mick laBriola

NGC 4216 is a metal-rich intermediate spiral galaxy located not far from the center of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, roughly 55 million light-years away. It is seen nearly edge-on.

NGC 4216 is one of the largest and brightest spiral galaxies of the Virgo Cluster, with an absolute magnitude that has been estimated to be −22 (i.e.: brighter than the Andromeda Galaxy), and like most spiral galaxies of this cluster shows a deficiency of neutral hydrogen that’s concentrated within the galaxy’s optical disk and has a low surface density for a galaxy of its type. This explains why NGC 4216 is considered an anemic galaxy by some authors, also with a low star formation activity for a galaxy of its type. In fact, the galaxy’s disk shows pillar-like structures that may have been caused by interactions with the intracluster medium of Virgo and/or with nearby galaxies.

In NGC 4216’s halo, besides a rich system of globular clusters with a number of them estimated in around 700 (nearly five times more than the Milky Way), two stellar streams that are interpreted as two satellite galaxies being disrupted and absorbed by this galaxy are present.

NGC 4216 seems to be in a place of the Virgo cluster where dwarf galaxies are being destroyed/accreted at a high rate, with it suffering many interactions with these type of galaxies.

Benjamin Charles Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances, and activism. He has released twelve regular studio albums, mostly through Virgin Records and has toured internationally.

Harper is a three-time Grammy Award winner and seven-time nominee, with awards for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album in 2004 and Best Blues Album in 2013.

At the 40th Blues Music Awards ceremony, Harper’s joint composition with Charlie Musselwhite, “No Mercy in This Land”, was named Song of the Year.

Harper was born in Pomona, California. His late father, Leonard Harper, was of African-American and Cherokee ancestry, and his mother, Ellen Verdries Chase Harper, is Jewish. His maternal great-grandmother was a Russian–Lithuanian Jew. His parents divorced when he was five years old, and he grew up with his mother’s family. Harper has two brothers, Joel Harper and Peter Harper.

Harper began playing guitar as a child.His maternal grandparents’ music store, the Folk Music Center and Museum, laid a foundation of folk and blues for the artist, complemented by regular patrons Leonard Cohen, Taj Mahal, John Darnielle, and David Lindley and quotes of William Shakespeare and Robert Frost made often by his grandfather.

In 1978, at the age of 9, Harper attended Bob Marley‘s performance in Burbank, California, where Marley was joined by former bandmate Peter Toshfor the encore. It was, according to Harper, an important influence.

Gary Chester (born Cesario Gurciullo) was born into a poor Italian family on Oct. 27, 1924-August 17, 1987. His parents hailed from Saracusa, Italy, and Gary was the youngest of three siblings, which included two sisters and a brother. While growing up in Harlem, New York City, he would stand outside the local clubs and listen to the jazz bands play. He would constantly bang on cans and boxes in the back of his fathers barbershop, imitating the sounds of groups such as Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, and Chick Webb. He eventually left school in the 8th grade to play with a touring band.

His start as a studio musician was the result of good timing. He had just completed laying down tracks for a demo, and was leaving the studio when the A&R man in the next room stopped him. He told him that Panama Francis, the drummer on the song being recorded, had become sick and couldn’t do the session. He asked Gary to step in for him, and the song turned out to be the hit “Every Little Breath You Take” by Gene Pitney. After that, the phone never stopped ringing, and he was doing three sessions a day, usually 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM, and 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

Gary quickly became the top East Coast session drummer, and together with his West Coast counterpart, Hal Blaine, they played on a majority of the hits of the late fifties and early and mid-’60s. Gary once estimated the number of sessions he played to be over 15,000. Just a few of the records to benefit from Gary’s drum parts were classics by groups such as the Angels (“My Boyfriend’s Back”), the Archies (“Sugar, Sugar”), Burt Bacharach (“Promises, Promises”), the Chiffons (“He’s So Fine”), Petula Clark (“Downtown”), Jim Croce (“Time in a Bottle,” “Bad Bad Leroy Brown”), Jackie DeShannon (“What the World Needs Now”), the Drifters (“Up on the Roof,” “Under the Boardwalk”), the Isley Brothers (“Twist and Shout”), Ben E. King (“Spanish Harlem,” “Stand By Me”), Curtis Lee (“Angel Eyes”), Little Eva (“Locomotion”), Neil Sedaka (“Calendar Girl,” “Breaking Up is Hard to Do”), the Shirelles (“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”), Dionne Warwick (“Walk On By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Say a Little Prayer”), and Van Morrison (“Brown Eyed Girl”). Artists ranging from The Monkees, The Lovin’ Spoonful, and The Mamas & The Papas, to Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, all called upon Gary at various times.

As part of his dedication to the art of playing drums, Gary would catalog the parts he used on particular recordings. Always extremely sensitive to the idea of playing for the song, rather than showing off personal technical prowess, he would pull out his files when he thought something that worked in the past was right for a particular piece of music. He often came up with innovations to enhance a song, such as breaking a pane of glass to get the right sound, or attaching a tambourine to the hi-hat, which is something still widely used by drummers today.

