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Toni Morrison Empowerment

January 14, 2025

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Sitting Bull Warriors

January 14, 2025

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MLK Brotherhood

January 14, 2025

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Surviving the Apocalypse 2025 I

January 14, 2025
Surviving the Apocalypse 2025
A musical series of adaptability
Amy Winehouse blending jazz & reggae

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Cosmo Polaris Northstar

January 14, 2025

Why is Polaris called the North Star? First, Polaris is the nearest bright star toward the north spin axis of the Earth. Therefore, as the Earth turns, stars appear to revolve around Polaris, but Polaris itself always stays in the same northerly direction — making it the North Star. Since no bright star is near the south spin axis of the Earth, there is currently no bright South Star. Thousands of years ago, Earth’s spin axis pointed in a slightly different direction so that Vega was the North Star. Although Polaris is not the brightest star on the sky, it is easily located because it is nearly aligned with two stars in the cup of the Big Dipper. Polaris is near the center of the five-degree wide featured image, a digital composite of hundreds of exposures that brings out faint gas and dust of the Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN) all over the frame. The surface of Cepheid Polaris slowly pulsates, causing the famous star to change its brightness by a few percent over the course of a few days.

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Kenny Wheeler

January 14, 2025

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 one hundred compositions and was a skilled arranger for small groups and large ensembles.

Wheeler was the patron of the Royal Academy Junior Jazz course.

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Grady Tate

January 14, 2025

Grady Tate (January 14, 1932 – October 8, 2017 durham, NC) 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 received two Grammy nominations.

Grady Tate’s drumming helped to define a particular hard bop, soul jazz and organ trio sound during the mid-1960s and beyond. His slick, layered and intense sound is instantly recognizable for its understated style in which he integrates his trademark subtle nuances with sharp, crisp “on top of the beat” timing (in comparison to playing slightly before, or slightly after the beat). The Grady Tate sound can be heard prominently on many of the classic Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery albums recorded on the Verve label in the 1960s.

During the 1970s, Tate was a member of the New York Jazz Quartet. In 1981, he played drums and percussion for Simon and Garfunkel’s Concert in Central Park.

As a sideman, Tate played with musicians including Jimmy Smith, Astrud Gilberto, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Quincy Jones, Stan Getz, Cal Tjader, Wes Montgomery, Eddie Harris, J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding and Michel Legrand.

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Allen Toussaint

January 14, 2025

Allen Richard Toussaint (January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015 Gert Town NOLA) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from 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 for hundreds of recordings: the best known are “Right Place, Wrong Time“, by longtime friend Dr. John, and “Lady Marmalade” by Labelle.

In 1960, Joe Banashak, of Minit Records and later Instant Records, hired Toussaint as an A&R man and record producer. He did freelance work for other labels, such as Fury. Toussaint played piano, wrote, arranged and produced a string of hits in the early and mid-1960s for New Orleans R&B artists such as Ernie K-Doe, Chris Kenner, Irma Thomas (including “It’s Raining“), Art and Aaron Neville, The Showmen, and Lee Dorsey, whose first hit “Ya Ya” he produced in 1961.

The early to mid-1960s are regarded as Toussaint’s most creatively successful period.[3] Notable examples of his work are Jessie Hill‘s “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” (written by Hill and arranged and produced by Toussaint), Ernie K-Doe’s “Mother-in-Law”, and Chris Kenner’s “I Like It Like That“. A two-sided 1962 hit by Benny Spellman comprised “Lipstick Traces (on a Cigarette)” (covered by The O’Jays, Ringo Starr, and Alex Chilton) and the simple but effective “Fortune Teller” (covered by various 1960s rock groups, including The Rolling Stones, The Nashville Teens, The Who, The Hollies, The Throb, and The Searchers founder Tony Jackson). “Ruler of My Heart”, written under his pseudonym Naomi Neville, first recorded by Irma Thomas for the Minit label in 1963, was adapted by Otis Redding under the title “Pain in My Heart” later that year, prompting Toussaint to file a lawsuit against Redding and his record company, Stax (the claim was settled out of court, with Stax agreeing to credit Naomi Neville as the songwriter).Redding’s version of the song was also recorded by The Rolling Stones on their second album and was in the Grateful Dead‘s early repertoire. In 1964, “A Certain Girl” (originally by Ernie K-Doe) was the B-side of the first single release by The Yardbirds. The song was released again in 1980 by Warren Zevon, as the single from the album Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School; it reached 57 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Mary Weiss, former lead singer of The Shangri-Las, released it as “A Certain Guy” in 2007. Linda Ronstadtreleased a jazzy version of “Ruler of my Heart” in 1998 on We Ran.

Toussaint credited about twenty songs to his parents, Clarence and Naomi, sometimes using the pseudonym “Naomi Neville”.These include “Fortune Teller”, first recorded by Benny Spellman in 1961, “Pain In My Heart,” first a hit for Otis Redding in 1963, and “Work, Work, Work”, recorded by The Artwoods in 1966. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant covered “Fortune Teller” on their 2007 album Raising Sand.

