Gigi Gryce born 28 November 1925

Gigi Gryce (November 28, 1925 – March 17, 1983), later in life changing his name to Basheer Qusim, was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator. 

George General Gryce Jr. was born in Pensacola, Florida although he was brought up in Hartford, Connecticut. He spent a short period in the Navy where he met musicians such as Clark Terry, Jimmy Nottingham and Willie Smith, who were to turn his thoughts from pursuing medicine to the possibility of making music for a living. In 1948 he began studying classical composition at the Boston Conservatory. Although illness interrupted his studies abroad, the fruits of this immersion in classical modernism were the production of three symphonies, a ballet, a symphonic tone-poem and chamber works, including various fugues and sonatas, piano works for two and four hands, and string quartets. 

Gryce with Clifford Brown & Henri Renaud

Gryce strictly separated his classical composing from his work in jazz and received inspiration and instruction from a number of 'unsung' jazz saxophonists. The first of these was alto player Ray Shep. Then there were three musicians Gryce had met whilst based in the Navy in North Carolina. Altoists, Andrew 'Goon' Gardner, who played with the Earl Hines Band and Harry Curtis, who performed with Cab Calloway, as did tenorman Julius Pogue, for whom Gryce reserved the highest accolade. As well as alto saxophone Gryce performed on tenor and baritone saxes, clarinet, flute and piccolo resulting in a 1958 recording for the Metrojazz label on which he multi-tracked all these instruments over a conventionally recorded rhythm section. 

Whilst in Boston (from 1948) Gryce arranged for Sabby Lewis, and had working gigs with Howard McGhee and Thelonious Monk. When playing at the Symphony Hall he attracted the attention of Stan Getz who asked Gryce to arrange for him - Getz subsequently recorded three Gryce originals: Yvette, Wildwood and Mosquito Knees. Dissatisfied with these and other earlier compositions Gryce went on the Fulbright scholarship. Returning to New York, Gryce arranged on record dates for Howard McGhee (Shabozz) and Max Roach (Glow Worm). 

                           Here’s “Kerry Dance” from above EP

                                   

In the summer of 1953 Gryce joined Tadd Dameron's band, and in the autumn of that year was with the Lionel Hampton band when they made their legendary European tour. Through Hampton's band Gryce met many musicians with which he was to collaborate with later, including Clifford Brown , Art Farmer, Quincy Jones and Benny Golson. Against Hampton's wishes this emerging nucleus of talent recorded a number of sessions in Paris for French Vogue in between Hampton gigs. There were many different permutations from quartets to a small big-band, interestingly labeled as an orchestra, alluding to Gryce's exploration of new orchestrations. Later that year Gryce married Eleanor Sears - they had three children together: Bashir, Laila and Lynette - before separating in 1964. It is believed that whilst in Paris, Gryce changed his name to Basheer Qusim on converting to Islam. 

On returning to Manhattan after the Hampton tour, Gryce settled near to Art Farmer, with whom he was to collaborate in a most productive quintet. In 1957 further memorable recordings were made with a group led by Thelonious Monk ('Monk's Music'). The Jazz Laboratory name, used previously for play along records, was revived and shortened into the Jazz Lab Quintet, co-led by Gryce and trumpeter Donald Byrd. Oscar Pettiford made use of Gryce as player, composer and arranger for a couple of sessions which echoed the small orchestra Gryce had used for some French Vogue recordings. Some of the last jazz recordings Gryce made were in 1960, when he fronted a blues-oriented quintet which introduced the exuberant trumpet talent of Richard Williams. 

After less than ten years in the jazz limelight Gryce decided to withdraw to the relative 'anonymity of the Long Island school system,' as jazz critic Ira Gitler critic put it. There has been much speculation as to the reasons for Gryce's sudden departure from the mainstream jazz scene, but it appears that a variety of influences and circumstances contributed to this: psychological pressures, business and publishing interests, and personal tragedy. It is often overlooked that Gryce was one of the first black musicians to form his own publishing company in order to have control over his and fellow musicians' creative output - many of the prominent black jazz musicians of the day were with Gryce's Melotone publishing company. 

