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.
July 3, 1926 ~ Jazz, R&B trumpeter Johnny Coles born in Trenton, New Jersey, USA ~ Active from the late 1940s well into the 1990s. Recorded a handful of albums as a leader, noted most for Little Johnny C released in 1963. Most closely associated with Gil Evans, James Moody, and Charles Mingus. Also present on albums by the likes of Clifford Brown, Dinah Washington, Miles Davis (Porgy & Bess), Ray Crawford, Donald Byrd, Grant Green, Horace Parlan (Happy Frame Of Mind), Kenny Burrell, Astrud Gilberto, Booker Ervin (Back From The Gig), Herbie Hancock, and the Manhattan Transfer (Vocaleese) ~ Coles passed away in 1997
July 3, 1923 ~ John Maurice Hartman, commonly known as jazz singer, pianist Johnny Hartman born in Houma, Louisiana, USA ~ Critically acclaimed, admired by peers, never widely known. Fresh out of the US Army, Hartman won a singing contest awarding him a one-week engagement with Hines. Hines hired him for a year. Dizzy Gillespie snatched Hartman when the Hines orchestra broke up, and he sang with Dizzy for about a year. He briefly teamed up with pianist Erroll Garner before going solo in 1950. In 1955 he released his first solo album, Songs From The Heart, followed by a handful more, all on small labels and to little commercial succes. In 1963 John Coltrane asked Hartman to do a collaboration album. The result, Johnny Coltrane & Johnny Hartman, is widely considered a classic. Despite the attention, a label move and teaming up with famed producer Bob Thiele, Hartman failed to reach a wider audience. He continued to perform and record up to his death, mostly on smaller labels. Hartman did receive a Grammy-nomination for Best Male Jazz Vocalist following his LP Once In Every Life. Four of the tracks would later be included on the soundtrack to The Bridges Of Madison County, introducing the late Hartman to a younger generation ~ Hartman passed away in 1983
July 3, 1915 ~ Generoso Graziano, commonly known as violinist, bandleader, composer, arranger Jerry Gray, born in East Boston, Massachusetts, USA ~ Popular big band, swing era arranger. Closely associated with Artie Shaw and especially Glenn Miller. Arranged many of Miller's 1930s and 1940s recordings including Elmer's Tune, Moonlight Cocktail and Chattanooga Choo Choo, wrote or co-wrote songs such as Sun Valley Jump, The Man In The Moon, Pennsylvania 6-5000 and I Dreamt I Dwelt In Harlem ~ Graziano passed away in 1976July 3, 1914 ~ Film, TV composer George Bruns, full name George Edward Bruns, born in Sandy, Oregon, USA ~ Best known for his work for Disney from the 1950s through the 1970s, including for animated films such as Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred And One Dalmations, Jungle Book, The Aristocats and Robin Hood ~ Bruns passed away in 1983