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.
August 28, 1928 ~ Gospel singer Billie Barrett, also known as Billie Barrett Greenbey, born ~ Member of gospel trio the Barrett Sisters with her sisters DeLois Barrett and Rodessa Barrett. The sibling outfit have performed and recorded for some seven decades, making them one of the longest-lasting gospel outfits, and record well over a dozen albums. The trio would especially gain attention after being notably featured in the 1982 critically acclaimed documentary Say Amen Somebody, which prompted The New Yorker to comment the siblings “brought the film an emotional pitch, and we in the audience want to go on soaring”. Singer Roberta Martin guested on the trio's 1963 Jesus Loves Me debut album ~ Barrett passed away in 2020
August 28, 1928 ~ Pianist Kenny Drew, full name Kenneth Sidney Drew, born in New York, New York, USA ~ A severely underrated jazz pianist, Drew is perhaps best known for appearing on John Coltrane's seminal Blue Train album issued in 1957. Drew has also recorded prolifically as a leader, and appeared as a sideman on numerous albums by Sonny Stitt, Sonny Rollins, Buddy DeFranco, Zoot Sims, Paul Quinichette, Clifford Brown (Caravan), Dexter Gordon, Donald Byrd, Art Farmer (Farmer's Market), Chet Baker (Chet Baker Sings), Jackie McLean, Art Blakey, and Johnny Griffin. Drew moved to Europe in the early 1960s, and lived in France and Denmark where he became a well known figure recording extensively with Danish bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. Drew has a street named after him, Kenny Drew Vej, in Copenhagen, Denmark ~ Drew passed away in 1993August 28, 1926 ~ Harold Luttenbacher, commonly known as free jazz composer, bandleader, multi-instrumentalist Hal Russell, born in Detroit, Michigan, USA ~ Leader and sideman. Founded the NRG Ensemble. Worked with Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Joe Daley, and Joel Futterman ~ Luttenbacher passed away in 1992
August 28, 1926 ~ Jazz drummer Phil Seamen, full name Philip Wiliam Seamen, born in Burton-upon-Trent, UK ~ In-demand sidemen played with who's who of British jazz including Joe Harriott, Tubby Hayes, Stan Tracey, Ronnie Scott, Denny Termer, Dick Morrisey, Harold McNair, Don Rendell, Victor Feldman, Dizzy Reece, Tony Coe, Tony Lee, and George Chisholm ~ Seamen passed away in 1972
August 28, 1925 ~ Singer Billy Grammer born in Benton, Illinois, USA ~ Best known for his 1959 hit Gotta Travel On, written by David Lazar, Larry Ehrlich, Paul Clayton, and Tom Six. Recorded the first version of Bobby Bare's Detroit City, entitled I Wanna Go Home in 1963 ~ Grammer passed away in 2011August 28, 1925 ~ Swing singer Ronnie Deauville born in Miami, Florida, USA ~ Influenced by Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra. Enjoyed a brief career through the mid 1950s, notably with Glen Gray's orchestra, cut short by a car accident and subsequently contracting polio leaving him paralyzed from the neck down ~ Deauville passed away in 1990
August 28, 1921 ~ Anthony Alessandrini, commonly known as jazz pianist Tony Aless, born in Garfield, New Jersey, USA ~ Worked with Bunny Berigan, Johnny McGhee, Teddy Powell, Vaughn Monroe, Charlie Spivak, Woody Herman, Georgie Auld, Flip Phillips, Chubby Jackson, Neal Hefti, Stan Getz, Elliot Lawrence, Seldon Powell, Charlie Parker, JJ Johnson, Kai Winding, and Dave Schildkraut ~ Alessandrini passed away in 1988
August 28, 1920 ~ Jazz trumpeter Rowland Greenberg born in Oslo, Norway ~ Pivotal to Norwegian jazz in the 1940s and 1950s. Banned and jailed by the Nazis for viewing jazz films. Worked with the Hot Dogs, the Funny Boys, George Shearing, Vic Lewis, Arvid Gram Paulsen, Lulle Kristofferson, Pete Brown, Gordon Franklin, Robert Normann, Kjell Bjornstad, Frank Hansen, Lyder Vengbo, Fred Lange-Nielsen, Cecil Aagard, Thore Erling, Malte Johnson, Sam Samson, Miles Davis, Bill Coleman, Jimmy McPartland, Aimé Barelli, Egil Monn-Iversen, Leiv Flisnes, Mikkel Flagstad, Totti Bergh, Knut Young, Ivar Wefring, Bjorn Krokfoss, Ben Webster, and Teddy Wilson ~ Greenberg passed away in 1994August 28, 1914 ~ Abraham Osser, commonly known as orchestra leader, arranger, songwriter Glenn Osser, born in Munising, Michigan, USA ~ Arranged for Bob Crosby, Vincent Lopez, Al Donahue, Charlie Barnet, Bunny Berigan, Ben Bernie. Backed singers such as Doris Day, Jerry Vale, Johnny Mathis, Jill Corey. Long-time musical director and conductor for the Miss America Pageant ~ Osser passed away in 2014
August 28, 1913 ~ Conductor Robert Irving, full name Robert Augustine Irving, born in Winchester, UK ~ Worked with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Sadler's Wells Ballet, Margot Fonteyn, Michael Somes, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the New York City Ballet ~ Irving passed away in 1991
August 28, 1904 ~ Bandleader, trombonist, pianist Ernie Fields, full name Ernest Lawrence Fields, born in Nacogdoches, Texas, USA ~ Father of saxophonist Ernie Fields Jr. Best known as bandleader of the house band at Rendezvous Records from the late 1950s until the company folded in 1963 working with sidemen such as Ernie Freeman, Plas Johnson and Earl Palmer ~ Fields passed away in 1995