1929

<1928 … 1930>

Jan

2

• Arthur Prysock born (Spartanburg, SC) American jazz and R&B singer. Worked with Buddy Johnson and solo. Died 1997

3

• Ernst Mahle born (Stuttgart) German-Brazilian composer, conductor.

4

• George Antheil’s incidental music for Sophocles’s play Oedipus Rex premiered in Berlin

5

• Wilbert Harrison born (Charlotte, NC) American R&B singer, pianist, guitarist. Died 1994

9

• Lawrence Schwab, B. G. de Sylva, Lew Brown & Ray Henderson’s musical Follow Thru opens on Broadway, with Eleanor Powell (401 performances)

11

• Elfrida Andrée (87) dies in Gothenburg
• Karol Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater for soprano, alto and baritone, choir and orchestra premiered in Warsaw

12

• Umberto Giordano’s opera Il re [the king], lib. Giovacchino Forzano, premiered in Milan

15

• Earl Hooker born (Clarkesdale, MS) American blues guitarist. Died 1970
• Teizo Matsumura born (Kyoto) Japanese composer, poet. Died 2007
• Clarence ‘Pinetop’ Smith makes his final recordings for Vocalion in Chicago

16

• Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra record a session for Victor in New York. Arthur Whetsol, Bubber Miley, Freddie Jenkins (tp) Joe Nanton (tb) Barney Bigard (cl, ts) Johnny Hodges (cl, ss, as) Harry Carney (cl, as, bars) Duke Ellington (p) Fred Guy (bj) Wellman Braud (b) Sonny Greer (d). Tracks cut include Flaming Youth; Doin’ The Voom Voom; High Life & Saturday Night Function
• Hilding Rosenberg’s Trumpet Concerto premiered in Stockholm
  

20

• Jimmy Cobb born (Washington, DC) American jazz drummer, session player. Worked with Miles Davis and many others.

22

• Petr Eben born (Žamberk, Czech Rep) Czech composer, organist, teacher. Died 2007
• Adolph Brodsky (77) dies in Manchester
• Gordon Jacob’s String Quartet premiered in London

23

• Herbert von Karajan makes his conducting debut at the Festspielhaus in Salzburg

25

• Benny Golson born (Philadelphia, PA) American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader. Worked with Tadd Dameron, Lionel Hampton, Art Farmer and others.

26

• Blind Uncle Gaspard makes his first recordings for Vocalion

28

• Bernard ‘Acker’ Bilk born (Pensford, Somerset) English jazz and popular clarinetist, composer, bandleader. Worked with Ken Colyer and the Paramount Jazz Band.

29

• Ed Shaughnessy born (Jersey City, NJ) American jazz drummer, session player. Worked with Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Count Basie.
• Jabbo Smith’s Rhythm Aces make their first recordings for Brunswick in Chicago

31

• Alban Berg’s Three Pieces from the Lyric Suite for string orchestyra premiered in Berlin

unk

• Lucy Broadwood elected president of the Folk Song Society following the death of Hallam Tennyson
• Andy Kirk becomes leader of Terrence Holder’s Dark Clouds of Joy renaming them the Clouds of Joy (or 12 Clouds of Joy)
• RCA acquires the Victor Talking Machine company

releases

• Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five – Heah Me Talkin’ to Ya? / Tight Like This (Okeh)
• Gene Austin – Carolina moon / I wish I had died in my cradle (Victor)
• Cannon’s Jug Stompers – Bugle Call Rag / Pig Ankle Strut (Victor)
• Carter Family – Wildwood Flower / Forsaken Love (Victor)
• Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra – I Must Have That Man / Bandanna Babies (Victor)
• Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra – I Can’t Give You Anything but Love / Diga Diga Do (Victor)
• Ruth Etting – Love Me or Leave Me / I’m Bringing a Red-Red Rose (Columbia)
• Earl Hines – 57 Varieties / I Ain’t Got Nobody (Okeh)
• Lonnie Johnson & Victoria Spivey – Furniture Man Blues parts 1 and 2 (Okeh)
• Blind Willie Johnson – Jesus Is Coming Soon / I’m Gonna Run to the City of Refuge (Columbia)
• Blind Willie McTell – Statesboro Blues / Three Women Blues (Victor)
• Memphis Jug Band – A Black Woman Is Like a Black Snake / On the Road Again (Victor)

Karol Szymanowski 1882-1937

Feb

1

• Harry Beaumont’s movie The Broadway Melody opens starring Anita Page, Bessie Love and Charles King. Music by Nacio Herb Brown, George M Cohan and Willard Robison. The film won the 1930 Oscar for Best Picture.
• Joseph Holbrooke’s opera Bronwen, Daughter of Llyr, lib. Thomas Scott-Ellis, premiered in Huddersfield, the third part of The Cauldron of Anwyn trilogy

2

• Reiner Bredemeyer born (Vélez, Colombia) Colombian composer, teacher. Died 1995
• Arnold Bax’s Hardanger for two pianos premiered in London

4

• Paul Burlison born (Brownsville, TN) American rock guitarist. Member of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Trio. Died 2003
• Arnold Bax’s Violin Sonata no.3 premiered in London
• George Gershwin, playing celeste, records An American In Paris for Victor in New York with the Victor Symphony Orchestra conducted by Nathaniel Shilkret.

