Birthplaces

Anniston, Alabama

Lucky Millinder

Birmingham, Alabama

Erskine Hawkins

Marion, Alabama

Hal Kemp

Mobile, Alabama

Cootie Williams

Brinkley, Arkansas

Louis Jordan

Alameda, California

Horace Heidt

Birthplaces

Long Beach, California

Spike Jones

Oakland, California

Del Courtney

Teddy Powell

Alvino Rey

Sacramento, California

Dick Jurgens

Woodland, California

Eddy Howard

Denver, Colorado

Paul Whiteman

Birthplaces

Cromwell, Connecticut

Hal McIntyre

Middletown, Connecticut

Tony Pastor

New Haven, Connecticut

Les Elgart

Buddy Morrow

New London, Connecticut

Larry Elgart

Washington, D.C.

Duke Ellington

Lake Worth, Florida

Dean Hudson

Birthplaces

2129 Ida Pl. NW, Washington, D.C. was the birth site of Duke Ellington in 1899.

Now renamed Ward Pl N.W. and numbered as “2121,” a post office stands in the spot.

The commemorative plaque was placed in 1989.

Birthplaces

Albany, Georgia

Harry James

Cuthbert, Georgia

Fletcher Henderson

Horace Henderson

Beardstown, Illinois

Red Norvo

Chicago, Illinois

Benny Goodman

Ina Ray Hutton

Art Kassel

Gene Krupa

Abe Lyman

Richard Maltby

Ben Pollack

Muggsy Spanier

Birthplaces

Freeport, Illinois

Gray Gordon

Roanoke, Illinois

Glen Gray

Rock Falls, Illinois

Louie Bellson

Savanna, Illinois

Wayne King

Sullivan, Illinois

Tiny Hill

Indianapolis, Indiana

Jan Garber

Bobby Sherwood

Birthplaces

Linton, Indiana

Phil Harris

South Bend, Indiana

Bob Strong

Terre Haute, Indiana

Claude Thornhill

Clarinda, Iowa

Glenn Miller

Mason City, Iowa

Jack Jenney

Wichita, Kansas

Stan Kenton

Lexington, Kentucky

Edgar Hayes

Birthplaces

Glenn Miller’s birthplace home is at 601 S. 16th St. in Clarinda Iowa.

His daughter, Jonnie Dee, purchased the property on March 1, 1989,

and The Glenn Miller Birthplace Society manages the maintenance of the home.

Birthplaces

Louisville, Kentucky

Lionel Hampton

Clyde McCoy

Newport, Kentucky

Andy Kirk

New Orleans, Louisiana

Louis Armstrong

Louis Prima

Sanford, Maine

Randy Brooks

Baltimore, Maryland

Chick Webb

Boston, Massachusetts

Jerry Gray

Mal Hallett

Birthplaces

The site of Louis Armstrong’s birth home in New Orleans, Louisiana was 723 James Alley.

Some called it Jane Alley, but in his autobiography, Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans,

(New York City: Prentice-Hall, 1954) Armstrong insisted the name was James Alley.

The small, single-story dwelling and everything else around it was torn down in 1964

to make way for a New Orleans Traffic court and police headquarters,

An historical marker in the plaza nearby designates what used to be.

Birthplaces

Brockton, Massachusetts

Sonny Dunham

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Eddy Duchin

Dorchester, Massachusetts

Al Donahue

Springfield, Massachusetts

Paul Weston

Battle Creek, Michigan

Sy Oliver

Detroit, Michigan

Bob Chester

Sam Donahue

Bob Zurke

Birthplaces

Fulton, Mississippi

Jimmie Lunceford

St. Joseph, Missouri

Coleman Hawkins

St. Louis, Missouri

Orrin Tucker

Hastings, Nebraska

Neal Hefti

Bayonne, New Jersey

Ben Bernie

Jersey City, New Jersey

Ozzie Nelson

Birthplaces

Newark, New Jersey

Dolly Dawn

Ted Fio Rito

Richard Himber

Bill Finegan

Dick Stabile

Jerry Wald

Newton, New Jersey

Will Bradley

Passaic, New Jersey

Jack Fina

Red Bank, New Jersey

Count Basie

Birthplaces

Count Basie was born at 229 Mechanic S. in Red Bank, New Jersey,

just blocks away from the theatre on Monmouth St. which today bears his name.

The bust of Basie was formerly tucked away inside Red Bank’s train station shelter,

but in 2004 it was moved outdoors for greater visibility.

