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Eddie Costa Day

August 14, 2019

Edwin James Costa (August 14, 1930 – July 28, 1962) was an American jazz pianist, vibraphonist, composer and arranger. In 1957 he was chosen as Down Beat jazz critics’ new star on piano and vibes – the first time that one artist won two categories in the same year. He became known for his percussive, driving piano style that concentrated on the lower octaves of the keyboard.

Costa had an eight-year recording career, during which he appeared on more than 100 albums; five of these were under his own leadership. As a sideman he appeared in orchestras led by Manny Albam, Gil Evans, Woody Herman and others; played in smaller groups led by musicians including Tal Farlow, Coleman Hawkins, Gunther Schuller, and Phil Woods; and accompanied vocalists including Tony Bennett and Chris Connor. Costa died, aged 31, in a car accident in New York City.

Eddie Costa was born in Atlas, Pennsylvania, near Mount Carmel, in Northumberland County. He was taught and influenced on piano by his older, musically trained brother, Bill, and a local piano teacher. Eddie took paid jobs as a pianist from the age of 15. In contrast to his piano training, he was self-taught on vibes. In 1949 Costa played and toured for a few months with violinist Joe Venuti. He then worked for his brother in New York until, in 1951, Eddie was drafted into the army. During his time in the armed forces, Costa performed in Japan and Korea. Upon release after two years, Costa again worked around the New York area, including for bands led by Kai Winding, Johnny Smith, and Don Elliott.

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Stuff Smith Day

August 14, 2019

Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith (August 14, 1909 – September 25, 1967), better known as Stuff Smith, was an American jazz violinist. He is well known for the song “If You’re a Viper” (the original title was “You’se a Viper”). Smith was, along with Stéphane Grappelli, Michel Warlop, Svend Asmussen and Joe Venuti, one of jazz music’s preeminent violinists of the swing era. He was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1909 and studied violin with his father. Smith cited Louis Armstrong as his primary influence and inspiration to play jazz, and like Armstrong, was a vocalist as well as instrumentalist. In the 1920s, he played in Texas as a member of Alphonse Trent‘s band. After moving to New York City he performed regularly with his sextet at the Onyx Club starting in 1935 and also with Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and later, Sun Ra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJN7H7_b34c

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World Music with Purbayan Chatterjee & Satyajit Talwalkar

August 14, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Og7Ie1awNE

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Daily Roots with the Twinkle Brothers

August 14, 2019

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The Cosmos with CTB 1

August 13, 2019

Spanning an area of 35 arcminutes on the sky towards the constellation of Cassiopeia, this enigmatic loop of ionized nebulosity is a supernova remnant catalogued as CTB 1. This name denotes it as a radio source compiled in the Caltech Observatory list B catalogue of 110 radio sources discovered in a radio survey in 1960. A few other CTB sources also correspond with a supernova remnant such as CTB 80.

The radio source CTB 1 was suspected to be a supernova remnant in 1960 and confirmed as a supernova remnant in 1971. Optical emission associated with it was discovered by Sidney van den Bergh in 1973. The optical structure consists of a roughly circular shell with a breakout rupture towards the north, which also coincides with a break in the radio shell at this location. This is likely to be the result of the supernova remnant’s interaction with a nearby cavity of neutral hydrogen gas. The Ha shell is composed of multiple interlocking limb brightened filaments with faint emission also extending beyond the main shell towards the south. The OIII structure consists of a series of filaments forming a curved arc towards one side. Close inspection also reveals a small dark globule silhouetted against the southern part.

CTB 1 belongs to the morphological class of mixed-morphology supernova remnants, which consist of a radio shell with central x-ray emission. Other prominent examples of this class include IC 443 and W28. At a distance of 10,000 light years, the diameter of CTB 1 is 100 light years. The expansion of the shell in a highly dynamic environment suggests that the progenitor star that exploded to form the supernova remnant might have been a B or O-type supergiant star. The age of CTB 1 has many estimates but the most commonly accepted one is 10,000 years.

Interestingly this object has been considered erroneously as a planetary nebula and is catalogued as Abell 85 in George Abell’s second version of the Abell planetary nebula catalogue published in 1966 and was also included in the first version published in 1955. It is also wrongly catalogued as a HII region in Beverley Lynd’s amusingly named 1965 catalogue of bright nebulae as LBN 576.

