| 1920 | Charlie 'Yardbird' Parker, Arguably the greatest saxophonists of all time. Charlie, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis defined Be-bop jazz. Charlie died at the age of 34 on March 12, 1955.
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| 1924 | Dinah Washington, She was a jazz and blues singer who worked with all of the jazz royalty of the 40's and 50's. She was a full fledged star thanks to "What A Diff'rence A Day Makes". She died of a lethal combination of alcohol and pills on December 14, 1963. She was only thirty-nine.
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| 1927 | Jimmy C. Newman, Cajun singer, Jimmy C. Newman was born on this day in High Point, Louisiana on this day. He was the first Cajun singer ever to join the Grand Ole Opry and said the "C" in his middle name stood for Cajun. He signed a deal with Dot Records in 1953 and had his first big hit with "Cry, Cry Darling" the following year. Other chart successes that followed included "Daydreamin'," "D.J. for a Day," "Blue Darlin'," "Seasons of My Heart," "Diggy Liggy Lo" and "A Fallen Star," which not only hit Number Two on the country charts, but also crossed over to the Top 25 of the pop charts. From 1954-1970, Newman had 33 singles on the Billboard country chart. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 86.
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| 1940 | Bennie Maupin, He's best-known for his association with Herbie Hancock and his atmospheric bass clarinet playing on Miles Davis' classic 'Bitches Brew' album. Maupin started playing tenor in high school and attended the Detroit Institute for Musical Arts, playing locally in Detroit. He moved to New York in 1963, freelancing with many groups, including ones led by Marion Brown and Pharoah Sanders. Maupin played regularly with Roy Haynes (1966-1968) and Horace Silver (1968-1969), recording with McCoy Tyner (1968), Lee Morgan (1970), and Woody Shaw. After recording with Miles, he joined the Herbie Hancock Sextet. When Hancock broke up his group to form the more commercial Headhunters in 1973, Maupin was the only holdover.
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| 1949 | Kufaru Aaron Mouton, A master percussionist and a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. He studied in New York and taught in New Orleans school programs like Young Audiences, and the Schoolhouse program run by The House of Blues. He also studied, taught and performed African Dance, in NYC, then here in New Orleans with Kumbuka, and Percussion, Inc. He had played, recorded or toured with many New Orleans bands, including The Neville Brothers (Yellow Moon), EmmyLou Harris (Wrecking Ball), Andy J. Forrest (Sunday Rhumba), The Revealers (Can't Be Denied), John Fohl (Time Ain't Waitin'), Kenny Claiborne Band, Robert Wagner, Andy Wolf, Fredy Omar, Hart McNee, Olivier Bou, John Boutte, and many more. He passed away in 2006 at the age of 56. (77) |
| 1952 | Dave Malone, A guitarist and a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. As he tells it, his life changing musical event was watching the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show. After high school, he moved back to New Orleans and played in a few different bands until he became a member of The Radiators. For the next 30 or so years, Dave was lead guitarist for the Louisiana legendary band. (74) |
| 1956 | Dan Truman, Keyboardist for the band 'Diamond Rio'. His musical influences are deep rooted in jazz and classical music.
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| 1958 | Michael Jackson, Singer for the Jackson 5.
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| 1969 | Me'Shell NdegeOcello, Born Mary Johnson in 1969 and spending the first few years of her life in Germany (her father was both a military man and a jazz saxophonist), NdegéOcello and her family relocated to Virginia in the early '70s as the youngster developed an interest in music. But it was a duet with John Mellencamp on a cover of Van Morrison's "Wild Night" a year later brought the singer/bassist the most acclaim, as the song became one of the year's biggest hits. (57) |
| 1970 | Carl Martin, Singer in the double platinum selling group, Shai.
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