Frank Hewitt (October 23, 1935 – September 5, 2002 Queens, NY) was an American hard bop jazz pianist. Born in Queens, New York, Hewitt lived most of his life in Harlem. His mother was a church pianist, and he initially studied classical and gospel music, but switched to jazz after hearing a Charlie Parker record. He took the bop pianists Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and Elmo Hope as his role models. In the 1950s and 1960s, he worked with Howard McGhee, Cecil Payne, John Coltrane, Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday, among others; in 1961, he also participated in the Living Theater‘s production of Jack Gelber‘s The Connection. He became a regular figure in the circle of the pianist Barry Harris. In the 1990s, Hewitt became a central figure at New York’s Smalls Jazz Club.

William “Sonny” Criss (23 October 1927 – 19 November 1977 Memphis, TN) was an American jazz musician. An alto saxophonist of prominence during the bebop era of jazz, he was one of many players influenced by Charlie Parker.

Leslie West (born Leslie Abel Weinstein; October 22, 1945 – December 23, 2020 NY, NY) was an American rock guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He was best known as a founding member and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Mountain.

Manos Loïzos (Greek: Μάνος Λοΐζος; 1937–1982) was one of the most important Greek musiccomposers of the 20th century.

Franz Liszt  (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and teacher of the Romantic period. A prolific composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent representatives of the New German School(German: Neudeutsche Schule). He left behind an extensive and diverse body of work that influenced his forward-looking contemporaries and anticipated 20th-century ideas and trends. Among Liszt’s musical contributions were the symphonic poem, developing thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form, and radical innovations in harmony.

Elvin Richard Bishop (born October 21, 1942) is an American blues and rock music singer, guitarist, bandleader, and songwriter. An original member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of that group in 2015 and the Blues Hall of Fame in his own right in 2016.

Bishop feels that the limitations of his voice have helped his songwriting.

Bishop was born in Glendale, California, the son of Mylda (Kleege) and Elvin Bishop, Sr. He grew up on a farm near Elliott, Iowa. His family moved to Tulsa when he was 10. There he attended Will Rogers High School, winning a full scholarship to the University of Chicago as a National Merit Scholar. He moved to Chicago in 1960 to attend the university, where he majored in physics.

Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as “The Colonel“, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, which backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor. He also acted as the producer of many of these records. He was later a member of the Blues Brothers band. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 36th on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, while he has won two Grammy Awards from his seven nominations.

Born on a farm near Willow Springs, Missouri, Cropper lived in the nearby towns of Dora and West Plains before moving with his family to Memphis at age nine. In Memphis, where he was exposed to black church music, which, he said, “blew me away”. Cropper acquired his first guitar via mail order at age 14.

He loved the Five Royals and he admired guitarists including Tal Farlow, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, Chet Atkins, Lowman Pauling of the Five Royales and Billy Butlerof the Bill Doggett band.

Carlos Wesley “Don” Byas (October 21, 1912 – August 24, 1972)^[1] was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, associated with Swing and bebop. He played with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, and Dizzy Gillespie, among others, and also led his own band. He lived in Europe for the last 26 years of his life.

Byas was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, United States. Both of Byas’ parents were musicians. His mother played the piano, and his father, the clarinet. Byas began his musical education in the European classical tradition, learning to play violin, clarinet and alto saxophone, which he played until the end of the 1920s.

Benny Carter, who played many instruments, was his idol at this time. Byas started to perform in local orchestras at the age of 17, with Bennie Moten, Terrence Holder and Walter Page. He founded and led his own college band, Don Carlos and His Collegiate Ramblers, during 1931–1932, at Langston College, Oklahoma.

Alegria is structurally one of the strictest forms of flamenco. A traditional dance in alegria must contain each of the following sections, in order:

• salida (entrance)
• paseo (walkaround)
• silencio (similar to an adagio in ballet – it is the singer who is “silent”)
• castellana (upbeat section)
• escobilla (literally “brush” as with a broom, which describes dancers’ footwork in this section)
• bulerias

This structure is often not strictly followed when alegria is played as a standalone song with no dancing. You will, however, frequently hear parts of this structure in solo guitar playing. In this way an artist can pay homage to the entirety of the art form, even when a dancer is not present.