People, Locations, Episodes

Sammy Price, Jazz Pianist born

On this date in 1908, Sammy Price, an African American jazz pianist, was born.

Born in Honey Grove, TX, Samuel Blythe Price grew up in Waco, where he learned to play alto saxophone. Portia Pittman, the daughter of Booker T. Washington was his piano teacher in Dallas. His career began in 1925 when he joined the Alphone Trent Orchestra as a Charleston dancer. Soon after he was leading his own big band in Dallas. In the 1920s, he performed with Benny Long, Lem Johnson, Leonard Chadwick, and in 1927, he toured with the Let’s Go Show.

Ida Shepley, British Singer and Actress born

*Ida Shepley was born on this date in 1908. She was a Black British actress and singer. She was born Ida Mary Humphrey in Nantwich, U.K. Her father was Clement Humphrey, a Caribbean-born herbalist; her mother was Gladys May, born Worthington; she had a younger brother born in 1912. In 1919, her mother remarried John […]

Jabbo Smith, Trumpeter born

Jabbo Smith was born on Christmas Eve in 1908. He was an African American musician.

Jabbo Smith was born in Pembroke, Georgia. He was the son of a barber and a church organist. After his father died, Smith and his mother moved to Savannah when he was four. His mother found it increasingly difficult to care for him and at age six he was placed into the Jenkins Orphanage Home in Charleston, but she found employment in the Home in order to be near to him.

Jonah Jones, Trumpeter born

*On this date in 1908, Jonah Jones was born. He was an African American musician.

‘Chick’ Webb, Jazz Drummer born

*On this date in 1909 “Chick” Webb was born. He was an African American drummer and bandleader.

From Baltimore, William Henry “Chick” Webb first played in a local children’s orchestra, and in his teens played in bands working on local riverboats. Webb moved to New York in 1925 and performed with Edgar Dowell prior to forming his own group, which was the featured attraction at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem by 1927.

Ben Webster, Saxophonist born

*On this date in 1909, Ben Webster was born. He was an African- merican jazz arranger who played tenor saxophone and piano.

Lionel Hampton, Bandleader born

On this date in 1909, Lionel Hampton was born. He was an African American musician and composer. He was one of the first jazz vibraphonist and was a jazz giants since mid 1930.

From Louisville, Kentucky, Hampton was raised in Chicago.

Joe Thomas, Musician born

Joe Thomas, an African American musician, was born on this date in 1909.

Born in Uniontown, PA, he began his professional career in 1930 playing the alto saxophone with Horace Henderson. After a year, he changed to the tenor saxophone, the instrument with which he became famous after joining Stuff Smith in 1932. Jimmie Lunceford heard him play in Buffalo, N.Y., and asked Thomas to join his group. Thomas settled into the Lunceford band until Jimmie’s death in 1947.

Stuff Smith, Violinist born

*On this date in 1909, Stuff Smith was born. He was an African American jazz violinist.

The ‘Prez,’ Lester Young, Musician born

On this date in 1909, African American jazz saxophonist Lester Young was born.

Art Tatum, Jazz Pianist born

Art Tatum, an African American pianist, and one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, was born on this date in 1909, in Toledo, OH.

Tatum was blind in one eye and visually impaired in the other. A child prodigy with perfect pitch, Tatum learned to play by ear, picking out church hymns by the age of three, learning tunes from the radio, and copying piano-roll recordings his mother owned. He developed an incredibly fast playing style, without losing accuracy.

“Cozy” Cole, Jazz Drummer born

On this date in 1909, African American jazz drummer William Randolph “Cozy” Cole was born in East Orange, New Jersey.

The Clef Club, (NYC) Opens

*On November 10, 1909, we celebrate the Clef Club of New York City, Inc., founded in New York by James Reese Europe and his associates.   They were a fraternal and professional organization for the advancement of Black musicians and entertainers.  The Clef Club was a popular entertainment venue and society in Harlem, achieving its largest success in the 1910s. Incorporated […]

Ida Goodson, Musician, and Singer born

*Ida Goodson was born on this date in 1909. She was a Black classic female blues and jazz singer and pianist. Ida Goodson was born in Pensacola, Florida, the youngest of seven sisters, six of whom survived to adulthood. Her father and mother both played the piano. Her father was a deacon at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola. […]

Sidney Catlett, Musician born

*Sidney Catlett was born on this date in 1910. He was a Black jazz drummer.  Sidney “Big Sid” Catlett was born in Evansville, Indiana. At an early age, he was instructed in the rudiments of piano and drums under the tutelage of a music teacher hired by his mother. When he and his family relocated to Chicago, Catlett received his first drum […]