Taken with a  Planewave 17″ f6.7 on a Planewave HD Mount and a SBIG 16803 camera. Imaged from “Dark Sky New Mexico” in Animas.

LRGB- 225 each, HA- 780m, O3- 780m  41 Total Hours total.

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Dan Fogelberg Day

August 13, 2019

Daniel Grayling Fogelberg (August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his 1980s songs, including “Longer” (1979), “Same Old Lang Syne” (1980), and “Leader of the Band” (1982). Dan Fogelberg was born in Peoria, Illinois. He was the youngest of three sons born to Margaret (née Irvine), a classically trained pianist, and Lawrence Peter Fogelberg, a high school band director who spent most of his career at Peoria’s Woodruff High School and Pekin High School.Dan’s mother was a Scottish immigrant, and his father was of Swedish descent. His father would later be the inspiration for the song “Leader of the Band“. Dan often related his memory of his father allowing him to “conduct” the school band when he was only four years old. At the time, Fogelberg senior was band director at Bradley University in Peoria.

 

Using a Mel Bay course book, Dan taught himself to play a Hawaiian slide guitar that his grandfather gave him. He also learned to play the piano. At age 14, he joined a band, The Clan, which covered The Beatles. His second band was another cover band, The Coachmen, who, in 1967, released two singles written by Fogelberg. They were cut at Golden Voice Recording studio in South Pekin, Illinois, and released on Ledger Record’s label: “Maybe Time Will Let Me Forget” and “Don’t Want to Lose Her”.

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Benny Bailey Day

August 13, 2019

Ernest HaroldBennyBailey (13 August 1925 – 14 April 2005) was an American jazz trumpeter.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Bailey briefly studied flute and piano before turning to trumpet. He attended the Cleveland Conservatory of Music. He was influenced by Cleveland native Tadd Dameron and had a significant influence on other Cleveland musicians, such as Albert Ayler, Bob Cunningham, Bobby Few, Bill Hardman, and Frank Wright. Bailey played with Tony Lovano, father of Joe Lovano.

In the early 1940s he worked with Bull Moose Jackson and Scatman Crothers. He later worked with Dizzy Gillespie and toured with Lionel Hampton. During a European tour with Hampton he remained in Europe and spent time in Sweden, where he worked with Harry Arnold‘s big band.He preferred big bands over small groups, and he became associated with several big bands in Europe, including the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band. His time with Quincy Jones led to a brief return to the United States in 1960. He was invited to the studio as part of Freddie Redd‘s sextet to record Redd’s Blues after meeting the pianist during a tour in Sweden. He returned to Europe, first to Germany, then the Netherlands, where he settled permanently.

In 1969 he played on Eddie Harris and Les McCann‘s album Swiss Movement, recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, although it was not his usual style of music. In 1988 he worked with British clarinetist Tony Coe and recorded albums until 2000 when he was in his mid-70s. Bailey died at home in Amsterdam on April 14, 2005.

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George Shearing Day

August 13, 2019

Sir George Albert Shearing, OBE (13 August 1919 – 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, including the jazz standards “Lullaby of Birdland” and “Conception“, and had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of heart failure in New York City, at the age of 91.

Born in Battersea, London, Shearing was the youngest of nine children. He was born blind to working class parents: his father delivered coal and his mother cleaned trains in the evening. He started to learn piano at the age of three and began formal training at Linden Lodge School for the Blind, where he spent four years.

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World Music with Lamine Cissokho

August 13, 2019

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Daily Roots with Two Rasta Man & King Tubby

August 13, 2019

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The Cosmos with Cygnus OB2

August 12, 2019

Cygnus OB2 is an OB association that is home to some of the most massive and most luminous stars known, including suspected Luminous blue variable Cyg OB2 #12. It also includes one of the largest known stars, NML Cygni. The region is embedded within a wider one of star formation known as Cygnus X, which is one of the most luminous objects in the sky at radio wavelengths. The region is approximately 1,400 parsecs from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus.

The young cluster is one of the largest known and the largest in the northern hemisphere with some authors formerly classifying it as a young globular cluster similar to those in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Today, however, it is considered a massive, low-density stellar association.

