.1925),
singer and pianist, died at age 73 in Los Angeles. In 1970 Torme
published "The Other Side of the Rainbow." His songs included the Nat
King Cole hit "The Christmas Song" (Chestnuts roasting on an open
fire…).
(SFEC, 6/6/99, p.C7)(AP, 6/5/00)
1999 Jun 5, Ernie Wilkins,
composer and saxophonist, died at age 79 in Copenhagen. He wrote the
1955 tune "Every Day (I Have the Blues) recorded by Count Basie with
singer Joe Williams.
(SFC, 6/7/99, p.A20)
1999 Jun, Jabu Nkosi, jazz
keyboardist from South Africa, died in Johannesburg at age 46. He was
the son of alto sax and clarinet player Zakes Nkosi.
(SFC, 6/15/99, p.C6)
1999 Jun, Jackie McLean,
saxophonist, opened the $7 million community center for the arts in
Hartford, Conn.
(SFEM, 10/3/99, p.10)
1999 Jul 27, Harry "Sweets" Edison
(83), jazz trumpeter, died in Columbus, Ohio, of cancer.
(WSJ, 7/28/99, p.A1)
1999 Aug 3, Leroy Vinnegar, jazz
bassist, died at age 71 in Portland. His albums included "Leroy Walks."
(SFC, 9/6/99, p.A21)
1999 Oct 9, Milt Jackson,
vibraphonist for the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ), died at age 76 in
Manhattan. His compositions included "Bags' Groove," "Bluesology," and
"The Cylinder."
(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C2)
1999 Nov 8, Lester Bowie (58),
jazz trumpeter and founder of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, died of
liver cancer.
(WSJ, 11/10/99, p.A1)
1999 Nov 13, John Benson Brooks,
jazz composer, arranger and songwriter, died at age 82 in Manhattan.
His work included "The Twelves," a 12-tone jazz piece.
(SFC, 11/27/99, p.C4)
1999 Dec 2, Charlie Byrd, jazz
guitarist, died at age 74.
(SFC, 12/3/99, p.D7)
1999 Dec 17, Grover Washington
Jr., jazz saxophonist, died at age 56 during a TV taping session in
NYC.
(SFC, 12/18/99, p.C5)
1999 Paul Bley wrote his
autobiography "Stopping Time: Paul Bley and the Transformation of Jazz."
(SFEM, 10/1/00, p.13)
1999 The jazz documentary film
"Louis Prima: The Wildest" was directed by Don McGlynn. Prima was a
popular New Orleans Italian American trumpeter singer during the 40s
and 50s.
(SFC, 10/22/99, p.C7)
1999 The documentary film "Sweet
and Lowdown" starred Sean Penn, Uma Thurman and Samantha Morton. It was
directed by Woody Allen and was about Emmet Ray, a jazz guitarist of
the 1930s.
(SFC, 9/6/99, p.B5)
1999 Richard M. Sudhalter authored
"Lost Chords: White Musicians and their Contributions to Jazz."
(WSJ, 8/13/99, p.W6)
1999 Bruce Lundvall of Blue Note
issued a 60-year anniversary 14-CD set with 149 tracks: "The Blue Note
Years." It included a book with photographs and listed for $199.98.
(WSJ, 1/15/98, p.W10)
2000 cJan 4, Nat Adderley,
cornetist and the brother of Julian "Canonball" Adderley, died at age
68. His compositions included "Work Song" and "Jive Samba."
(SFC, 1/5/00, p.C3)
2000 Jan 31, Ross Russell, founder
of Dial Records, died at age 90. Russell also authored a biography of
Charlie Parker and "Jazz Style in Kansas City and the Southwest" and
the jazz novel "The Sound," based on Charlie Parker.
(SFC, 3/24/00, p.D6)
2000 Feb 13, Conald "Tee" Carson,
jazz pianist and bandleader, died at age 71. Carson held a day job
throughout his career as a US Marshall. He led the Count Basie
orchestra for 3 years after the death of Basie in 1984.
(SFC, 2/19/00, p.A21)
2000 Mar 24, Al Grey, jazz
trombonist, died at age 74. He recorded 30 albums on his own and
appeared on another 70. He also wrote a book on the plunger mute.
(SFC, 3/27/00, p.A28)
2000 May 21, Benjamin Drootin
(Buzzy Drootin), Russian-born jazz drummer, died at age 80.
