by Britt Ryan | Sep 15, 2020 | Today in Music History
Born in Tampa, Florida, on this day in 1928, jazz alto saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley did not get his nickname from experience in military munitions or swimming pool hijinks; rather, legend has it that kids in high school called him “cannibal” due to his...
by Britt Ryan | Sep 14, 2020 | Today in Music History
Born in London on this day in 1983, soul singer Amy Winehouse blazed a brilliant creative trail before dying of alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011 — joining a list of memorable artists who died at age 27 that includes Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison and Cobain. A six-time...
by Britt Ryan | Sep 13, 2020 | Today in Music History
“The Velvet Fog” was a household name back in the day. Mel Torme, born in Chicago on this day in 1925, was “a supreme vocal technician whose style encompassed everything from intimate pop crooning to jet-propelled scat improvisations,” the New York Times said in...
by Britt Ryan | Sep 12, 2020 | Today in Music History
Legendary R&B singer passed away in 2003 at age 58. Born in Galveston, Texas, on this day in 1944, he is unofficially credited with setting the mood for a whole lot of loving with the impossibly deep-voiced “crushed-velvet pillow talk” he brought to such classics...
by Britt Ryan | Sep 11, 2020 | Today in Music History
“It had to be you,” Harry Connick Jr. Happy 53rd birthday to the singer, pianist, composer, actor and guy who cut 10 number-one jazz albums, more than any other artist in U.S. jazz chart history. Here he is playing piano at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2004. He also...
by Britt Ryan | Sep 10, 2020 | Today in Music History
Jimi Hendrix is not the only legendary performer who courted controversy with a unique rendition of America’s national anthem. Born in Lares, Puerto Rico, on this day in 1945, rising young pop singer Jose Feliciano was invited to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner”...
by Britt Ryan | Sep 9, 2020 | Today in Music History
The sounds of whistling and waves crashing on the shore accompany the great soul singer Otis Redding on his signature classic “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” Conceived while bobbing on rock promoter Bill Graham’s houseboat in Sausalito and completed with guitarist...
by Britt Ryan | Sep 8, 2020 | Today in Music History
A young fellow named Frank Sinatra made his earliest known recording at age 19 on this day in 1935, when he and his bandmates from the Hoboken Four (billed as “Singing & Dancing Fools) appeared on “Major Bowes Amateur Hour” radio program. He also volunteered to...
by Britt Ryan | Sep 7, 2020 | Today in Music History
Born in Lubbock, Texas, on this day in 1936, Buddy Holly only lived to age 22, but his influence lives on as a pioneering figure in the mid-1950s emergence of “rock and roll” music. Here, Buddy and his Crickets perform “That’ll Be the Day” on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in...
by Britt Ryan | Sep 6, 2020 | Today in Music History
Which one’s Pink? Well, Roger Waters certainly has been the most active member of Pink Floyd amid his ongoing kinda sorta feud with former bandmate David Gilmour. Waters split from the band in 1983 and has toured extensively as a solo act, playing “The Dark Side of...