Although it is over ten times more massive than the Orion Nebula, which is easily seen with the naked eye, Cygnus OB2 is hidden behind a massive dust cloud known as the Cygnus Rift, which obscures many of the stars in it. This means that despite its large size, it is hard to determine its actual properties. The estimated number of massive stars range from 50 to 100 of spectral type Oand its total mass having been calculated as (4–10)×104 or 3×104 solar masses according to other investigations.

Despite this, recent surveys ranging from radio to X-ray wavelengths have observed the region to great depths to gain a better understanding of how the processes of star and planet formation occur on such a large scale. These studies include observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Spitzer Space Telescope, the Herschel Space Observatory and the Gran Telescopio Canarias. As for recent observations the final stages of the process of photoablation is taking place, where the biggest stars formed and cleared the ambient material from the region.

 

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Pat Metheny Day

August 12, 2019

Patrick Bruce Metheny (/məˈθni/ mə-THEE-nee; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.

He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progressive and contemporary jazz, Latin jazz, and jazz fusion. Metheny has three gold albums and 20 Grammy Awards and is the only person to win Grammys in 10 categories. He is the brother of jazz flugelhornist Mike Metheny.

Metheny was born in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. His father Dave played trumpet, his mother Lois sang, and his maternal grandfather Delmar was a professional trumpeter. Metheny’s first instrument was trumpet, which he was taught by his brother, Mike. His brother, father, and grandfather played trios together at home. His parents were fans of Glenn Miller and swing music. They took Metheny to concerts to hear Clark Terry and Doc Severinsen, but they had little respect for guitar. Metheny’s interest in guitar increased around 1964 when he saw the Beatles perform on TV. For his 12th birthday, his parents allowed him to buy a guitar, which was a Gibson ES-140 3/4.

Metheny’s life changed after hearing the album Four & More by Miles Davis. Soon after, he was captivated by Wes Montgomery‘s album Smokin’ at the Half Note which was released in 1965. He cites the Beatles, Miles Davis, and Wes Montgomery as having the biggest impact on his music.

When he was 15, he won a scholarship from Down Beat magazine to a one-week jazz camp where he was mentored by guitarist Attila Zoller, who then invited Metheny to New York City to see guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Ron Carter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EciWe9eqViQ

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Porter Wagoner Day

August 12, 2019

Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour.

In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, and they were a well-known vocal duo throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Known as Mr. Grand Ole Opry, Wagoner charted 81 singles from 1954–1983. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002. Wagoner was born in West Plains, Missouri, the son of Bertha May (née Bridges) and Charles E. Wagoner, a farmer. His first band, the Blue Ridge Boys, performed on radio station KWPM-AM from a butcher shop in his native West Plains, Missouri, where Wagoner cut meat. In 1951, he was hired by Si Siman as a performer on KWTO in Springfield, Missouri. This led to a contract with RCA Victor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQJCPyGq2sI

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Joe Jones Day

August 12, 2019

Joseph Charles “Joe” Jones (August 12, 1926 – November 27, 2005) was an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger, who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jones is also generally credited with discovering the Dixie Cups. He also worked with B.B. King. As a singer, Jones had his greatest hit in the form of the Top Five 1960 R&B hit “You Talk Too Much“, which also reached #3 on the pop chart. Jones served in the U.S. Navy, where he played piano in a band, before studying music at the Juilliard Conservatory of Music. He formed a band, Joe Jones and his Atomic Rebops, in the late 1940s; band members played on Roy Brown‘s 1947 hit “Good Rocking Tonight“. He was expelled from the New Orleans local chapter of the American Federation of Musicians for attempting to set up a rival organization but was later reinstated.

He became a valet, then pianist and arranger for B.B. King, and recorded his first solo single, “Adam Bit the Apple”, for Capitol Records in 1954. He also discovered Shirley and Lee, whose recording of “Let the Good Times Roll” became a hit in 1956. In 1960, a re-recording of a song he had first recorded in 1958,You Talk Too Much” on Ric Records, became a national success, but his subsequent releases were less successful.

