March 13, 1998 ~ Hip-hop, trap rapper, singer, songwriter Jack Harlow, full name Jackman Thomas Harlow, born in Louisville, Kentucky, USA ~ Co-founding member of Private Garden collective. Released his full-length That's What They All Say solo debut album in 2020 which included his Billboard top 10 hit What's Poppin'
March 13, 1987 ~ Jazz saxophonist, pianist, percussionist, singer Harald Lassen born in Kristiansand, Norway ~ Leader and sideman. Eponym and frontman of LASSEN. Has worked with noted jazz musicians Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen early on in his career. Formed the duo Duplex with Christian Meaas Svendsen. Other notable collaborations include Pixel, Mopti, Bugge Wesseltoft, Morten Qvenild, Emilie Stoesen Christensen, Bram de Looze, Anja Lauvdal, Rob Waring, and Ray Phiri
March 13, 1981 ~ Jazz pianist, saxophonist, composer Ivo Neame born in UK ~ Leader and sideman. Best known for his associations with Phronesis, Marius Neset, the Kairos 4tet. Has also worked with David Binney, Kenny Wheeler, Hermeto Pascoal, Kaz Simmons, Josh Arcoleo, Andre Canniere, Julian Argüelles, the London's Loop Collective, and others
March 13, 1975 ~ Glennon Ricketts Jr, ommonly known as neo soul singer, songwriter Glenn Lewis, born in Toronto, Canada ~ Son of Crack Of Dawn-singer Glen Ricks. Cites Stevie Wonder as major influence. Known for songs such as Thing To Do, Bout Your Love, Stick To Your Vision, Don't You Forget It, It's Not Fair, and others
March 13, 1972 ~ Lonnie Rashid Lynn, commonly known as rapper, MC Common, born in Chicago, Illinois, USA ~ Member of loose collective Native Tongues. Member of the Soulquarians. Debuted as a solo artist with the 1992 Can I Borrow A Dollar. Known for songs such as Soul By The Pound, Reminding Me Of Sef featuring Chantay Savage, One-Nine-Nine-Nine featuring Sadat X, Glory featuring John Legend. Has also collaborated with Big Sean, Bilal, Daniel Caesar, De La Soul, Mary J Blige, Erykah Badu (Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip-Hop)), Melanie Durrant, Joss Stone, Colbie Caillat, and others
March 13, 1972 ~ Willie Knighton Jr, commonly known as rapper, singer Khujo, born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA ~ Forms the hip-hop group Goodie Mob with Cee Lo Green, Big Gipp and T-Mo, and the duo the Lumberjacks with the latter. Also closely associated with OutKast, appearing on all the band's albums. Has also worked with Dungeon Family, with Willie Isz, and released a number of solo recordings, starting with the album The Man Not The Dawg released in 2002
March 13, 1969 ~ Pianist Stephen Scott born in Queens, New York, USA ~ Leader and sideman. Worked with Betty Carter, Kenny Barron, Terence Blanchard, Ron Carter, Lou Donaldson, Benny Golson, Craig Handy, Roy Hargrove, Joe Henderson, Jon Hendricks, Bobby Hutcherson, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Sonny Rollins, Bobby Watson, Christian McBride, and others
March 13, 1963 ~ Rodolfo Paez Avalos, commonly known as rock & roll singer, pianist, songwriter Fito Paez, born in Rosario, Argentina ~ Member of El Banquete. Debuted as a solo artist with the album Del '63, released in 1984 with backing from Daniel Wirtz, Fabia Gallardo, Tweety González, Paul Dourge, and others. Has recorded steadily since to critical acclaim and collaborated with Luis Alberto Spinetta, Charly García, Joaquin Sabina, Paulinho Moska, and others
March 13, 1963 ~ Rock singer, guitarist, drummer Todd Huth, full name Todd Richard Huth, born in San Leandro, California, USA ~ Best known as early member of Primus remaining with the band through 1989, replaced by Larry Lalonde. Reunited with his former bandmates Les Claypool and Jay Lane in 1994, forming the band Sausage
