mick laBriola

William Overton Smith (September 22, 1926 – February 29, 2020) was an American clarinetist and composer. He worked extensively in modern classical music, third streamand jazz, and was perhaps best known for having played with pianist Dave Brubeckintermittently from the 1940s to the early 2000s. Smith frequently recorded jazz under the name Bill Smith, but his classical compositions are credited under the name William O. Smith.

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (Polish: Mikołaj Konstanty Czurlanis; 22 September [O.S. 10 September] 1875 – 10 April [O.S. 28 March] 1911) was a Lithuanian composer, painter, choirmaster, cultural figure, and writer in Polish.

Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and Art Nouveau, and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. He has been considered one of the pioneers of abstract art in Europe. During his short life, he composed about 400 pieces of music and created about 300 paintings, as well as many literary works and poems. The majority of his paintings are housed in the M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum in Kaunas, Lithuania. His works have had a profound influence on modern Lithuanian culture.

Chief Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye MFR (born 22 September 1946), known professionally as King Sunny Adé, is a Nigerian jùjú singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.He is regarded as one of the first African pop musicians to gain international success and has been called one of the most influential musicians of all time.

Sunny Adé formed his backing band in 1967, eventually known as his African Beats. After achieving national success in Nigeria during the 1970s and founding his own independent label, Sunny Adé signed to Island Records in 1982 and achieved international success with the albums Juju Music (1982) and Synchro System (1983); the latter garnered him a Grammy nomination, a first for a Nigerian artist. His 1998 album Odu also garnered a Grammy nomination. Sunny Adé served as board chairmanof the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria before it got licensed and was later appointed honorary president of the society in recognition of his leadership role in the society.

James Marcellus Arthur “Sunny” Murray (September 21, 1936 – December 7, 2017) was an American musician, and was one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming.

Murray was born in Idabel, Oklahoma, where he was raised by an uncle who later died after being refused treatment at a hospital because of his race. He began playing drums at the age of nine. As a teen, he lived in a rough part of Philadelphia, and spent two years in a reformatory. In 1956, he moved to New York City, where he worked in a car wash and as a building superintendent. During this time, he played with musicians such as trumpeters Red Allen and Ted Curson, pianist Willie “The Lion” Smith, and saxophonists Rocky Boyd and Jackie McLean.

Charles Thomas Potter (September 21, 1918 – March 1, 1988) was an American jazz double bass player, best known for having been a member of Charlie Parker‘s “classic quintet”, with Miles Davis, between 1947 and 1950.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Potter had first played with Parker in 1944, in Billy Eckstine‘s band with Dizzy Gillespie, Lucky Thompson and Art Blakey.

Potter also performed and recorded with many other notable jazz musicians, including Earl Hines, Artie Shaw, Bud Powell, Count Basie, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Max Roach, Eddie Heywood, Tyree Glenn, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Buck Clayton and Charles Lloyd.

Leroy Eliot “Slam” Stewart (September 21, 1914 – December 10, 1987 Englewood, NJ) was an American jazz double bass player, whose trademark style was his ability to bow the bass (arco) and simultaneously hum or sing an octave higher. He was a violinist before switching to bass at the age of 20.

Stewart found regular session work throughout the 1940s with Lester Young, Fats Waller, Coleman Hawkins, Erroll Garner, Art Tatum, Johnny Guarnieri, Red Norvo, Don Byas, Benny Goodman, and Beryl Booker. One of the most famous sessions he played on took place in 1945, when Stewart played with Dizzy Gillespie‘s group (which featured Charlie Parker). Out of those sessions came some of the classics of bebopsuch as “Groovin’ High” and “Dizzy Atmosphere“.

He taught at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York, and at Yale University. He died of congestive heart failure on December 10, 1987, in Binghamton, aged 73.

Mt Zion Shabbat for the Soul Friday September 20th 2024 630pm with Jennifer Truss-Klien, Tami Morse and mick laBriola.

Billy Bang (September 20, 1947 – April 11, 2011), born William Vincent Walker, was an American free jazz violinist and composer.

He later joined Sun Ra‘s band. In 1977, Bang co-founded the String Trio of New York (with guitarist James Emery and double bassist John Lindberg). Bang explored his experience in Vietnam in two albums: Vietnam: The Aftermath (2001) and Vietnam: Reflections (2005), recorded with a band which included several other veterans of that war. The latter album also features two Vietnamese musicians based in the United States (voice and đàn tranh zither).

The film Billy Bang Lucky Man documents his return to Vietnam in 2008 to collaborate with Vietnamese musicians and come to terms with his experiences in the war. A soundtrack album was released in 2021.