Home Articles posted by Ekreader (Page 37)

Today in Music – Nov 18, 1959 – Jazz/Rock Drummer Cindy Blackman is Born! Happy Birthday Mrs. Santana!!

The first jazz artist that caught my eye when I reviewed the birthday list this morning at All About Jazz was Cindy Blackman and the reason was simple she is a drummer!!  I do believe that there are not that many of them around!!  What I didn’t know at the time, aside from who the hell she is, was that in the spring of 2010 Cindy sat in with Carlos Santana when the band’s drummer  Dennis Chambers had a previous commitment. Cindy and Carlos had first met several years earlier at a festival in Europe when Cindy was touring with Lenny Kravitz….

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Jazz Trumpet from Chicago – Sounds of the City – Marquis Hill!

So the other day when I was visiting All About Jazz to check on jazz birthdays I noticed an interesting name in the showcase sidebar – Marquis Hill and his new album The Poet. Since I didn’t recognize the name I thought I’d take a little trip to MOG to check it out. MOG only had two out of Marquis’ three albums – New Gospel and Sounds of the City. I decided that I’d check out Sounds of the City first. It’s a great album at times sounding a little avant-garde and at other times it sounds like classic jazz….

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Today in Music -1947 – Nov 17, 1947 – Happy Birthday Tab Benoit!!

On this date in 1947 one of my favorite blues musicians Tab Benoit was born. For those who are being introduced Tab on his birthday this AM, from Wikipedia….. Tab Benoit (born November 17, 1967, Baton Rouge, Louisiana)[1] is an American blues guitarist, musician and singer.[2] He plays a style that is a combination of blues styles, primarily Delta blues. He plays a Fender Telecaster Thinline electric guitar and writes his own musical compositions. Benoit graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, Louisiana in May, 1985. In 2003, he formed an organization promoting awareness of coastal wetlands preservation known…

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Today in Music Nov 16, 1873 and 1939 – W.C. Handy and Clark are born – Happy Birthday’s W.C.s!!

Today is the birthday of two  blues – W.C”s the first is W.C. Handy the “father of the blues” from Wikipedia….. William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was a blues composer and musician.[1] He was widely known as the “Father of the Blues”. Handy remains among the most influential of American songwriters. Though he was one of many musicians who played the distinctively American form of music known as the blues, he is credited with giving it its contemporary form. While Handy was not the first to publish music in the blues form, he took the blues from a regional music style with a limited audience…

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Derek Gripper and The Strings of Mali!

The November 14th Birthday of Derek Gripper leads to the Music of Mali originally posted November 15, 2013 So tonight I was reviewing the list of jazz musician birthdays on November 14th and a name that caught my attention was guitarist Derek Gripper, who was born on today’s date in 1977. I read in his biography at All About Jazz that…. Derek Gripper is a composer and guitarist from the Western Cape of South Africa, merging “the imagery and mystery of the rural areas of the Cape” with the techniques of classical guitar and the string music of Africa (uhadi…

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Today in Music – Nov 14, 1936 – Blues Harpist Carey Bell was born!!

The harmonica amazes me. Such a simple little instrument yet in the hands of a master it’s one of the most expressive of all musical instruments. One of those masters Carey Bell was born on this day in 1936! For those of you who are unfortunate enough not to know Carey here’s some background from Wikipedia: Carey Bell (November 14, 1936 – May 6, 2007)[1] was an American blues musician, who played the harmonica in the Chicago blues style. Born Carey Bell Harrington in the blues-fertile state of Mississippi, Bell played harmonica (harp) and bass for other blues musicians during…

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Today in Music – Nov 12, 1944 – Booker T. Jones was born – “Happy Birthday Booker T!

So on this date in 1944 Mr Booker T Jones was born! For those of you too young to remember Booker T & The MGs here’s a little background on Booker… Booker T. Jones (born November 12, 1944) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.’s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement. Full Biography Now this is usually the part where I say Booker T. YES! it’s…

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Jeff Strahan – Monkey Around!

So on Sunday as I was doing some errands before the Eagles game I listened to a couple of new blues albums the first was Jeff Strahan‘s latest Monkey Around and Five Finger Discount from Soulstack. I enjoyed both  albums! Let’s start with Jeff Strahan first. From his website…… “Strahan is a fiery Texas spirit, a killer guitar player & piano pounder and singer, as wild as the high plains from which he hails, and as cool as the hill country where he lives. He’s as real & strong as lightning, I swear, and I love being around him, to…

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2013 Texas Blues from Jeff Strahan – Monkey Around!

So on Sunday as I was doing some errands before the Eagles game I listened to a couple of new blues albums the first was Jeff Strahan‘s latest Monkey Around and Five Finger Discount from Soulstack. I enjoyed both  albums! Let’s start with Jeff Strahan first. From his website…… “Strahan is a fiery Texas spirit, a killer guitar player & piano pounder and singer, as wild as the high plains from which he hails, and as cool as the hill country where he lives. He’s as real & strong as lightning, I swear, and I love being around him, to…

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The Safari Starts with Anke Helfrich’s Birthday and my ADD Leads Me to New Jazz!!

   Ok so the Safari tonight started with a search for some jazz musicians born on the. The first name that caught my eye was right at the top of the list at the birthday list at All About Jazz – Anke Helfrich  a German pianist and, composer of modern jazz .  Helfrich grew up in Windhoek ( Namibia ) and Weinheim , where she took piano lessons. After initial successes as a national award winner at ” Youth jazzes “(1987) she studied in Freiburg and from 1989 on the” Amsterdamse Hooge School voor de Kunsten “inHilversum at Elkerbout Henk and Rob Madna . Due to their excellent statements she received a scholarship that her additional…

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