March 13, 1960 ~ Bassist Adam Clayton, full name Adam Charles Clayton, born in Chinnor, UK ~ Bassist and longtime member of U2, known for songs such as Gloria, Pride (In The Name Of Love), I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Desire, One, Discothèque, The Sweetest Thing, Beautiful Day, and Vertigo
March 13, 1960 ~ Luciano Ligabue, commony known as singer, songwriter, director, writer Ligabue, born in Correggio, Italy ~ First gained attention in 1988 when Pierangelo Bertoli recorded his Sogni Di Rock 'n Roll. As a singer released his full-length eponymous Ligabue debut album in 1990 and has recorded steadily to commercial success and critical acclaim since. Well known songs include Certe Notti, Una Vita Da Mediano, Questa E La Mia Vita, Niente Paura, Un Colpo All'anima and Il Sale Della Terra
March 13, 1960 ~ Guitarist Quique Sinesi born in Argentina ~ Has recorded over a dozen albums, especially noted for 2005's Tango Para Charlie and Buenos Aires Report released two years later. Sinesi has collaborated with the likes of Joe Lovano, Dino Saluzzi, Pablo Ziegler, Enrico Rava, and Charlie Mariano
March 13, 1959 ~ Alternative rock, punk rock, rock bassist Greg Norton, full name Gregory James Norton, born in Rock Island, Illinois, USA ~ Best known as bassist of Hüsker Dü. Following the band's disbandement founded the Grey Area. Has also worked with the Gang Font and Porcupine
March 13, 1959 ~ Electric blues guitarist, singer Melvin Taylor born in Chicago, Illinois, USA ~ Worked with Pinetop Perkins and the Legendary Blues Band before going solo, starting with 1982's Blues On The Run album. Has recorded steadily since and has opened for artists such as BB King, Buddy Guy and Santana
March 13, 1954 ~ Jazz guitarist Simon James born in York, UK ~ Co-founding member of Acoustic Alchemy, remaining with the band through 1985. Would subsequently perform as solo artist and collaborate with Nick Webb, Maria Ewing, and others. Formed Kymaera in 1998
March 13, 1951 ~ Jazz pianist, composer Geoff Eales born in Aberbargoed, UK ~ Worked with the National Youth Orchestra Of Wales, Major Holley, Jimmy McPartland, Buddy Tate, Earl Warren, Joe Loss, the BBC Big Band, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Andy Williams, Shirley Bassey, José Carreras, Kiri te Kanawa, Jerry Goldsmith, Henry Mancini, Elmer Bernstein, Robert Farnon, Adelaide Hall, Michael Ball, and others
March 13, 1951 ~ Pop singer, songwriter, actor Izhar Cohen born in Tel Aviv, Israel ~ Internationally best known for teaming up with vocal group the Alphabeta to win the 1978 Eurovision Songfestival with A-ba Ni-bi. The song was written by Ehud Manor and Nurit Hirsh
March 13, 1951 ~ Jazz pianist, composer Michael Jefry Stevens born in New York, New York ~ Co-led the revered post-bop outfit the Fonda-Stevens Group with bassist Joe Fonda. Has composed over 350 songs and worked with a host of renowned jazz artists including Dave Liebman, Oliver Lake, Dave Douglas, Leo Smith, Matt Wilson, Han Bennink, Mark Feldman, Pheeroan Aklaff, Gerry Hemingway, the Brooklyn Jazz Composers Orchestra, JEff Raheb, and numerous others
March 13, 1947 ~ Blues singer, guitarist Dave Kelly, full name David William Kelly, born ~ Brother of singer Jo-Ann Kelly, with whom he has also worked. Influenced by Mississippi Fred McDowell. Has collaborated with Tramp and with the Blues Band, and recorded as a solo artist
March 13, 1945 ~ Singer, guitarist, banjoist, mandolinist, songwriter Tom Chapin born in New York, New York, USA ~ Son of drummer Jim Chapin, brother of singer Harry Chapin. Over two dozen albums to his name starting in the mid-1970s. Perhaps best known for Happy Birthday of his 1989 Moonboat album, its melody taken form Love Unspoken of the Franz Lehár-opera The Merry Widow