(SFC, 5/26/00, p.D3)
2000 May 24, Merrill Hoover, SF
jazz pianist, died at age 71. He accompanied Anita O’Day for several
decades and worked with Mary Stallings.
(SFC, 5/26/00, p.D5)
2000 May 30, Tex Beneke,
saxophonist and band leader, died at age 86.
(SFC, 5/31/00, p.A23)
2000 May 31, Tito Puente, Latin
jazz bandleader, died at age 77. He recorded some 119 albums from 1949
to 2000.
(SFC, 6/2/00, p.D2)
2000 Jun 4, Julian Lage (12)
prodigy jazz guitarist, performed at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival.
(SFC, 6/1/00, p.E1)
2000 Jun 23, Jerome Richardson
(b.1920), SF Bay Area jazz musician, died.
(SFC, 2/19/08,
p.D1)(www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=962098717)
2000 Sep 12, Stanley Turrentine,
saxophonist, died at age 66.
(SFC, 9/13/00, p.A23)
2000 Oct 7, Dennis Sandole, jazz
guitarist and mentor to John Coltrane, died at age 87. He authored
"Guitar Lore" in 1981. He also wrote a jazz ballet/opera called
"Evenin’ Is Cryin" in the 1960s-70s.
(SFC, 10/12/00, p.C3)
2000 Dec 19, Milt Hinton, jazz
bassist and photographer, died at age 90.
(SFC, 12/22/00, p.D9)
2000 Dec 22, Jim Burke, San
Francisco jazz pianist, died at age 64. His single CD was a live
recording called "Hands On" (1999).
(SFC, 1/3/01, p.A16)
2000 Bill Kirchner edited "The
Oxford Companion to Jazz."
(SSFC, 12/24/00, BR p.7)
2000 Eric Nisenson authored "Open
Sky: Sonny Rollins and His World of Improvisation."
(WSJ, 4/24/00, p.A36)
2000 Bruce Ricker produced and
directed the film "Jim Hall: A Life in Progress. Hall's jazz albums
included "By Arrangement."
(SFEM, 3/26/00, p.12)
2000 The CD "Scott Robinson Plays
C-Melody Saxophone: Melody from the Sky" was released on Arbors Records.
(WSJ, 8/4/00, p.W7)
2001 Jan 17, Norris Turney,
composer and conductor, died at age 79. He played alto sax and flute
with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and his lone CD as a band leader was
called "Big, Sweet ‘N Blue."
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A24)
2001 Feb 4, J.J. Johnson (77),
slide trombone player, took his own life in Indianapolis. In the 1950s
he toured the jazz world with Kai Winding and made over a dozen
recordings.
(SFC, 2/10/01, p.B3)
2001 Mar 29, John Lewis, pianist
and musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet, died in Manhattan at
age 80.
(SFC, 3/31/01, p.A21)
2001 Apr 1, Joshua Redman and his
quartet premiered the "Passage of Time," an 8-movement, hour-long jazz
suite in San Francisco’s Masonic Auditorium.
(SFC, 4/3/01, p.C3)
2001 May 3, Billy Higgins, jazz
drummer, died in Inglewood, Ca., at age 64.
(SFC, 5/4/01, p.D6)
2001 May 19, Susannah McCorkle
(55), pop-jazz singer, jumped to her death in Manhattan in an apparent
suicide.
(SSFC, 5/20/01, p.A29)
2001 Jun 21, John Lee Hooker,
blues musician, died at age 83. His tunes included "Boom, Boom," and
"Boogie Chillen."
(SFC, 6/22/01, p.A1)
2001 Jun 27, Chico O’Farrill,
Afro-Cuban jazz trumpeter, died at age 79 in NY.
(WSJ, 7/2/01, p.A1)(SFC, 6/30/01, p.A18)
2001 Jun 30, Joe Henderson, tenor
saxophonist, died in SF at age 64. His work included 27 albums and CDs.
(SSFC, 7/1/01, p.A20)
2001 Aug 17, Flip Phillips, tenor
saxophonist, died at age 86.
(SFC, 8/20/01, p.A15)
2001 Aug 23, Frank Emilio Flynn,
blind pianist and Latin jazz pioneer, died at age 80 in Havana.
(SFC, 8/30/01, p.C2)
2001 Sep 2, Jay Migliori, jazz
saxophonist, died at age 70.
(SSFC, 9/9/01, p.A28)
2001 Oct 16, Etta Jones, jazz
vocalist, died in Manhattan at age 72.
(SFC, 10/18/01, p.A21)
2001 Oct 4 John Collins, jazz
guitarist, died at age 83.
