People, Locations, Episodes

Dizzy Gillespie, Jazz Musician born

On this date in 1917, Dizzy Gillespie was born. He was an African American jazz trumpeter and band leader.

Born in Cheraw, SC, he began as a self-taught player. His natural gifts won him a scholarship at the Laurinburg Institute, where he studied for three years before moving to Philadelphia in 1935. He first recorded with Teddy Hill’s band in New York, as a replacement in Hill’s group. In 1939, he joined the Cab Calloway band and during its travels first encountered Charlie Parker in Kansas City.

Nesuhi Ertegun, Music Producer born.

*Nesuhi Ertegun was born on November 26, 1917. He was a white Turkish-American record producer and Atlantic Records and WEA International executive. Born in Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire, Nesuhi and his family moved to Washington, DC, in 1935 when their father was appointed the Turkish Ambassador to the United States that year. From an […]

Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson, Blues Musician born

Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson was born on this date in 1917. He was an African American blues musician.

Elmore James, Electric Guitarist born

*Elmore James was born on this date in 1918. He was an African American blues guitarist and singer.

Without question, James was the most influential slide guitarist of the postwar period. He was born in Canton, MS., and was the son of Leola Brooks, later given the surname of his stepfather, Joe Willie James. He got into music at an early age, learning to play bottleneck on a homemade instrument made out of a broom handle and lard can.

Ella Fitzgerald, Jazz Singer born

This date in 1918 marks the birth of Ella Fitzgerald. She was an African American jazz singer from Newport News, Virginia.

Considered one of the greatest singers in jazz history, Fitzgerald moved as a child with her mother and her stepfather to Yonkers, New York. As a teenager, she began winning amateur talent contests at the Harlem Opera House and its nearby competitor, the Apollo Theater. This recognition led to an invitation to sing with noted drummer and band leader Chick Webb at the Savoy Ballroom. Upon Webb’s death in 1939, Fitzgerald became leader of the band.

Eddie Jefferson, Singer born

*On this date in 1918 Eddie Jefferson was born. He was an African American jazz & blues singer.

Arnett Cobb, Saxophonist born

*On this date in 1918, Arnett Cobb was born. He was an African American jazz tenor saxophonist.

Ike Quebec, Saxophonist and Talent Scout born

*Ike Quebec was born on this date in 1918. He was a Black jazz tenor saxophonist, arranger, and talent scout. Quebec was born in Newark, New Jersey. An accomplished dancer and pianist, he switched to tenor sax as his primary instrument in his early twenties. His recording career started in 1940 with the Barons of Rhythm. He […]

Gerald Wilson, Musician, and Bandleader born

*Gerald Wilson was born on this date in 1918. He was an African American trumpeter, arranger, band leader and educator.

Joseph Thompson, Folk Musician born

*Joseph Thompson was born on December 9, 1918. He was a Black folk music old-time fiddle player and one of the last musicians to carry on the Black string band tradition. Joseph Aquiler Thompson was born in Orange County, North Carolina. His father, John, a fiddler, and Uncle Walter, a banjo player, performed at local […]

Joe Williams, Singer born

*Joe Williams was born on this date in 1918. He was a Black jazz singer with big bands and with his combos and sometimes worked as an actor.   Joseph Goreed was born in Cordele, Georgia, the son of Willie Goreed and Anne Beatrice Gilbert. When he was three, his mother and grandmother took him to Chicago. He grew up on […]

Professor Longhair, New Orleans Musician born

Professor Longhair was born this date 1918. He was an African American blues and jazz musician.

Born Henry Roeland Byrd in Bogalusa, Louisiana, he lived in New Orleans from the age of two onward. As a child, he learned how to play on an old piano that had been left in an alley. He seriously began to master the instrument while working at a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in 1937. After a stint in the service during World War II, he returned to New Orleans and began playing at clubs like the Caledonia Bar just outside the French Quarter.

George Treadwell, Musician, and Band Manager born

*George Treadwell was born on this date in 1918. He was a Black jazz trumpeter, songwriter, and band manager. George McKinley Treadwell was from New Rochelle, New York. He played in the house band in Harlem in 1941–1942, then worked with Benny Carter in 1942 in Florida. Following stints with Ace Harris’ Sunset Royals and Tiny Bradshaw, […]

David Bartholomew, Musician born

*David Bartholomew was born on this date in 1918. He was a Black musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. David Louis Bartholomew was born in Edgard, Louisiana, to Mary and Louis Bartholomew. He learned to play his father’s preferred instrument, the tuba and then took up the trumpet, which Peter Davis taught him, who had also tutored Louis Armstrong. Around 1933, Bartholomew […]

Herbie Nichols, Pianist, and Composer born

*Herbie Nichols was born on this date in 1919. He was a Black jazz pianist and composer.   Herbert Horatio Nichols was born in San Juan Hill, Manhattan, New York City, to parents from St. Kitts and Trinidad and grew up in Harlem. During much of his life, he took work as a Dixieland musician while working on the more adventurous kind of jazz he preferred. He […]