People, Locations, Episodes

Wynona Carr, Singer born

Wynona Carr was born on this date in 1924. She was an African American gospel and R&B singer.

While growing up in Cleveland, she learned piano, voice, harmony, and arranging while attending the Cleveland Musical College. Two years later, she worked as a member of the famous Wings Over Jordan Choir and The Pilgrim Travelers. In 1949, her first song was released for Specialty records. It was “Each Day” and “Lord Jesus” with the Austin McCoy’s Combo. She was then listed as Sister Wynona Carr. She had a number of hits with Brother Joe May and the Sally Martin Singers.

Dinah Washington, Passionate Singer born

On this date in 1924, Dinah Washington was born. She was an African American blues singer noted for excellent voice control and her unique gospel-influenced delivery.

Kenny Dorham, Musician born

*On this date in 1924, “Kenny” Dorham was born.  He was a Black jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer.   McKinley Howard “Kenny” Dorham was born in Fairfield, TX.  He began playing trumpet in high school, attended Wiley College (Marshall, Texas), and was on a U.S. Army boxing team in 1942.  Dorham was one of the most active bebop trumpeters ever. He played in the big bands of Lionel Hampton, Billy Eckstine, Dizzy […]

Bobby Short, Cabaret Entertainer born

*Bobby Short was born on this date in 1924. He was an African American cabaret singer.

Bud Powell, Jazz Pianist born

Bud Powell, African American jazz pianist and composer, was born on this date in 1924.

Born Earl Powell in New York City, he was the son and grandson of musicians. He began studying European classical forms as a child. He helped to bring jazz piano into the modern age. Regarded as an originator of the modern jazz piano style, Powell was also active in developing the genre known as bebop.

Celia Cruz, Afro Cuban Singer born

*Celia Cruz was born on this date in 1924. She was an Afro Cuban entertainer.

She was one of fourteen children, born in the small village of Barrio Santra Suarez, Havana, Cuba. Cruz was drawn to music from an early age. Her first pair of shoes was a gift from a tourist for whom she sang. A young Cruz sang her younger siblings to sleep, in school productions and community get-togethers. Soon she was taken to cabarets and nightclubs by an aunt and was introduced to the world of professional music.

Linda Hopkins, Singer, and Actress born

*Linda Hopkins was born on this date in 1924. She was a Black actress and blues and gospel singer. Born Melinda Helen Matthews in New Orleans, Louisiana, the second child of the Reverend Fred Matthews, Sr. and Hazel Smith, Hopkins grew up in the section of New Orleans known by the locals as “Zion City.” […]

Patricia Walton, Jazz Ambassador born

*Patricia Walton was born on this date in 1925. She was an African American radio producer and administrator of jazz.

Patricia Edwards Walton was born in Kansas City, Missouri. She was one of four children with three sisters; Charlene, Pat (Editha), and Beatrice. After high school Walton worked a number of jobs in her hometown including the public library, drug store, and as a hotel switchboard operator. It was during this time that Walton came in contact the many jazz musicians passing through and playing in what was The City for jazz in the Midwest.

Johnny Bragg, Singer born

Johnny Bragg was born on this date in 1926. He was an African American singer.

He was born in Nashville, Tenn. As a teenager in 1943, Bragg was sentenced to six life terms in the Tennessee State Prison. The charge was rape, but he always denied the charges, and Governor Frank Clement commuted his sentence in 1959. He soon returned to prison on a parole violation and spent time in and out of incarceration until 1977. While serving time his only expressive outlet for his spirit, was singing. In 1953, a young governor Clement, heard Bragg’s vocal quintet the Prisonaires.

Wes Montgomery, Jazz Guitarist born

*This date marks Wes Montgomery’s birth in 1925. He was an African American jazz guitarist, probably the most influential postwar improviser on his instrument.

John Leslie “Wes” Montgomery was from Indianapolis, Indiana. He began playing guitar in his late teens and played in the Lionel Hampton band from 1948-50 and in Indianapolis during the 1950s, most often with his brothers Buddy (piano, vibes) and Monk (electric bass). In California in the late 1950s, he played with them in the Mastersounds and then as the Montgomery Brothers (1960-61).

Roy Haynes, Jazz Drummer born

*Roy Haynes was born on this date in 1925. He is a Black jazz drummer. Roy Owen Haynes was born in the Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were from Barbados. His younger brother, Michael E. Haynes, was a leader in the black community of Massachusetts. Haynes made his professional debut in 1942 in his native […]

Gene Ammons, Saxophonist born

Saxophonist Gene Ammons was born on this date in 1925. He was an African American musician.

Known by his nickname Jug, Ammons was the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons. The younger Ammons worked with the big band of Billy Eckstine from 1944 through 1947. At that time the band included most of the great boppers of the time (Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Fats Navarro and Art Blakey).

Jimmy Scott, Vocalist born

Jimmy Scott was born on this date in 1925. He was an African American singer.

Scott grew up in Cleveland, and was one of ten children. Scott’s mother was killed in an auto accident when he was 13, and the children were sent to foster care.

Kippie Moeketsi, South African Musician born

*”Kippie” Moeketsi was born on this date in 1925. He was a South African jazz musician, notable as an alto saxophonist. Born into a musical Johannesburg family, Jeremiah Morolong Moeketsi was the youngest of 11 brothers, and one sister who was a nurse, all but four of whom played an instrument. Growing up in George […]

Oscar Peterson, Pianist born

*Oscar Peterson was born on this date in 1925. He was a African Canadian musician and composer.