August 16, 2007 Maxwell Lemuel Roach, jazz percussionist, drummer and composer, died. Maxwell Roach was born January 10, 1924 in Newland, North Carolina. At the age of 10, Roach was playing drums in gospel bands and by 18 he was playing in jazz clubs. Roach’s most significant innovations came in the 1940s when he devised […]
"nea jazz master"
July 31st in African American History – Theodore Shaw “Teddy” Wilson
July 31, 1986 Theodore Shaw “Teddy” Wilson, jazz pianist, died. Wilson was born November 24, 1912 in Austin, Texas. He studied piano and violin at Tuskegee Institute. In 1935, Wilson joined the Benny Goodman Trio, becoming the first black musician to perform in public with a previously all-white group.
July 12th in African American History – Bennett Lester “Benny” Carter
July 12, 2003 Bennett Lester “Benny” Carter, jazz musician, composer, arranger and bandleader, died. Carter was born August 8, 1907 in New York City. Largely self-taught, by the age of 15 Carter was sitting in with some of New York’s top bands. In 1929, Carter formed this first big band and from 1931 to 1932 […]
Joe Henderson – June 30th in African American History
June 30, 2001 Joe Henderson, jazz tenor saxophonist, died. Henderson was born April 24, 1937 in Lima, Ohio. He was encouraged to study music at a young age and by 18 was studying at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and playing on the local jazz scene. After serving in the United States Army from […]
June 15th in African American History – Ella Jane Fitzgerald
June 15, 1996 Ella Jane Fitzgerald, jazz and pop vocalist also known as the “First Lady of Song,” died. Fitzgerald was born April 25, 1917 in Newport News, Virginia. She made her singing debut at the age of 17 at the Apollo Theater and won the first prize of $25. In 1935, she began singing […]
May 26th in African American History – Miles Dewey Davis III
May 26, 1926 Miles Dewey Davis III, jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer, was born in Alton, Illinois. By the age of 16, Davis was a member of the musical society and playing professionally. In 1944, he moved to New York City to study at the Juilliard School of Music. In 1945, he entered a recording […]
May 16th in African American History – Henry “Hank” Jones
May 16, 2010 Henry “Hank” Jones, jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer, died. Jones was born July 31, 1918 in Vicksburg, Mississippi but raised in Pontiac, Michigan. He studied piano at an early age and by the age of 13 was performing in Michigan and Ohio. In 1944, he moved to New York City and from […]