It became clear, however, that Gryce couldn't buck the deeply ingrained system of record companies controlling music publishing rights as part of recording deals. Upon retiring from active involvement in the jazz scene suffering from a variety of psychological pressures, Gryce turned instead to music teaching and such was his devotion that there exists a school in The Bronx named after him (PS53 Basheer Qusim School). He also married again and his second wife Ollie took his Muslim surname Qusim. He died of a massive heart attack upon recuperating in the town of his birth, Pensacola, on 17th March, 1983. 

(Edited from All About Jazz)

Bobby Forrester born 27 November 1947

Bobby Forrester (November 27, 1947 - November 23, 2002 was an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician. 

Robert Forrester began playing the piano at the age of nine. He then learned to play the guitar and was a professional rock and roll guitarist for many years. He finally switched to the Hammond organ, which he learned to play in 1966 under the tutelage of Richie Levister. His influences and musical role models included Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff and Jimmy McGriff. 

Forrester had a distinctive style, which was described as soulful, harmonically sophisticated and very swinging. Friends said that he was an extremely versatile musician and could play in many different styles. Jazz remained his passion, however, and he loved the instrumentation of tenor sax and organ. 

                     Here’s “On Broadway” from above album. 

                                  

He released several albums under his own name from 1971 onwards. For 26 years he was keyboardist and musical director of the backing band of singer Ruth Brown.  He can be heard on her albums Touch Me in the Morning, the Soul Survives and most recently A Good Day for the Blues (1998). He also worked with vocalists Irene Reid, Lena Horne, Gwen Cleveland, Ernie Byrd and Bonnie Raitt.

He has also played with saxophonists George Coleman, Bill Easley, Percy France, Harold Ousley, Bill Saxton, Sonny Stitt, Stanley Turrentine, Harold Vick, Jerry Weldon, and Frank Wess, drummers Tootsie Bean and Art Taylor, and bassists Ben Brown and Noryko. 

In the field of jazz, he was involved in 32 recording sessions between 1975 and 2001, according to Tom Lord. However his life was tragically cut short when he died on November 23, 2002, at the age of 54, while he was still an extremely active sideman in the New York City Jazz scene. 

In 1993 Bobby took his working group into the studio in hopes that a label would pick it up, but it was never released until 2013. Bobby's self-produced solo album entitled "Bobby's Blues" features Joey "G-Clef" Cavaseno on alto saxophone, William Ash on guitar, and Clarence "Tootsie" Bean on drums. 

(Scarce information was edited from Local 802 afm, Wikipedia & Discogs)

Here’s a rare clip of Bobby Forrester featured at Harold Ousley's Jazz Jamathon at the Jamaica Market in Queens, NY.  Bobby Forrester-Hammond B3, Harold Ousley-tsax, Michael "Max" Fleming-bass, Harold "Iron Sax"-tsax, Sir G. Earl Grice-drums.

Bobby Sharp born 26 November 1924

Bobby Sharp (November 26, 1924 - January 28, 2013) was an American pianist, singer who had a long songwriting career highlighted by his 1961 hit, “Unchain My Heart." 

Robert Sharp Jr., was born in Topeka, Kansas. He spent his childhood in Lawrence, Kansas, before moving to Los Angeles, where he lived with his grandparents. His parents, Louis and Eva, had gone to New York to pursue career dreams they thought could be realized only in that city, things being what they were in the face of the Depression. His father, a concert tenor, won small roles on Broadway and at the famed Lafayette Theatre in Harlem, the same stage where Orson Welles had produced Macbeth with an all black cast. His mother became an athlete, active in the National Urban League Guild and a lifelong friend of its founder, Mollie Moon. Then in 1936, at age 12, Bobby joined his parents in New York. 

Thei apartment on Edgecombe Avenue on Harlem's Sugar Hill was a meeting place for prominent figures of the Harlem Renaissance; these included Walter White, the founder of the civil rights organization NAACP, Roy Wilkins, longtime NAACP chairman, and Aaron Douglas, an African-American artist also from Topeka. Duke Ellington was a down-the-street neighbor.Poet Langston Hughes, Eddie Matthews, who performed baritone in Porgy and Bess, and Thurgood Marshall, then a young lawyer, all were part of young Bobby's extended family. His mother loved to entertain, and with only a hotplate and a few utensils, she somehow managed to host large parties for everyone in their two-room apartment. In those days, Depression or not, people would always get up and sing, and those songs got Bobby interested in music. 

