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.
December 14, 1910 ~ Albert J Johnson, commonly known as jazz, swing, bebop, R&B saxophonist, arranger Budd Johnson, born in Dallas, Texas, USA ~ Johnson initially played drums but after picking up the tenor saxophone, he would become a key figure in early bebop, and one of the first sax players strongly influenced by pre-bop legendary saxophonist Lester Young. Johnson has recorded a number of albums as a leader, perhaps most acclaimed for Let's Swing and Budd Johnson And The Four Brass Giants both issued in 1960s, but is best known as a bandleader and arranger in support of others starting in the early 1930s. Notable associations include Earl Hines, Fletcher Henderson, Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Billy Eckstine, Quincy Jones, Count Basie, and Billie Holiday. Johnson was also a key member of the mid 1940s house band at The Onyx Club in New York, considered by some to be the first bebop group, which besides Johnson also featured Dizzy Gillespie, George Wallington, Oscar Pettiford, and Max Roach. Johnson would remain an in-demand collaborator and session player in both jazz and R&B throughout his lengthy career, to R&B audiences perhaps best known for his saxophone solo on Ruth Brown's 1950 breakout hit Teardrops From My Eyes, served as a jazz educator, founded and led the JPJ Quartet which performed on an occasional basis during the first half of the 1970s, and was posthumously inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1993. Johnson's grandson is rapper and producer Albert Johnson, commonly known by his stage name Prodigy, of hip hop outfit Mobb Deep ~ Johnson passed away in 1984
December 14, 1891 ~ Producer, songwriter, talent scout Lester Melrose, full name Lester Frank Melrose, born in Sumner, Illinois, USA ~ One of the first Chicago blues producers. Brother of music publisher Walter Melrose and jazz pianist Franklyn Melrose. Worked with artists such as King Oliver, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Boy Williamson I, Memphis Minnie, Roosevelt Sykes, Lonnie Johnson, Big Joe Williams, Bukka White, Washboard Sam, Champion Jack Dupree, Jazz Gillum, Arthur Crudup, Victoria Spivey, and Leroy Carr ~ Melrose passed away in 1968