Jazz Birthday

Teddy Wilson was born in Austin, Texas, on November 24, 1912. Under his parents’ tutelage, his early music education began at the age six with

Adelaide Louise Hall was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 20, 1901. Adelaide and her sister Evelyn attended the Pratt Institute, where her father

Albert Ammons was born in Chicago on March 1, 1907. Both of his parents were pianists and he began playing when he was ten. One

Eddie Durham was born August 19, 1906, in San Marcos, Texas. From an early age, Durham performed with his family in the Durham Brothers Orchestra,

Pete Fountain was born Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Jr., on July 3, 1930, in New Orleans. Young Pete was very sickly, frequently battling respiratory infections due

Ray Bauduc was born June 18, 1906, in New Orleans. He came from a musical family: his father Jules Bauduc was a cornetist, his older

Maxine Sullivan was born as Marietta Lillian Williams in Homestead, Pennsylvania, on May 13, 1911. As a teenager she sang on the radio in Pittsburgh

Lawrence “Bud” Freeman was born April 13, 1906, in Chicago, Illinois. In 1922, Freeman and some friends from high school formed the Austin High School

Albany Leon “Barney” Bigard was born in New Orleans on March 3, 1906. Bigard began on the E-flat clarinet when he was seven. He took

Alonzo “Lonnie” Johnson was born February 8, 1899, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Some sources give his birth year as 1894 or 1889.) He studied violin,

Henry James “Red” Allen, Jr., was born in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 7, 1908. After playing trumpet on riverboats on

Spike Jones was born Lindley Armstrong Jones on December 14, 1911, in Long Beach, California. At the age of 11 he got his first set

Ruth Etting was born on November 23, 1896, in David City, Nebraska. Etting was interested in drawing at an early age; she drew and sketched

Jelly Roll Morton was born Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (or Lemott) around September 20, 1890 (he gave his birth year as 1884 on his WWI draft

Leon Brown “Chu” Berry was born September 13, 1908, in Wheeling, West Virginia. After high school, he attended West Virginia State College for three years.

William James Basie was born on August 21, 1904, in Red Bank, New Jersey. Basie’s mother gave him his first piano lessons. After moving to

Dick McDonough was born July 30, 1904, in New York City. He began playing banjo and mandolin as a teenager in high school. His first

Ben Pollack was born June 22, 1903, in Chicago, Illinois. He took up the drums as a teenager, inspired by jazz emanating from Chicago nightclubs.

Mary Lou Williams was born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs on May 8, 1910, in Atlanta, Georgia. By the age of two, she could pick out simple

Lionel Hampton was born April 20, 1908, in Louisville, Kentucky. He and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1916. During the 1920s, while still

Jimmy McPartland was born on March 15, 1907, in Chicago. Jimmy played violin as a child, and at 15 switched permanently to the cornet. In

James Reese Europe was born in Mobile, Alabama, on February 22, 1881. James learned piano from his mother, and banjo and fiddle under his father’s

Stéphane Grappelli was born on January 26, 1908, in Paris. Grappelli’s mother died when he was five, leaving his father to raise him. Grappelli began

Robert “Bob” Effros was born December 6, 1900, in London, England. His Russian Jewish parents emigrated shortly afterward from London to Memphis, Tennessee. Bob ran