Bobby joined the Army in 1943, served in the 372nd Infantry regiment stationed in New York City and Ft. Breckenridge, Ky., and after getting out of the service, used the GI bill to study music, first at the Greenwich House Music school (for the fundamentals) and then at the Manhattan School of Music (for harmony, theory, and piano). His impetus for getting serious about learning the craft had come from family friend and famous bandleader Sy Oliver, who was an important mentor in this phase. Bobby also played several gigs with jazz and big band greats Benny Carter and Jimmie Lunceford. 

                                  

For the next few years, Bobby ran up and down Broadway and Tin Pan Alley, trying to get songs published. He hung out in bars like Harlem landmark Small’s Paradise, meeting other hungry songwriters. He read books and poems, even the thesaurus, as he put down tune after tune. Then in 1956, he recorded his first commercial success, “Baby Girl of Mine,” which was later covered by Ruth Brown. He recorded the song Last Night in the Moonlight under his own name for the small label Destiny. 

Along the way Bobby worked with a score of famous songwriters—Charlie Singleton, Leslie McFarland, Jerry Teifer, Aaron Schroeder, Mel Glazer, and Dan and Marvin Fisher. Among his many friendships was the one he struck up with novelist James Baldwin when he wrote the song Blues for Mr. Charlie, after seeing Baldwin’s searing Broadway play about race relations in America. 

During the 50’s and 60’s his tunes were recorded by such leading artists as Sarah Vaughn and Sammy Davis, Jr. and, of course, Ray Charles. In 1961, he recorded the first version of Sharp's best-known song, Unchain My Heart. Although Bobby had sold all the rights to “Unchain" in 1963 to Teddy Powell for just $1,000, he didn't learn till later that he'd been cheated out of royalties from the song. He sued, and seven years later, the courts awarded him judgement. Typical of his generosity, he included a sizable sum from the court settlement to the friend who had tipped him off about the stolen royalties. In 1988 he renewed the copyright for “Unchain My Heart” in his own name; one year after Joe Cocker reignited its hit status. 

By this time, Bobby had more or less retired from the songwriting business; he'd moved to Alameda, California in 1980 after an earlier short stay in Lafayette, and began working as a substance abuse counselor at the Westside Community Mental Health Center in San Francisco. He retired from counseling in 1988 and didn't give much thought to the music business for a number of years following.

But then in 2004, he got back in the music business again when he collaborated with jazz singer Natasha Miller, who recorded an album of his songs, I Had a Feelin': The Bobby Sharp Songbook. In 2005, he briefly returned to the music business to present his debut album The Fantasy Sessions at the age of 81, on which he played the piano and sang his own songs.  Sharp died at eighty-eight years old at a hospital in Oakland, California on January 28, 2013. 

(Edited from All About Jazz & Wikipedia) (Not to be confused with the pop and rock singer Bobby Sharp from Texas who recorded for Dee Jay, Ventural and Epic during 1964-1965).

Carl Dean born 25 November 1940

Carl Dean (Nov. 25, 1940 – Oct.14, 2010) was a country and rock and roll piano player and entertainer and performed the "Carl Dean Show" in all 50 states throughout his career that spanned more than 50 years. 

Carl Dean Hoppe was born in Gorham, Illinois, a son to the late Jesse C. and Laura Mae (Fitch) Hoppe. Carl learned to play guitar from his father at a very early age but preferred the piano. He started his career in the summer of 1957 with a few dollars in his pocket and the determination to succeed at what he wanted to do. 

                                   

Carl Dean traveled coast to coast and border to border for 43 years. He was a musician of country music and 50s and 60s rock and roll. In his younger years he played with Jerry Lee Lewis and was friends with Elvis Presley. Unfortunately he never reached the heights of stardom. He recorded a few singles and one album but mainly traveled the road playing in bars and venues. 

