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Marthaniel “Marcus” Roberts (born August 7, 1963) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and teacher.

Roberts was born in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. His mother was a gospel singer who had gone blind as a teenager, and his father was a longshoreman. Blind since the age of five due to glaucoma and cataracts, he started learning the piano at age five by picking out notes on the instrument at his church until his parents bought a piano when he was eight. He attended the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida, the alma mater of blind pianist Ray Charles. Roberts began teaching himself to play piano at an early age, having his first lesson at age 12, and then studying the instrument with pianist Leonidas Lipovetsky while attending Florida State University.

Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935 – December 5, 1977), known earlier in his career simply as Roland Kirk, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played tenor saxophone, flute, and many other instruments. He was renowned for his onstage vitality, during which virtuoso improvisation was accompanied by comic banter, political ranting, and the ability to play several instruments simultaneously.

Ronald Theodore Kirk was born in Columbus, Ohio, where he lived in a neighborhood known as Flytown. He became blind at two years old, which he said was a result of improper medical treatment. As a teenager, Kirk studied at the Ohio State School for the Blind. By age fifteen he was on the road playing rhythm and blues on weekends with Boyd Moore’s band. According to saxophonist Hank Crawford, “He would be like this 14-year-old blind kid playing two horns at once. They would bring him out and he would tear the joint up.” Crawford heard him during this period and said he was unbelievable. He remarked, “Now they had him doing all kinds of goofy stuff but he was playing the two horns and he was playing the shit out of them. He was an original from the beginning.” Kirk felt compelled by a dream to transpose two letters in his first name to make ‘”Roland”. In 1970, Kirk added “Rahsaan” to his name after hearing it in a dream.

In 1975, Kirk had a major stroke which led to partial paralysis of one side of his body. He continued to perform and record, modifying his instruments to enable him to play with one arm. At a live performance at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London he even managed to play two instruments, and carried on to tour internationally and to appear on television.

He died from a second stroke in 1977, aged 42, the morning after performing in the Frangipani Room of the Indiana University Student Union in Bloomington, Indiana

George Abel Van Eps (August 7, 1913 – November 29, 1998) was an American swing and mainstream jazz guitarist.

George Van Eps was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, United States, into a family of musicians. His three brothers were musicians. His mother was a classical pianist and his father, Fred Van Eps, was a ragtime banjoist and sound engineer. George Van Eps began playing banjo when he was eleven years old. After hearing Eddie Lang on the radio, he put down the banjo and devoted himself to guitar. By the age of thirteen, in 1926, he was performing on the radio. Through the middle of the 1930s, he played with Harry Reser, Smith Ballew, Freddy Martin, Benny Goodman, and Ray Noble.

Charles Luckyth Roberts (August 7, 1887 – February 5, 1968), better known as Luckey Roberts, was an American composer and stride pianistwho worked in the jazz, ragtime, and blues styles.

Luckey Roberts was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and was playing piano and acting professionally with traveling Negro minstrel shows in his childhood. He settled in New York City about 1910 and became one of the leading pianists in Harlem, and started publishing some of his original rags.

Roberts toured France and the UK with James Reese Europe during World War I, then returned to New York where he wrote music for various shows and recorded piano rolls.

With James P. Johnson, Roberts developed the stride piano style of playing about 1919.

Ricardo Baliardo (7 August 1921 – 5 November 2014), better known as Manitas de Plata, was a flamenco guitarist of Spanish Gitano descent born in southern France. Despite achieving worldwide fame, he was criticized for not following certain rhythmic rules (compás) that are traditional in flamenco.

Baliardo was born in a gypsy caravan in Sète, southern France. He became famous by playing each year at the Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer gypsy pilgrimage in the Camargue, where he was recorded live by Deben Bhattacharya.

Manitas de Plata (“Little Hands of Silver” in Spanish) only agreed to play in public ten years after the death of Django Reinhardt.. One of his recordings earned him a letter from Jean Cocteau acclaiming him as a creator.

Upon hearing him play at Arles in 1964, Pablo Picasso is said to have exclaimed “that man is of greater worth than I am!” and proceeded to draw on the guitar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14OLzAw6sJs&list=PLEB3LPVcGcWZ0hsQ5_jgSMhawAnDzy1io&index=1

Ravi Coltrane (born August 6, 1965) is an American jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced pianist Luis Perdomo, guitarist David Gilmore, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi.

Ravi Coltrane is the son of saxophonist John Coltrane and jazz harpist Alice Coltrane. He is the second born of John and Alice Coltrane’s three children; John Jr. and Oran. Alice had a daughter Michelle prior to her union with John Coltrane. He is a cousin of experimental music producer Steven Ellison, aka Flying Lotus. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, and was named after sitar player Ravi Shankar. Ravi Coltrane was less than two years old in 1967 when his father died.

He is a 1983 graduate of El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California. In 1986, he studied music, concentrating on saxophone at the California Institute of the Arts. He has worked often with Steve Coleman, a significant influence on Coltrane’s musical conception. Coltrane has also played with Geri Allen, Kenny Barron, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, and Branford Marsalis.

Joseph Louis Diorio (August 6, 1936 – February 2, 2022) was an American jazz guitarist. He performed with Sonny Stitt, Hal Crook, Eddie Harris, Ira Sullivan, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny, Horace Silver, Anita O’Day, and Freddie Hubbard. In recent years he also recorded albums with modern performers including Robben Ford, Gary Willis, David Becker and Mick Goodrick.