(SFC, 10/23/01, p.C2)
2001 Nov 13, David "Panama"
Francis, drummer, died at age 82. He played with the Savoy Sultans in
Harlem. In 1999 he published his autobiography: "David Gets His Drum."
(SFC, 11/17/01, p.A23)
2001 Nov 21, Ralph Burns, jazz
arranger and composer, died in LA at age 79.
(SFC, 12/3/01, p.A17)
2001 Nov 22, Norman Granz, Jazz
producer, died at age 83. He was the owner of the Clef, Norgran, Verve
and Pablo record labels.
(SFC, 12/1/01, p.D3)
2001 Dec 14, Conte Candoli, jazz
trumpeter, died at age 74. He played on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show
for over 20 years.
(SFC, 12/17/01, p.A21)
2001 Dec 30, Ralph Sutton (79)
stride pianist, died in Aspen, Colo. He was a founding member of the
World’s Greatest Jazz Band (1968-1975).
(SFC, 1/1/02, p.A10)
2002 Feb 2, Kermit Scott, sax
player and bebop pioneer, died at age 87.
(SFC, 2/14/02, p.A21)
2002 Feb 8, Nick Brignola, jazz
saxophonist, died at age 65.
(SFC, 2/11/02, p.B5)
2002 Apr 9, Juno Lewis (70),
composer, instrument-maker and musician, died. His compositions
included "Kulu Se Mama" recorded by John Coltrane.
(SFC, 4/23/02, p.A18)
2002 Jun, Ray Brown had his last
album released: "Some of My Best Friends Are Guitarists."
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A21)
2002 Jul 2, Ray Brown (b.1926),
jazz bassist, died in Indianapolis.
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.A21)
2002 Aug 15, Larry Rivers (78),
painter, sculptor, jazz musician and poet, died in Southampton, NY.
(SFC, 8/16/02, p.A25)
2002 Aug 31, Lionel Hampton (94),
American jazz icon, died in New York City. He pioneered and popularized
the vibraphone as a jazz instrument in a musical career that spanned
six decades beginning in the 1920s.
(AP, 8/31/03)
2002 Sep 29, Ellis Larkins (79),
jazz pianist, died in Baltimore.
(SFC, 10/5/02, p.A19)
2002 Nov 20, Bill Berry (72), jazz
cornetist, died. He played with the Duke Ellington Band 1961-1964, and
in "The Merv Griffin Show" band for 15 years.
(SFC, 11/22/02, p.A29)
2002 Dec 2, Mal Waldron (77), jazz
pianist, died. He was the last accompanist for Billie Holiday and
composed "Soul Eyes," a ballad for John Coltrane.
(SFC, 12/4/02, p.A28)
2002 Dec 5, Arvell Shaw (b.1923),
bass player for Louis Armstrong groups, died in Roosevelt, NY. He
worked with Armstrong from 1945-1970.
(SFC, 12/14/02, p.A22)
2002 Dec 13, Stella Brooks
(b.1910), jazz singer, died.
(SSFC, 12/22/02, p.A23)
2002 The TV documentary "Willie
the Lion: A Musical Biography" was produced by Marc Fields and released
by NJN Public Television.
(WSJ, 12/30/03, p.D8)
2003 Feb 1, Mongo Santamaria
(81/85), Cuban-born Latin jazzman, died in Miami.
(WSJ, 2/3/03, p.A1)(SFC, 2/5/03, p.A22)(SSFC,
12/28/03, p.E4)
2003 Apr 21, Ninone Simone
(b.1933), dubbed the high priestess of soul, died in France. She born
as Eunice Waymon in Tryon, NC., and had her 1st hit in 1959 with "I
Loves You, Porgy."
(SFC, 4/22/03, A21)(AP, 4/21/08)
2003 Jul 1, Herbie Mann, jazz
flutist, died in Pecos, NM. He was born Apr 16, 1930, as Herbert Jay
Solomon in Brooklyn, NY.
(SFC, 7/3/03, p.A2)
2003 Jul 12, Benny Carter (95),
jazz musician, composer and bandleader, died in Los Angeles. He was
know as "The King." His work included arrangements for the 1943 film
"Stormy Weather."
(SFC, 7/14/03, p.B4)(WSJ, 7/16/03, p.D8)
2003 Jul 13, Compay Segundo (95),
a once-forgotten Cuban musician who gained worldwide fame with the
"Buena Vista Social Club," died in Havana.