At first Carl was backed by a called the Mad Cats who played Rockabilly in clubs around Baton Rouge and in the Southern Illinois area in the early 60's, but in later years, he put on a one-man show, singing and playing by himself. 

As Carl Dean was quoted in a September 2001 interview, "I book and perform all my shows and I never miss a single one. My first love is and always will be music," he adds. "I set shows up six to eight weeks in advance and allow a week or so off before I take off again." In the same interview he extended a special thank you to all of those of Murphysboro and the surrounding area who have helped support him and his career throughout his years of travel and entertainment. 

He was diagnosed in 2010 with stage IV lung cancer from which he died on Oct 14 that year. 

(Scarce information edited from Legacy & Facebook). 

Eileen Barton born 24 November 1924

Eileen Barton (November 24, 1924 – June 27, 2006) was an American singer best known for her 1950 hit song, "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake." 

Barton was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her birthdate is often given as 1929, but a certified copy of her birth certificate shows that she was born in 1924. This was done commonly, to shave a few years from a performer's age. Eileen's parents, Benny and Elsie Barton, were vaudeville performers. She first appeared in her parents' act in Kansas City at age 2½, singing "Ain't Misbehavin'," as a dare to her parents from columnist and later radio star, Goodman Ace. At 3½, she appeared at the Palace Theater, doing two shows a day as part of comedian Ted Healy's routine (Healy would go on to put together The Three Stooges). 

Barton soon became a child star. By age 6, she appeared on The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour, a radio program sponsored by Horn & Hardart's Automat, a then-well-known restaurant chain, and, by age 7, in 1936–37, she was working with Milton Berle on his Community Sing radio program, using the name "Jolly Gillette" and playing the sponsor's "daughter" (the sponsor was Gillette Razors). She would ask to sing, he would tell her she couldn't, and she would remind him that her daddy was the sponsor, so he'd let her sing a current hit song. She also was a regular on The Milton Berle Show in 1939. 

Eileen with Frank Sinatra

At 8, she had a daily singing program of her own on radio station WMCA, Arnold's Dinner Club. At 10, she appeared twice on Rudy Vallée's network radio program in 1936. She also acted on radio series such as Death Valley Days. At age 11, she left show business briefly. At age 14 she went on the Broadway stage as an understudy to Nancy Walker in Best Foot Forward, followed by an appearance under her own name with Elaine Stritch in Angel in the Wings. At age 15, she appeared as a guest singer on a Johnny Mercer variety series, leading to her being noticed by Frank Sinatra, who took her under his wing and put her in a regular spot on the CBS radio show that he hosted in the 1940s. She co-starred on Sinatra's show beginning August 16, 1944, and was also part of Sinatra's act at the Paramount Theater in 15 appearances there. 

Her first appearance on record was as part of a V-Disc 12" issued for servicemen, where she sang two cuts ("Great Day" and "Lover, Come Back"). The disc was shared with Frank Sinatra's "I Have But One Heart." She appeared on her own and as a guest performer with such stars as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nat King Cole, and Danny Kaye. In 1945, Barton had her own radio program, Teen Timers. That November, the program's name was changed to The Eileen Barton Show. It was broadcast Saturday mornings on NBC. 

                                   

Her first appearance on a normal record available to the general public was "They Say It's Wonderful" (b/w "You Brought A New Kind of Love To Me") for Mercury in 1946. After cutting a second single ("As If I Didn't Have Enough On My Mind" b/w "One-zy Two-zy") she recorded one single for Capitol Records, "Would You Believe Me?" (b/w "A Thousand And One Nights") with the orchestra of Lyle "Skitch" Henderson, in 1948. 

She met success when she moved to National Records the following year and recorded "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake" The record became one of the best-selling records on an independent label of all time, charting at #1 best selling in stores for 2 weeks and most played by jockeys for 10 weeks, and altogether on the Billboard charts for over four months. 

After the success of this record, she became a nightclub and stage performer, appearing at all the important clubs in New York City and many others. In the 1950s, she was a featured singer with Guy Lombardo and his orchestra. 