5

• Hal Blaine born (Holyoke, Mass) American pop and rock session drummer.
• Luc Ferrari born (Paris) French composer, multi-media artist, theorist. Died 2005

6

• Minnie Hauk (77) dies in New York
• Siegfried Ochs (70) dies in Berlin

7

• Kurt Weill’s Kleine Dreigroschenmusik für Blasorchester [Little Threepenny Music for Wind Band] premiered in Berlin

8

• Floyd Dixon born (Marshall, TX) American R&B singer, pianist. Died 2006
• Eddie’s [Condon] Hot Shots record their only session in New York for Victor. Tracks cut: I’m gonna stomp, Mr. Henry Lee & That’s a Serious Thing. Happy Caldwell (ts) Eddie Condon (bj) Leonard Davis (tp) Jack Teagarden (tb, vo) Mezz Mezzrow (C-Mel sax) Joe Sullivan (p) George Stratford (d)

10

• Jerry Goldsmith born (Los Angeles, CA) American film and television composer, conductor. Died 2004

11

• Vivian Ellis, Richard Myers, Clifford Grey & Greatorex Newman’s musical Mr. Cinders opens in London (528 performances)

12

• Lillie Langtry (75) dies in Monaco

13

• Earl Hines’s orchestra make their first recordings for Victor in Chicago. Alumni include Jimmy Munday and Omer Simeon. Tracks cut include Beau Koo Jack & Good Little, Bad Little You
• Dimitri Shostakovich’s incidental music for Vladimir Mayakovsky’s play The Bedbug premiered in Moscow

16

• Arthur Middleton (48) dies in Chicago
• Aaron Copland’s Vitebsk for piano trio premiered in New York

20

• Toshiro Mayuzumi born (Yokohama) Japanese composer. Died 1997

21

• Ottorino Respighi’s Feste Romane [Roman Festivals] for orchestra premiered in New York

22

• Bela Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4 premiered in London
• Jabbo Smith & His Rhythm Aces make their first recordings for Brunswick in Chicago. 19 sides were cut by the quintet before their last session on 22 Aug 1929.
• Arturo Toscanini appointed director of the Philharmonic Orchestra of New York

24

• André Messager (75) dies in Paris

28

• Sidney Bechet gaoled for 11 months in Paris following the 20 Dec 1928 shooting incident

releases

• Texas Alexander – Work Ox Blues / ‘Frisco Train Blues (Okeh)
• Pink Anderson – Every Day in the Week Blues / Pink Anderson & Simmie Dooley – C.C. and O. Blues (Columbia)
• Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five – St. James Infirmary / Save It Pretty Mama (Okeh)
• Blind Blake – Panther Squall Blues / No Dough Blues (Paramount)
• Dorsey Brothers and their Orchestra – Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love) / The Spell of the Blues (Okeh)
• Duke Ellington and his Orchestra – The Blues With a Feelin’ / Misty Mornin’ (Okeh)
• Mississippi John Hurt – Stack O’ Lee Blues / Candy Man Blues (Okeh)
• Jungle Band – Tiger Rag parts 1 and 2 (Brunswick)
• Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers – Georgia Swing / Mournful Serenade (Victor)
• Jimmie Rodgers – Blue Yodel No. 4 (California Blues) / Waiting for a Train (Victor)
• Luis Russell and his Burnin’ Eight – The Call of the Freaks / It’s Tight Like That (Okeh)
• Pinetop Smith – Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie / Pine Top Blues (Vocalion)
• Henry Thomas – Fishing Blues / Texas Worried Blues (Vocalion)

A rehearsal of “The Bedbug”. Seated: Dmitri Shostakovich, Vsevolod Meyerhold. Standing: Vladimir Mayakovsky, Alexander Rodchenko

Mar

1

• Fats Waller records a session for Victor in New York. Tracks cut include The Minor Drag; Harlem Fuss; Handful of Keys & Numb Fumblin’

4

• Bernard Haitink born (Amsterdam) Dutch violinist, conductor.
• Bela Bartók’s Rhapsody no.1 for violin and piano premiered in London

5

• J. B. Lenoir born (Monticello, MS) American blues singer, guitarist. Died 1967
• Louis Armstrong makes what are considered to be his final recordings of the classic Hot Five / Seven era in Chicago for Okeh before moving on to bigger bands. Louis Armstrong (tp) Jack Teagarden (tb) Happy Caldwell (ts) Joe Sullivan (p) Eddie Lang (g) Kaiser Marshall (d)

7

• Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra record a session for Victor in New York. Arthur Whetsol, Cootie Williams, Freddie Jenkins (tp) Joe Nanton (tb) Barney Bigard (cl, ts) Johnny Hodges (cl, ss, as) Harry Carney (cl, as, bars) Duke Ellington (p) Fred Guy (bj) Wellman Braud (b) Sonny Greer (d). Tracks cut include Stevedore Stomp; Dicty Glide; Hot Feet & Sloppy Joe

8

• Ardis Krainik born (Chicago) American mezzo-soprano singer, opera director. Died 1997

11

• Henry Cowell’s Irish Suite for piano and chamber orchestra premiered in Boston
• Owen Davis, Lorenz Hart & Richard Rodgers’ musical Spring is Here opens on Broadway (104 performances)

15

• Cecil Taylor born (New York, NY) American jazz and avant-garde pianist, composer, poet, teacher.
• Pinetop Smith (24) shot dead in Chicago during a dancehall fight

16

• Ernie Warren born (Norfolk, VA) American R&B singer. Member of the Cardinals. Died 2007

19

• Robert Muczynski born (Chicago, IL) American composer, pianist. Died 2010

21

• Ralph Vaughan Williams’ opera Sir John in Love premiered in London, lib. Vaughan Williams

