mick laBriola

Performing with Inbal Sharett-Singer for 6:00 p.m. Erev Shabbat Service Honoring and Celebrating Cantor Abelson

David Sánchez (born 9 September 1968 in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) is a Grammy-winning jazz tenor saxophonist from Puerto Rico.

Sanchez took up the conga when he was eight and started playing tenor saxophone at age 12. His earliest influences were Afro-Caribbean and danzabut also European and Latin classical. At 12 Sanchez attended La Escuela Libre de Musica, which emphasized formal musical studies and classical European styles and was much taken with a Miles Davis album, Basic Miles, featuring John Coltrane, as well as Lady in Satin, a 1958 album by Billie Holiday with strings, arranged and conducted by Ray Ellis. Sanchez considered a college career in psychology but auditioned at Berklee and Rutgers University. Sanchez chose Rutgers because he got a better scholarship and was near New York which was Sanchez’ goal. While at Rutgers, Sanchez studied with Kenny Barron, Ted Dunbar, and John Purcell.

Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era.

Most famously a member of John Coltrane‘s quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrated albums as My Favorite Things, A Love Supreme, Ascension and Live at Birdland. After 1966, Jones led his own trio, and later larger groups under the name The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. His brothers Hank and Thad were also celebrated jazz musicians with whom he occasionally recorded. Elvin was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1995. In his The History of Jazz, jazz historian and critic Ted Goia calls Jones “one of the most influential drummers in the history of jazz.” He was also named Number 23 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time.

Elvin Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, to parents Henry and Olivia Jones, who had moved to Michigan from Vicksburg, Mississippi. His elder brothers were pianist Hank Jones and trumpeter Thad Jones, both highly regarded musicians as well. By age two he said drums held a special fascination for him. He would watch the circus parades go past his home as a child, and was particularly excited by the marching band drummers.

Following this early passion, Elvin joined his high school’s black marching band, where he developed his foundation in rudiments. Jones served in the United States Army from 1946 to 1949. With his mustering-out pay (and an additional $35.00 borrowed from his sister), Jones purchased his first drumset.

Tarantas and Taranto are two related styles (palos) of Flamenco music, that originated in the Andalusian province of Almería. Each is characterized by a shared modality (F-sharp Phrygian) and harmonic progression (Bm–A7–G–F-sharp), but differ significantly with respect to rhythm and meter. Tarantas is a cante libre (or toque libre, if played as a solo), meaning that it lacks both a regular rhythmic pattern (compás, in flamenco terminology) and a regular rhythmic unit (or beat). It can be sung or played, but not danced. Taranto, conversely, has a regular 2/4-meter, and is danceable. When played on, or accompanied by, the guitar, both palos have a unique and characteristic sound that is created, in part, by dissonances that result from the use of the guitar’s first three open strings (E, B, and G, respectively), in combination with harmonies and melodies based on the F-sharp Phrygian mode.

“Taranta”, as flamenco style, was originated in the region of Almeria. “Taranta” is one of the “cantes minero-levantinos” and is the origin of mining songs. It is composed by a couplet of 4 or 5 eight-syllable verses. One of them is repeated when is sung. The first “taranta” singer was Rojo “el Alpargatero” who sang on the basis of “fandangos”. It is a free interpretation in every verse of the song.

Ronald Charles McKernan (September 8, 1945 – March 8, 1973 San Bruno, CA), known as Pigpen, was an American musician. He was a founding member of the San Francisco band the Grateful Dead and played in the group from 1965 to 1972.

McKernan grew up heavily influenced by African-American music, particularly the blues, and enjoyed listening to his father’s collection of records and taught himself how to play harmonica and piano. He began socializing around the San Francisco Bay Area, becoming friends with Jerry Garcia. After the pair had played in various folk and jug bands, McKernan suggested they form an electric group, which became the Grateful Dead. He was the band’s original frontman as well as playing harmonica and electric organ, but Garcia and bassist Phil Lesh‘s influences on the band became increasingly stronger as they embraced psychedelic rock. McKernan struggled to keep up with the changing music, causing the group to hire keyboardist Tom Constanten, with McKernan’s contributions essentially limited to vocals, harmonica, and percussion from November 1968 to January 1970. He continued to be a frontman in concert for some numbers, including his interpretations of Bobby Bland‘s “Turn On Your Love Light” and the Rascals‘ “Good Lovin’“.

