| 1886 | Chink Martin (Martin Abraham), A tubist and double bassist from New Orleans, Louisiana. He played with Papa Jack Laine's Reliance Brass Band, and in other brass bands in the city. Later, he played with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, as well as with the Halfway House Orchestra, the New Orleans Harmony Kings, and the New Orleans Swing Kings. In the 1930s, Martin worked as a staff musician at WSMB radio. He played with dozens of noted New Orleans jazz musicians, appearing on record with Sharkey Bonano, Santo Pecora, Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, and others. He died in January 1981 at the age of 94.
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| 1894 | Ernest (Kid Punch) Miller, He was a Dixieland jazz trumpeter and a native of Raceland, Louisiana. He was based in New Orleans from 1919 to 1927, then moved to Chicago. In Chicago he worked with various bands including those of Jelly Roll Morton and Tiny Parham. Later in life, he returned to New Orleans, playing at Preservation Hall and leading a band under his own name, in addition to playing with other groups. He died in December of 1971 at the age of 77.
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| 1898 | Octave Crosby, Traditional jazz pianist from New Orleans, Louisana. Began his career with Herb Morand in the 1920's and was a regular at the Paddock on Bourbon Street in the 1950's and 1960's. Octave died in New Orleans in October, 1971.
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| 1901 | Frederick Loewe, Oscar winning composer - ""My Fair Lady". He wrote several musical plays for Broadway, Frederick Loewe was notorious for not liking his own work. He collaborated with such Broadway legends as Earle Crooker and Alan Jay Lerner. He died in 1988.
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| 1907 | Dicky Wells, One of the more adventurous trombonists of the swing era, he was somewhat innovative, playing his horn in a speech-like style filled with a great deal of color, humor, and swing. He came to fame with Count Basie. He died in 1985.
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| 1910 | Howlin' Wolf, Blues singer - "How Many More Years". In the history of the blues, there has never been anyone quite like the Howlin' Wolf. Six foot three and close to 300 pounds in his salad days, the Wolf was the primal force of the music spun out to its ultimate conclusion. He died in 1976.
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| 1921 | Porter Kilbert, An alto saxophonist and a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He primarily played jazz and his resume is long. During his career, he recorded with Quincy Jones, Illinois Jacquet, Roy Eldridge, Benny Carter, Carmen McRae, J.J. Johnson, Fats Navarro and many others. He passed away in Chicago in 1960 at the young age of 39.
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| 1922 | Judy Garland, Singer/actress who had a varied career that began in vaudeville and extended into movies, records, radio, television, and personal appearances. She is best remembered as the big-voiced star of a series of movie musicals, particularly The Wizard of Oz, in which she sang her signature song, "Over the Rainbow." But unlike most other film stars of her era, she also maintained a career as a recording artist, and after her movie-making days were largely over, she was able to transfer her stardom to performing and recording, culminating in her Grammy-winning number one album Judy at Carnegie Hall. She died in 1969.
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| 1925 | (Schoolboy) Cleve White, A singer and harmonica player and a native of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. He learned how to play the harmonica from the legendary "Sonny Boy Williamson". His first break came in 1954-55 when he recorded with the legendary "Lightnin' Slim" in Crowley, Louisiana. Together they recorded on Feature Records label a number of songs of which two were "Bad Feeling Blues" and "Lightnin' Slim Boogie". He's a Louisiana Hall of Fame Blues musician inductee in Baton Rouge, LA. He was also a World War II Veteran, Double Bronze Star recipient. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 82. (101) |
| 1940 | Clarence (Juny Boy) Brown, A drummer and a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. He is most well-known as the long-time drummer for Fats Domino, and is known as a keeper of the beat of the Crescent City. He passed away in in 2003 at the age of 62. (86) |
| 1941 | Shirley Owens Alston, She was lead vocalist for the Shirelles, who were deemed the finest women's group ever prior to the emergence of the Supremes.
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