March 13, 1942 ~ Producer, A&R agent, label executive Marshall Chess born in Chicago, Illinois, USA ~ Son of Chess Records co-founder Leonard Chess. Worked a variety of jobs at his father label including producer, co-founding Rotary Connection, and eventually heading the label as President
March 13, 1942 ~ John Paul Larkin, commonly known as singer Scatman John, born in El Monte, California, USA ~ Best known for his 1990s hits Ski-ba-bop Ba-dop-bop and Scatman's World mixing scat singing and dance music. Suffered from a severe stutter from childhood forward. Recipient of the American Speech Language Hearing Associatios Annie Glenn Award for outstanding service to the stuttering community. Inducted in the National Stuttering Association Hall Of Fame ~ Larkin passed away in 1999
March 13, 1940 ~ Canzett Maria Staton, commonly known as singer Candi Staton, born in Hanceville, Alabama, USA ~ Known for the 1970 Tammy Wynette-cover Stand By Your Man, the 1976 disco hit Young Hearts Run Free and as featured vocalist on the Source's You Got The Love, the latter a smash hit across Europe in 1986
March 13, 1940 ~ Saxophonist Charles Brackeen born in Oklahoma, USA ~ Studied violin and piano before switching to saxophone. Sidenman and leader. Has played with Don Cherry, Leroy Jenkins, Paul Motian, Ahmed Abdullah, Dennis González, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and others
March 13, 1939 ~ Pop singer, pianist, songwriter Neil Sedaka born in Brooklyn, New York, USA ~ Briefly a member of the Tokens. Best known as a solo artist and songwriter having penned or co-penned over 500 songs, often teaming up with Howard Greenfield and Phil Cody. Well known songs include Oh Carol, Calender Girl, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do and Laughter In The Rain. Artists who have recorded his songs include Connie Francis (Stupid Cupid), Bobby Darin, Lavern Baker, Clyde McPhatter, the Monkees, Lesley Gore, Eydie Gormé, Jimmy Clanton, Peggy Lee, Captain & Tennille (Love Will Keep Us Together), Cher, Lovelace Watkins, Johnny Mathis, Carole King, Little Eva, Petula Clark, the Carpenters (Solitaire), Tom Jones, Elvis Presley, and others
March 13, 1938 ~ R&B singer Erma Franklin, full name Erma Vernice Franklin, born in Shelby, Mississippi, USA ~ Sister of singer Aretha Franklin. Best known for recording the original version of Piece Of My Heart in 1967, notably covered by Big Brother & the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin ~ Franklin passed away in 2002
March 13, 1938 ~ Bandleader, drummer, composer Julian Bahula, full name Sebothane Julian Bahula, born in Eersterust, South Africa ~ One of several South African expatriates fleeing the Apartheids regime, finding success in Europe in the 1970s. Best known for founding and leading Jabula, with whom he recorded five albums through the early 1980s. The group is also known for guesting on the Mike Oldfield-albums Ommadawn, Incantations and Amarok. In 2012 South African president Jacob Zuma presented Bahula with the Order of Ikhamanga for exceptional achievements in the field of music ~ Bahula passed away in 2023
March 13, 1938 ~ Soprano Roberta Knie born in Cordell, Oklahoma, USA ~ Worked with the Graz Opera, the Opernhaus Zurich, the Opera National De Lyon, the Dallas Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Welsh National Opera, the Opera De Montreal, the Teatro Colón, and others ~ Knie passed away in 2017
March 13, 1936 ~ Singer Clarence Bassett born in Queens, New York, USA ~ Member of doo-wop outfit Shep & the Limelites, known for their 1961 Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit Daddy's Home. The songs would become to be seen as one of all-time best doo-wop songs, covered by PJ Proby, Frank Zappa, Jermaine Jackson, Toots & the Maytals, the Carpenters, Junior English, and Cliff Richard. Bassett has also worked with the Five Sharps and the Flamingos ~ Bassett passed away in 2005