22

• Fred Anderson born (Monroe, LA) American jazz tenor saxophonist, bandleader. Died 2010

27

• Cole Porter and J.H. Turner’s musical revue Wake up and Dream opens in London (263 performances)
• Paul Hindemith’s cantata Frau Musica premiered in Nuremberg
• Ernst Krenek’s Piano Sonata no.2 premiered in Berlin

29

• The Thomas A. Edison record company is wound up

30

• Maurice Martenot receives a French patent for his Ondes Martenot

releases

• Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five – I Can’t Give You Anything but Love / No One Else but You (Okeh)
• Carter Family – I Have No One to Love Me (But the Sailor) / Anchored in Love (Victor)
• Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra – Flaming Youth / Doin’ the Voom Voom (Victor)
• Mississippi John Hurt – Blessed Be the Name / Praying on the Old Camp Ground (Okeh)
• Blind Willie McTell – Dark Night Blues / Loving Talking Blues (Victor)
• Rhythm Aces – Jazz Battle / Walter Barnes’ Royal Creolians – It’s Tight Like That (Brunswick)

The Ondes Martenot

Apr

1

• Jane Powell aka Suzanne Lorraine Burce born (Portland, OR) American actress, singer, dancer.
  

3

• Joseph Canteloube’s opera Le Mas [the Farmhouse], lib. Canteloube, premiered in Paris

5

• Joe Meek born (Newent, Gloucs) English record producer, songwriter. Died 1967

6

• Edison Denisov born (Tomsk, Russia) Russian composer, teacher. Died 1996
• André Previn born (Berlin) German-American pianist, conductor, composer.
• Art Taylor born (New York, NY) American jazz drummer, writer. Worked with Red Garland, Lee Morgan, John Coltrane, Donald Byrd and others. Died 1995

8

• Jacques Brel born (Brussels) Belgian popular singer, songwriter, actor. Died 1978
• Roy Del Ruth’s movie The Desert Song opens starring John Boles, Carlotta King and Myrna Loy and with music by Irving Berlin, Sigmund Romberg, Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach

10

• Dušan Radić born (Sombor, Serbia) Serbian composer, teacher. Died 2010

14

• Paavo Berglund born (Helsinki) Finnish conductor. Died 2012

15

• Roland Cardon born (Ronse, Belgium) Belgian composer, flautist, wind player, teacher. Died 2001
• Antonio Smareglia (74) dies in Grado, Italy

16

• Roy Hamilton born (Leesburg, GA) American R&B and pop singer. Died 1969

17

• James Last aka Hans Last born (Bremen) German easy listening orchestra leader, composer.
• Mendi Rodan aka Mendi Rosenblum born (Iaşi, Romania) Romanian-Israeli conductor, composer, violinist. Died 2009

18

• Albert Roussel’s Jazz dans la nuit for voice and piano premiered in Paris

22

• Ödön Mihalovich (86) dies in Budapest
• (& 23 Apr) Montana Taylor makes his first recordings for Vocalion in Chicago. Tracks cut include Whoop and Holler Stomp; Hayride Stomp; Detroit Rocks & Indiana Avenue Stomp. His next (and final) date was in 1946

23

• Tommy Dorsey records a session for Okeh. Tracks cut include You can’t cheat a cheater & Daddy, Change Your Mind

26

• Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in A premiered in Prague

29

• Ray Barretto born (New York, NY) American jazz and salsa percussionist, bandleader, session player. Died 2006
• Peter Sculthorpe born (Launceston, Tasmania) Australian composer, teacher.
• Sergei Prokofiev’s opera Igrok [The Gambler] premiered in Brussels, lib. Prokofiev

30

• Alex Hill makes his first recordings as leader for Vocalion in New York
• Eddie Lang and Lonnie Johnson record a session for Okeh as Blind Willie Dunn’s Gin Bottle Four with JC Johnson (p) and King Oliver (cor). Tracks cut include Jet Black Blues
• Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz’s revue the Little Show opens on Broadway (321 performances)

releases

• Louis Armstrong and His Savoy Ballroom Five – Mahogany Hall Stomp / Beau Koo Jack (Okeh) 
  
• Blind Blake – Notoriety Woman / Walkin’ Across the Country (Paramount)  
  
• Carter Family – My Clinch Mountain Home / Foggy Mountain Top (Victor)  
  
• Lonnie Johnson – I’m So Tired of Living All Alone / Low Land Moan (Okeh)  
  
• Memphis Jug Band – Stealin’, Stealin’ / Whitewash Station Blues (Victor) 
  
• Hambone Willie Newbern – Roll and Tumble Blues / Nobody Knows (What the Good Deacon Does) (Okeh)
• Ma Rainey – Blame It on the Blues / Sleep Talking Blues (Paramount) 
  
• Jabbo Smith and his Rhythm Aces – Let’s Get Together / Sau Sha Stomp (Brunswick)  
  
• Frank Stokes – Taint Nobody’s Business parts 1 and 2 (Victor)  
  
• Sippie Wallace – I’m a Mighty Tight Woman / You Gonna Need My Help (Victor) 
  
• Fats Waller and his Buddies – The Minor Drag / Harlem Fuss (Victor)  
  

poster for Roy Del Ruth’s movie The Desert Song

May

1

• Sonny James aka James Hugh Loden born (Hackleburg, AL) American country singer, songwriter, guitarist.
  