Birthplaces

New York, New York

Van Alexander (Harlem)

Charlie Barnet

Benny Carter (Harlem)

Lee Castle

Carmen Cavallaro

Larry Clinton (Brooklyn)

Eddie DeLange (Long Island)

Shep Fields (Brooklyn)

Henry Jerome

Vincent Lopez (Brooklyn)

Chico Marx

Buddy Rich (Brooklyn)

Eddie Sauter (Brooklyn)

Raymond Scott (Brooklyn)

Artie Shaw (Lower East Side)

Fats Waller (Harlem)

Si Zentner

Birthplaces

Rochester, New York

Cab Calloway

Newell, North Carolina

Johnny Long

Rocky Mount, North Carolina

Kay Kyser

Salisbury, North Carolina

Skinnay Ennis

Strasburg, North Dakota

Lawrence Welk

Souris, North Dakota

Tommy Tucker

Birthplaces

The home where Lawrence Welk was born is 845 88th St. SE in Strasburg, North Dakota.

Curiously, Welk never returned to the site after he became famous.

He often donated money to the town of Strasburg, but specified that

none of it should go towards restoration of his birth home.

He also turned down several invitations to visit the property.

He died in 1992, the year the restoration of the place was completed.

Birthplaces

Akron, Ohio

Vaughn Monroe

Tommy Reynolds

Canton, Ohio

Enoch Light

Circleville, Ohio

Ted Lewis

Coalton, Ohio

Isham Jones

Cleveland Ohio

Blue Barron

Freddy Martin

Columbus Ohio

Bobby Byrne

Birthplaces

Lakewood, Ohio

Sammy Kaye

Lorain, Ohio

Ralph Flanagan

Middletown, Ohio

Billy Butterfield

Muskogee, Oklahoma

Jay McShann

La Grande, Oregon

Griff Williams

Bentleyville, Pennsylvania

Ray Anthony

Duquesne, Pennsylvania

Earl Hines

Birthplaces

Jeanette, Pennsylvania

Chuck Foster

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Gus Arnheim

Warren Covington

Ziggy Elman

Lester Lanin

Elliot Lawrence

Charlie Ventura

Joe Venuti

Pitcairn, Pennsylvania

Ted Weems

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Billy Eckstine

Jimmie Grier

Billy May

Birthplaces

Reinerton, Pennsylvania

Les Brown

Scranton, Pennsylvania

Sonny Burke

Russ Morgan

Shenandoah, Pennsylvania

Jimmy Dorsey

Tommy Dorsey

Providence, Rhode Island

Frankie Carle

Bobby Hackett

Cheraw, South Carolina

Dizzy Gillespie

Birthplaces

Darlington, South Carolina

Buddy Johnson

Faith, South Dakota

Boyd Raeburn

Austin, Texas

Teddy Wilson

Dallas, Texas

Jimmy Joy

Fort Worth, Texas

Tex Beneke

Ray McKinley

Vernon, Texas

Jack Teagarden

Birthplaces

Ogden, Utah

Red Nichols

Island Pond, Vermont

Rudy Vallee

Alexandria, Virginia

Claude Hopkins

Winchester, Virginia

John Kirby

Spokane, Washington

Bob Crosby

Piedmont, West Virginia

Don Redman

Birthplaces

Saint Marys, West Virginia

Frankie Masters

Hilbert, Wisconsin

Bunny Berigan

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Mitchell Ayres

Woody Herman

Westby, Wisconsin

Freddie Slack

Birthplaces

Abaco Island, The Bahamas

Al Cooper

Verdun, Montreal, Canada

Maynard Ferguson

Grimsby, Ontario, Canada

Will Hudson

London, Ontario, Canada

Guy Lombardo

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Georgie Auld

Will Osborne

Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

Desi Arnaz

Birthplaces

Montpelier, Brighton, England

Ray Noble

Wandsworth, London, England

Ted Heath

Silvertown, London, England

Little Jack Little

Shotton, Flintshire, England

Syd Lawrence

Magdeburg, Germany

Henry Busse

Acerra, Italy

Ralph Marterie

Birthplaces

Careening Cay, Panama

Luis Russell

Girona, Spain

Xavier Cugat

Kiev, Ukraine

Charlie Spivak

Odessa, Ukraine

Phil Spitalny

Shums’k, Ukraine

Jan Savitt

undetermined

George Hall

source acknowledgements:

A Closer Walk (acloserwalknola.com)

“At Last: Busting Out The Basie Bust,” redbankgreen.com.

RoadsideAmerica.com.

image attribution:

Count Basie Center for the Arts (TheBASIE.org)

Brian Hanlon

Glenn Miller Birthplace Society, Clarinda, Iowa

History’s Homes (historyshomes.com)

Les Brown Big Band Festival (lesbrownfest.org)

Louisiana Digital Library (louisianadigitallibrary.org)

New Orleans Jazz Museum Collection, Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana

North Dakota State Historical Society

Popa Family Collection

The Red Bank Train Station Plaza, Redbank, New Jersey

Sioux City Journal, Sioux City, Iowa