Unlike the other members of the Grateful Dead, McKernan avoided psychedelic drugs, preferring to drink alcohol (namely whiskey and flavored fortified wine). By 1971, his health had been affected by alcoholism and liver damage and doctors advised him to stop touring. Following a hiatus, he resumed touring with the group in December 1971 but was forced to retire from touring altogether in June 1972. McKernan was found dead of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage on March 8, 1973, aged 27, and is buried at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto.

David William Kearney (September 8, 1934 – April 20, 2022), known as Guitar Shorty, was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was known for his explosive guitar style and wild stage antics. Credited with influencing both Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Guy, Guitar Shorty recorded and toured from the 1950s until the 2020s. In 2017, Billboard magazine said, “his galvanizing guitar work defines modern, top-of-the-line blues-rock. His vocals remain as forceful as ever. Righteous shuffles…blistering, sinuous guitar solos.”

Shorty was born in either Houston, Texas, or Loughman, Florida. He grew up mainly in Kissimmee, Florida. He was taught by his uncle to play the guitar at an early age, and began leading a band not long after. During his time in Tampa Bay, Florida, at age 16 he received his nickname, Guitar Shorty, when it mysteriously showed up on the marquee of the club he was playing as ‘The Walter Johnson Band featuring Guitar Shorty.’ He steadily began to garner accolades from his peers and, soon after, he joined the Ray Charles Band for a year. He recorded his first single in 1957, “You Don’t Treat Me Right”, for the Cobra label under the direction of Willie Dixon, after Dixon saw him playing with the Walter Johnson Orchestra.

James Earl Clay (born September 8, 1935 – January 6, 1995) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and flutist.

Clay was born in Dallas, Texas, on September 8, 1935. While in school, Clay played alto saxophone, and then played with local bands from around the age of 17.

Clay moved to California in 1955, where he initially played in jam sessions. He appeared on recordings with Lawrence Marable the following year. Clay then played with freer musicians including Don Cherry, Billy Higgins, and Ornette Coleman, before returning to Dallas in 1958. He joined the military in 1959, and recorded two albums as a leader the following year. Back in California, he led a quartet with Roosevelt Wardell, Jimmy Bond, and Frank Butler, but soon returned to Texas. He toured with Lowell Fulson in the early 1960s, and with Ray Charles on and off between 1962 and 1977. A reappearance on a recording led by Cherry in 1988 – Art Deco – led to a short resurgence of interest in Clay’s career. He died in Dallas on January 6, 1995.

Near the center of a nearby star-forming region lies a massive cluster containing some of the largest and hottest stars known. Collectively known as star cluster NGC 2070, these stars are part of the vast Tarantula Nebulaand were captured in two kinds of infrared light by the new Webb Space Telescope. The main image shows the group of stars at NGC 2070’s center — known as R136 — in near-infrared, light just a bit too red for humans to see. In contrast, the rollover image captures the cluster center in mid-infrared light, light closer to radio waves. Since R136‘s brightest stars emit more of their light in the near infrared, they are much more prominent on that image. This LMCcluster’s massive stars emit particle winds and energetic light that are evaporating the gas cloud from which they formed. The Webb images, released yesterday, shows details of R136 and its surroundings that have never been seen before, details that are helping humanity to better understanding of how all stars are born, evolve and die.

Joseph Dwight Newman (September 7, 1922 – July 4, 1992)  was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator, best known as a musician who worked with Count Basie during two periods.

Newman was born in New Orleans, Louisiana,  to Dwight, (pianist) and Louise Newman, a musical family, having his first music lessons from David Jones. He attended Alabama State College, where he joined the college band (the Bama State Collegians), became its leader, and took it on tour.

James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his number-one R&B single “We’re Gonna Make It“. His other hits include “Baby, I Love You“, “Who’s Cheating Who?”, and “Grits Ain’t Groceries (All Around The World)“.

A native of the Mississippi Delta, Milton began his recording career in 1953 at Sun Records before relocating to St. Louis and co-founding Bobbin Records in 1958. It wasn’t until Milton signed to Checker Records that he achieved success on the charts. Other labels Milton recorded for include Meteor, Stax, Glades, Golden Ear, MCA, and Malaco. Milton was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1988.

Milton was born James Milton Campbell Jr. on September 7, 1934 in Inverness, Mississippi. He was raised in Greenville, Mississippi by a farmer and local blues musician. By age twelve he was a street musician, chiefly influenced by T-Bone Walker and his blues and rock and roll contemporaries. He joined the Rhythm Aces in the early part of the 1950s, a three piece band who played throughout the Mississippi Delta area. One of the members was Eddie Cusic who taught Milton to play the guitar. In 1951, Milton recorded several sides backing pianist Willie Love for Trumpet Records.