2

• Frederick Lincoln ‘Link’ Wray born (Dunn, NC) American rock guitarist, songwriter. Died 2005
• Karol Szymanowski’s String Quartet no.2 premiered in Warsaw

3

• Hans Stadlmair born (Neuhofen an der Krems, Austria) Austrian conductor.
• Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra record a session for Victor in New York. Arthur Whetsol, Cootie Williams, Freddie Jenkins (tp) Joe Nanton (tb) Barney Bigard (cl, ts) Johnny Hodges (cl, ss, as) Harry Carney (cl, as, bars) Duke Ellington (p) Fred Guy (bj) Wellman Braud (b) Sonny Greer (d). Tracks cut include Saratoga Swing; Misty Mornin’; Cotton Club Stomp & Arabian Lover
• Francis Poulenc’s concerto Concert champêtre premiered in Paris

4

• Franco Casavola’s opera Il gobbo del califfo [The Hunchback of the caliph], lib. Arturo Rossato, premiered in Rome

8

• Eddie Lang (as Blind Willie Dunn) and Lonnie Johnson record a session for Okeh with JC Johnson & King Oliver. Tracks cut include A Handful of Riffs & Guitar Blues (billed as Blind Willie Dunn’s Gin Bottle Four)

9

• Robert ‘H-Bomb’ Ferguson born (Charleston, SC) American R&B singer, pianist, songwriter. Died 2006
• Romeo Nelson makes his first recordings for Vocalion in Chicago

15

• Jacques Ibert’s opera Persée et Andromeède [Perseus and Andromeda], lib. Michel Veber, premiered in Paris

16

• Betty Carter aka Lillie Mae Jones born (Flint, MI) American jazz singer. Disputed date, some sources claim 1930. Died 1998

17

• Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 3 premiered in Paris

19

• Michael Adamis born (Piraeus, Greece) Greek composer.
• Helmut Braunlich born (Brno, Czech Rep) German-American composer, musicologist, teacher.

21

• Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet Bludnïy sïn [The Prodigal Son] (L’enfant prodigue) premiered in Paris

22

• Eddie Lang records his only date as bandleader for Okeh in New York. Leo McConville (tp) Tommy Dorsey (tp, tb) Jimmy Dorsey (cl, as) Arthur Schutt (p) Eddie Lang (g) Joe Tarto (b, tu, arr) Stan King (d). Tracks cut include Hot Heels
• Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht’s cantata Das Berliner Requiem premiered on Frankfurt Radio

23

• Maurice Ravel’s ballet La valse premiered in Paris
• Sergey Nikiforovich Vasilenko’s opera Sïn solntsa [Son of the Sun], lib.Mikhail Galhperin, premiered in Moscow

25

• Beverly Sills aka Belle Miriam Silverman born (Brooklyn, NY) American soprano singer. Died 2007

27

• Giuseppe Anselmi (56) dies in Zoagli, Italy of pneumonia

29

• Mel Lewis aka Melvin Sokoloff born (Buffalo, NY) American jazz drummer, bandleader. Worked with Boyd Raeburn, Stan Kenton, Thad Jones and others. Died 1990

30

• Heitor Villa-Lobos’s ballet Amazonas premiered in Paris

releases

• Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra – Basin Street Blues / No (Papa, No) (Okeh)
• Blind Willie Dunn’s Gin Bottle Four [Eddie Lang] – Jet Black Blues / Blue Blood Blues (Okeh)
• Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra – Stevedore Stomp / The Dicty Glide (Victor)
• Peg Leg Howell and Jim Hill – Monkey Man Blues / Chittlin Supper (Columbia)
• Blind Willie Johnson – Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning / Lord I Just Can’t Keep From Crying (Columbia)
• Dick Justice – Cocaine / Old Black Dog (Brunswick)
• Furry Lewis – Judge Harsh Blues / I Will Turn Your Money Green (Victor)
• Jelly Roll Morton and his Orchestra – Red Hot Pepper / Deep Creek (Victor)
• Victor Symphony Orchestra conducted by Nathaniel Shilkret – An American in Paris (Victor) 2 x 78 rpm records
• Fats Waller and his Buddies – Handful of Keys / Numb Fumblin’ (Victor)

Cliff Edwards 1895-1971

Jun

2

• Frédéric Devreese born (Amsterdam) Belgian composer, conductor.
• Don Murray (24) dies in Los Angeles after falling off the running board of a car and hitting his head on the road

5

• Richard Strauss’ Gesänge des Orients op.77 for voice and piano premiered in Berlin

6

• Arnold Bax’s Walsinghame for orchestra premiered in London

8

• Paul Hindemith’s opera Neues vom Tage [News of the Day] premiered in Berlin, lib. M. Schiffer

9

• Johnny Ace aka John Marshall Alexander born (Memphis, TN) American R&B singer, songwriter. Died 1954

11

• Lennie Niehaus born (St Louis, MO) American jazz alto saxophonist, arranger, film composer.

