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.
October 5, 1931 ~ Salsa, boogaloo, bomba, plena singer, songwriter Ismael Rivera born in Santurce, Puerto Rico ~ Lead singer of the Orquesta Panamericana in the early 1950s, present on hits such as El Charlatan, Ya Yo Se and La Saxon De Abuela. Joined the Cortijo Combo as lead singer in 1954, known for songs such as El Bombon De Elena, Oriza and El Yayo. As a solo artist best known for the 1974 hit Las Cara Linda (De Mi Gente Negra). Rivera recorded and performed well into the 1970s, one of his last performances opening for Bob Marley in Paris in 1978 ~ Rivera passed away in 1987
October 5, 1925 ~ Bolero singer, guitarist, songwriter Julito Rodríguez, full name Julito Rodríguez Reyes, born in Santuce, Puerto Rico ~ Active since the late 1940s. Member of Los Romanceros achieving national fame. Became internationally known after joining the trio Los Panchos in 1952, for whom he wrote the classic Mar Y Cielo. Left the band in 1958 to be succeeded by Johnny Albino. Would subsequently work with Trio Los Primos, the first Puerto Rican group to perform at Radio City Music Hall in New York, and with Los Tres Grandes alongside Tato Diaz and Miguel Alcaide ~ Rodríguez passed away in 2013October 5, 1923 ~ Diana Geraldine Whitburn, commonly known as jazz, cabaret singer Gery Scott, born in Bombay, British India ~ First Western jazz singer to tour the then Soviet Union in 1961. Married her musical director Igo Fischer in Moscow the same year. Known for songs such as This Is Life, The Dum De De Dum Song, Summer Love and Stay With Me ~ Scott passed away in 2005
October 5, 1920 ~ Hornist Vincent DeRosa, full name Vincent Ned DeRosa, born in Kansas City, Missouri, USA ~ Reportedly the all-time most recorded brass player. Especially acclaimed for his work in Hollywood, serving as first horn for film composers such as Henry Mancini, Lalo Schifrin and John Williams, the latter describing DeRosa as one of the greatest instrumentalists of his generation. Notable soundtracks include My Fair Lady, The Sound Of Music, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and Rocky. In-demand studio, session musician for artists such as Frank Sinatra (In The Wee Small Hours), June Christy, Ella Fitzgerald, the Monkees, Frank Zappa (Lumpy Gravy), Harry Nilsson (Son Of Schmilsson), Rita Coolidge, John Denver, Sonny Criss, Minnie Riperton, Earth Wind & Fire (Faces), Glen Campbell, and Miles Davis ~ DeRosa passed away in 2022October 5, 1918 ~ Jazz double bassist Jimmy Blanton born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA ~ Credited with revolutionizing the role of the double bass in jazz, Blanton is known for his dexterity, roundness of tone, accurate intonation, and an unprecedented sense of swing. Well known for his tenure with Duke Ellington, creating some of the most cherished and important bass solos on tracks such as Ko Ko, Jack The Bear, and Concerto For Cootie, and notably present on piano-bass duets such as Blues, Plucked Again, and Pitter Panther Patter. Ellington would put Blanton front-and-center nightly, unheard of for a bassist at the time. Blanton also played with smaller impromptu jazz ensembles at the renowned Minton's Playhouse jazz club in New York, sessions said to have contributed to the birth of bop. Though his tenure with Ellington was short, his career cut short by his untimely death of tuberculosis at age 23, his legacy become the model for bass players over the next 20 years including Charles Mingus, Oscar Pettiford, and Ray Brown ~ Blanton passed away in 1942
October 5, 1915 ~ Singer, guitarist Nicola Paone born in Barnesboro, Pennsylvania, USA ~ Italian-American singer, best known for his songs about the joys and hardships of Italian immigrants. Occasionally referred to as “the Italian Bing Crosby”, Paone would enjoy popularity, peaking in the 1950s, with songs such as U Sciccareddu, Tony The Iceman, The Big Professor, and perhaps his best known Blah Blah Blah. Tired of touring Paone would retire from music by the late 1950s to pursue a career in the restaurant business. His Nicola Paone Restaurant would quickly become one of the top Italian eateries in New York, with Paone himself assuming some of the cooking duties. Over the course of its 50 years existence the restaurant has served every single New York mayor ~ Paone passed away in 2003
October 5, 1893 ~ Francisco Saverio Guarente, commonly known as jazz trumpeter, bandleader Frank Guarente, born in Montemiletto, Italy ~ Active since the 1910s in New Orleans, eventually reaching popularity leading his own ensemble by the early 1920s. Has worked with Charles Edward Kerr, Eddie Lang, Arthur Schutt, Chauncey Morehouse, Paul Specht, Victor Young, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, Bing Crosby, and with the Boswell Sisters. Retired from music in 1937 for health reasons ~ Guarente passed away in 1942