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.
November 25, 1929 ~ Royal G Bryant, commonly known as jazz tenor, alto saxophonist Rusty Bryant, born in Huntington, West Virginia, USA ~ Leader and sideman. Known for his 1952 recording All Nite Long. Worked with Tiny Grimes, Stomp Gordon, Hank Marr, Nancy Wilson, Richard Groove Holmes, Boogaloo Joe Jones, Johnny Hammond Smith, Charles Kynard, and Sonny Phillips ~ Bryant passed away in 1991
November 25, 1928 ~ Jazz, pop, R&B singer, songwriter Etta Jones born in Aiken, South Carolina, USA ~ Known for songs such as Don't Go To Strangers and Save Your Love For Me. Worked with Buddy Johnson, Oliver Nelson, Earl Hines, Barney Bigard, Gene Ammons, Kenny Burrell, Milt Jackson, Cedar Walton, Houston Person, Frank Wess, and Roy Haynes ~ Jones passed away in 2001
November 25, 1927 ~ Jazz pianist Dick Wellstood, full name Richard Macqueen Wellstood, born in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA ~ Regarded as one of the great boogie-woogie, stride pianists to emerge from the 1940s while his contemporaries focused on bebop. Especially known as an interpreter of the music of James P Johnson. Over two dozen albums as a leader or solo performer, especially acclaimed for the collaborative 1962 Uptown And Lowdown album with Cliff Jackson, and the mid 1970s albums This Is The One (Dig) and its follow-up Alone. An in-demand sideman and collaborator for some four decades, Wellstood has worked with Bob Wilber, Sidney Bechet (Grand Master Of The Soprano Sax And Clarinet), Conrad Janis, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, Nancy Harrow (Wild Women Don't Have The Blues), Odetta (Odetta And The Blues), Bob Dylan (The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan), Eddie Condon, Wild Bill Davison, Doc Cheatham, and Kenny Davern ~ Wellstood passed away in 1987November 25, 1925 ~ Bebop trombonist, actor Matthew Gee born in Houston, Texas, USA ~ Played with Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Morris, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Count Basie, Illinois Jacquet, Lou Donaldson, Sarah Vaughan, Duke Ellington, Paul Quinichette, Brooks Kerr, Johnny Griffin, and Erskine Hawkins ~ Gee passed away in 1979
November 25, 1924 ~ Paul Emil Breitenfeld, commonly known as jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond, born in San Francisco, California, USA ~ Quintessential cool jazz saxophonist. Best known for his longtime association with Dave Brubeck, including writing the Dave Brubeck Quartet's biggest hit Take Five of their 1959 Time Out album. Also appeared on albums by Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Jackie & Roy (Time & Love), Don Sebesky (Giant Box), Jim Hall, Art Garfunkel (Watermark), and Chet Baker ~ Desmond passed away in 1977
November 25, 1923 ~ Contralto concert, opera singer Claudia Hellmann born in Berlin, Germany ~ Frequently performed the contralto part in the recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantatas, Christmas Oratorio and Easter Oratorio. Best known for her longtime association with the Stuttgart Opera. Has also worked with the Theater Münster, the Nürnberg Opera, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra ~ Hellmann passed away in 2017November 25, 1915 ~ Clarinetist, saxophonist, flutist Gus Bivona, full name Gus Peter Bivona, born in New London, Vermont, USA ~ In-demand studio and session musician, especially known for his work on numerous film scores. Worked with the Leo Scalzi Brunswick Orchestra, Bunny Berigan, Will Hudson, Teddy Powell, Benny Goodman, Jan Savitt, Les Brown, Tommy Dorsey, Red Mitchell, Alvin Stoller, Skip Martin, Frank Sinatra, Harry Sweets Edison, and Shorty Sherock ~ Bivona passed away in 1996
November 25, 1910 ~ Saxophonist, clarinetist Willie Smith, full name William McLeish Smith, born in Charleston, South Carolina, USA ~ Worked with Jimmie Lunceford, Charlie Spivak, Harry James, Duke Ellington, Billy May, Louie Bellson, Nat King Cole, Gene Krupa, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday, Barney Kessel, Jimmie Lunceford, Rose Murphy, Red Norvo, André Previn, Googie René, and Kay Starr ~ Smith passed away in 1967
November 25, 1905 ~ Pianist, singer, songwriter Harry Barris born in New York, New York, USA ~ One of the earliest to incorporate “scat singing” in his technique. Worked with Paul Ash, Paul Whiteman, the Rhythm Boys, Gus Arnheim, Bing Crosby, and Joe E Brown ~ Barris passed away in 1962
November 25, 1900 ~ Composer, film producer Arthur Schwartz born in Brooklyn, New York, USA ~ Studied law but pursued a career in songwriting. Has written extensively for Broadway musicals, starting in 1927 with New Yorkers, and films, often in collaboration with Howard Dietz. Noted for producing the 1944 Cover Girl musical film and the 1946 Cole Porter Night & Day bio-pic ~ Schwartz passed away in 1984
November 25, 1896 ~ Composer Virgil Thomson born in Kansas City, Missouri, USA ~ Instrumental in the development of “the American Sound” in classical music. Wrote symphonies, opera, ballet, film scores and chamber music. Known best for works such as Four Saints In Three Acts, The Plow That Broke The Plains, the Pullitzer Prize-winning soundtrack to Louisiana Story, and for his late opera Lord Byron ~ Thomson passed away in 1989