March 13, 1935 ~ Marjorie Hendrix, commonly known as R&B singer Margie Hendrix, born in Register, Georgia, USA ~ Member of the Cookies. Left in the late-1950s to form the backup vocal section, Raelettes, for Ray Charles with whom she also had a brief affair resulting in the birth of a son in 1959. Hendricks can be heard on many classic Charles tracks including Tell The Truth, The Night Time Is The Right Time, What I'd Say (Part I & II), Sticks & Stones, Hit The Road Jack, Unchain My Heart, I Can't Stop Loving You, Bye Bye Love, You Are My Sunshine, and others. Charles fired Hendrix in 1964 due to alcohol and drug abuse ~ Hendrix passed away in 1973
March 13, 1933 ~ Songwriter Mike Stoller born in New York, New York, USA ~ Frequent collaborator of Jerry Leiber. The pair is known for penning pivotal R&B, rock & roll hits for artists such as Little Willie Littlefield (Kansas City), Big Mama Thornton (Hound Dog), the Robins, Ruth Brown, the Coasters (Young Blood, Yakety Yak), Elvis Presley (Love Me, Jailhouse Rock, King Creole), the Drifters, Ben E King (Stand By Me), Damita Jo, Chuck Jackson, and others
March 13, 1930 ~ Richard Allen Mitchell, commonly known as jazz, jazz fusion trumpeter Blue Mitchell born in Miami, Florida, USA ~ Leader and sideman. Worked with Horace Silver, Junior Cook, Gene Taylor, Roy Brooks, Ray Charles, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Louie Bellson, Bill Holman, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Lou Donaldson, Grant Green, Philly Joe Jones, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Johnny Griffin, Al Cohn, Dexter Gordon, and others ~ Mitchell was born in 1979
March 13, 1929 ~ Lulu Grace Johnson, commonly known as country singer Jan Howard, born in Missouri, USA ~ Actively recording since the late 1950s, regularly reaching the higher echelons of the country charts with songs such as The One You Slip Around With, Evil On Your Mind, Bad Seed, Count Your Blessings Woman and Love Is Like A Spinning Wheel. Howard is also remembered for a number of duets, perhaps most notably with Wynn Stewart on The Wrong Company, and with Bill Anderson on For Loving You and If It's All The Same To You ~ Johnson passed away in 2020
March 13, 1929 ~ Mezzo-soprano Rosalind Elias born in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA ~ Praised for her dramatic voice and stage presence that spanned six decades. Best known for her association with the Metropolitan Opera, noted for portraying the role of Erika in Samuel Barber's Vanessa in 1958. Elias has also performed with the Scottish Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Opera De Monte Carlo, the Los Angeles Opera, and the New York City Opera ~ Elias passed away in 2020
March 13, 1925 ~ Jazz, swing, jazz fusion, avant-garde jazz drummer Roy Haynes, full name Roy Owen Haynes, born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA ~ One of the most recorded drummers in jazz with a career spanning eight decades starting in the early 1940s. Has recorded as a leader or co-leader since the mid-1950s, especially acclaimed for Out Of The Afternoon released in 1962. Also noted for the collaborative album We Three with Phineas Newborn Jr and Paul Chambers released four years earlier. In-demand sideman, present on albums by the likes of Lester Young, Charlie Parker, JJ Johnson, Bud Powell, Cal Tjader, Sarah Vaughan (At Mister Kelly's), Sonny Rollins (The Sound Of Sonny), Thelonious Monk, Art Farmer, Booker Little (Booker Little), Etta Jones, Ray Charles (Genius+Soul=Jazz), Oliver Nelson, Eric Dolphy, Eddie Lockjaw Davis (Trane Whistle), Rahsaan Roland Kirk, John Coltrane (Impressions), Gary Burton, Jack DeJohnette, Sonny Stitt, and Chick Corea
