On This Day

December 1932 in Music History

Events in Music

  • Dec 26 Revival of Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle's musical "Shuffle Along" opens at Mansfield Theater, NYC; runs for 17 performances
  • Dec 27 Radio City Music Hall, designed by Edward Durell Stone and Donald Deskey opens at Rockerfeller Center in Manhattan, New York City

Film Premiere

Dec 29 Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers' 1st joint movie "Flying Down to Rio," directed by Thornton Freeland, premieres in NYC

Fred Astaire
Actor and Dancer Fred Astaire
Ginger Rogers
Actress and Dancer Ginger Rogers

Birthdays in Music

  • Dec 3 Bob Cranshaw, American jazz bassist (Blue Note Records; Sonny Rollins; Stanley Turrentine; Duke Pearson), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2016)
  • Dec 3 Corry Brokken, Dutch pop singer (1957 Eurovision), born in Breda, The Netherlands (d. 2016)
  • Dec 4 Édgar Valcárcel, Peruvian pianist and composer, born in Puno, Peru (d. 2010)
  • Dec 5 James Cleveland, American gospel singer, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1991)

Little RichardLittle Richard (1932-2020)

Dec 5 American singer-songwriter and rock 'n' roll pioneer (Tutti Frutti), born in Macon, Georgia

Little Richard
  • Dec 9 Donald Byrd, American jazz trumpeter (Black Byrd), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2013)
  • Dec 9 Jessie Hill, American jazz musician (Ooh Poo Pah Doo), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1996)
  • Dec 14 Abbe Lane, American singer and wife of Xavier Cugat (Xavier Cugat Show), born in Brooklyn, New York
  • Dec 14 Charlie Rich, American country vocalist (Behind Closed Doors), born in Colt, Arkansas (d. 1995)
  • Dec 15 Curtis Fuller, American jazz trombonist (Yusef Lateef; John Coltrane; Farmer/Golson Jazztet), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2021)
  • Dec 15 Elaine Barkin, American composer, born in The Bronx, New York
  • Dec 15 Igor Štuhec, Slovenian contemporary classical composer (Entuziazmi; Differentiations), born in Kremberk, Yugoslavia (now Slovenia)
  • Dec 16 Rodion Konstantinovich Schedrin, Soviet-Russian pianist, organist, and composer (The Little Hump-backed Horse), born in Moscow, Russia
  • Dec 21 Ilja Zeljenka, Slovak composer (Oświęcim), born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) (d. 2007)
  • Dec 28 Dorsey Burnette, rockabilly singer ("Tall Oak Tree"; "Hey Little One"), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 1979)
  • Dec 28 [Grace] Nichelle Nichols, American actress (Star Trek - "Lt. Uhura") and singer (Down To Earth; "Fly Me To The Moon"), born in Robbins, Illinois (d. 2022)

Deaths in Music

  • Dec 1 Amadeo Vives, Spanish composer, dies at 61
  • Dec 24 Eyvind Alnæs, Norwegian pianist, organist, choral director, and composer, dies at 60

Famous Musicians

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