by Britt Ryan | Oct 23, 2020 | Today in Music History
Did B.B. King really call “Generic Blues” one of his favorite blues songs? The internet says so, so it must be true. Born in Downey, California, on this day in 1959, Alfred Matthew Yankovic, the Grammy-winning musical parody artist better known as Weird Al, found his...
by Britt Ryan | Oct 22, 2020 | Today in Music History
Today’s Music Birthday Quiz: Name a jazz keyboardist, composer, arranger, bandleader who also created orchestral arrangements for artists ranging from Dizzy Gillespie to Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson and Prince. Clare Fischer, born in Durand, Michigan, on this day...
by Britt Ryan | Oct 22, 2020 | Today in Music History
A boy who dreamed of becoming a jazz musician, and did it — with a bent horn, an infectious smile and a virtuosity that secured his place as one of history’s top jazz artists. That’s John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, born in Cheraw, South Carolina, on this day in 1917....
by Britt Ryan | Oct 20, 2020 | Today in Music History
Early jazz and ragtime legend Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, better known to the music world as Jelly Roll Morton, was reportedly born in New Orleans on this day in 1890 (but with no birth certificate, his birth date and year are uncertain). And while he did not invent...
by Britt Ryan | Oct 19, 2020 | Today in Music History
Born in New Orleans on this day in 1878, Alphonse Picou was there for the birth of jazz. Picou, whose death in 1961 reportedly mourned with a massive funeral procession, is perhaps best known for originating the clarinet part on the jazz standard “High Society,” an...
