April 28, 2005 Percy Heath, jazz bassist, died. Heath was born April 30, 1923 in Wilmington, North Carolina but raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He started playing the violin and singing at the age of eight. Heath was drafted into the United States Army in 1944 and became a member of the Tuskegee Airmen. After World […]
Tag Archives | National Endowment for the Arts
Ella Jane Fitzgerald – April 25th in African American History
April 25, 1917 Ella Jane Fitzgerald, jazz and pop vocalist also known as the “First Lady of Song,” was born in Newport News, Virginia. Fitzgerald made her singing debut at the age of 17 at the Apollo Theater and won the first prize of $25.00. In 1935, she began singing with the Chick Webb Orchestra […]
Dexter Keith Gordon – April 25th in African American History
April 25, 1990 Dexter Keith Gordon, jazz tenor saxophonist and actor, died. Gordon was born February 27, 1923 in Los Angeles, California. He played the clarinet from the age of 13 before switching to the saxophone at 15. Between 1940 and 1943, Gordon was a member of the Lionel Hampton Band and in 1943 he […]
April 23rd in African American History – Melba Doretta Liston
April 23, 1999 Melba Doretta Liston, jazz trombonist, composer and arranger, died. Liston was born January 13, 1926 in Kansas City, Missouri but raised in Los Angeles, California. In 1943, she joined the big band led by Gerald Wilson and during the 1940s she played with Dexter Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, and Billie Holliday. […]
March 31st in African American History – John Lenwood “Jackie” McLean
March 31, 2006 John Lenwood “Jackie” McLean, jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator, died. McLean was born May 17, 1931 in New York City. During high school, he played in a band that included Kenny Drew, Sonny Rollins, and Andy Kirk, Jr. and at the age of 19 he played on Miles Davis’ “Dig” […]
March 29th in African American History – Joe Williams
March 29, 1999 Joe Williams, jazz singer, died. Williams was born Joseph Goreed on December 12, 1918 in Cordele, Georgia. His family moved to Chicago in 1922 and by his early teens he had taught himself to play the piano and formed his own gospel group. By 1939, Williams had started to tour with established […]
March 29th in African American History – John Aaron Lewis
March 29, 2001 John Aaron Lewis, jazz pianist, composer and the musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet, died. Lewis was born May 3, 1920 in LaGrange, Illinois but raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He began to learn the piano and classical music at the age of seven. In 1942, he graduated from the University […]