12

• Noel Coward’s musical Bitter Sweet opens in London (673 performances)

14

• Cy Coleman aka Seymour Kaufman born (New York, NY) American jazz pianist, theatre composer, songwriter. Died 2004
• Constant Lambert’s Music for Orchestra premiered in London
• Charley Patton makes first recordings for Paramount in Richmond, IN. Tracks cut include Pony Blues; Banty Rooster Blues; Screamin’ & Hollerin’ The Blues; Mississippi Boll Weevil Blues; Shake It And Break It But Don’t Let It Fall & A Spoonful Blues
• Roosevelt Sykes makes his first recordings for Okeh. Tracks cut include 44 Blues & Boot That Thing

18

• Memphis Minnie makes her first recordings for Columbia in New York with Kansas Joe McCoy on second guitar. Tracks cut include When The Levee Breaks; That Will Be Alright; Bumble Bee & I Want That 

21

• Alexandre Lagoya born (Alexandria, Egypot) Greek-Italian classical guitarist, teacher, amateur boxer. Died 1999

23

• June Carter born (Maces Springs, VA) American country singer, songwriter, autoharp player, actress. member of Mother Maybelle & the Carter Sisters and the Carter Family. Daughter of Maybelle Carter (1909-78), sister of Helen (1927-98) and Anita (1933-99) Carter, wife of Johnny Cash (1932-2003). Died 2003
• Henri Pousseur born (Malmédy, Belgium) Belgian composer, teacher, theorist, writer. Died 2009

28

• Maurice Emmanuel’s opera Salamine premiered in Paris. Lib. Théodore Reinach

29

• June Bronhill aka June Gough born (Broken Hill, NSW) Australian soprano singer. Died 2005

releases

• Carter Family – Engine One-Forty-Three / I’m Thinking To-night of My Blue Eyes (Victor)
• Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra – Hot Feet / Sloppy Joe (Victor)
• Mississippi John Hurt – Blue Harvest Blues / Spike Driver Blues (Okeh)
• Lonnie Johnson and Blind Willie Dunn [Eddie Lang] – Bull Frog Moan / A Handful of Riffs (Okeh)
• Jabbo Smith and his Rhythm Aces – Decatur Street Tutti / Till Times Get Better (Brunswick)
• Frank Stokes – I Got Mine / How Long (Victor)
• Ethel Waters – Am I Blue? / Birmingham Bertha (Columbia)

Charley Patton 1891-1934

Jul

2

• William Anthony McGuire, Ira Gershwin, Gus Kahn & George Gershwin’s musical Show Girl opens on Broadway (111 performances)

6

• Gerd Zacher born (Meppen, Germany) German composer, organist, writer.

9

• Lee Hazlewood born (Mannford, OK) American country and pop singer, songwriter, record producer. Worked with the Shacklefords, Nancy Sinatra and solo. Died 2007

10

• Hamza El Din born (Wadi Halfa, Egypt) Egyptian singer, oud player, composer. Died 2006

11

• Danny Flores aka Chuck Rio born (Santa Paula, CA) American pop singer, saxophonist. member of the Champs. Died 2006

12

• Alex Lithgow (58) dies in Launceston, Tasmania following a stroke

13

• Alan Crosland’s movie musical On With the Show opens, the first film shot entirely in colour, and the movie debut of Ethel Waters. Music by Harry Akst

16

• Henry ‘Red’ Allen makes his first recordings as leader for Victor in New York. Tracks cut include It should be you; Biff’ly Blues; Feeling Drowsy & Swing Out

18

• Jalacy Screamin’ Jay Hawkins born (Cleveland, OH) American blues and rock singer, songwriter, pianist. Died 2000

26

• Charlie Persip born (Morristown, NJ) American jazz drummer, teacher, bandleader. Worked with Tadd Dameron, Dizzy Gillespie, Harry James and his own bands.

27

• Harvey Fuqua born (Louisville, KY) American R&B singer, songwriter, record company executive. Member of the Moonglows. Worked for Motown. Founded Tri-Phi and Harvey Records. Died 2010
• Kurt Weill, Paul Hindemith’s & Bertolt Brecht’s radio play Der Lindberghflug [the Lindbergh flight] premiered in Baden Baden

28

• Paul Hindemith’s & Bertolt Brecht’s Badener Lehrstück vom Einverständnis [Baden-Baden Cantata by permission] premiered in Baden Baden

29

• Avet Terterian born (Baku, Azerbaijan) Armenian composer. Died 1994

releases

• Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra – Muggles / Knockin’ a Jug (Okeh)
• Bessie Brown – Song From a Cotton Field / He Just Don’t Appeal to Me (Brunswick)
• Cliff Edwards – Singin’ in the Rain / Orange Blossom Time (Columbia)
• Peg Leg Howell – Broke and Hungry Blues / Rolling Mill Blues (Columbia)
• Furry Lewis – Mistreatin’ Mamma / Furry Blues (Victor)
• Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe – When the Levee Breaks / That Will Be Alright (Columbia)
• Bessie Smith – Kitchen Man / I’ve Got What It Takes (Columbia)
• Roosevelt Sykes – “44” Blues / Boot That Thing (Okeh)

Poster for Alan Crosland’s technicolour musical film On With the Show

Aug

2

• Fats Waller records a session in Camden, NJ for Victor. Tracks cut include Valentine Stomp; Gladsye; I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling; Love Me or Leave Me; Ain’t Misbehavin’ & Sweet Savannah Sue

3

• Emile Berliner (78) dies in Washington, DC following a heart attack

10

• John Alldis born (London) English conductor, chorus-master. Died 2010

11

• Alun Hoddinott born (Bargoed, Glamorgan) Welsh composer, teacher. Died 2008

12

• Buck Owens born (Sherman, TX) American country singer, songwriter, guitarist. Died 2006
• Joji Yuasa born (Kōriyama, Japan) Japanese composer, teacher.