(AP, 7/14/03)
2003 Jul 28, Aaron Bell, jazz
bassist with Duke Ellington, died in NYC.
(EntW, 12/03, p.94)
2003 Jul 30, Howard "Louie Bluie"
Armstrong (94), blues fiddler, died in Boston.
(SFEC, 6/28/98, DB p.52)(SSFC, 8/3/03, p.A31)
2003 Oct 9, Carl Fontana (75),
jazz trombonist, died in Las Vegas. He created the technique called
"doodle tonguing."
(SFC, 10/11/03, p.A18)
2003 Nov 19, Jim Hall, jazz
guitarist, was named a winner of the Jazz Masters Awards. There have
been 73 recipients since the NEA established the awards in 1982.
(WSJ, 11/19/03, p.D12)
2003 Dec 23, Hans Koller (82),
Austrian jazz saxophonist, died. In 1946 he founded the Hot Club Vienna
and later launched an international career.
(SFC, 12/24/03, p.A16)
2004 Jan 21, Jerry Stoll (80),
jazz photographer, died in Oakland, Ca.
(SFC, 2/7/04, p.A20)
2004 Jan 30, Malachi Favors (76),
jazz bassist for the Art Ensemble of Chicago, died in Chicago.
(SFC, 2/9/04, p.B4)
2004 Feb 14, Walter Perkins (72),
jazz drummer, died of cancer in NYC. He led the MJT + 3 band in the
1960s.
(SFC, 2/02/04, p.A17)
2004 Feb 18, Vince Cattolica (80),
blind San Francisco jazz clarinetist, died.
(SFC, 2/04/04, p.A23)
2004 Apr 25, Claude Williams (96),
jazz violinist, died in Kansas City, Mo.
(SFC, 4/28/04, p.B7)
2004 May 18, Elvin Ray Jones (76),
renowned jazz drummer and member of John Coltrane's quartet who also
played alongside Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, died
in new Jersey.
(AP, 5/19/04)
2004 Jul 22, Illinois Jacquet
(81), jazz luminary known for his big sound on the tenor sax, died in
NYC.
(WSJ, 7/26/04, p.A1)
2004 Oct 3, Vernon Alley (89),
jazz bassist, died in San Francisco.
(SFC, 10/5/04, p.A1)
2004 Dec 30, Artie Shaw (94), jazz
clarinetist, died in Thousand Oaks, Ca. His 8 wives included film stars
Lana Turner and Ava Gardner. In 1952 he authored the autobiography:
“The Trouble with Cinderella: An Outline of Identity.”
(SFC, 12/31/04, p.A1)
2005 Feb 8, Jimmy Smith (b.1928),
reigning “Emperor of the Hammond Organ,” died in Scottsdale, Az. Smith
established the Hammond B-3 organ as a legitimate jazz instrument.
(SFC, 2/10/04, p.B7)
2005 Apr 28, Percy Heath (81),
bassist and last surviving member of the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ),
died in Southampton, NY.
(SFC, 4/30/05, p.B4)
2005 Jul 4, John Stubblefield
(60), tenor saxophonist, died in NYC.
(SFC, 7/12/05, p.B5)
2005 Jul 21, Long John Baldry
(64), British blues musician, died in Canada.
(WSJ, 7/25/05, p.A1)
2005 Jul 29, Al McKibbon (86),
jazz bassist, died in LA. He brought a masterly fusion of jazz and
Latin music to the George Shearing quintet and other groups in the
1940s and '50s.
(AP, 8/6/05)
2005 The US State Dept. began a
program called Rhythm Road, which sent musicians to foreign countries
as a form of cultural diplomacy.
(Econ, 4/18/09, p.32)
2006 Aug 23, Maynard Ferguson
(78), Canadian-born jazz trumpeter, died in Ventura, Ca.
(SFC, 8/25/06, p.B11)
2006 Sep 2, Walter Redman (75),
aka Dewey Redman, tenor saxophonist and bandleader, died in NYC. He cut
his 1st album in SF in 1966.
(SFC, 9/7/06, p.B7)
2006 Ashley Kahn authored “The
House that Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records.”
(Econ, 9/30/06, p.92 )
2007 Jan 10, The US Postal Service
honored Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996), the First Lady of Song, with her
own postage stamp.
(AP, 1/10/07)(SFC, 1/10/07, p.E8)
2007 Jan 12, Alice Coltrane
(b.1937), pianist, composer and wife of legendary saxophonist John
Coltrane (d.1967), died in Los Angeles.
