Charlie Barnet, American jazz saxophonist and bandleader, was born on 26th October 1913

We are a long way early with this reference, but with a stack-up of dates towards the end of the month, this is about as close as we can get when there’s a spare day. Born in New York City in 1913, Charles was raised by his wealthy grandparents after his parents divorced, and learnt piano and saxophone as a child. Ignoring his grandparents wishes that he train as a lawyer, he started his own band when he was 16, playing on Transatlantic liners. By 1932 his band was playing the Paramount Hoitel in NY, and he started recording in 1933 making sides with Red Norvo. He was the first white artist to appear at Harlem's Apollo Theatre, breaking house records, and was well known as one of most swinging and uninhibited of the swing era outfits, also being among the first to racially integrate his orchestra's line-up. His most successful years were 1939-41, when he had a big hit with "Cherokee" - his other biggie in 1944 was "Skyliner". His band over the years included many future stars - Barney Kessel, Buddy De Franco, Maynard Fergusom and Lena Horne among them. He was heavily influenced by Duke Ellington and Count Baie, and eschewed the sweet big band sound adopted by other orchestras of the day, and in the late '40s began to play in the bebop style. He effectively retired around 1950, although occasionally emerging for brief tours. He died in 1991. Acrobat has on catalogue a collection of his work - for details click here.