About maketodayrock.com: We celebrate musicians' birthdays, remember those we've lost, and highlight key moments in music such a release dates, chart peak dates, or anything else tied to a specific date. Pick any day from the menu in the top right. The front page shows recent obituaries.
April 3, 1920 ~ Stanley Freeman, commonly known as pianist, conductor, arranger, songwriter Stan Freeman, born in Waterbury, Connecticut, USA ~ Worked with Tex Beneke, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Percy Faith, Mabel Mercer, Charlie Parker, Rosemary Clooney (Come On-a My House), Buddy Hackett, Marlene Dietrich, and Michael Feinstein. Co-wrote the musical Lovely Ladies Kind Gentlemen with Franklin Underwood ~ Freeman passed away in 2001
April 3, 1919 ~ Pianist, songwriter, composer Sherman Edwards born in New York, New York, USA ~ Best known for composing the 1969 Broadway musical 1776, adapted to film in 1982. Edwards has also written or co-written a number of pop and jazz songs since the late 1950s including Wonderful Wonderful for Johnny Mathis, For Heaven's Sake for Billie Holiday, Broken-hearted Melody for Sarah Vaughan, Flaming Star for Elvis Presley, and Johnny Get Angry for Joanie Sommers ~ Edwards passed away in 1981
April 3, 1916 ~ Jazz pianist Ken Kersey, full name Kenneth Lyons Kersey, born in Harrow, Canada ~ Though never a household name, an in-demand sideman held in the highest regards by his peers. Well known for his tenure with Andy Kirk, taking over for Mary Lou Williams in 1942. Kirk also recorded Boogie Woogie Cocktail, penned by Kersey. Kersey has also backed artists such as Lucky Millinder, Billie Holiday, Roy Eldridge, Red Allen, Cootie Williams, Buck Clayton, Sol Yaged, and Charlie Shavers. Kersey retired from music by the late 1950s for medical reasons ~ Kersey passed away in 1983
April 3, 1906 ~ Jazz bassist Billy Taylor, full name William Taylor Sr, born in Washington DC, USA ~ Played the tuba before picking up the bass, which would become his primary instrument. Best known for his association with Duke Ellington, briefly backing the pianist in the late 1920s and again during the second half of the 1930s including on the 1936 recording of Caravan, penned by Ellington and Juan Tizol. Although the song had first been recorded by Barney Bigard, it was Ellington's own version that would become a standard covered by over an estimated 500 artists. Taylor has also worked with artists such as Elmer Snowden, Willie Gant, Arthur Gibbs, Charlie Johnson, and McKinney's Cotton Pickers during the 1920s, with Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Fletcher Henderson, Cootie Williams, and Johnny Hodges during the 1930s, and with Coleman Hawkins, Red Allen, Joe Sullivan, Raymond Scott, Benny Morton, and Cozy Cole through the mid 1940s. Taylor recorded just a few sides as a leader, featuring backing from Harry Carney and Johnny Hodges, collected on Billy Taylor's Big Eight issued in 1944 ~ Taylor passed away in 1986
April 3, 1906 ~ Walter Gabriel Pichon, commonly known as jazz pianist, singer, bandleader, arranger, songwriter Fats Pichon, passed away in Chicago, Illinois, USA ~ Active since his teens. Worked the river boats, big band and New Orleans dance halls. Worked with Duskey Stevedores, the Eleven Aces, Luis Russell and with a then-unknown Dave Bartholomew as early as the 1930s ~ Pichon passed away in 1967
April 3, 1903 ~ James Wesley Miley, commonly known as jazz trumpeter, cornetist Bubber Miley born in Aiken, South Carolina, USA ~ Active since the early 1920s, startied playing small clubs and boats as a member of the Carolina Five. Would go on to work with Mamie Smith, King Oliver and perhaps most notably Duke Ellington from 1923 through 1929 including on early hits by the Duke Ellington Orchestra such as Black And Tan Fantasy, East St Louis Toodle-oo and Creole Love Call. Post Ellington worked with Noble Sissle, Jelly Roll Morton, Hoagy Carmichael, Zutty Singleton, Leo Reisman, and Buster Bailey. Miley passed away of tuberculosis at age 29 ~ Miley passed away in 1932
April 3, 1903 ~ Pianist Lili Kraus born in Budapest, Hungary ~ Studied with Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók. Earned critical international acclaim in the 1930s through her chamber music performances, often collaborating with violinist Szymon Goldberg. Regarded as a specialist in the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven ~ Kraus passed away in 1986
April 3, 1897 ~ Romantic pianist, conductor, composer Johannes Brahms passed away in Vienna, Austria ~ Influential composer considered on of “the Three B's” alongside Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven. Composed for orchestra, chamber ensembles, organ, voice and choirs. Adhered to tradition while also introducing innovations ~ Brahms was born in 1833
April 3, 1895 ~ Edward Elzear Confrey, commonly known as pianist, songwriter Zez Confrey, born in Peru, Illinois, USA ~ Best known for penning Kitten On The Keys, first recorded by Lindsay McPhail in 1921. The song reportedly was inspired by a kitten walking on his grandmother's piano, and has been recorded by over 50 artists including Confrey, Frankie Carle, Dick Hyman, and Claude Bolling. Other well known songs written by Confrey include My Pet (Confrey, Russ Morgan, Arthur Kleiner), You Tell 'Em Ivories (Confrey, VI Palmer, Harold Willoughby), Stumbling (Nathan Glantz, Paul Whiteman, Bob Crosby), and Dizzy Fingers (Confrey, Benny Goodman, Henri René) ~ Confrey passed away in 1971
April 3, 1886 ~ Arthur Wilson, commonly known as actor, singer Dooley Wilson, born in Tyler, Texas, USA ~ Best known as an actor, remembered for portraying Sam in the 1942 Casablanca feature film portraying its theme song As Time Goes By. Active as a drummer and singer, leading his own band in the 1920s touring nightclubs in London and Paris. Took up acting by the 1930s ~ Wilson passed away in 1953