Author: mick

Queen Ida

Queen Ida

Ida Lewis “Queen Ida” Guillory (born January 15, 1929) is a Louisiana Creole accordionist. She was the first female accordion player to lead a zydeco band. Queen Ida’s music is an eclectic mix of R&B, Caribbean, and Cajun, though the presence of her accordion always keeps it traditional. Born Ida Lee Lewis to a musical…

Earl Hooker

Earl Hooker

Earl Zebedee Hooker (January 15, 1930 – April 21, 1970) was a Chicago blues guitarist known for his slide guitar playing. Considered a “musician’s musician”, he performed with blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Junior Wells, and John Lee Hooker and fronted his own bands. An early player of the electric guitar, Hooker…

Gene Krupa

Gene Krupa

Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973 Chicago) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman‘s 1937 recording of “Sing, Sing, Sing” elevated the role of the drummer from…

Cosmos Aurora Iceland

The sky over Iceland in 2019. The aurora was caused by a hole in the Sun’s corona that expelled charged particles into a solar windthat followed a changing interplanetary magnetic fieldto Earth’s magnetosphere. As some of those particles then struck Earth’s atmosphere, they excited atomswhich subsequently emitted light: aurora. This iconic display was so enthralling…

Steve Jordan

Steve Jordan

Steve Jordan (born January 14, 1957 NY, NY) is an American musical director, producer, songwriter, and musician. Currently, he is the drummer for the Rolling Stones. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a member of the bands for the television shows Saturday Night Live and Late Night with David Letterman.

Kenny Wheeler

Kenny Wheeler

Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active in free improvisation and occasionally contributed to rock music recordings. Wheeler wrote over…

Allen Toussaint

Allen Toussaint

Allen Richard Toussaint January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and bluesfrom the 1950s to the end of the century, described as “one of popular music’s great backroom figures.”Many musicians recorded Toussaint’s compositions. He was a producer…

Grady Tate

Grady Tate

Grady Tate (January 14, 1932 – October 8, 2017) was an American jazz and soul-jazz drummer and baritone vocalist. In addition to his work as sideman, Tate released many albums as leader and lent his voice to songs in the animated Schoolhouse Rock! series. He has 2 Grammy nominations. Tate was born in Hayti, Durham,…

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