People, Locations, Episodes

Valerie Capers, Musician, and Educator born

*Valerie Capers was born on this date in 1935.  She is an African American musician and educator.

Ramsey Lewis, Pianist and Composer born

*Ramsey Lewis was born on this date in 1935. He was a Black jazz composer, pianist, and radio personality. Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ramsey Lewis Sr. and Pauline Lewis. He began taking piano lessons at the age of four. As a young man, Lewis played with several local ensembles. Lewis would […]

Grant Green, Jazz Guitarist born

*Grant Green was born on this date in 1935. He was a Black jazz guitarist and composer. Grant Green was born to John and Martha Green in St. Louis, Missouri. His father was a laborer and a Saint Louis policeman at various times. Green first performed in a professional setting at the age of 13 […]

The Federal Music Project begins

*The beginning of the Federal Music Project (FMP) is celebrated on this date in 1935. FMP was part of the New Deal program, specifically Federal Project Number One, which the U.S. federal government funded. This program employed musicians, conductors, and composers during the Great Depression. During President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s term, he proposed increasing public […]

Roland Kirk, Musician born

*Roland Kirk was born on this date in 1935. He was an African American jazz musician.

Les McCann, Pianist and Composer born

*Les McCann was born on this date in 1935. He was a Black jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader. Leslie Coleman McCann was born in Lexington, Kentucky. He grew up in a musical family of four, a brother and three sisters, with most of McCann’s family singing in church choirs. His father was a jazz fan, and his […]

Johnny Mathis, Singer born

This date marks the birth of Johnny Mathis in 1935. He is an African American singer.

Henry Grimes, Jazz Bassist born

*Henry Grimes was born on this date in 1935. He is an African American musician and poet.

Club Harlem (Nightclub) Opens

*Club Harlem was a nightclub that opened on this date in 1935, at 32 North Kentucky Avenue in the Northside neighborhood of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Leroy “Pop” Williams founded it, and it became the city’s premier club for Black jazz performers. Like its Harlem counterpart, the Cotton Club, many of Club Harlem’s guests were […]

Esther Phillips, Singer born

sther Phillips was born on this date in 1935. She was an African American singer.

Born Esther Mae Jones in Galveston, Texas, she began singing in church as a young child. When her parents divorced, she divided her time between her father in Houston and her mother in the Watts area of Los Angeles. It was in Los Angeles, in 1949, that her sister entered her in a talent show at a nightclub belonging to blues man Johnny Otis. So impressed was Otis with the 13-year-old that he brought her into the studio for a recording session with Modern Records and added her to his live revue.

Martina Arroyo, Classical Vocalist born

*Martina Arroyo was born on this date in 1936. She is an Afro Puerto Rican operatic soprano and educator.  She was born in New York City, the younger of two children of Demetrio Arroyo, originally from Puerto Rico, and Lucille Washington, a native of Charleston, South Carolina. Her older brother is a Baptist minister. The family lived in Harlem near St. Nicholas Avenue and 111th Street. Her […]

Solomon Burke, Singer, and Lyricist born

*Solomon Burke was born on this date in 1936. He was a Black singer and songwriter.  From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his family was religious. He attended church services at the House of God for All People and sang gospel music throughout his childhood. His musical solo debut came with the church’s choir when he was nine, […]

Jayne Cortez, Poet, and Musician born

This date in 1936 marks the birth of Jayne Cortez. She is an African American poet, musician, activist, and entrepreneur.

Mary Frances Early, Music Professor born

*Mary Frances Early was born on this date in 1936. She was a Black Music teacher and professor. Mary Frances Early was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended Atlanta’s Turner High School and graduated from Clark College (later Clark Atlanta University) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education in 1957. She began her postgraduate work […]

O. C. Smith, Entertainer, and Minister born

O. C. Smith, an African American singer and minister, was born on this date in 1936.