This Week in Jazz History: July 29 to August 4

July 29

• Pianist/composer John Lewis records The Wonderful World of Jazz, 1960.
• Guitarist Charlie Christian born 1916 in Dallas, TX.
• Arranger/saxophonist Don Redman born 1900 in Piedmont, W.VA.

July 30

• Saxophonist James Spaulding born 1937 in Indianapolis, IN.
• Drummer Vernel Fournier born 1928 in New Orleans, LA.
• Charles Mingus records solo piano album, 1963.

July 31

• Pianist Hank Jones born 1918 in Vicksburg, MS.
• Guitarist Kenny Burrell born 1931 in Detroit, MI.
• Clarinetist Artie Shaw’s Gramercy Five with trumpeter Roy Eldridge and pianist Dodo Marmorosa record “Scuttlebutt,” 1945.

August 1

• Pianist/vocalist Fats Waller records “Until The Real Thing Comes Along,” 1936.
• Glenn Miller records “In The Mood,” 1939.
• Drummer/composer Max Roach records “Percussion Bittersweet,” 1961.

August 2

• Tenor saxophonist Big Nick Nicholas born 1922 in Lansing, MI.
• Trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach record “Parisian Thoroughfare,” 1954.
• The Benny Goodman Quartet records “Smiles,” 1937.

August 3

• Alto saxophonist Greg Osby born 1960 in St. Louis, MO.
• Trumpeter/arranger Charlie Shavers born 1917 in New York, NY.
• Tenor saxophonist/composer Wayne Shorter records JuJu with pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman, and drummer Elvin Jones, 1964.

August 4

• Louis Armstrong born 1901 in New Orleans, LA.
• Guitarist Herb Ellis born 1921 in Farmersville, TX.
• Count Basie’s band records “Song of the Islands,” featuring trumpeter Buck Clayton and tenor saxophonist Lester Young, 1939.

Source: Smithsonian Jazz

Johnny Hodges - "Black Butterfly" (1969)

This Week in Jazz History: July 22 to July 28

July 22

• Pianist Al Haig born 1924 in Newark, NJ.
• Bassist Keter Betts born 1928 in Port Chester, NY.
• Duke Ellington records “Harlem Airshaft,” 1940.

July 23

• Trumpeter Emmett Berry born 1915 in Macon, GA.
• Pianist/composer Thelonious Monk records Criss-Cross, 1951.
• Soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy born 1934 in New York, NY.

July 24

• Pianist Billy Taylor born 1921 in Greenville, NC.
• Alto saxophonist Charles McPherson born 1939 in Joplin, MO.
• Duke Ellington records “Sepia Panorama,” 1940.

July 25

• Vocalist Annie Ross born 1930 in Surrey, England.
• Trumpeter/bandleader Don Ellis born 1934 in Los Angeles, CA.
• Saxophonist Johnny Hodges born 1907 in Cambridge, MA.

July 26

• Only live recording of A Love Supreme, 1965, at the Festival Mondial du Jazz Antibes.
• Drummer/bandleader Charlie Persip born 1929 in Morristown, NJ.
• Count Basie records “Alright, OK, You Win” with vocalist Joe Williams, 1955.

July 27

• Trumpeter Miles Davis records Quiet Nights with arranger Gil Evans, 1962.
• Tenor saxophonist Jean Toussaint born 1960 in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
• Helen Merrill records with Gil Evans (Hank Jones, Art Farmer, Oscar Pettiford), 1956.

July 28

• Trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis born 1965 in New Orleans, LA.
• Duke Ellington records “Sherman Shuffle,” 1942.
• Tenor saxophonist Don Byas records Free and Easy with trumpeter Charlie Shavers and pianist Clyde Hart, 1944.

Source: Smithsonian Jazz

This Week in Jazz History: July 15 to July 21

July 15

• Harlan Leonard’s Big Band records Tadd Dameron’s “A-La-Bridges,” 1940.
• Drummer Philly Joe Jones born 1923 in Philadelphia, PA.
• First Newport Jazz Festival opens, 1954.

July 16

• Drummer Bobby Previte born 1957 in Niagara Falls, NY.
• Saxophonist/bass clarinetist/flutist Eric Dolphy and trumpeter Booker Little record at the Five Spot, 1961.
• Vibraphonist Cal Tjader born 1925 in St. Louis, MO.

July 17

• Drummer Joe Morello born 1928 in Springfield, MA.
• Drummer Ben Riley born 1933 in Savannah, GA.
• Creole Pianist/composer Jelly Roll Morton records with The New Orleans Rhythm Kings, 1923, one of the very first integrated recording sessions.

July 18

• Trombonist Carl Fontana born 1928 in Monroe, LA.
• Charles Mingus records Tijuana Moods, 1957.
• Trumpeter Erskine Hawkins’ Big Band records “Tuxedo Junction,” 1939.

