Mary Lou Williams: Jazz Pianist is born

Strayhorn, Billy Thomas (1915-1967)

Billy Thomas Strayhorn was a black gay composer and arranger who influenced the American jazz movement with his pioneering efforts. While largely unknown in his lifetime, his complex arrangements and classical components continue to inspire generations of jazz musicians. His work has been

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Source: Black Past

Dizzy Gillespie

John Birks Gillespie, commonly referred to as Dizzy Gillespie, was an American born trumpeter and composer. Born in Cheraw, South Carolina on 21 October 1917, Gillespie is regarded as the proponent of the earlier Bebop music scene, and together with his complex trumpeting and rhythmic

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Source: Black History Resources

Josephine Baker: Harlem Renaissance Creative

Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, she later took the name Baker from her second husband, Willie Baker, whom she married at age

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Source: ThoughtCo

GBN’S MERRY MONTH OF STEVIE: Jazz Visions of “Innervisions” (LISTEN)

In earlier Stevie Wonder playlists this month, GBN has featured playlists devoted to cover versions of the songs from “Songs in the Key of Life” and from “Talking

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Source: GOOD BLACK NEWS

Terence Blanchard releases soundtrack album for "The Comedian" starring Robert De Niro

Multiple GRAMMY-winning trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard has composed a sublime jazz score for The Comedian, the new movie starring Robert De Niro and Leslie Mann that was directed by Taylor Hackford and opens nationwide today. The album The Comedian (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is

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Source: Savoy Network

The Roaming Blues Queen: Memphis Minnie Pt. 2

Memphis Minnie continued recording with throughout the late 1930s with Vocalion while backed by Kansas Joe’s brother, the mandolin player Papa Charlie and her husband, a singer named Little Son

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Source: Black Then

Two new music releases celebrate the 90th birthday of Miles Davis

Columbia/Legacy will commemorate the 90th birthday of globally renowned music innovator Miles Davis with the release of two very special new Miles Davis album

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Source: Savoy Network

Bronze McGhee Lougheed: Dance Teacher Extraordinaire

“I don’t know what spring is without dance, without my students, and without our recital,” said Bronze McGhee Lougheed, partner and studio

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Source: The Birmingham Times

Jazz sensation George Duke dies at 67

Jazz icon George Duke passed away yesterday in Los Angeles at

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Source: Savoy Network

An Introduction to Jazz

Just getting started learning about jazz? In this collection of jazz resources for beginners, youll find glossary of terms, profiles of innovative players, and timelines for decades of jazz history.

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Source: ThoughtCo

Steelpan

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template

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Source: ThoughtCo

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie , byname of John Birks Gillespie (born Oct. 21, 1917, Cheraw, S.C., U.S.—died Jan. 6, 1993, Englewood, N.J.), American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who was one of the seminal figures of the bebop

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Source: Brittanica

FAME-Athens Celebrates Black History Month

First AME Church in Athens, Georgia, had a great time celebrating Black History Month with our members and

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Source: The Christian Recorder

Billie Holiday

Eleanora Fagan (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), professionally known as Billie Holiday, was an American jazz musician and singer-songwriter with a career spanning nearly thirty years. Nicknamed Lady Day by her friend and music partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz music and

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Source: AA Studies Research Guide

Don Cheadle

Donald Frank Don Cheadle Jr. (/ˈ tʃ iː d əl/; born November 29, 1964)[1] is an American actor, writer, producer, and director. He had an early role in Hamburger Hill (1987), before building his career in the 1990s with performances in Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Rosewood (1997) and Boogie Nights

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Source: BlackHistory.com

From Opera, Minstrelsy and Ragtime to Social Justice: An Overview of African American Performers at Carnegie Hall, 1892-1943

“It is probable that this hall will intertwine itself with the history of our country,” said Andrew Carnegie in 1890, when he laid the cornerstone of the building that would become Carnegie Hall. In keeping with Carnegie’s firm belief in egalitarianism and meritocracy, the hall that

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Source: Black Past

African Americans in Davenport, Iowa

African Americans in Davenport, Iowa are the third largest black community in Iowa, with a history reaching back before the Civil

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Source: ThoughtCo

James, Sylvester (1947-1988)

Sylvester James, American singer and songwriter, was born in the Watts section of Los Angeles, California to Sylvester James and Letha Weaver on September 6, 1947. He grew up with his mother and stepfather Robert Hurd, as well as five siblings: John James, Larry James, Bernadette

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Source: Black Past

Bernice Johnson Reagon

Bernice Johnson Reagon , née Bernice Johnson (born Oct. 4, 1942, Albany, Ga., U.S.), African American musician and historian whose work ranged from African spirituals to militant civil rights

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Source: Brittanica

Black Swan Records (1921-1923)

Black Swan Records was the first black-owned recording company that sold popular music to black audiences. Black Swan Records specialized in jazz and blues recordings but it also became the first company to record black classical musicians. During its brief existence from 1921 and 1923, Black Swan

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Source: Black Past

10 Essential Jazz Trumpet Albums

For those who wish to understand the roots of jazz trumpet playing, this collection is essential

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Source: ThoughtCo

August Wilson

August Wilson , original name Frederick August Kittel (born April 27, 1945, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.—died October 2, 2005, Seattle, Washington), American playwright, author of a cycle of plays, each set in a different decade of the 20th century, about black American life. He won Pulitzer

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Source: Brittanica

Oct

2

2005

Smith, Ada “Bricktop” (1894-1984)

Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith (“Bricktop”), vaudevillian actress, singer, nightclub owner, and international celebrity host, was born August 14, 1894 in Alderson, West Virginia, to Thomas and Hattie Thompson Smith. Her father passed away in 1898 and Mrs. Smith moved

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Source: Black Past

Jan

31

1984

Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal , original name Henry Saint Clair Fredericks (born May 17, 1942, New York, N.Y., U.S.), American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and one of the pioneers of what came to be called world music. He combined blues and other African-American music with Caribbean and West African music and

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Source: Brittanica

May

17

1942

Soul legend Stevie Wonder at 70 | DW | 12.05.2020

The year is 1963, yet hardly anyone in the theater knows who "Little Stevie Wonder" is when his record label Motown Records introduces

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Source: News and current affairs from Germany and around the world | DW

New leadership for Nubian Square

The organization, formerly Dudley Square Main Streets, coordinates efforts to improve Roxbury’s largest commercial district, now known as Nubian

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Source: The Bay State Banner

Ellington, Duke

Ellington, Duke (Edward Kennedy Ellington), 1899–1974, American jazz musician and composer, b. Washington, D.C. Ellington made his first professional appearance as a jazz pianist in 1916. By 1918 he had formed a band, and after appearances in nightclubs in Harlem he became one of the most famous

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

L.A. DIGEST: Jazz foundation to honor Billy Mitchell

RSVP to: President@JazzJournalists.org and register for the event at — U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, Janelle Monáe, Jidenna, Angela Rye, Wondaland and the Inglewood Unified School District will host “Wondalunch” from noon to 3 p.m. May 29 at Crozier Middle School, 120 W. Regent

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Source: Homepage -

Bessie Smith

Born into poverty and orphaned at an early age, Bessie Smith became the greatest blues singer of her era, recording more than 160 songs between 1923 and 1933. Her early career was influenced by Ma Rainey, and Smith performed on stage throughout the southern U.S. before making records. She recorded

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Jazz competition for high school students goes virtual

NEW YORK (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic has altered the annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival, but it will still go on, giving students the chance to show their talents

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Source: Black News Channel - Black News Channel

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