Barton was a regular performer on The Swift Show in 1948, on Broadway Open House in 1951, and on The Bill Goodwin Show in 1951–52.  She moved to Coral Records in 1951 and charted with some cover versions of songs that were bigger hits for other artists, such as "Cry", "Sway", "Pretend", and others. In 1954, she starred in The Eileen Barton Show, a 13-episode transcribed program for the United States Marine Corps. 

In 1956, Barton moved to Epic Records. However, rock-and-roll quickly drove most singers of her generation from the charts and her chart hits dried up in the late '50s. After releasing singles for another four record labels, she retired from studio work in 1963. Despite 17 years of recording, Barton never produced an LP and her recorded output consisted entirely of singles and EPs. She also appeared in motion pictures and television, and continued to perform live until the early 1980s. 

Barton died at her West Hollywood home on June 27, 2006 from ovarian cancer at the age of 81. 

(Edited from Wikipedia)

 

Sonia Delfino born 23 November 1942

                 

Sonia Delfino (November23, 1942- March 20, 2025) is a Brazilian singer who was one of the first to sing bossa nova as well as rock and roll. 

Delfino was born Sonia de Campos Veras in Rio de Janiro, Brazil and was the niece of the singer Ademilde Fonseca, who was well known in Brazil. Sonia was only 9 years old when she won a singing contest at a station in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte. 

Her professional career began in 1955, on the program Clube do Guri, on TV Tupi, in Rio de Janeiro and began recording 78's for the Copacabana label. 

Her first being Uma valsa para mamãe (Emmanuel Jitay) and also released the Bell of Belém version of the Christmas song Jingle Bells, with the choir of Clube do Guri. She received the Revelation Singer Award, from the hands of the governor of Rio at the time, Carlos Lacerda. Then she recorded her first album which included songs such as: "O Barquinho", "Diga que me Ama", "Bolinha de Sabão". This song, which is by the composer Orlandivo, was a great success at the time.

                                    

From 1960 to 1962, she hosted a television program Alô, Brotos! also on Tupi, alongside singer Sérgio Murilo. She recorded three LPs at Philips, Sônia Delfino canta para a mocidade (1960), Alô, brotos! (1961) and Alô, brotos!, vol. 2 (1962). Her biggest hits are the folk-rock Bimbombey (Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore and Mack David), the twist Diga que me ama (Make Believe Baby, by Ben Weisman and E. Lewis, Philips, 1960) and the bossa nova Bolinha de sabão (Orlandivo; Philips, 1963). 

She was considered by many to be the natural successor of Celly Campelo, who had abandoned her artistic career in 1962, but Sônia preferred to exchange pop-rock for a more adult repertoire, including bossa nova. She participated as an actress in two films: Tudo legal, by Vítor Lima, in 1960, and Um candango na Belacap, by Roberto Farias, in 1961. 

Her career came to a halt when she married a Brazilian diplomat in 1970 and settled abroad. It wasn't until her return in 1983 that she resumed her career, performing in nightclubs such as Rio Jazz Club, Au Bar, Vinícius Bar and Mistura Fina, in Rio de Janeiro, and Tobaco Road, in Miami. In 1998, she participated in the recording of two CDs: "O Amor, O Sorriso e a Flor", which were recorded in honor of the 40-year career of bossa nova and singer Roberto Menescal.

In October 2008, Sonia gave a lecture on Bossa Nova at Yale University, in the United States. In 2012, she joined the group Cantoras do Rádio. That same year, she performed with the group at the Raimundo Magalhães Jr. Theater, at the Brazilian Academy of Letters, for the project “MPB na ABL”. The show was directed, written and presented by Ricardo Cravo Albin. Also in 2012, she participated, alongside the other members of the group, in the opening show of the exhibition “Marlene 90 anos”, at the Cravo Albin Cultural Institute. 

In recent years, despite being quite reclusive, she even made presentations at the traditional Cinelândia Carnival ball, in addition to some shows exalting stars of the Radio Era, such as Marlene, Emilinha Borba and Ademilde Fonseca. In addition to her successes on stage, Sonia was a founding partner of the Brazilian Society for the Administration and Protection of Intellectual Rights (Socinpro).

Sonia died in Rio de Janiro on March 20, 2025. She was 82 years old. 