July 19

• Clarinetist Buster Bailey born 1902 in Memphis, TN.
• Trumpeter Bobby Bradford born 1934 in Cleveland, MS.
• Bud Freeman and his Summa Cum Laude Orchestra record “The Eel,” 1939.

July 20

• Arranger/saxophonist Ernie Wilkins born 1922 in St. Louis, MO.
• Bassist Peter Ind born 1928 in Uxbridge, England.
• Stan Kenton’s band records Bill Holman’s arrangement of “What’s New,” 1955.

July 21

• Vocalist Helen Merrill born 1930 in New York, NY.
• Louis Armstrong records “I’m Confessin’,” 1930.
• Benny Carter arranges and plays on an all-star session for Lionel Hampton, 1938, including trumpeter Harry James and drummer Jo Jones.

Source: Smithsonian Jazz

Warne Marsh & Lee Konitz - "Subconscious-lee" (1954)

This Week in Jazz History: July 8 to July 14

July 8

• Arranger Bill Challis born 1904 in Wilkes Barre, PA.
• Vocalist Billy Eckstine born 1914 in Pittsburgh, PA.
• Duke Ellington records At Newport, 1956 with the extended version of “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue,” 1956.

July 9

• Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie records “Things to Come,” 1946.
• Saxophonist Frank Wright born 1935 in Grenada, MS.
• Trumpeter Miles Davis records Blue Moods, with bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Elvin Jones, 1955.

July 10

• Trumpeter Cootie Williams born 1910 in Mobile, AL.
• Vocalist Ivie Anderson born 1905 in Gilroy, CA.
• Pianist/arranger/trumpeter Dick Cary born 1916 in Hartford, CT.

July 11

• Tenor saxophonist John Coltrane records The Stardust Session, with flugelhornist Wilbur Harden, 1958.
• McKinney’s Cotton Pickers record their first session, including “Crying and Sighing,” 1928.
• Blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson born 1897 in Couchman, TX.

July 12

• Tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves born 1920 in Boston, MA.
• Trumpeter Conte Candoli born 1927 in Mishawaka, IN.
• Drummer Roy Haynes records Vistalite with tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, 1976.

July 13

• Tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler born 1936 in Cleveland, OH.
• Art Tatum records “Willow Weep for Me,” 1949.
• Benny Goodman records “Body and Soul,” 1935.

July 14

• J.J. Johnson records Tangence, an orchestral album with Robert Farnon, in London, 1994
• Drummer Alan Dawson born 1929 in Marietta, PA.
• Pianist Billy Kyle born 1914 in Philadelphia, PA.

Source: Smithsonian Jazz

Jazz News: Coltrane's House in Trouble

John Coltrane's Long Island house, where he composed A Love Supreme, needs some major renovations. Check out the New York Times editorial...

A Love Still Supreme, But a House in Ruins

There is a ranch house out in the middle of Long Island, just south of the expressway in Dix Hills, where the saxophonist John Coltrane lived, started a family and composed “A Love Supreme” in the spare bedroom. More...

This Week in Jazz History: July 1 to July 7

July 1

• Drummer Leon ‘Ndugu’ Chancler born 1952 in Shreveport, LA.
• Drummer Rashied Ali born 1935 in Philadelphia, PA.
• Benny Goodman records “King Porter Stomp” featuring trumpeter Bunny Berigan, 1935.

July 2

• Drummer Gene Krupa’s band and Roy Eldridge record “Rockin’ Chair,” 1941.
• Thelonious Monk records “Misterioso” and “Evidence,” 1948.
• Pianist Ahmad Jamal born 1930 in Pittsburgh, PA.

July 3

• Trumpeter Johnny Coles born 1926 in Trenton, NJ.
• Art Tatum records “Too Marvelous for Words,” 1955.
• Trombonist Lawrence Brown born 1907 in Lawrence, KS.

July 4

• Louis Armstrong’s “birthday” 1900 in New Orleans, LA.
• Pianist/composer Randy Weston records Earth Birth with the Orchestre du Festival de Jazz de Montreal, 1995.
• Drummer Butch Miles born 1944 in Ironton, OH.

July 5

• Vocalist Billie Holiday records “Them There Eyes,” 1939.
• Saxophonist Arthur Blythe born 1940 in Los Angeles, CA.
• Vocalist Ella Fitzgerald records Carnegie Hall, ’73, 1973

July 6

• The bands of Duke Ellington and Count Basie record “For The First Time,” 1961.
• Benny Goodman records “Sing, Sing, Sing” featuring drummer Gene Krupa, 1937.
• Drummer/composer/bandleader Louie Bellson born 1924 in Rock Falls, IL.

July 7

• Guitarist Tiny Grimes born 1916 in Newport News, VA.
• Count Basie records “One O’Clock Jump,” 1937.
• Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley born 1930 in Eastman, GA.

Source: Smithsonian Jazz