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World Music Mari Boine

January 14, 2025

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Daily Roots Gregory Isaacs

January 14, 2025

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STOP I’m Sorry for Your Loss

January 13, 2025
“I’m sorry for your loss,” isn’t effective. And often impersonalizes the experience of death for the grieving person.
Often this phrase is found to be offensive to those that have lost a loved one. Especially those like myself, that have lost children. The phrase seems to trivialize the experience and can make survivors uncomfortable.
I know that everyone has the best of intentions when offering condolences to people that have lost loved ones.
But offering something more personal is needed not this minimizing quote.
How about:
“I love you”
“Is there anything I can do for you?”
“This was so unfair.”
“You mean everything to me.”
“Can I leave a meal or flowers for you?”
“We all know, no one here gets out alive”-Jim Morrison
“I am here for you!”
If one can think of something positive to say about the person that passed, that can be most helpful.
From my booklet “GRIEVING PARENT THE JOURNEY WILL NEVER END” m. laBriola
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Chief Joseph Free Men

January 13, 2025
Echos of Freedom with Chief Joseph
“Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think and act for myself — and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty.” Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce
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MLK Fools

January 13, 2025

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Cosmo HOPS 150/153

January 13, 2025

Today’s NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week peers into the dusty recesses of the nearest massive star-forming region to Earth, the Orion Nebula. Just 1300 light-years away, the Orion Nebula is visible to the naked eye below the three stars that form the ‘belt’ in the constellation Orion. The nebula is home to hundreds of newborn stars including the subject of this image: the protostars HOPS 150 and HOPS 153.

These protostars get their names from the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey, which was carried out with ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory. The object that can be seen in the upper-right corner of this image is HOPS 150: it’s a binary system, two young protostars orbiting each other. Each has a small, dusty disc of material surrounding it that it is feeding from. The dark line that cuts across the bright glow of these protostars is a cloud of gas and dust, over 2 000 times wider than the distance between Earth and the Sun, falling in on the pair of protostars. Based on the amount of infrared versus other wavelengths of light HOPS 150 is emitting, the protostars are mid-way down the path to becoming mature stars.

Extending across the left side of the image is a narrow, colourful outflow called a jet. This jet comes from the nearby protostar HOPS 153, out of frame. HOPS 153 is a significantly younger stellar object than its neighbour, still deeply embedded in its birth nebula and enshrouded by a cloud of cold, dense gas. While Hubble cannot penetrate this gas to see the protostar, the jet HOPS 153 has emitted is brightly visible as it plows into the surrounding gas and dust of the Orion Nebula.

The transition from tightly swaddled protostar to fully fledged star will dramatically affect HOPS 153’s surroundings. As gas falls onto the protostar, its jets spew material and energy into interstellar space, carving out bubbles and heating the gas. By stirring up and warming nearby gas, HOPS 153 may regulate the formation of new stars in its neighbourhood and even slow its own growth.

[Image Description: An area in the Orion nebula filled with dark, puffy clouds. On the left side a large area of clouds, crossed by a dark bar, is lit up in red and whitish colours by a protostar within. At the other side a large jet of material ejected by the protostar appears, made of thin, wispy, blue and pink clouds. A couple of foreground stars shine brightly in front of the nebula.]

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Fred White

January 13, 2025

Fred E. White (born Frederick Eugene Adams; January 13, 1955 – January 1, 2023) was an American musician and songwriter. He was one of the early members of Earth, Wind & Fire. He previously played drums on Donny Hathaway‘s Live album.

Earth, Wind & Fire consisting of Fred White along with half-brother Maurice White, brother Verdine White, and other members were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

White died in Los Angeles on January 1, 2023, at age 67.

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Shivkumar Sharma

January 13, 2025

Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautistHariprasad Chaurasia under the collaborative name Shiv–Hari and composed music for such hit Indian films as Faasle (1985), Chandni (1989), and Lamhe (1991).

Sharma was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986 and the Padma Shriand Padma Vibhushan (India’s fourth and second highest civilian awards) in 1991 and 2001.

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Melba Liston

January 13, 2025

Melba Doretta Liston (January 13, 1926 – April 23, 1999 KC, MO) was an American jazz trombonist, arranger, and composer. Other than those playing in all-female bands, she was the first woman trombonist to play in big bands during the 1940s and 1960s, but as her career progressed she became better known as an arranger, particularly in partnership with pianist Randy Weston. Other major artists with whom she worked include Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, and Count Basie.

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Joe Pass

January 13, 2025

Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalacqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994 New Brunswick, NJ) was an American jazz guitarist. Although Pass collaborated with pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, his status as one of the most notable jazz guitarists of the 20th century is generally attributed to his work on his solo albums, such as Virtuoso.

Pass’s released his studio debut Sounds of Synanon on July 1, 1962.

Pass recorded and released a series of albums during the 1960s under Pacific Jazz Records, including Catch Me, 12-String Guitar, For Django, and Simplicity. In 1963, he received DownBeatmagazine’s New Star Award. He also played on Pacific Jazz recordings by Gerald Wilson, Bud Shank, and Les McCann. Pass was a member of the George Shearing Quintet from 1965 through 1967.

Throughout the 1960s, Pass primarily did TV and recording session work in Los Angeles, including performing in television orchestras. Norman Granz, the producer of Jazz at the Philharmonic and the founder of Verve Records, signed Pass to Pablo Records in December 1973.

In December 1974, Pass released his solo album Virtuoso on Pablo. Also in 1974, Pablo released the album The Trio with Pass, Oscar Peterson, and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. He performed with them on many occasions throughout the 1970s and 1980s. At the Grammy Awards of 1975, The Trio won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance by a Group. As part of the Pablo roster, Pass recorded with Benny Carter, Milt Jackson, Herb Ellis, Zoot Sims, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Count Basie.

Pass was diagnosed with liver cancer in 1992. Although he was initially responsive to treatment and continued to play into 1993, his health eventually declined, forcing him to cancel his tour with Pepe Romero, Paco Peña, and Leo Kottke. Pass performed for the final time on May 7, 1994, with fellow guitarist John Pisano at a nightclub in Los Angeles. Pisano told Guitar Player that after the performance Pass said “I can’t play anymore”, an exchange that Pisano described as “like a knife in my heart.” Pass died from liver cancer in Los Angeles 16 days later, at the age of 65.

 

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World Music Oisín Mac Diarmada & Michael Rooney

January 13, 2025

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Daily Roots Roots Radics

January 13, 2025

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