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.
May 7, 1904 ~ Jazz trombonist Floyd O'Brien born in Chicago, Illinois, USA ~ Started in the 1920 playing with Earl Fuller, Floyd Town, Charles Pierce, Thelma Terry, Husk O'Hare. The 1930s saw him teaming up with artists such as Mal Hallett, Joe Venuti, Smith Ballew, Mike Durso, Phil Harris, and with Gene Krupa. During the 1940s O'Brien played with Eddie Miller, Bunk Johnson, Shorty Sherock, Jack Teagarden, Wingy Manone, Fats Waller, Mezz Mezzrow, George Wettling, Charles Lavere. After 1948 he returned to Bud Freeman, with whom he had played as early as 1928, as well as play with Art Hodes, Danny Alvin, and Albert Nicholas ~ O'Brien passed away in 1968
May 7, 1900 ~ Soprano singer Natalya Rozhdestvesnkaya, full name Natalya Petrovna Rozhdestvenskaya, born in Nizjni Novgorod, Russia ~ Long-time soloist for the Russian All-Union Radio radio station starting in the late 1920s, performing concert performances of operas, often conducted by her husband Nikolai Anosov. The couple's son is conductor Gennnady Rozhdestvensky ~ Rozhdestvenskaya passed away in 1997
May 7, 1896 ~ Victor Cohen, commonly known as jazz drummer, bandleader, composer Vic Berton, born in Chicago, Illinois, USA ~ Brought up in a musical family, his father Maurice Cohen a professional violinist while his mother Ida Cohen ran a boarding house for traveling vaudevillians, Berton learned to play several instruments at a young age, including violin, piano, and drums. Reportedly, by age 7 his musical abilities were such that he was hired to play with the pit orchestra at the Alhambra Theatre in Milwaukee, and by age 16 Berton was playing with the symphony orchestras of both Milwaukee and Chicago. Following a stint with John Philip Sousa's navy band during World War I, Berton would spent about a decade playing around Chicago with the likes of Art Kahn, Paul Beise, Roger Wolfe Kahn, Red Nichols, and Paul Whiteman, and lead his own band at the Merry Garden Ballroom, considered one of the hottest dance spots of 1920s Chicago. By the turn of the 1930s, Berton relocated to Los Angeles where he became an in-demand drummer for film orchestras, at one point serving as musical director for Paramount, and notably played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. As a composer, Berton is best remembered for co-writing Sobbing Blues with Art Kassel, a tune first recorded by Albert E Short in 1923 and later covered by dozens of artists including King Oliver, the New Orleans Rhytm Kings, Bunny Berigan, Bunk Johnson, and Muggsy Spanier. Berton's baby brother Ralph Berton, born in 1910, would also become a jazz drummer ~ Cohen passed away in 1951May 7, 1895 ~ Jazz drummer Yank Porter, full name Yank Allen Porter, born in Norfolk, Virginia, USA ~ In-demand sideman from the 1930s through his death in the mid 1940s. Has backed artists such as Charlie Matson, Louis Armstrong, Bud Harris, James P Johnson, Fats Waller, Dave Martin, Joe Sullivan, Teddy Wilson, Benny Carter, and Art Tatum ~ Porter passed away in 1944
May 7, 1833 ~ Romantic pianist, conductor, composer Johannes Brahms born in Hamburg, Germany ~ 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 passed away in 1897