mick laBriola

Wardell Gray (February 13, 1921 – May 25, 1955) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who straddled the swing and bebop periods.

Wardell Gray was born in Oklahoma City, the youngest of four children. His early childhood years were spent in Oklahoma, before moving with his family to Detroit in 1929.

In early 1935, Gray began attending Northeastern High School, and then transferred to Cass Technical High School, which is noted for having Donald Byrd, Lucky Thompson and Al McKibbon as alumni. He left in 1936, before graduating. Advised by his brother-in-law Junior Warren, as a teenager he started on the clarinet,^[1] but after hearing Lester Young on record with Count Basie, he was inspired to switch to the tenor saxophone.

World Music with the Desperadoes

At Panorama before Carnival in Trinidad 2018

Daily Roots with Black Slate

2-13-18

NGC 3344 is a relatively isolated barred spiral galaxy located 22.5 million light years away in the constellation Leo Minor. This galaxy belongs to the group known as the Leo spur, which is a branch of the Virgo Supercluster. NGC 3344 has the morphological classification(R)SAB(r)bc,which indicates it is a weakly barred spiral galaxy that exhibits rings and moderate to loosely wound spiral arms. There is both an inner and outer ring, with the prominent arms radiating outward from the inner ring and the slightly elliptical bar being situated inside. At the center of the bar is an HII nucleus with an angular diameter of about 3″.

Bill Laswell (born February 12, 1955, Salem, Illinois, and raised in Albion, Michigan) is an American bassist, producer and record label owner.

Laswell has been involved in hundreds of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. Laswell’s music draws upon many different genres, most notably funk, various world music, jazz, dub and ambient styles. He has also played or produced music from the noisier, more aggressive end of the rock spectrum, such as hardcore punk and metal.

According to music critic Chris Brazier, “Laswell’s pet concept is ‘collision music’ which involves bringing together musicians from wildly divergent but complementary spheres and seeing what comes out.”^[1] The credo of one record label run by Laswell, and which typifies much of his work, is “Nothing Is True, Everything Is Permitted.” Though projects arranged by Laswell may be credited under the same name and often feature the same roster of musicians, the styles and themes explored on different albums can vary dramatically: Material began as a noisy dance music project, but subsequent releases have been centered on hip hop, jazz, or backing spoken word readings by beat generation icon William S. Burroughs. Similarly, most versions of Praxis have featured guitarist Buckethead, but have explored different permutations with each new album.

Though some artists have chafed against Laswell’s distinctive recording and production style (most noticeably some of his for-hire production gigs including Motörhead, Swans and White Zombie) many other collaborations, such as with pianist Herbie Hancock and singer Iggy Pop have been lengthier and recurring.

Mel Powell (born Melvin Epstein) (February 12, 1923 – April 24, 1998) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer, and the founding dean of the music department at the California Institute of the Arts. He served as a music educator for over 40 years, first at Mannes College of Music and Queens College, then Yale University, and finally at CalArts. During his early career he worked as a jazz pianist.

Mel Powell was born Melvin D. Epstein on February 12, 1923, in The Bronx, New York City to Russian Jewish parents, Milton Epstein and Mildred Mark Epstein. He began playing piano at age four, taking lessons from, among others, Nadia Reisenberg.

Pinkney “Pink” Anderson (February 12, 1900 – October 12, 1974) was an American blues singer and guitarist.

Anderson was born in Laurens, South Carolina, and raised in nearby Greenville and Spartanburg. He joined Dr. William R. Kerr of the Indian Remedy Company in 1914 to entertain the crowds while Kerr tried to sell a concoction purported to have medicinal qualities. He also toured with Leo “Chief Thundercloud” Kahdot and his medicine show, often with the harmonica player Arthur “Peg Leg Sam” Jackson, who was based in Jonesville, South Carolina.

World Music with  Basudeb Das Baul performing Bengali Baul songs.

Daily Roots with the Wailing Souls

2-12-18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ1hLme5XH4&index=10&list=PLEB3LPVcGcWZ0hsQ5_jgSMhawAnDzy1io

RS Puppis (or RS Pup) is a Cepheid variable star in the constellation of Puppis. It is one of the brightest known Cepheids in the Milky Way galaxyand has one of the longest periods for this class of star, of 41.4^[8] days.

Because it is located in a large nebula, astronomers using the ESO‘s New Technology Telescope at La Silla Observatory, Chile have been able to measure its distance in 2013 by strictly geometric analysis of light echoes from particles in the nebula, determining it to be 6500 ± 90 light years from Earth, the most accurate measurement achieved for any Cepheid as of early 2008. The accuracy of the new measurement is important because Cepheids serve as a marker for distances within the Milky Way galaxy and for nearby galaxies.

Didier Lockwood (born 11 February 1956 in Calais) is a French jazz violinist. He played in the progressive rock/jazz fusion band Magma in the 1970s and is known for his use of electric amplification and experimentation on different sounds on the electric violin.

In 1979, he released his first album as a leader, New World, and has recorded more than 20 albums of his own since then.