(SFC, 1/16/07, p.B5)
2007 Feb 1, Whitney Balliett (80),
jazz chronicler writer for the New Yorker magazine, died.
(WSJ, 2/6/07, p.D5)
2007 Apr 10, Dakota Staton
(b.1930), jazz singer, died in NYC. She was well known for her 1957
album “The Late, Late Show.”
(SFC, 4/21/07, p.B5)
2007 Jul 5, George Melly, English
jazzman and writer, died in London of lung cancer.
(Econ, 7/14/07,
p.92)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Melly)
2007 Sep 11, Keyboardist Joe
Zawinul (75), who played with Miles Davis and helped shape jazz fusion
with his band Weather Report, died in his native city of Vienna.
(Reuters, 9/11/07)
2007 Dec 14, Frank Morgan (73),
jazz alto saxophonist, died at his home in Minneapolis. In the 1960s he
played in the storied “warden’s band” at San Quentin State Prison with
other prominent musician-inmates that included Art Pepper and Dupree
Bolton. In 1991 he won the Downbeat Critics Poll for Best Alto
Saxophonist.
(SFC, 12/19/07, p.B5)
2007 Bob Blumenthal authored
“Jazz: An Introduction to the History and Legends Behind America’s
Music.”
(WSJ, 9/27/08, p.W10)
2008 Apr 27, Hal Stein, veteran
jazz saxophonist and teacher, died at his home in Oakland, Ca. His
career spanned the swing and bebop eras of jazz.
(SFC, 5/6/08, p.B5)
2008 May 15, Bob Florence
(b.1932), a Grammy Award sinning bandleader, died in LA. His 18-piece
Bob Florence Limited Edition band was considered one of the most
musically challenging bands in jazz.
(SFC, 5/27/08, p.B3)
2008 May 24, Jimmy McGriff
(b.1936), blues organist, died in New Jersey.
(SFC, 5/29/08, p.B5)
2008 May 26, Earle H. Hagen
(b.1919), composer, died at his home in Rancho Mirage, Ca. He co-wrote
the jazz classic "Harlem Nocturne" (1939) and composed memorable themes
for "The Andy Griffith Show," "I Spy," "The Mod Squad" and other TV
shows.
(AP, 5/28/08)
2008 Aug 19, LeRoi Moore (46),
versatile saxophonist, died of complications from injuries he suffered
in an all-terrain vehicle accident. His signature staccato fused jazz
and funk overtones onto the eclectic sound of the Dave Matthews Band.
(AP, 8/20/08)
2008 Oct 11, William Claxton
(b.1927), music and fashion photographer, died in Los Angeles. He had
photographed his wife in 1964 in the Rudi Gernreich designed topless
bathing suit and achieved recognition for his photos of jazz stars.
(SFC, 10/14/08, p.B5)
2008 Oct 24, Merl Saunders
(b.1934), jazz pianist, died in SF. He was best known as co-captain of
guitarist Jerry Garcia’s solo excursions outside the Grateful Dead.
(SFC, 10/25/08, p.B1)
2008 Dec 29, Freddie Hubbard (70),
Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter, died.
(WSJ, 12/30/08,
p.A1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Hubbard)
2008 Ted Gioia authored Delta
Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized
American Music.
(Econ, 10/18/08, p.97)
2009 Feb 7, Blossom Dearie
(b.1926), jazz pianist, singer and songwriter, died in NYC.
(SFC, 2/11/09, p.B7)
2009 Feb 9, In Cuba Orlando
"Cachaito" Lopez (b.1933), considered the "heartbeat" of Cuba's
legendary Buena Vista Social Club for his internationally acclaimed
bass playing, died of complications from prostate surgery.
(AP, 2/9/09)
2009 Feb 14, Louie Bellson
(b.1924), big band and jazz drummer, died. The master musician
performed with such greats as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny
Goodman and his late wife, Pearl Bailey.
(AP, 2/17/09)
2009 Apr 2, Bud Shank (b.1926),
innovative jazz musician, died. He played the 33-second flute solo on
the 1965 hit “California Dreamin,” by the Mamas and Papas.
(SFC, 4/10/09, p.B5)
2009 Aug 29, Chris Connor (b.1927
as Mary Loutsenhizer), jazz singer of the 1950s and 1960s, died. Her 2
charted hits included “I Miss You” (1956) and “Trust in Me” (1957).
(SFC, 9/1/09, p.C5)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Jazz
End of file