13

• Eusebius Mandyczewski (71) dies in Vienna
• George Antheil’s incidental music for W.B. Yeats’s play Fighting the Waves premiered in Dublin

16

• Bill Evans born (Plainfield, NJ) American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader. Worked with Miles Davis and his own bands. Died 1980
• Frank Van der Stucken (70) dies in Hamburg

19

• Sergei Diaghilev (57) dies in Venice of diabetes
• Chris Kelly (c. 39) dies in New Orleans from causes related to alcoholism

22

• Lucy Broadwood (71) dies in Dropmore, Kent
• Jabbo Smith’s Rhythm Aces make their final recordings for Brunswick in Chicago

25

• Leonard Gaskin born (New York, NY) American jazz bassist, session musician. Worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Erroll Garner, Miles Davis and others. Died 2009

26

• George Gershwin makes his conducting debut in New York

28

• István Kertész born (Budapest) Hungarian conductor.

30

• Roy Del Ruth’s movie Gold Diggers of Broadway opens starring Winnie Lightner and Nick Lucas. Music by Joseph Burke and Al Dubin.

releases

• Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra – Ain’t Misbehavin’ / (What Did I Do to Be) Black and Blue (Okeh)
• Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra – Sweet Savannah Sue / That Rhythm Man (Okeh)
• Blind Blake – Hookworm Blues / Slippery Rag (Paramount)
• Carter Family – God Gave Noah the Rainbow Sign / Little Moses (Victor)
• Blind Willie Dunn’s Gin Bottle Four [Eddie Lang] – Guitar Blues / Blue Guitars (Okeh)
• Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers – Burnin’ the Iceberg / Tank Town Bump (Victor)
• Charley Patton – Pony Blues / Banty Rooster Blues (Paramount)
• Bessie Smith – Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out / Take It Right Back (Columbia)
• Victoria Spivey – Funny Feathers / How Do You Do It That Way? (Okeh)
• Frank Stokes – Take Me Back / What’s the Matter Blues (Victor)

Poster for Roy Del Ruth’s Gold Diggers of Broadway

Sep

2

• Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht and E. Hauptmann’s musical play Happy End premiered in Berlin

6

• Charles Moffett born (Fort Worth, TX) American jazz drummer, teacher. Worked with Ornette Coleman, Archie Sheep and others. Died 1997
• The Luis Russell Orchestra record a session for Okeh. Tracks cut include The New Call of the Freaks; Jersey Lightning & Feelin’ the Spirit

7

• Edith Johnson makes her first recordings for Paramount in Chicago. Tracks cut include Honey Dripper Blues & Nickel Worth Of Liver

8

• Christoph von Dohnányi born (Berlin) German conductor. Grandson of Ernő Dohnányi (1877-1960).

10

• Akio Yashiro born (Tokyo) Japanese composer, teacher. Died 1976
• The Soul Stirrers are formed in Houston, TX as the New Pleasant Green Gospel Singers – the name was changed in 1930. Initial line-up: WL Le Beaux, EA Rundless Jr, CN Parker & WR Johnson

11

• Fats Waller records a session in Camden, NJ for Victor. Tracks cut include My feelin’s are hurt

13

• Nicolai Ghiaurov born (Velingrad, Bulgaria) Bulgarian bass singer. Died 2004
• Bix Beiderbecke leaves Paul Whiteman’s orchestra after being unable to complete his final recording session with the band

15

• Olivier Messiaen performs in public for the first time at an organ recital in Paris
• Luther Reed’s musical comedy film Rio Rita opens starring Bebe Daniels and John Boles. The score is by Max Steiner and is his first Hollywood Commission

16

• Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra record a session for Victor in New York. Arthur Whetsol, Cootie Williams (tp) Joe Nanton, Juan Tizol (tb) Barney Bigard (cl, ts) Johnny Hodges (cl, ss, as) Harry Carney (cl, as, bars) Duke Ellington (p) Teddy Bunn (g) Fred Guy (bj) Wellman Braud (b) Sonny Greer (d). Tracks cut include Haunted Nights; The Duke Steps Out; Mississippi Dry & Swanee Shuffles

17

• Sleepy John Estes makes his first recordings for Victor in Memphis. John Estes (vo, g) with Jab Jones (p) James Rachell (mand)

20

• Eddie Bo aka Edwin Bocage born (New Orleans, LA) American R&B singer, pianist, songwriter, producer. Died 2009

22

• Furry Lewis makes his final recordings for Vocalion in Memphis. Tracks cut include John Henry Blues
• Speckled Red makes his first recordings for Brunswick. Tracks cut include Dirty Dozen & Wilkin’s Street Romp 

24

• John Carter born (Fort Worth, TX) American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, flautist, bandleader. Worked with Ornette Coleman. Died 1991

27

• Albert Biales born (Cleveland, OH) American composer, teacher. Died 2012

28

• Lata Mangeshkar born (Indore, India) Indian Bollywood singer, composer, film producer. Sister of Asha Bhosle (b.1933).

30

• Frank Stokes makes his final recordings for Victor in Memphis. Tracks cut include I’m going away blues; Old sometime blues; Frank Stokes’ dream & Memphis rounders blues

unk

• Benny Goodman leaves Ben Pollack’s band and moves to New York

releases

• Carter Family – Lulu Walls / Sweet Fern (Victor)
• Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra – Cotton Club Stomp / Arabian Lover (Victor)
• Peg Leg Howell – Turtle Dove Blues / Walkin’ Blues (Columbia)
• Mississippi John Hurt – Louis Collins / Got the Blues, Can’t Be Satisfied (Okeh)
• Tommy Johnson – Canned Heat Blues / Big Fat Mama Blues (Victor)
• Jelly Roll Morton and his Orchestra – New Orleans Bump / Pretty Lil (Victor)
• Charley Patton – Screamin’ and Hollerin’ the Blues / Mississippi Boweavil Blues (Paramount)
• Jimmie Rodgers – Blue Yodel No. 5 / I’m Sorry We Met (Victor)
• Fats Waller – Ain’t Misbehavin’ / Sweet Savannah Sue (Victor)
• Fats Waller – Love Me or Leave Me / I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling (Victor)

Max Steiner 1888-1971

Oct

1

• Grady Chapman born (Greenville, SC) American R&B singer. Member of the Robins and the Coasters. Died 2011

2

• Kenneth Leighton born (Wakefield) English composer, teacher. Died 1988

3

• Arnold Bax’s Overture, Elegy and Rondo for orchestra premiered in London
• David Butler’s musical film Sunny Side Up opens starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. Music by B. G. DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson
• William Walton’s Viola Concerto premiered in London

7

• Rouben Mamoulian’s movie Applause opens starring Helen Morgan.