Jones claimed to have composed many songs, including the song “Iko Iko.” Although his assertions were originally successful, a federal jury and then Court of Appeals ruled that Jones did not write “Iko Iko,” that his claims were fraudulent, and that the true writers were the band he managed, the Dixie Cups (the true original recording of this song had been released as Checker 787 by New Orleans singer and pianist Sugar Boy Crawford and his Cane Cutters in late 1953). The band hired music attorney Oren Warshavsky, who had previously won a case demonstrating that Jones falsely professed ownership of another Mardi Gras classic song, “It Ain’t My Fault.” Jones also failed in his bid to declare title (though not as an author) to yet another Mardi Gras classic song, “Carnival Time.” He also recorded the original “California Sun” on Roulette Records in 1961, which was made a hit by the Rivieras in 1963.

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World Music with Kardemimmit

August 12, 2019

Finland

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Daily Roots with Yami Bolo

August 12, 2019

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The Cosmos with NGC 3432

August 11, 2019

Visible in the constellation of Leo Minor, NGC 3432 is located some 45 million light-years away from Earth.Also known as LEDA 32643 and UGC 5986, the galaxy was discovered by British astronomer William Herschel on March 19, 1787.Its distinctive shape is due to the ongoing gravitational interaction with UGC 5983, a dwarf galaxy to the southwest of NGC 3432.The interacting duo is included in Arp’s catalogue with the label Arp 206.“It turns out that we see NGC 3432 orientated directly edge-on to us from our vantage point here on Earth,” Hubble astronomers said.“The galaxy’s spiral arms and bright core are hidden, and we instead see the thin strip of its very outer reaches.”“Dark bands of cosmic dust, patches of varying brightness, and pink regions of star formation help with making out the true shape of NGC 3432 — but it’s still somewhat of a challenge!”“Because observatories such as Hubble have seen spiral galaxies at every kind of orientation, we can tell when we happen to have caught one from the side.”In May 2000, an unusual and very luminous stellar explosion, named SN 2000ch, was spotted in NGC 3432 by astronomers from the Lick Observatory Supernova Search.

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Bill Heid Day

August 11, 2019

Bill Heid (born August 11, 1948) is an American soul jazz and hard bop jazz pianist and organist, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, probably better known for his work with musicians such as Koko Taylor, Henry Johnson and Fenton Robinson, amongst others.

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Manabendra Mukhopadhyay Day

August 11, 2019

Manabendra Mukhopadhyay (Bengali: মানবেন্দ্র মুখোপাধ্যায়) was an Indian singer and music composer. Manabendra was born in Kolkata on 11 August 1931. His father’s name was Atulchandra Mukhopadhay. It is considered that during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s the Bengali modern songs reached its peak of excellence and that period is usually called the “Golden age of Bengali Adhunik Songs”. At that time Bengal had a unique mix of singers which inspired composers and lyricists to create innumerable treasure of creative music. Each singer had his own inimitable style and compositions were made to match their individual ability. Bengali non-film modern songs were in fact was as popular, if not more, than film songs which also reached a level of popularity in the 1950s and 1960s.

Coming to limelight in the early 1950s Manabendra was an innovative and stylish singer who had a strong foundation in Indian classical music. With his distinctive voice, Manabendra was an instant hit with the audience. demonstrating great talent also as a composer, using the lyrics and melody of a song with good effect. At that time Bengali modern song world had the presence of some outstanding performers like Dhananjay Bhattacharya, Manna Dey, Satinath Mukherjee, Akhil Bandhu Ghosh, Hemanta Mukhopadhyay to name a few.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYdTVwVtla8&t=591s

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Johnny van Derrick Day

August 11, 2019

John Arthur “Johnny” Van Derrick (born August 11, 1926 in Ealing , † May 15, 1995 in Denham , Buckinghamshire ) was a British jazz violinist who also worked as a studio musician in the field of pop music .

Van Derrick was led to music by his father, a Dutch cornetist. He attended the Conservatory in Brussels and had classical music lessons until the outbreak of World War II. In London, he played during the war first with Louis Mexano’s Accordion Band, before he worked in the merchant marine . In the post-war years, he first played as a trumpeter in dance bands by Maurice Winnick and Lou Preager, eventually he took violin lessons with his mentor Sascha Lasserson and played in the Halle Orchestra, before he worked from then on as a freelance musician. He appeared with Roy Fox and Geraldo and he played in the early 1960s in Diz Disley’s String Quintet, with the first recordings emerged ( At the Jazz Band Ball ), also with Tubby Hayes , Gary Potter and the Jack Togood Swing set . In 1976 he was able to work again after a serious illness.

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