People, Locations, Episodes

Nina Simone, Vocalist, Pianist, and Activist born

*Nina Simone was born on this date in 1933. She was an African American vocalist.

Her birth name was Eunice Kathleen Waymon and she is one of eight children from Tryon, North Carolina. Her musical ability early on was demonstrated in the local Tryon church where she played the piano and sang with her sisters in a choir. In 1943 she gave her first piano recital and experienced her first bout with racism as her parents were forced to move out of the front row so that several whites could be “properly” seated.

Club DeLisa, (Chicago) Opens

*The Club DeLisa opening in 1933 is celebrated on this date.  Owned by white-American, Italians, the four DeLisa brothers, this was an African-American-themed nightclub and music venue in Chicago, Illinois.   Located at 5521 South State Street (State Street and Garfield Avenue, on the South Side), it was possibly the most prestigious venue in the city, together with the Regal Theater and […]

Quincy Jones, Composer, Musician, and Producer born

*On this date in 1933, Quincy Jones was born. He is a Black musician, composer, producer, and arranger.

James Brown, Soul Singer born

On this date in 1933, James Brown was born. He was an African American singer, producer, and entertainer.

Born in Barnwell, S.C., Brown was raised in poverty 40 miles away in Augusta, GA. As a child, he picked cotton, danced for spare change, and shined shoes. At 16, he was caught for shoplifting, convicted, and landed in reform school for three years. While there he met Bobby Byrd, leader of a gospel group that performed at the prison. After his release, Brown tried his hand at semi-pro boxing and baseball. A career-ending leg injury inspired him to pursue music full time.

The Apollo Theater Opens

*This date celebrates the opening of The Apollo Theater in 1933.

Sonny Simmons, Musician born

*Sonny Simmons was born on this date in 1933.  He was a Black jazz musician.   Huey “Sonny” Simmons was born on Sicily Island, Louisiana. He grew up in Oakland, California, where he began playing the English horn (Simmons and Vinny Golia are among the few musicians to play the instrument in a jazz context). At […]

Wayne Shorter, Jazz Musician born

*Wayne Shorter was born on this date in 1933.  He was a Black jazz saxophonist and composer.   Wayne Shorter was born in Newark, New Jersey, and attended Newark Arts High School; he graduated in 1952. He loved music, being encouraged by his father to take up the clarinet as a teenager; his older brother Alan played alto saxophone before switching to the trumpet in college. […]

Steve McCall, Musician Born.

*Steve McCall was born on this date in 1933. He was a Black jazz drummer. McCall was born in Chicago, Illinois. As a young child, he “experienced a musical epiphany” when he played a drum in Chicago’s annual Bud Billiken Parade. As a teenager, McCall attended Englewood High School in Chicago and studied music theory, Latin percussion, and […]

Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick, Activist, and Musician born

*The birth of Frederick Douglass Kirkpatrick is celebrated on this date in 1933.  He was a Black Folk musician, activist, and minister. Named after the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, Kirkpatrick was born in Haynesville, northern Louisiana. His father, John L. Kirkpatrick, was a minister, and his mother died young. He had four sisters and a brother who […]

Lou Rawls, Singer born

Louis Rawls was born on this date in 1933. He was an African American singer, entertainer, and education activist.

Born in Chicago, Louis Allen Rawls was raised on the South Side of the city by his grandmother. He was a member of his Baptist church choir when his was seven. As a teenager, his singing expanded with trips to the Regal Theater to see Billy Eckstine, Arthur Prysock, and Joe Williams. A high school classmate of Sam Cooke, Rawls sang with Cooke in the Teenage Kings of Harmony, a 1950s gospel group.

Manu Dibango, Musician born

*Manu Dibango was born on this date in 1933.  He was a Black African musician and songwriter.   Emmanuel “Manu” Dibango was born in Douala, Cameroon. His father, Michel Manfred N’Djoké Dibango, was a civil servant and son of a farmer; he met his wife traveling by pirogue to her residence, Douala.   Emmanuel’s mother was a […]

Walter Booker, Bassist, and Teacher born

Walter Booker was born on this date in 1933. He was an African American musician, music administrator, and teacher.

Frank Morgan, Saxophonist born

*Frank Morgan was born on this date in 1933. He was an African American musician.

Charlie Pride, Country Music Singer born

*Charley Pride was born on this date in 1934. He was a Black country music singer, musician, and business owner. Charley Frank Pride was born in Sledge, Mississippi, one of 11 children of poor sharecroppers, eight boys, and three girls were in the family. When Pride was 14, his mother purchased him his first guitar, […]

The Golden Gate Gospel Quartet, are Formed

*This date celebrates the formation of the Golden Gate Quartet in 1934. They were one of the early Gospel singing groups in Black America.