by Britt Ryan | Nov 3, 2020 | Today in Music History
Juilliard-trained bassist Henry Grimes, born in Philadelphia on this day in 1935, is known for one of the most intriguing comebacks in jazz history. After performing with such legends as Sonny Rollins, Benny Goodman, Monk and Mingus, he disappeared to California in...
by Britt Ryan | Nov 2, 2020 | Today in Music History
A jazz trumpeter who performed as a soloist in bands fronted by Rudy Vallee, Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman; backed up Bing Crosby and Billie Holiday; and fronted his own band — all before his death at age 33 from alcohol-fueled cirrhosis — Roland Bernard “Bunny”...
by Britt Ryan | Nov 2, 2020 | Today in Music History
Happy 94th birthday to jazz saxophone legend Lou Donaldson, born in Badin, North Carolina, on this day in 1926. “His distinctive blues-drenched alto has been a bopping force in jazz for more than six decades,” says the National Endowment for the Arts, which named him...
by Britt Ryan | Nov 2, 2020 | Today in Music History
A trailblazer vocalist and actress who was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award and the first to star in her own television show, Ethel Waters was born in Chester, PA, on this day in 1896. She rose from a difficult childhood to begin...
by Britt Ryan | Oct 30, 2020 | Today in Music History
Do you remember that mellow sax solo on Phoebe Snow’s 1975 hit “Poetry Man”? That’s our birthday man John Haley “Zoot” Sims, born in Inglewood, California, on this day in 1925 (his solo kicks in around the 2:30 mark). After serving as an Army corporal during World War...
by Britt Ryan | Oct 28, 2020 | Today in Music History
Whole lotta shakin’….is wrong?! On this day in 1957, Los Angeles police told Elvis Presley that he was not allowed to wiggle his hips on stage. To drive their point home, the local press also ran headlines saying The King would have to clean up his...
