February 4, 2001 James Louis “J. J.” Johnson, jazz trombonist, composer and arranger, died. Johnson was born January 22, 1924 in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the age of nine, he started studying the piano, but decided to play the trombone at the age of 14. In 1941, Johnson started his professional career.
March 14, 1933 Quincy Delight Jones, Jr., trumpeter, music conductor and arranger, record producer, and film composer, was born in Chicago, Illinois. In 1951, Jones won a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music, but abandoned his studies when he received an offer to play in the band of Lionel Hampton.
March 9, 1930 Ornette Coleman, jazz saxophonist, trumpeter and composer, was born in Fort Worth, Texas. Coleman began touring with rhythm and blues shows in 1949 and in 1958 led his first recording session, “Something Else!!!!: The Music of Ornette Coleman.”
February 22, 1922 Joe Wilder, jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader, was born in Colwyn, Pennsylvania. Wilder studied at the Mastbaum School of Music, but turned to jazz when he felt there was little opportunity for an African American classical musician.
February 6, 1927 Thomas S. McIntosh, jazz trombonist, composer and arranger, was born in Baltimore, Maryland. McIntosh played trombone in an army band and graduated from Juilliard in 1958.
January 22, 1924 James Louis “J.J.” Johnson, jazz trombonist, composer and arranger, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. At the age of nine he started studying the piano, but decided to play the trombone at the age of 14. In 1941, Johnson started his professional career. He played in Benny Carter’s orchestra from 1942 to 1945, […]
January 6, 1993 John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, jazz trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and composer, died. Gillespie was born October 21, 1917 in Cheraw, South Carolina. By the age of four, he had started to play the piano. He also taught himself to play the trombone and the trumpet. His first professional job was with the Frank […]