September 30th: Today In Music History

OK. Okmulgee, Oklahoma, is on the Music History birthday map today because Oscar Pettiford, the legendary jazz double bassist, cellist and composer, was born on an Indian reservation there on this day in 1922. Considered the pioneer of the cello as a solo instrument...

September 29th: Today In Music History

Born in Ferriday, Louisiana, on this day in 1935, Jerry Lee Lewis is often remembered as “rock & roll’s first great wild man and one of the most influential pianists of the twentieth century.” Steve Allen introduces him as “jumpin’ and joltin’ Jerry Lee Lewis” in...

September 28th: Today In Music History

Ben E. King (aka Benjamin Earl Nelson, 1938–2015), born in Henderson, North Carolina, on this day in 1938, saw his iconic 1961 hit song made even more famous by another King — horror author Steven King, whose novella was adapted into a hit 1986 film. Here’s Ben E....

September 27th: Today In Music History

Miles Davis is said to have called him “the best there was of all the bebop piano players.” A protégé of Thelonius Monk and another jazz great who died too young, Bud Powell (1924-1966) was born on this day in Harlem. He is regarded as one of the most important...