As his reputation grew, Gary became a respected teacher, with drummers searching out his expertise and demanding techniques. He often dropped students who weren’t dedicated enough to satisfy him, but those that met his approval became trusted confidantes as well as students. Many of those who studied with Gary went on to highly successful careers themselves, including Kenny Aronoff, Danny Gottlieb, Dave Weckl, Tico Torres, and Max Weinberg. In order to reach more people, and spread the word of his innovative techniques, Gary authored the book that has become the benchmark against which drummers measure their technique. He called it “The New Breed,” hoping it would inspire a “new breed” of drummer who could handle the demands of the modern studio setting. Published by Modern Drummer Magazine, it continues to be widely utilized by the worlds best drummers.

Gary passed away on August 17, 1987. In a fitting tribute, protege, Chrissy Adams completed the work he had started on “The New Breed II,” which contained advanced techniques for developing total independence and creativity. Gary Chester’s influence continues to live on, both as someone who set a high standard from which modern drummers learn, and as a personal influence on the lives of his students.

Philip Catherine (born 27 October 1942) is a Belgian jazz guitarist.

Philip Catherine was born in London, England, to an English mother and Belgian father, and was raised in Brussels, Belgium. His grandfather was a violinist in the London Symphony Orchestra. Catherine started on guitar in his teens, and by seventeen he was performing professionally at local venues. He released his debut album, Stream, in 1972. During the next few years, he studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston and with Mick Goodrickand George Russell. In 1976, he and guitarist Larry Coryell recorded and toured as an acoustic duo. The same year, when Jan Akkerman abruptly left Focus, Catherine replaced him in the band. The following year, he recorded with Charles Mingus, who dubbed him “Young Django”. In the early 1980s, he toured briefly with Benny Goodman. He was in trio with Didier Lockwood and Christian Escoudé, then in a trio with Chet Baker. During the 1990s, he recorded three albums with trumpeter Tom Harrell.

Catherine has also worked with Lou Bennett, Kenny Drew, Dexter Gordon, Stéphane Grappelli, Karin Krog, Paul Kuhn, Sylvain Luc, Michael Mantler, Charlie Mariano, Palle Mikkelborg, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Enrico Rava, Toots Thielemans, and Miroslav Vitous.

Babs Gonzales (October 27, 1919 – January 23, 1980), born Lee Brown, was an American bebop vocalist, poet, and self-published author. His books portrayed the jazz world that many black musicians struggled in, portraying disk jockeys, club owners, liquor, drugs, and racism. “There are jazz people whose influence can be described as minor,” wrote Val Wilmer, “yet who are well-known to musicians and listeners alike … You’d have to be hard-pressed to ignore the wealth of legend that surrounds Babs Gonzales.” Jazz writer Jack Cooke explained that Gonzales “assumed the role of spokesman for the whole hipster world… [becoming] something more than just a good and original jazz entertainer: the incarnation of a whole social group.”

Gonzales was born Lee Brown in Newark, New Jersey, United States. He was raised solely by his mother Lottie Brown alongside two brothers. Of his nickname, Gonzales explained, “my brothers are basketball players… there was a basketball star in America named Big Babbiad, and so they were called Big Babs, Middle Babs, and I’m Little Babs.” As a young man, Gonzales worked as band boy for swing bandleader Jimmie Lunceford, after which he relocated to Los Angeles. To circumvent racial segregation, Gonzales wore a turban and used the pseudonym Ram Singh, passing as an Indian national. Using this identity, Gonzales worked at the Los Angeles Country Club until becoming a private chauffeur to movie star Errol Flynn. Whilst hospitalized for appendicitis in 1944, he assumed the Spanish surname Gonzales as he “didn’t want to be treated as a Negro,” later explaining that “they was Jim Crowing me in ofay hotels and so I said if it’s just simple enough to change my last name, why not?” After the outbreak of World War II, Gonzales was forced to return home to Newark to report for military duty, but was declared unfit for service after arriving to his inspection dressed as a woman.

Sten Folke Emelin Eriksberg , actually Eriksberger , originally Eriksson , born October 27, 1910 in Stockholm , died June 11, 1976 in the same place, was a Swedish guitarist and composer .

Folke Eriksberg made his debut in 1927 and was later found in the Swedish Paramount Orchestra and Gösta Törner’s Orchestra. He belonged to Frank Vernon’s orchestra in Stockholm 1928 – 1933and then played with, among others, Seymour Österwall , Thore Ehrling and the Swedish Hot Quintet . The years 1933–1935 Folke Eriksberg spent in Barcelona . He was one of the first in Sweden to play electric guitar and made his first recordings in 1936. He was in demand as a studio musician and participated in about 3,500 record recordings with artists such as Povel Ramel , Lapp-Lisa , Rosita Serrano and Sven-Olof Sandberg . Together with Sven Stiberg gave Folke Eriksberg in the 1940s out of a guitar school, which includes single string technology (the single-note style) extensively treated and which became the basis for many young guitarists development. Together with Ramonafabriken , Folke Eriksberg also developed his so-called signature guitar, “Eriksbergsgitarren”.