Following in the footsteps of an uncle, Diorio took up the guitar, studying formally in the early 1950s at a local music school. He worked for a while with local bands, but in the early 1960s he ventured into New York City, where he played with several jazz musicians.

In April 2005 he struggled to regain the full use of his left hand following a stroke he suffered at his West Coast residence in San Clemente.

Diorio taught at the University of Southern California. He was also one of the first instructors for the Guitar Institute of Technology. He published several instructional books and videos, and released ten albums under his name.

He died on February 2, 2022, at the age of 85.

Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of delivering deeply felt presentations of standards as well as writing and singing her own material.

Born in Chicago but raised in Calvin Center, Cass County, Michigan, Lincoln was one of many singers influenced by Billie Holiday. Her debut album, Abbey Lincoln’s Affair – A Story of a Girl in Love, was followed by a series of albums for Riverside Records. In 1960 she sang on Max Roach‘s landmark civil rights-themed recording, We Insist! Lincoln’s lyrics were often connected to the civil rights movement in America. After a tour of Africa in the mid-1970s, she adopted the name Aminata Moseka.

Charles Edward Haden (August 6, 1937 – July 11, 2014) was an American jazz double bass player, bandleader, composer and educator whose career spanned more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, he was an original member of the ground-breaking Ornette Coleman Quartet.

Haden revolutionized the harmonic concept of bass playing in jazz. German musicologist Joachim-Ernst Berendt wrote that Haden’s “ability to create serendipitous harmonies by improvising melodic responses to Coleman’s free-form solos (rather than sticking to predetermined harmonies) was both radical and mesmerizing. His virtuosity lies (…) in an incredible ability to make the double bass ‘sound out’. Haden cultivated the instrument’s gravity as no one else in jazz. He is a master of simplicity which is one of the most difficult things to achieve.” Haden played a vital role in this revolutionary new approach, evolving a way of playing that sometimes complemented the soloist and sometimes moved independently. In this respect, as did his predecessor bassists Jimmy Blanton and Charles Mingus, Haden helped liberate the bassist from a strictly accompanying role to becoming a more direct participant in group improvisation. In 1969, he formed his first band, the Liberation Music Orchestra, featuring arrangements by pianist Carla Bley. In the late 1960s, he became a member of pianist Keith Jarrett’s trio, quartet and quintet. In the 1980s, he formed his band, Quartet West. Haden also often recorded and performed in a duo setting, with musicians including guitarist Pat Metheny and pianist Hank Jones. Haden was born in Shenandoah, Iowa. His family was exceptionally musical and performed on the radio as the Haden Family, playing country music and American folk songs. Haden made his professional debut as a singer on the Haden Family’s radio show when he was just two years old. He continued singing with his family until he was 15 when he contracted a bulbar (brainstem) form of polio affecting his throat and facial muscles. At the age of 14, Haden had become interested in jazz after hearing Charlie Parker and Stan Kenton in concert. Once he recovered from his bout with polio, Haden began in earnest to concentrate on playing the bass. Haden’s interest in the instrument was not sparked by jazz bass alone, but also by the harmonies and chords he heard in compositions by Bach.

Baden Powell de Aquino (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈbadẽ ˈpaw]; 6 August 1937 – 26 September 2000), known professionally as Baden Powell, was a Brazilian guitarist.He combined classical techniques with popular harmony and swing. He performed in many styles, including bossa nova, samba, Brazilian jazz, Latin jazz and MPB. He performed on stage during most of his lifetime. Powell composed many pieces for guitar, such as “Abração em Madrid”, “Braziliense”, “Canto de Ossanha”, “Casa Velha”, “Consolação”, “Horizon”, “Imagem”, “Lotus”, “Samba”, “Samba Triste”, “Simplesmente”, “Tristeza e Solidão”, and “Samba da Benção”. He released Os Afro-sambas, a watershed album in MPB, with Vinicius de Moraes in 1966.

Jemeel Moondoc (August 5, 1946 – August 29, 2021) was a jazz saxophonist who played alto saxophone. He was a proponent of a highly improvisationalstyle.

He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and studied clarinet and piano before settling on saxophone at sixteen. He became interested in jazz largely due to Cecil Taylor and at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he was a student of Taylor’s. After that he moved to New York City, where he founded “Ensemble Muntu” with William Parker, Roy Campbell, Jr., and Rashid Bakr. The group also had its own Muntu record label, but eventually faced financial difficulties. In 1984, he formed the Jus Grew Orchestra, which secured a residency at the Neither/Nor club in the Lower East Side. He worked with Parker again in 1998’s album, New World Pygmies.

He died in August 2021, at the age of 75 from the effects of sickle cell anemia.

Airto Guimorvan Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the Brazilian ensemble Quarteto Novo, he moved to the United States and worked in jazz fusion with Miles Davis and Return to Forever.

Airto Moreira was born in Itaiópolis, Brazil, into a family of folk healers, and raised in Curitiba and São Paulo. Showing an extraordinary talent for music at a young age, he became a professional musician at age 13, noticed first as a member of the samba jazz pioneers Sambalanço Trio and for his landmark recording with Hermeto Pascoal in Quarteto Novo in 1967. Shortly after, he followed his wife Flora Purim to the United States.