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.
December 7, 1906 ~ Jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist George James born in Boggs, Oklahoma, USA ~ Active since the late 1920s. Perhaps best known for the 1952 hit Forgive Me, recorded with the Howard Biggs orchestra. As a backing musician, James has worked with Jimmie Noone, Ida Marples, and Jabbo Smith, toured with Louis Armstrong, and later would go on to play with the Savoy Bearcats, Fats Waller, James P Johnson, Benny Carter, Teddy Wilson, Lucky Millinder, and Noble Sissle. James continued to perform well into the 1970s ~ James passed away in 1995
December 7, 1905 ~ Accordionist, arranger, composer Charles Magnante born in New York, New York, USA ~ Played an important role in elevating the accordion, previously considered an instrument suitable only in folk music, to an instrument accepted in many genres ~ Magnante passed away in 1986December 7, 1903 ~ Blues pianist Roosevelt Williams, also known as Grey Ghost, born in Bastrop, Texas, USA ~ Enjoyed a career spanning seven decades, ranging from the 1920 through the 1990s though most of it was spent in obscurity. Would be tracked down by archivist Tary Owens in the mid-1960 resulting in several of his old recordings being reissued and again in the late 1980s, this time leading to his full-length eponymous Roosevelt Williams debut album introducing Williams to a new generation of listeners. Williams would continue to perform until his death at 92 ~ Williams passed away in 1996
December 7, 1842 ~ Then named the Philharmonic Society of New York, later renamed to the New York Symphony Orchestra, gives its first performance in the Apollo Rooms, New York, New York ~ Now the oldest still active orchestra in the USA and considered one of “the Big Five”, the orchestra plays its first concert, a three-hour program, for a crowd of some 600 visitors. The orchestra was founded by American conductor Ureli Corelli Hill with the help of composer William Vincent Wallace. The concert opened with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No.5 led by Hill himself. It also featured parts conducted by Henry Christian Timm and Denis Etienne, the orchestra playing chamber music and several operatic selections