01-16a: Toscanini Wax Windfall !! : Beethoven Bizet Brahms Dukas Dvorak Gershwin Mozart Prokofiev Schubert Schumann Tchaikovsky & Wagner !!

1957 – Arturo Toscanini (Italian conductor)

That wasn't too clever of me, was it? Twelve albums by the greatest Italian conductor of the 20th century, and I somehow managed to not include a single Italian composer.

12-21: Albert King Montreux 1977 - Milstein : Tchaikovsky 1940 | Bruch 1942 | Mendelssohn 1945 - Gade : Symphonies 2 & 8 / Hogwood 2001 - Mozart Exsultate Jubilate : Raskin / Szell 1964

Not shown: Philipp Hyacinth Lobkowitz, Caspar Ruetz & Charles-François Dumonchau

1734 – Philipp Hyacinth Lobkowitz (Czech nobleman, lutenist & patron of Arcangelo Corelli)
1755 – Caspar Ruetz (German cantor & composer)
1807 – John Newton (English sailor, minister & hymn writer)
1820 – Charles-François Dumonchau (French composer, pianist & cellist)
1843 – Edward Bunting (Irish folksong collector, author & organist)
1864 – William Henry Fry (American composer & music critic)
1890 – Niels Gade (Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist & teacher)
1906 – Adalbert von Goldschmidt (Austrian composer)
1957 – Eric Coates (English composer, conductor & violist)
1964 – Thomas Nassi (Albanian composer, conductor, teacher & flutist, active also in the United States)
1965 – Claude Champagne (Canadian composer, teacher, violinist, pianist & organist)
1982 – Abu-Al-Asar Hafeez Jalandhari [ابو الاثر حفیظ جالندھری] (Pakistani writer, poet & composer of Pakistan's National Anthem)
1984 – Judith Raskin (American lyric soprano)
1987 – John Spence (American alternative rock singer, No Doubt)
1989 – Ján Cikker (Slovak composer, conductor & organist)
1992 – Albert King (American blues guitarist, singer & songwriter)
1992 – Nathan Milstein (Ukrainian-born American violinist)
1997 – Amie Comeaux (American country singer)
1998 – Karl Denver (Scottish pop singer)

You might find the fellow in the upper-right corner, William Henry Fry, to be a bit familiar. That's because I mistakenly already included him on September 21st, when he actually belongs in December... another example of my often-faulty sources failing me. But I suppose Fry is worth remembering twice, since was one of the more important American composers of the 19th century. I even had a download for him in that previous post in which he appeared, but don't bother looking for it... it was another Megaupload! So, an all-around FAIL, any way you look at it... but anyway, it's going to be another big day around here tomorrow, so I'd better catch up on my beauty sleep...

12-07: The Germs : GI 1979 - Kirsten Flagstad : Mahler 1957 | Wagner 1956 - Willaert Missa Mente Tota / Cinquecento 2009 - Clara Haskil : Mozart Piano Concertos 20 & 23 1956

Shown above: Adrian Willaert, Nicolas-Prosper Levasseur, Antoni Kątski, Ludwig Minkus, Adele Aus der Ohe, a book by Cecil Forsyth, Clara Haskil (many years before she achieved recognition), Kirsten Flagstad, Darby Crash, Victor de Narke, Dee Clark, John Addison, Frederick Fennell, Jerry Scoggins & Jay McShann.

