People, Locations, Episodes

Albert Ayler, Jazz Musician born

Albert Ayler, an African American jazz musician, was born on this date in 1936.

He was born in Cleveland, and raised in a musical home. His father, Edward Ayler, was a saxophonist, violinist, and singer, and his brother, Donald, was a trumpeter who worked with him after the saxophonists became a professional. After starting with alto sax at age seven, Ayler studied at the Academy of Music in Cleveland for seven years, working with R&B bands. A stint in the U.S. Army (1958-’61) took him to Europe, where he returned in 1962, taking residence in Sweden.

Lucila Reyes, Afro Peruvian Singer born.

*Lucila Reyes was born on this date in 1936. She was an Afro Peruvian singer and personality. Born into a low-income family in Lima, Lucila J. Sarsines Reyes was one of sixteen children. Her father, Tobias Sarsines, died after she turned six months old. Reyes spent much of her childhood living away from her immediate family. She […]

Billy Higgins, Drummer born

Billy Higgins was born on this date in 193 in Los Angeles. He was an African American Jazz drummer.

He began his career drumming in rock and R&B bands with Bo Diddley and Amos Milburn. His earliest jazz gigs were with Don Cherry, James Clay’s Jazz Messiahs, and with Dexter Gordon. In the mid-1950s, Higgins began rehearsing with Ornette Coleman; his first recordings were with Coleman in 1958. He also held sessions with Red Mitchell.

Sathima Benjamin, Vocalist born

*Sathima Bea Benjamin was born on this date in 1936. She was a Black South African vocalist and composer. Beatrice Bertha Benjamin was born in Claremont, Cape Town, South Africa. Her father, Edward Benjamin, was from the island of St. Helena off the coast of West Africa, and her mother, Evelyn Henry, had roots in […]

Don Cherry, Jazz Artist born

This date marks the birth of Don Cherry in 1936. He was an African American musician.

Donald Eugene Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, and raised in Los Angeles. He started on trumpet in junior high school and began working with Ornette Coleman in 1956. The Coleman quartet moved to New York City in 1959, creating controversy and making revolutionary albums for Atlantic until it disbanded in late 1961. Shortly thereafter, Cherry worked with a wide array of musicians in this country and Europe: John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Steve Lacy, George Russell, and Albert Ayler.

James DePreist, Classical Musician born

*James DePreist was born on this date in 1936. He is an African American performer, composer, arranger, and conductor of music and poet.

Grace Bumbry, Opera Singer born

This date celebrates the birth of Grace Bumbry, an African American opera singer, in 1937.

She was born Grace Ann Bumbry in St. Louis, Missouri. She studied music at Boston University, Northwestern University, and the Music Academy of the West. She has has performed as both a soprano and a mezzo-soprano. While at Northwestern she became the student and protégé of Lotte Lehmann, a famous German-born opera diva.

Mickey Stevenson, Lyricist born

*”Mickey” Stevenson was born on this date in 1937. He is a Black songwriter and former record producer. He was born William Stevenson in Detroit, MI.  His mother was a singer and entertainer who worked with a big orchestra. When he was 7, she wanted me and my brothers to perform for an amateur show […]

Shirley Bassey, Singer born

*Shirley Bassey was born on this date in 1937. She is a Black British singer.

Allen Toussaint, Musician, and Composer born

*Allen Toussaint was born on this date in 1937. He was an African American singer, musician and composer.

From New Orleans, LA Allen Richard Toussaint was drawn to the piano as early as the age of 6, after his aunt sent an old upright to his family’s house for his sister to study on. He quickly made sense of the instrument and began to experiment with everything from Ray Charles to Liberace.

Roberta Flack, Singer born

*Roberta Flack was born this date in 1937. She is an African American singer and educator.

Nancy Wilson, Vocalist born

*Nancy Wilson was born on this date in 1937. She was an African American entertainer.

Joe Henderson, Saxophonist born

On this date in 1937, Joe Henderson was born. He was an African American jazz saxophonist.

From Lima, Ohio, Henderson’s musical career started when he was a student at Kentucky State College and Wayne University in Detroit. After a two-year military stint from 1960 to 1962, he worked with Jack McDuff and Kenny Dorham before signing with Blue Note in 1963. There, he joined Horace Silver’s quintet in 1964 for two years. Henderson’s output for the label included Page One, Our Thing, and Mode For Joe, and yielded his classic compositions Recorda Me and Inner Urge.

The International Sweethearts of Rhythm are Formed

*This date is International Jazz Day, and in 1937, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm band was celebrated.   They were an interracial women’s band in the United States. During the 1940s, the band featured some of the best female musicians of the day. They began at the Piney Woods Country Life School in Meridian, Mississippi, as the Swinging Rays […]

Ron Carter, Jazz Bassist born

*Ron Carter was born on this date in 1937. He is a Black jazz double bassist and Cellist.   Ronald Levin Carter was born in Ferndale, Michigan. He started to play cello at the age of 10. His first job as a jazz musician was playing bass with Jaki Byard and Chico Hamilton. His first […]