In 1994, Lockwood moved to New York City for 2 years. During that time he recorded 2 albums “New York Rendez Vous” and “Storyboard

Lockwood’s influences include fusion violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. He took up the electric violin after hearing Ponty play on the album King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa. Another important influence was fellow Frenchman Stéphane Grappelli. In 2000, Lockwood recorded a tribute album to Grappelli

Little Johnny Taylor (born Johnny Lamont Merrett; February 11, 1943 – May 17, 2002) was an American blues and soul singer, who made recordings throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and continued public performances through the 1980s and 1990s.

Born in Gregory, Arkansas, United States, he is frequently confused with his contemporary and near namesake Johnnie Taylor, especially since the latter made a cover version of the song that Little Johnny Taylor was most famous for, “Part Time Love” (1963), and the fact that both men began their careers as gospel singers.

Little Johnny Taylor moved to Los Angeles in 1950, and sang with the Mighty Clouds of Joy before moving into secular music. Influenced by Little Willie John, he first recorded as an R&B artist for the Swingin’ record label.

Joshua Daniel White (February 11, 1914 – September 5, 1969 Greenville, SC) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names Pinewood Tom and Tippy Barton in the 1930s.

White grew up in the South during the 1920s and 1930s. He became a prominent race records artist, with a prolific output of recordings in genres including Piedmont blues, country blues, gospel music, and social protest songs. In 1931, White moved to New York, and within a decade his fame had spread widely. His repertoire expanded to include urban blues, jazz, traditional folk songs, and political protest songs, and he was in demand as an actor on radio, Broadway, and film.

However, White’s anti-segregationist and international human rights political stance presented in many of his recordings and in his speeches at rallies were subsequently used by McCarthyites as a pretext for labeling him a communist to slander and harass him. From 1947 through the mid-1960s, White was caught up in the anti-communist Red Scare, and as a consequence his career was damaged. However White’s musical style would go on to influence several generations of musical artists.

World Fusion from LA with Grand Tapestry

Daily Roots with Slim Smith

2-11-18

MAROONS rare appearance
Saturday February 10th 3pm
St Paul Winter Carnival-Rice Park final day
with Van Nixon, Bingo, Siama Matuzungidi and mick laBriola.
Strictly in a Roots Vibe!

NGC 218 is a spiral galaxy located approximately 502 million light-years from the Sun^[2] in the constellation Andromeda. It was discovered on October 17, 1876 by Édouard Stephan, and is interacting with the galaxy PGC 2726.

Rufus Reid (born February 10, 1944, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American jazz bassist, educator, and composer.

Reid was raised in Sacramento, California, where he played the trumpet through junior high and high school. Upon graduation from Sacramento High School, he entered the United States Air Force as a trumpet player. During that period he began to be seriously interested in the bass.

After fulfilling his duties in the military, Rufus had decided he wanted to pursue a career as a professional bassist. He moved to Seattle, Washington, where he began serious study with James Harnett of the Seattle Symphony. He continued his education at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he studied with Warren Benfield and principal bassist, Joseph Guastefeste, both of the Chicago Symphony. He graduated in 1971 with a Bachelor of Music Degree as a Performance Major on the Double Bass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzUm0Y-7U_E

Emmanuel N’Djoké Dibango (born 12 December 1933) is a Cameroonian musician and song-writer who plays saxophone and vibraphone. He developed a musical style fusing jazz, funk, and traditional Cameroonian music. His father was a member of the Yabassi ethnic group, though his mother was a Duala. He is best known for his 1972 single, “Soul Makossa“.

Dibango was born in Douala, Cameroon. His father, Michel Manfred N’Djoké Dibango,was a civil servant. The son of a farmer, he met his wife travelling by pirogue to her residence, Douala. A literate woman, she was a fashion designer, running her own small business. Both her ethnic group, the Duala, and his, the Yabassi, viewed this union of different ethnic groups with some disdain. Emmanuel had no siblings, although he had a stepbrother from his father’s previous marriage^[5] who was four years older than he was. In Cameroon, one’s ethnicity is dictated by their fathers, though he wrote in his autobiography, Three Kilos of Coffee, that he has “never been able to identify completely with either of [his] parents.

Walter “Baby Sweets” Perkins (February 10, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois – February 14, 2004 in Queens, New) was an American jazz drummer.

Starting out in Chicago, Perkins began his professional career with Ahmad Jamal in 1956–57. He recorded for Argo Records in 1957 as a leader under the name MJT+3 with Paul Serrano (de) on trumpet, Nicky Hill on tenor sax, Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, and Bob Cranshaw on bass. In 1959, he regrouped under the same name with Willie Thomas on trumpet, Frank Strozier on alto sax, Harold Mabern on piano, and Cranshaw on bass; they recorded for Vee-Jay in 1959 and 1960 and played in Chicago until 1962, when he moved to New York City.

Perkins played with Sonny Rollins in 1962 and accompanied Carmen McRae in 1962–63. In 1964 he played with Art Farmer and Teddy Wilson. Following this he recorded with many musicians, including Rahsaan Roland Kirk, George Shearing, Gene Ammons, Charles Mingus, Billy Taylor, Booker Ervin, Jaki Byard, Lucky Thompson, Pat Martino, Sonny Stitt, Sonny Criss, and Charles Earland.