January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006 Born Ruth Alston Weston in Portsmouth, Virginia, she attended I. C. Norcom High School, a historically black high school. Brown’s father was a dockhand who directed the local church choir, but the young Ruth showed more of an interest in singing at USO shows and nightclubs. She was … Read more
September 21, 1944 – June 22, 1988 2002 Blues Inductee Jesse Ed Davis was born in Norman, Oklahoma on September 21, 1944 of Kiowa and Cherokee parents. He was playing guitar at venues in and around Oklahoma City by his early teens with other young musicians like bassist John Selk, vocalist Jerry Fisher, and drummer … Read more
Ernestine Dillard, from Bixby, is perhaps best remembered for her April 23, 1995 performance, when she electrified 11,000 mourners and a national television audience with her “God Bless America” medley that closed the Oklahoma City Memorial Service for the victims of the Murrah Building bombing. In 1994, she ended a 33-year career as a registered nurse, the last … Read more
November 28, 1950 – February 2001 Born Deborah Ruth Vorhies on November 28, 1950 in Forth Worth, Texas, Debbie received her first guitar as a Christmas gift from her parents when she was 12 years old. She began touring nationally while still in her teens with an all-girl band, the Kandy Kanes, and then went … Read more
October 26, 1911 — January 27, 1972 Born as Mahala Jackson and nicknamed “Halie”, Jackson grew up in the Black Pearl section of the Carrollton neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans, Louisiana. The three-room dwelling on Pitt Street housed thirteen people and a dog. This included Little Mahala (named after her aunt, Mahala Clark-Paul whom the … Read more
October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993 Dizzy Gillespie was one of the principal developers of bop in the early 1940s, and his styles of improvising and trumpet playing were imitated widely in the 1940s and 1950s. Indeed, he is one of the most influential players in the history of jazz. Gillespie was the youngest … Read more
Charles Henry “Charlie” Christian (July 29, 1916 – March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist Charlie Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar and a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet and Orchestra … Read more