People, Locations, Episodes

The Debut Performance of the Afro-American Symphony Ocurrs

*The first performance of the Afro-American Symphony is celebrated on this date in 1931. Also known as Symphony No. 1. It is the first symphony written by an African American and performed for a United States audience by a leading orchestra. “Afro-American” and Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major is a 1930 composition by William Grant Still.  It […]

Ike Turner, Soul Singer born

Ike Turner was born on this date in 1931. He was an African American musician, bandleader, talent scout, producer, and song writer.

Nat Adderley, Jazz Musician born

Nat Adderley was born on this date in 1931. He was an African American musician.

Born in Tampa, FL., Nathaniel Adderley’s cornet was always a complementary accent to his brother Cannonball in their popular quintet. His career ran parallel to his older brother for many years. Adderley took up trumpet in 1946, switched to cornet in 1950, and spent time in the military, playing in an Army band during 1951-1953. In 1954, after the service he played with Lionel Hampton, and then made his recording debut in 1955.

Jimmy Lyons, Saxophone Player born

*Jimmy Lyons was born on this date in 1931.  He was a Black alto saxophone player.   Jimmy Lyons was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and raised there until he was 9 when his mother moved the family to Harlem and the Bronx. He obtained his first saxophone in the mid-1940s and took lessons from Buster Bailey.   After high school, Lyons was drafted into the United States […]

Thomas Carey, Vocalist born

*Thomas Carey was born on this date in 1931.  He was a Black operatic baritone vocalist.  Born in Bennettsville, South Carolina, he served in the United States military during the Korean War.   After leaving the service, he studied singing at the Henry Street Settlement and City College of New York. In 1970, he performed […]

Mirriam Makeba, Entertainer, and Activist born

*On this date in 1932, Mirriam Makeba was born. She was a South African singer, entertainer, and activist.

From Prospect, South Africa, throughout her life and singing career, Miriam Zenzi Makeba has used her voice to draw the attention of the world to the music of South Africa and to its oppressive system of racial separation, apartheid. For eight years she attended the Kilmerton Training School in Pretoria, where she sang in the school choir. During her teenage years, Makeba helped her mother with the domestic work she did for white families.

Iverson Minter, Blues Guitarist born

*Iverson Minter was born on this date in 1932.  Also known as Louisiana Red, he was a Black blues guitarist, harmonica player, and singer.  Born in Bessemer, Alabama, Minter lost his parents early in life; his mother died of pneumonia shortly after his birth, and the Ku Klux Klan lynched his father in 1937. Many relatives […]

Junior Parker, Blues Singer born

Junior Parker was born on this date in 1932. He was an African American Blues singer and musician.

Oliver Nelson, Jazz Composer and Bandleader born

*Oliver Nelson was born on this date in 1932. He was a Black jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. Oliver Edward Nelson was born into a musical family in St. Louis, Missouri. His brother was a saxophonist who played with Cootie Williams in the 1940s, and his sister sang and played piano. Nelson began […]

Joe Zawinul, Jazz Musician and Composer born

*Joe Zawinul was born on this date in 1932.  He was a white-Austrian musician and composer active in contemporary African American jazz music’s intersectionality with the world.   Josef Erich Zawinul was born in Vienna, Austria.  Classically trained at the Vienna Conservatoire, Zawinul played in broadcast and studio bands in Europe.   Zawinul stood at the bridge of so many […]

Gospel Music in America is Unionized

*On this date in 1932, the first Gospel Choral Union was organized. This was one of the first organizations for the preservation and development of Gospel music.

Duke Pearson Jr., Pianist, and Composer born

*Duke Pearson Jr. was born on this date in 1932. He was a Black jazz pianist and composer. Pearson was born Columbus Calvin Pearson Jr. in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents were Columbus Calvin and Emily Pearson. Before he was six, his mother started giving him piano lessons. He studied the instrument until he was twelve when he […]

Henry Lewis, Symphony Conductor born

Henry Lewis was born on this date in 1932. He was an African American double-bass player and orchestra conductor.

Lewis was born in Los Angeles, and from the age of five, he began studying piano. He later learned to play the clarinet as well as several string instruments. At the age of 16, he joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic, becoming the first black instrumentalist in a major orchestra. After six years as a double-bassist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, he played with and conducted the Seventh Army Symphony while serving in the United States Armed Forces (1955-1956).

Little Richard, Musician born

On this date in 1932, Little Richard was born. He was a Black musician, singer, and Rock & Roll Icon.

Born Richard Wayne Penniman, he was one of 12 children born to Charles “Bud” Penniman, a Seventh Day Adventist preacher who sold moonshine on the side. Richard grew up in Macon, Georgia. Music was all over. Street vendors and evangelists would sing, selling everything from vegetables to religion. The neighborhood sang spiritual songs as they worked. Several gospel singers influenced Richard.

Donald Byrd, Jazz Musician and Professor born

*Donald Byrd was born on this date in 1932. He was an African American musician and music educator.

From Detroit, MI., Donaldson Toussaint L’Ouverture Byrd II was the son of E. T. Byrd, was a Methodist minister. His music studies at Wayne State University were interrupted by two years in the Air Force. After serving his country, he received a bachelor’s degree from Wayne State and moved to New York. Here Byrd began his jazz career in earnest and received a master’s in music education from the Manhattan School of Music.