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Jean Toussaint (born July 27, 1960) is an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist. Toussaint was born in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, and was raised in Saint Thomas and New York City. He learned to play calypso as a child and attended Berklee College of Music in the late 1970s, studying under Bill Pierce…

Moses Rascoe  (born July 27, 1917 in Windsor, NC, died March 6, 1994 in Lebanon, PA) got his first guitar in North Carolina at the age of 13 and turned professional in Pennsylvania some 50-odd years later. In between, he traveled the roads as a day laborer and truck driver, playing guitar only for “a dollar…

NGC 1309 is a spiral galaxy located approximately 120 million light-years away, appearing in the constellation Eridanus. It is about 75,000 light-years across, and is about 3/4s the width of the Milky Way. Its shape is classified as SA(s)bc, meaning that it has moderately wound spiral arms and no ring. Bright blue areas of star…

Jonathan “Juanito” Pascual (born July 26, 1973) is an American-born flamenco guitarist and composer. In 2011 Pascual formed the Juanito Pascual New Flamenco Trio with percussionist Tupac Mantilla, and bassist Brad Barrett (Haggai Cohen Milo, in the first iteration). The Trio’s self-titled release came out in Feb. 2014, creating a sound that merges flamenco with…

Joanne Brackeen (born Joanne Grogan; July 26, 1938) is an American jazz pianist and music educator. Joanne Grogan was born in Ventura, California and attended the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. She was a fan of pop pianist Frankie Carle before she became enamored with the music of Charlie Parker. In the 1950s she performed with…

Erskine Ramsay Hawkins (July 26, 1914 – November 11, 1993) was an American trumpeter and big band leader from Birmingham, Alabama, dubbed “The 20th Century Gabriel”. He is most remembered for composing the jazz standard “Tuxedo Junction” (1939) with saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson. The song became a popular hit during World War II, rising…

Flamenco Fridays with Zambra. Zambra (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈθambɾa]), (from Andalusi Arabic Zamra, originally from classical Arabic Zamr) is a style of Flamenco dance, typical of the Gypsies of the provinces of Granada and Almeria (Andalusia, Spain). It is believed that the Zambra is a continuation of earlier Morisco styles of dance. It became typical during wedding…