Home Archive by category "Birthdays" (Page 3)

Category: Birthdays

Today in Music – 1921 – Monk was Born!

So on this date “Monk” was born. Yes, William “Monk” Montgomery the older brother of Wes, was born on October 10,1921. What’s that I hear, you say, you thought I meant the other Monk – yeah, Thelonious Monk was born on this date, too, only a few years earlier in 1917! Anyway, here’s some background on Monk Montgomery! From Wikipedia: William Howard “Monk” Montgomery (October 10, 1921 – May 20, 1982) was an American jazz bassist…..   Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Montgomery was the older brother of guitarist Wes Montgomery; younger brother, Buddy Montgomery played vibraphone and piano. The brothers released a number of albums together as the Montgomery Brothers.[1] He also had an…

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Today in Music – 1974 – Happy Birthday – jazz/blues organist Mauri Sanchis – Part 1!

As I looked down a list of musicians  that were born on this date there were no names that I recognized. So I just picked one that was interesting to investigate, the pick was Mauri Sanchis born in Alcoy, Spain on this date in 1974 (a quick geography lesson for the geography geek in me.) Alcoy (Spanish: [alˈkoi]) or Alcoi (Valencian: [aɫˈkɔj]) is a city and municipality located in the province of Alicante, Spain. The Serpisriver crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoi. The local authority reported 61,417 residents in 2010,[1] of whom 5,334 were of non-Spanish origin.[2] Read More  Back to Mauri Sanchis at All About Jazz I discovered that Mauri has played or recorded…

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Today in Music – 1940 – Jazz Organist Larry Young was born!

On this day in 1940 jazz organist Larry Young was born. I was unfamiliar with Young’s music until recently. That may have been a result of his early passing. Young died in 1978, after entering the hospital with stomach pains, he died from untreated pneumonia However, after reading some of the information below I did hear his music back in the day, when he played on Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and also playing  in Tony Williams’ Lifetime .  From Wikipedia: Larry Young (also known as Khalid Yasin (Abdul Aziz) (October 7, 1940 in Newark, New Jersey—March 30, 1978 in New York City) was an American jazz organist…

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Today in Music – 1966 – Jazz Guitarist Mark Whitfield is born!!

Today as a scrolled down the names of the jazz musicians who were born of October 6th, among the many names that I didn’t recognize was Mark Whitfield. Since he was holding a guitar I figured he was well worth checking out and boy am I glad I did! Here’s some background on Mark….from Wikipedia: Mark Whitfield (born 6 October 1966 in Lindenhurst, New York) is an American hard bop and soul-jazz guitarist born in Lindenhurst, New York, probably better known for his recordings as bandleader for both the Verve and Warner Bros. Recordsrecord labels. He has worked with Jack McDuff, Jimmy Smith, Courtney Pine and Nicholas Payton, Chris Botti, among others.[1] Mark Whitfield graduated from Boston’s Berklee College of Music,…

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Today in Music – 1950s style – Two Blues Greats! Stevie Ray and Keb’ Mo’

OK everybody all together now – whose birthday is it today – what’s that you say?? Keb’ Mo’?? Well, you are correct. He was born in 1951 (a familiar year) but does that look like  Keb’ Mo’, at the top of this post? No it does not! This is Keb’ Mo’, Of  course the other blues man who was born on this day, but in 1954, is one of the best blues rock musicians, as opposed to the acoustic blues of  Keb’ Mo’, and one of my favorites Stevie Ray Vaughan….from Wikipedia…. Stephen Ray Vaughan was born on October 3, 1954, at Methodist…

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Today in Music – 1924 – Jazz Pianist Bud Powell was born!

  On this date in 1924 “Bud” Powell was born. I wrote the other day about pianist Benny Green whose style has been compared to Bud Powell, but I don’t know that much about Bud. I image that the reason is because he died 1966. Additionally, he spent the years between 1958 and 1963 in Paris. In 1963, he returned to the US, and on July 31, 1966, he died of tuberculosis, malnutrition, and alcoholism. Some background from Wikipedia: Earl Rudolph “Bud” Powell (September 27, 1924 – July 31, 1966) was a jazz pianist who was born and raised in Harlem, New…

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Today in Music – 1930 – “Saxophone Colossus” Sonny Rollins is born!!

  So while today is a sad day for the rock world, losing Keith Moon, it is a happy day for the jazz world, because on this day in 1930 Sonny Rollins, the “Saxophone Colossus” was born! From his biography page at his website: Theodore Walter Rollins was born on September 7, 1930 in New York City. He grew up in Harlem not far from the Savoy Ballroom, the Apollo Theatre, and the doorstep of his idol, Coleman Hawkins. After early discovery of Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong, he started out on alto saxophone, inspired by Louis Jordan. At the…

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Today in Music – Happy 80th Birthday, Wayne Shorter (Aug 25, 1933)

So you can probably count on you fingers how many musicians are still performing beyond the age of 80. Two that I can think of off the top of my head are  B.B. King and Tony Bennett, and when Wayne Shorter, plays the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday of this week, he will have join that group! Wayne was born in Newark, New Jersey on August 25,1933. For some unknown reason, I know Wayne’s name, but have not really listened to any of his best albums. I know I have heard his sax before, I have some Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers,…

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