March 13, 1924 ~ Richard Aaron Katz, commonly known as pianist, arranger Dick Katz, born in Baltimore, Maryland, USA ~ Best known as a versatile sideman and producer, though has on occasion recorded as a leader. Has produced albums such as Helen Merrill's The Feeling Is Mutual, James Moody's The Blues And Other Colors, and Lee Konitz's Spirits. As a pianist present on albums by Al Cohn, JJ Johnson (Nuf Said), Carmen McRae, Manny Albam, Sonny Rollins, Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk (Criss-Cross), and Jack DeJohnette ~ Katz passed away in 2009
March 13, 1919 ~ Songwriter, arranger, producer, label executive Dave Cavanaugh born in St Paul, Minnesota, USA ~ Started his career as a saxophonist sessioning for Eddie Miller, Bobby Sherwood, Benny Carter, Woody Herman, Sammy Davis Jr, Ella Mae Morse, and Peggy Lee. Became Capitol Records Director of A&R in the early 1950s signing artists such as Dakota Staton, Donna Hightower, Nancy Wilson, Plas Johnson, and Sandler & Young. Cavanaugh continued to become one of the label's main producers, working with Nat King Cole, Stan Kenton, Kay Starr, Billy May, and Frank Sinatra. Cavanaugh would eventually rise to the position of President of the label in the 1970s and continue to work until his death at age 62 ~ Cavanaugh passed away in 1981
March 13, 1913 ~ Otis Verries Hicks, commonly known as blues singer, guitarist, songwriter Lightnin' Slim, born in Good Pine, Louisiana, USA ~ Lesser-known of the 1950s bluesmen, yet critically held on par with the likes of peers Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson II. Known for songs such as Farming Blues, It's Mighty Crazy, Bad Luck Blues, and others ~ Hicks passed away in 1974
March 13, 1909 ~ R&B, blues guitarist, singer, songwriter Saunders King, full name Saunders Samuel King, born in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, USA ~ Sang with the Southern Harmony Four. Switched to blues by the early 1940s, releasing the self-penned SK Blues in 1942 which would become a nationwide hit and one of the first recordings prominently featuring the electric guitar. Other well known songs include Empty Bedroom Blues and Stay Gone Blues ~ King passed away in 2000
March 13, 1901 ~ Jazz clarinetist, saxophonist Andrew Morgan born in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, USA ~ Member of sibling outfit the Young Morgan Band. Also worked with the Imperial Band, Kid Howard, Kid Rena, Kid Thomas Valentine, Alphonse Picou, Herb Morand, Kid Clayton, the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, Percy Humphrey, Sweet Emma Barrett, Alvin Alcorn, the Onward Brass Band, the Eureka Brass Band, and Captain John Handy ~ Morgan passed away in 1972
March 13, 1894 ~ Blues singer Clara Smith born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, USA ~ Dubbed “the Queen of the Moaners”. Known for songs such as Troublesome Blues, the risqué Whip It To A Jelly and a number of duets with Bessie Smith, no relation, notably My Man Blues and Far Away Blues. Has also worked with Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong, and with Don Redman ~ Smith passed away in 1935
March 13, 1860 ~ Composer, pianist Hugo Wolf, full name Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf, born in Windischgratz, Slovenia ~ Child prodigy. Wrote hundreds of lieder, also composed three operas, choral, orchestral and chamber music. Influenced mainly by Richard Wagner, Wolf's song Zur Ruh Zur Ruh said to be an elegy for Wagner. Best known for his 1887 instrumental work Italian Serenade, originally intended for string quartet and later transcribed to orchestra ~ Wolf passed away in 1903