1906 | Walter (Fats) Pichon, A traditional jazz pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. He was born in 1906, and was a well known cocktail piano player for many years at the Absinthe House. In the 1920's, he played with Amos Riley, and led his own bands. He later played with Sidney Desvigne and A.J. Piron on the riverboats.
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1924 | Doris Day, She was a singer and actress and has had successful careers in both.
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1928 | Don Gibson, Singer who was one of the most popular and influential forces in '50s and '60s country, scoring numerous hit singles as a performer and a songwriter - "Oh Lonesome Me". He died in in 2003.
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1933 | Frank Demond, Traditional jazz trombonist and banjoist from Los Angeles, California. He played in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band which toured the world extensively. He is one of the younger musicians, who is said to have the ability to play correctly in the style of Edward 'Kid' Ory and Jim Robinson.
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1936 | Jimmy McGriff, One of the all-time giants of the Hammond B-3. He was almost certainly is the bluesiest of the major soul-jazz pioneers, and indeed, he often insisted that he was more of a blues musician than a jazz artist.
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1936 | Harold Vick, One of jazz's great unsung saxophonists, he's compared to the likes of Booker Ervin, David "Fathead" Newman, Wilton Felder, and James Clay. He died in 1987.
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1941 | Jan Berry, Singer and songwriter with 'Jan and Dean' - "The Little Old Lady From Pasadena". He died in 2004.
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1942 | Wayne Newton, Sometimes thought to be more famous for his celebrity status than for any active artistic creation. He recorded in the 1960's and scored several hits during that time, but has become most renowned for his connections to Las Vegas, where he commanded up to $1 million per month at his peak and invested heavily into the city's real estate.
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1944 | Tony Orlando, In conjunction with his backing duo Dawn, he was one of the biggest pop stars of the early '70s, best remembered for the mammoth hit "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree."
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1949 | Eric Kloss, Blind since birth, Kloss began playing professionally in Pittsburgh in the early '60s. A talented high-powered alto saxophonist who recorded a long series of fine albums for Prestige and Muse from the mid-'60s into the late '70s.
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1955 | John Mooney, A blues guitarist and singer who was born and raised in Rochester, New York. In 1976, Mooney moved to New Orleans, and soon he was playing with host of musicians in the New Orleans R&B circuit including Earl King, The Meters, Snooks Eaglin and Professor Longhair. He has released over 10 solo award winning records including Big Ol' Fiya which was nominated for Blues Music Awards' "Contemporary Blues Album of the Year" in 2006.
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1960 | John Thomas Griffith, A singer-songwriter and guitarist and from Lubbock, Texas. He's best known as a guitarist and vocalist for the band Cowboy Mouth. He first established himself on the scene in the early 1980s as lead singer and guitarist for the Red Rockers, while attendting LSU, in Baton Rouge, co-writing their 1983 MTV hit "China". When not touring, he resides in Los Angeles, California, and scores motion picture soundtracks.
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1965 | Edward Anderson, A trumpeter and bandleader, who was born in Chicago, but works out of New Orleans, Louisiana. He's co-leader of the group Bleu Orleans, and has worked with Michael White (All-Star 1990), Kermit Ruffins (All-Star 1998), Harold Battiste (All-Star 1994), Treme Brass Band, Patrice Rushen, Brent Rose, Victor Goines, Wendell Brunious (All-Star 1981).
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