On this day in 1955, graffiti artists began scrawling the words "Bird Lives!" in subway stations and on walls around Greenwich Village in New York City.
Trombonist Miff Mole was born this day in 1898 in Roosevelt, N.Y. He was a revolutionary trombonist in the 1920s, teaming up on classic recordings with cornetist Red Nichols.
Composer and pianist Hall Overton was born this day in 1920 in Bangor, Mich. He played with Stan Getz, Oscar Pettiford, Teddy Charles and Jimmy Rainey, and wrote arrangements for Thelonious Monk's historic orchestral concert at Town Hall in 1959.
Cornetist Rex Stewart was born this day in Philadelphia in 1907. He succeeded Louis Armstrong in Fletcher Henderson's orchestra where he quickly proved himself a highly charged and energetic soloist.
Pianist and composer Tadd Dameron was born this day in 1917 in Cleveland. Under-acknowledged during his career, he is considered today to have been one of the first great jazz arrangers.
Saxophonist and flute player Bobby Jaspar was born this date in 1926 in Liege, Belgium. He developed his jazz reputation in Paris in the early 1950s before moving to New York, where he soon performed or toured with J.J. Johnson, Miles Davis, Donald Byrd a