American Jazz Trumpeter Frederick "Freddie" Hubbard was born April 7, 1938 in Indianapolis Indiana. His early experiences playing trumpet in school led to numerous opportunities for performing with top jazz players of his era including: J.J. Johnson, Sonny Rollins and Slide Hampton. Like so many in Freddie's generation, he left his hometown at the age of 20 to pursue a career as a musician in the center of music at the time, New York City. During the early 1960's Hubbard recorded and performed with the likes of John Coltrane, Art Blakey and Wayne Shorter. His unmistakable sound was characterized as "the most brilliant trumpeter of a generation of musicians." In the 1970's, Hubbard would find his greatest success with recordings titled: Red Clay, First Light & Straight Life. Continuing to lead his own groups into the 1980's, the reviews across the world were favorable as Freddie performed at festivals and concerts throughout the United States and Europe. In 2006 the National Endowment of the Arts awarded Hubbard with its highest honor, the NEA Jazz Masters award, placing him firmly in a category reserved for true legends of their craft. Both as a leader and sideman, Freddie Hubbard helped set the transition to bebop in the 1960's to more modern jazz styles familiar today.

It could be argued that one of Glenn Miller's other famous hits was more popular, few would argue the true nostalgia sense that overcomes listeners upon hearing the opening bars of "Moonlight Serenade". The other hit would be of course, "In the Mood" – however, if the true measure of success for any recording is the number of weeks on the billboard charts, than Moonlight Serenade is certainly one of Miller's most successful tunes. For many jazz scholars the close voicing of the saxophone section (led by a clarinet) helped to define the "Glenn Miller" sound, and Moonlight Serenade was a perfect example of this technique. The original recording was made on April 4, 1939 on the RCA Bluebird label. Countless movies and TV shows have featured this composition, each drawing on the classic Glenn Miller harmonization to create an atmosphere immediately recognizable by millions around the world.

Week of March 28, 2011
Birthday: Michael Brecker Born March 29, 1949

Birthday: Herp Alpert Born March 31, 1935

Week of March 14, 2011
Event: Joseph Haydn's Surprise Symphony Is Performed for the First Time March 23, 1792

Birthday: Johann Sebastian Bach Born March 21, 1685

Week of March 7, 2011
Event: Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians Recorded Auld Lang Syne March 7, 1939

Birthday: Leon Bismark (Bix) Beiderbecke March 10, 1903

Week of February 28, 2011
Event: Miles Davis Records "Kind of Blue" on Columbia Records March 2, 1959
Birthday: Frédéric Chopin Marc 1, 1810

Week of February 21, 2011
Event: Duke Ellington Records "The Queen's Suite"
Birthday: Dexter Gordon February 27, 1923

Week of February 14, 2011
Event: Sonny Rollins Records his Title Track "The Bridge" February 14, 1962
Birthday: Buddy DeFranco February 17, 1923

Week of February 7, 2011
Event: Rhapsody in Blue is Performed for the First Time February 12, 1924
Birthday: Marion "Buddy" Childers February 12, 1926

Week of January 31, 2011
Event: Frank Sinatra Debuts on Radio's "Your Hit Parade" February 6, 1943
Birthday: Stanley "Stan" Getz February 2, 1927

Week of January 24, 2011
Event: Original Dixieland Jazz Band Makes the First Jazz Record January 30, 1917
Birthday: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart January 27, 1756