People, Locations, Episodes

Lorraine Gordon, Jazz Music Advocate, born

*Lorraine Gordon was born on this date in 1922.  She was a white Jewish-American businesswoman and American jazz music advocate.  Born Lorraine Stein, she grew up in Newark, New Jersey. As a teenager, she was an ardent fan of jazz music.  In 1942 she married Alfred Lion, co-founder of Blue Note Records. In the 1940s, Gordon and Lion recorded the works of jazz artists such as […]

Illinois Jacquet, Jazz Musician born

Illinois Jacquet was born on this date in 1922. He was an African American tenor saxophonist.

Born Jean Baptiste Jacquet in Boussard, Louisiana, he grew up in Houston, Texas. There he played in a band with his older brother, Russell, and worked in several bands around town before moving to Los Angeles in 1941. In LA, he joined Lionel Hampton’s big band. Jacquet wrote his signature on Hampton’s big band, he played an incredible solo on Hampton’s “Flying Home.”

Milt Jackson, Detroit Jazz Musician born

Milt Jackson was born on this date in 1923. He was an African American jazz musician, the first and most influential vibes player of the modern jazz era.

He was born in Detroit. At age 16, Jackson began playing vibes or vibraphone professionally. He attended Michigan State University and joined Dizzy Gillespie’s sextet in 1945; he then worked with Gillespie’s big band and later returned to play vibes and piano in Gillespie’s sextet from 1950 to 1952. During this time, he freelanced with leading bop musicians in New York City and played in the Woody Herman band.

The Washingtonians Jazz Band is Formed

*The Washingtonians jazz band is celebrated on this date in 1923.  They grew out of a group led by banjoist Elmer Snowden in the early ‘20s. Later in the decade, it evolved into the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Snowden’s band included saxophonist Otto Hardwicke and trumpeter Arthur Whetsol. The group performed in Washington D.C. and Atlantic City before moving to New York in […]

Deborah Chessler, Lyricist born.

*The birth of Deborah Chessler Is celebrated on this date in 1923.  She was a white Jewish-American songwriter. Chessler grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. She dropped out of high school at 17 to get married. As a lyricist, her song ‘It’s Too Soon to Know’ was number one on the American rhythm and blues charts in November […]

Muriel Burrell Smith, Singer born

*Muriel Burrell Smith was born on this date in 1923. She was a Black singer. Smith was born in New York City. Her early life remains obscure. She appeared on the popular radio series Major Bowes’ Amateur Hour in 1937. After singing at a cocktail party in 1939, one of the guests, Elizabeth Westmoreland, arranged […]

Dexter Gordon, Jazz Saxophonist born

*Dexter Gordon was born on this date in 1923. He was an African American bop tenor saxophonist.

From Los Angeles, Calif. Dexter Keith Gordon played the clarinet and alto saxophone as a teenager, but the improvising of Lester Young inspired him to play the tenor saxophone exclusively.

Albert King, Blues Musician born

On this date Albert King was born in 1923. He was an African American blues musician who created a unique string-bending guitar style that has influenced three generations of musicians.

‘Red’ Garland, Jazz Pianist born.

*’Red’ Garland was born on this date in 1923. He was a Black modern jazz pianist. Known for helping popularize the block chord style of playing in jazz piano. William McKinley ‘Red’ Garland Jr. was born in Dallas, Texas. He began his musical studies on the clarinet and alto saxophone but, in 1941, switched to the piano. […]

Doris Akers, Gospel Composer, and Vocalist born

Doris Akers was born on this date in 1923. She was an African American Gospel composer and vocalist.

Born in Brookfield, Missouri, she she began her musical career at a young age. She was playing piano at age six, and her first song, “Keep the Fires Burning in Me,” was written when she was ten. While in school she formed her own moving to Los Angeles in the 1940s, she performed with the Sally Martin Singers and later organized her own gospel group, the Doris Akers Singers.

Erroll Garner, Pianist born

This date marks the birthday of Erroll Garner in 1923. He was an African American keyboard artist who played and composed by ear in the tradition of the founding fathers of jazz.

George Russell, Jazz Emissary born.

*George Russell was born on this date in 1923. He was a Black jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and theorist. George Allen Russell was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to a white father and a Black mother. Later, he was the adopted only child of a nurse and a chef on the B & O Railroad, Bessie and Joseph Russell. Young […]

Elmo Hope, Pianist born

*Elmo Hope was born on this date in 1923.  He was a Black jazz pianist, composer, and arranger.  He was born St. Elmo Sylvester Hope in New York City. His parents, Simon and Gertrude Hope, were immigrants from the Caribbean and had several children. Elmo began playing the piano at age seven; he had classical music lessons as a […]

Johnny Hartman, Vocalist born

Johnny Hartman, African American singer, was born on this date in 1923.

Philly Jo Jones, Jazz Musician born

Philly Joe Jones was born on this date in 1923. He was an African American musician.