*’Buster’ Smith was born on this date in 1904. Also known as Professor Smith, he was a Black jazz alto saxophonist. Henry Franklin “Buster” Smith was born and raised in Alsdorf, Texas, a small town near the outskirts of Dallas. He earned the name “Buster” from his parents and was the third of five boys with no […]
learn more*Smalls Paradise is celebrated on this date in 1925. This was a jazz nightclub in Harlem, New York City. Entrepreneur Ed Smalls owned a small venue in Harlem, the Sugar Cane Club, from 1917 to 1925, which catered primarily to residents. When Smalls opened Smalls Paradise, he arranged a lavish gala for the club’s opening, which almost 1,500 people […]
learn more*The Oklahoma City Blue Devils are celebrated on this date in 1923. They were the premier Black Southwest territory jazz band in the 1920s. Originally called Billy King’s Road Show, the name Blue Devils came from the name of a gang of fence cutters operating during the early days of the American West. The personnel included some of the […]
learn more*The Café Bohemia is celebrated on this date in 1955. This jazz club was a site of many classic recordings of America’s original traditional music. It was at 15 Barrow Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. Its initial run lasted until 1960 and was revived in October 2019. The club was opened in 1955 by Jimmy […]
learn more*’Hot Lips’ Page was born on this date in 1908. He was a Black jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. Oran Thaddeus Page was born to a schoolteacher and musician mother in Dallas, Texas. He moved with his mother to Corsicana, where he began attending Corsicana High School and later Texas College while working in the oilfields. His earliest musical […]
learn more*The first appearance of the Canadian Jubilee Singers is celebrated on this date in 1878. The Canadian Jubilee Singers were a group of black singers and musicians. William and Sadie Carter organized the group. Inspired by the Fisk Jubilee Singers from Fisk University, their singers were almost all from the Hamilton area of Ontario, Canada. The original […]
learn more*Sam Rivers was born on this date in 1923. He was a Black jazz musician and composer. Samuel Carthorne Rivers was born in El Reno, Oklahoma, United States. His father was a gospel musician who had sung with the Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Silverstone Quartet, exposing Rivers to music from an early age. His grandfather was Marshall W. […]
learn more*’Red’ Garland was born on this date in 1923. He was a Black modern jazz pianist. Known for helping popularize the block chord style of playing in jazz piano. William McKinley ‘Red’ Garland Jr. was born in Dallas, Texas. He began his musical studies on the clarinet and alto saxophone but, in 1941, switched to the piano. […]
learn more*Monnette Sudler was born on this date in 1952. She was a Black jazz guitarist, band leader, and lyricist. She was born Monnette Goldman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Lea Goldman, married Truman W. Sudler in 1957. She grew up in the Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood of the city. Her first exposure to jazz was listening to her great-uncle […]
learn more*George Coleman was born on this date in 1935. He is a Black jazz saxophonist. George Edward Coleman was born in Memphis, Tennessee. His older brother, Lucian Adams, taught him how to play the alto saxophone in his teens. Among his schoolmates was Charles Lloyd. After working with Ray Charles and B.B. King in 1953, he switched to […]
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