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Born on this day: April 29, 1899 - Composer, bandleader and pianist Duke Ellington (born Edward Kennedy Ellington in Washington DC). Happy Birthday to this jazz giant, born 114 years ago today. We ♥ you madly, Duke!!

Born on this day: April 29, 1922 - Jazz guitarist/harmonica virtuoso and whistler extraordinaire Toots Thielemans (born Jean-Baptiste Frederic Isidor, Baron Thielemans in Brussels, Belgium). Happy 91st Birthday, Toots!!
 

Born on this day: April 29, 1945 - Motown vocal legend Tammi Terrell (born Thomasina Winifred Montgomery in Philadelphia, PA). Happy Birthday to this "Sweetheart of Motown" on what would have been her 68th Birthday.
 

On this day in music history: April 29, 1968 - Ridin' High, the fifth studio album by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas is released. Produced by Richard Morris, it is recorded at Motown Studio A in Detroit from mid-1967 to early 1968. The album will be the group's first since the departure of producers William "Mickey" Stevenson and Holland-Dozier-Holland from Motown. Staff producer Richard Morris will fill the void, collaborating with songwriter/producer Sylvia Moy (Stevie Wonder). The pair will write the groups' last two top 40 pop hits "Honey Chile" (#5 R&B, #11 Pop) and "Love Bug Leave My Heart Alone" (#14 R&B, #25 Pop), with the album spinning off a third single "(We've Got) Honey Love" (#27 R&B, #57 Pop). The album will also mark the debut of Lois Reeves (Martha's younger sister), replacing longtime member Betty Kelly (1963-1968) from the group.  Ridin' High will peak at #167 on the Billboard Top 200.
 

By early afternoon on Tuesday (January 1st), the estimated 50 tons of garbage left behind by the crammed crowds of approximately one million partiers, who had descended upon Times Square the night before to ring in the new year, had been cleaned up and by this morning when I passed through the "crossroads of the world" you could not tell that such a large scale, multi-faceted event had taken place there at all. Instead, on this first day of business of the new year for most, New Yorkers were rushing in every direction returning to work or maybe to the gym to live up to their New Year's resolution, many clutching newspapers with front page stories on 2013 predictions. At least two NYC papers reported on changes New Yorkers and New York can expect in 2013. These include a better prepared NYC for another Sandy, and a return of the NY Marathon. Also coming in March is the dreaded but inevitable public transit fare increases when flat train/bus fares will increase from $2.25 to $2.50 and monthly unlimited passes increase from $104 to $112, which still not bad compared to the BART or most other US public transit systems. Another much talked about change to take place this year is in mid-March when the new law banning "big gulp" soda drinks from being sold in NYC goes into effect. This has been both controversial and fodder for late night talk shows since the law was pushed in 2012 by the health conscious mayor Michael M. Bloomberg.

Herber Jeffries was born September 24, 1913 in Detroit, Michigan to Afro-Sicilian pianist Umberto Balentino and his Irish-American wife, Mildred. He never knew his father and was raised by his single mother, who ran a boarding house. Although light-skinned and almost surely able to "pass," he identified as black and associated himself with Detroit's Howard Buntz Orchestra, which brought him a measure of local fame.