9

• Lonnie Johnson & Blind Willie Dunn [Eddie Lang] record a session for Okeh in New York. Tracks cut include Hot Fingers; Deep Minor Rhythm; Midnight Call Blues & Blue Room Blues

10

• Ed Blackwell born (New Orleans, LA) American jazz drummer. Wprked with Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry and others. Died 1992
• Franz Léhar’s operetta Das Land des Lächelns [The Land of Smiles] premiered in Berlin, lib. L. Herzer and F. Löhner (revision of Die gelbe Jacke [the yellow jacket])

12

• Napoleon ‘Nappy’ Brown born (Charlotte, NC) American R&B singer. Died 2008
• Frederick Delius’s A Late Lark for tenor and orchestra premiered in London, text W.E. Henley

14

• Henri Berger (85) dies in Honolulu

16

• Frederick Delius’ Air and Dance for string orchestra premiered in London

18

• Frederick Delius’s Cynara for baritone and orchestra premiered in London, text E. Dowson

23

• (& 24 Oct) Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra record two sessions for Victor. Tracks cut include New Vine Street Blues; Band Box Shuffle; Small Black & Rit Dit Day

24

• George Crumb born (Charleston, WV) American composer, teacher.

27

• Henry Thomas makes his final recordings for Vocalion in Chicago, after which he disappears from the historical record

30

• Constant Lambert’s Piano sonata & 8 Poems of Li-Po for voice and piano premiered in London

releases

• Duke Ellington and his Cotton Club Orchestra – The Duke Steps Out / Haunted Nights (Victor) 
  
• Sleepy John Estes – Diving Duck Blues / The Girl I Love She Got Long Curly Hair (Victor) 
  
• Charley Patton – Down the Dirt Road Blues / It Won’t Be Long Now (Paramount)  
  

Gus Cannon 1883-1979

Nov

1

• Béla Bartók’s Rhapsody no.1 for violin and orchestra premiered in Kaliningrad

4

• Dickie Valentine aka Richard Bryce born (London) English pop singer. Died 1971
• Frank Bridge’s Piano Trio No.2 premiered in London

6

• Francy Boland born (Namur, Belgium) Belgian jazz pianist, composer, arranger. Worked with Chet Baker, Benny Goodman, Count Basie and co-led the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band. Died 2005

7

• Clarence Badger’s film musical Paris opens starring Irene Bordoni and Jack Buchanan. Music by Cole Porter and Edward Ward
• Andy Kirk’s 12 Clouds of Joy make their first recordings for Brunswick in New York. Alumni of the band include Don Byas, Hank Jones, Howard McGhee, Fats Navarro, Charlie Parker, Buddy Tate, Joe Williams and pianist and arranger Mary Lou Williams. Tracks cut include Mess-a-stomp & Blue Clarinet Stomp

8

• Bert Berns born (New York, NY) American popular songwriter, record producer. Founder of the Bang and Shout labels. Died 1967

10

• Marilyn Bergman born (Brooklyn, NY) American popular songwriter, writer
• Yehudi Menuhin, aged 13, plays his first London concert

11

• LaVern Baker aka Delores Williams born (Chicago, IL) American R&B singer. Died 1997
• Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, J. McGowan and P.G. Smith’s musical Heads Up! opens on Broadway (144 performances)

15

• Henry Townsend makes his first recordings for Columbia in Chicago. Tracks cut include Mistreated Blues; Poor Man Blues; Henry’s Worry Blues & Long Ago Blues

18

• James P Johnson (as Jimmie Johnson) and his Orchestra record a session for Victor in New York. Alumni include Perry Bradford, Joe Oliver, Fats Waller and Cootie Williams. Tracks cut include You’ve Got To Be Modernistic & You Don’t Understand

19

• Michele Esposito (74) dies in Florence
• Ernst Lubitsch’s movie The Love Parade opens starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. Music by Victor Schertzinger

23

• Laurdine “Pat” Patrick born (East Moline, IL) American jazz baritone and alto saxophonist, bassist. Member of the Sun Ra Arkestra. Died 1991
• Charles Reisner’s film The Hollywood Revue of 1929 opens with a cast of MGM contract players. It marks the cinematic debut of the song Singin’ in the Rain

25

• Little Katie Crippen (34) dies in New York of cancer
• Béla Bartók’s Rhapsody no.2 for violin and orchestra premiered in Budapest

26

• Slavko Avsenik born (Begunje, Slovenia) Slovenian composer, pianist, accordionist, singer.

27

• Cole Porter & Herbert Fields’ musical Fifty Million Frenchmen opens on Broadway (254 performances)

28

• Berry Gordy born (Detroit, MI) American record executive, songwriter, film producer, founder of the Motown group of labels.