(Edited from Encyclopedia of Brazilian Music & O Dia)

Jesse Colin Young born 22 November 1941

Perry Miller (November 22, 1941 – March 16, 2025), known professionally as Jesse Colin Young, was an American singer and songwriter. He was a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s group the Youngbloods. 

Young was born Perry Miller in Queens, New York. His parents, originally from Lynn, Massachusetts, were both fans of classical music and encouraged their son to learn piano. In 1959, he won a scholarship to attend Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and studied classical guitar there until he was expelled. He attended Ohio State University for a semester, but later transferred to New York University in 1961. Young balanced his studies with performances in Greenwich Village; however, he later decided to leave college and become a full-time musician. 

During this period, he decided on his stage name Jesse Colin Young as a blend of the names of outlaws Jesse James and Cole Younger, and Formula One design engineer and team owner Colin Chapman, as he felt like this was a more appropriate name for the music he performed. Young met producer Bobby Scott in the early 1960s, who assisted Young in getting studio time. Young's debut album, The Soul of a City Boy, was released in 1964, the result of a four-hour recording session backed by an acoustic guitar. 

Young's cover of the George Remaily song "Four in the Morning" received some radio airplay, and in 1965 Young released a second album produced by Scott, Young Blood. Young met guitarist Jerry Corbitt, a folk singer from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the pair decided to form a band as a duo called the Youngbloods (named after Young's sophomore album), touring Canada together. Eventually Corbitt's friend Lowell "Banana" Levinger (guitar and electric piano) and drummer Joe Bauer were added to the band, and the group became the house band for the Greenwich Village night club Cafe Au Go Go. 

                                   

During this period, Young switched from performing guitar to performing bass, as the band already had two guitar players. Signing to RCA Records, the band released their debut single "Grizzly Bear" in 1966, and their debut album The Youngbloods in 1967. The group's first album contained the song "Get Together", written by Chet Powers, and was released as a single in 1967 to moderate success; however, after its use in a 1969 public service commercial for the National Council of Christians and Jews, it became an international hit. The group released a second album Earth Music just a few months later and became prolific, releasing three more albums in the next few years: Elephant Mountain in 1969, Good and Dusty in 1971 and High on a Ridge Top in 1972. 

Young built a recording studio next to his home in Inverness, California, where he began recording his solo album Together, released in 1972 through Warner Bros. Records. Due to the album's success, Young disbanded the Youngbloods after their final album in November 1972, High on a Ridge Top. Young's fourth solo album, Song for Juli (1973), was a sleeper hit, staying on the Billboard 200 for almost a year. Young toured his fifth album, Light Shine (1974), as an opening act for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Young's third Warner album, Songbird (1975), was his highest charting album (reaching number 26 in the U.S. and number 20 in Canada), and his further Warner releases, the live album On the Road (1976) and Love on the Wing (1977), all charted on the Billboard top 200 albums chart. 

In 1978, Young switched labels to Elektra Records, releasing American Dreams (1978). His follow up The Perfect Stranger (1982), and a further album on Cypress Records titled The Highway Is for Heroes (1987) did not meet with as much commercial success as his previous works. In 1993, Young and his wife Connie founded Ridgetop Music, a label based out of their home in Inverness, in order to re-release Young's 1970s catalog on CD, and as an outlet to release new music including Makin' It Real (1993), Swept Away (1994), and the compilation album Crazy Boy (1995). 

From 2001 Young released the albums  Walk the Talk, followed by Songs for Christmas in 2002 and  Living in Paradise with Artemis Recordsin 2004. Young quit performing music in 2012, at the time when he was diagnosed with "chronic Lyme disease". He was inspired to start performing again in 2016, after being impressed by the musicians at his son's graduation recital at the Berklee College of Music. After touring for a year, Young recorded a new solo record with the College band, Dreamers, which was released in February 2019 on BMG. 

Although his voice showed the wear of time by 2020 his guitar work was still stellar and he continued to perform live as late as 2023, but by that time was suffering from cardiac complications of atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease and he died from a heart attack at the Aiken Regional Medical Center home in Aiken, South Carolina on March 16, 2025.

(Edited from Wikipedia & The Daily Mail)