September 28, 1991 Miles Dewey Davis III, jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer, died. Davis was born May 26, 1926 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 […]
Tag Archives | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
September 26th in African American History – Bessie Smith
September 26, 1937 Bessie Smith, blues singer, died. Smith was born on April 15, 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1912, she was hired as a dancer with the Moses Stokes troupe which included Ma Rainey. By the early 1920s, Smith had starred with Sidney Bechet in “How Come?,” a musical that made its way to […]
September 20th in African American History – Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (Jelly Roll Morton)
September 20, 1885 Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (Jelly Roll Morton), ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader and composer, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. The date of his birth is not confirmed because no birth certificate has ever been found, but it is generally believed to be this date. At the age of 14, Morton began playing […]
September 19th in African American History – Earl Cyril Palmer
September 19, 2008 Earl Cyril Palmer, hall of fame drummer, died. Palmer was born October 25, 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He started his entertainment career at the age of five as a tap dancer on the black vaudeville circuit. He toured the country extensively with the Darktown Scandals Review. Palmer served in Europe for […]
September 4th in African American History – Beyoncé Giselle Knowles
September 4, 1981 Beyoncé Giselle Knowles, singer, songwriter, actress and model, was born in Houston, Texas. At the age of eight, Knowles, along with LaTavia Robinson and Kelly Rowland, began performing with the group Girl’s Tyme. In 1993, the group changed its name to Destiny’s Child and in 1998 they released their self-titled debut album. […]
July 18th in African American History – Martha Rose Reeves
July 18, 1941 Martha Rose Reeves, R&B singer and former politician, was born in Eufaula, Alabama but raised in Detroit, Michigan. In 1957, Reeves formed a vocal group called the Del-Phis with three other female teenagers and they recorded one single, “I’ll Let You Know”, in 1961. In 1962, the group, minus one member, signed […]
July 6th in African American History – Harvey Fuqua
July 6, 2010 Harvey Fuqua, singer, songwriter, record producer, and executive, died. Fuqua was born July 27, 1929 in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1951, he formed a vocal group called the Crazy Sounds. Later they moved to Cleveland, Ohio and were renamed The Moonglows. The group recorded their first single in 1953 and their 1954 single […]