30

• Dick Clark born (Mount Vernon, NY) American television presenter, businessman. Presented American Bandstand. Died 2012

releases

• Blind Blake – Fightin’ the Jug / Hastings St. (Paramount)
• Carter Family – The Grave on the Green Hillside / Diamonds in the Rough (Victor)
• Lonnie Johnson and Blind Willie Dunn [Eddie Lang] – Hot Fingers / Deep Minor Rhythm Stomp (Okeh)
• Lonnie Johnson and Victoria Spivey – Toothache Blues parts 1 and 2 (Okeh)
• Charley Patton – Shake It and Break It But (Don’t Let It Fall Mama) / A Spoonful Blues (Paramount)
• Jimmie Rodgers – Frankie and Johnny / Everyone Does It in Hawaii (Victor)

Jeanette MacDonald and Maurice Chevalier in a still from Ernst Lubitsch’s movie The Love Parade

Dec

1

• Francis Poulenc’s Aubade for piano and orchestra premiered in Paris

4

• Wilhelm Georg Berger born (Rupea, Romania) Romanian composer, musicologist, viola player, conductor. Died 1993

5

• Darius Milhaud’s Concerto for viola and orchestra op.108 premiered in Amsterdam
• T-Bone Walker makes his first recordings for Columbia in Dallas billed as Oak Cliff T-Bone with Douglas Finnell on piano. Tracks cut include Trinity River Blues & Wichita Falls Blues

6

• Nikolaus Harnoncourt born (Berlin) Austrian conductor.
• Igor Stravinsky’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra premiered in Paris

7

• Arnold Bax’s Legend for viola and piano premiered in London

9

• Edward Elgar’s carol Goodmorrow premiered in Windsor, text G. Gascoigne

10

• Samar Das born (Dhaka, Bangladesh) Bangladeshi composer, pianist, music director, Bangladeshi nationalist. Died 2001

11

• Kenneth MacMillan born (Dunfermline, Fife) Scottish ballet dancer, choreographer. Died 1992

12

• Toshiko Akiyoshi born (Liaoyang, China) Japanese-American jazz pianist, composer, arranger.
• Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Suite no.1 for five winds and piano; Five Songs on Poems of Carl Sandburg for voice and piano & Suite no.2 for four strings and piano premiered in New York

13

• Arnold Bax’s Symphony No. 2 premiered in Boston

14

• Dmitri Shostakovich’s incidental music for A. Bezïmensky’s play Vïstrel [The Shot] premiered in St Petersburg

15

• Barry Harris born (Detroit, MI) American jazz pianist, teacher.

18

• Anton Webern’s Symphony op.21 premiered in New York

19

• Bob Brookmeyer born (Kansas City, MO) American jazz trombonist, pianist, arranger. Worked with Gerry Mulligan, Clark Terry and others. Died 2011
• Blind Lemon Jefferson (35) dies in Chicago following a heart attack. Various stories of his death circulate. Most widely accepted is that he became disoriented in a snowstorm and suffered a fatal heart attack

21

• Philip Cannon born (Paris) English composer, conductor, teacher.

22

• Sergei Prokofiev’s Divertissement for orchestra premiered in Paris

23

• Chet Baker born (Yale, OK) American jazz trumpeter, singer, flugelhorn player. Worked with Gerry Mulligan and his own bands. Died 1988

25

• Chris Kenner born (Kenner, LA) American R&B and soul singer, songwriter. Died 1976

28

• Hans Kreissig (72) dies in Dallas, TX

29

• Matt Murphy born (Sunflower, MS) American blues guitarist, session player.

31

• Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians play Auld Lang Syne for the first time, something that they do annually until Lombardo’s death in 1977

unk

• Maurice Duruflé appointed organist at St. Étienne-du-Mont, Paris, a post he holds until 1975
• Tommy Johnson makes his final recordings for Paramount in Grafton, WN (he did two for Victor in 1928)

releases

• Clarence Ashley – Dark Holler Blues / The Coo Coo Bird (Columbia)
• Blind Blake – Police Dog Blues / Diddie Wa Diddie (Paramount)
• Carter Family – John Hardy Was a Desperate Little Man / Bring Back My Blue Eyed Boy to Me (Victor)
• Blind Lemon Jefferson – Pneumonia Blues / That Crawling Baby Blues (Paramount)
• Meade Lux Lewis – Honky Tonky Train Blues / Charles Avery – Dearborn Street Breakdown (Paramount)
• Memphis Jug Band – K. C. Moan / Memphis Yo Yo Blues (Victor)
• Charley Patton – Lord I’m Discouraged / I’m Goin’ Home (Paramount)
• Charley Patton – Pea Vine Blues / Tom Rushen Blues (Paramount)
• Henry Thomas – Railroadin’ Some / Don’t Leave Me Here (Vocalion)

date unknown

• The Trautonium, a monophonic electronic proto-synthesiser, is invented by Friedrich Trautwein in Berlin

songs published

• Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Andy Razaf, Thomas Waller, Harry Brooks); Am I Blue? (Grant Clarke, Harry Akst); Corrine, Corrina (J. Mayo Williams, Bo Chatmon); Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You? (Andy Razaf, Don Redman); Happy Days Are Here Again (Jack Yellen, Milton Ager); Honeysuckle Rose (Andy Razaf, Thomas Waller); Puttin’ on the Ritz (Irving Berlin); Singin’ in the Rain; You Were Meant For Me (both Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb Brown); Star Dust (Mitchell Parish, Hoagy Carmichael); What Is This Thing Called Love? (Cole Porter)

The Trautonium