1562 – Adrian Willaert (Flemish composer, founder of Venetian School, teacher of Zarlino)
1811 – Ignaz Spangler (German composer)
1823 – Johann Gottlieb Schwencke (German composer, organist & cantor)
1829 – Johann Christoph Kienlen (German composer)
1834 – Ludwig Schuncke (German pianist & composer, friend of Schumann)
1839 – Jan August Vitásek (Czech composer)
1841 – Johann Daniel Ferstenberg (composer)
1867 – Rudolf Viole (pianist & composer)
1871 – Nicolas-Prosper Levasseur (French operatic bass)
1899 – Antoni Kątski [Anton de Kontski] (Polish pianist & composer)
1917 – Ludwig Minkus [Léon Minkus, Людвиг Минкус] (Austrian ballet composer & violinist of Czech & Hungarian ancestry, active in Russia)
1937 – Adele Aus der Ohe (German pianist & composer, pupil of Liszt)
1941 – Cecil Forsyth (English composer, musicologist, violist & author)
1944 – Julius Von Raatz-Brockmann (German baritone)
1948 – Godfrey Turner (American composer)
1960 – Clara Haskil (Romanian-born Swiss pianist)
1960 – Lila Robeson (American mezzo-soprano)
1962 – Kirsten Flagstad (Norwegian dramatic soprano)
1980 – Darby Crash (American punk rock singer & songwriter, The Germs)
1986 – Victor de Narke (Argentine operatic bass)
1990 – Dee Clark (American soul singer, "Raindrops")
1998 – John Addison (English film composer, Tom Jones, A Bridge Too Far, Murder, She Wrote)
2004 – Frederick Fennell (American band conductor, percussionist & teacher, Eastman Wind Ensemble)
2004 – Jerry Scoggins (American country singer & guitarist, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett")
2006 – Jay McShann (American blues & jazz bandleader, singer, pianist & composer)

Really been slacking off. I slacked off so much on the collage, I'm now telling you who IS in it, instead of who isn't. Slacked off so much on Johann Daniel Ferstenberg and Rudolf Viole I didn't even dig deep enough to determine their nationalities. I should have put down Ferstenberg as Swedish and Viole as Belgian just so you wouldn't lie awake tonight wondering about it.

Anyway, looks like I'll be slacking off on this part too. But is me telling you that Willaert was one of the most important composers of the 16th century, or that Haskil was one of the supreme interpreters of Mozart and Beethoven, or that Flagstad was probably the Wagnerian soprano par excellence, or that Frederick Fennell did more than anyone else to elevate the artistic level of wind-band music really going to change anything?

You know... this blog is really for me, if you hadn't figured that out by now. It's for my own personal edification, and it gives me a sort-of fun hobby to work on. I only offer you these "goodies" to get butts in the seats, as it were. But once again, what other blog in the world will give you serene sacred works from the Renaissance and brutal late-70s punk rock in the same post? I mean, fer realz.

12-05: Mozart Divertimenti K 247 334 563 / L'Archibudelli 1991 - Stockhausen : Mixtur 1964 | Telemusik 1966 | TRANS 1971 | Tierkreis 1975 - Karl Amadeus Hartmann Symphony 6 / Aspen 2011 - Fasch Orchestral Works / Tempesta di Mare 2008

Not shown above: Christoph Förster, Robert Kimmerling, Giuseppe Ciccimarra, Johann Peter Heuschkel, Yannis Angelopoulos & Peter Hall

1663 – Severo Bonini (Italian composer, organist & author)
1745 – Christoph Förster (German composer)
1758 – Johann Friedrich Fasch (German violinist & composer)
1791 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Austrian composer)
1799 – Robert Kimmerling (Austrian Benedictine monk & composer)
1836 – Giuseppe Ciccimarra (Italian operatic tenor & teacher)
1853 – Johann Peter Heuschkel (German oboist, organist, teacher & composer, teacher of C.M. von Weber)
1902 – Henry Stephen Cutler (American organist, choirmaster & composer)
1916 – Hans Richter (Austrian conductor, premiered major works of Wagner, Brahms, Bruckner, Elgar & Tchaikovsky)
1940 – Jan Kubelík (Czech violinist & composer, father of Rafael)
1943 – Yannis Angelopoulos [Γιάννης Αγγελόπουλος] (Greek operatic baritone)
1953 – Jorge Negrete (Mexican ranchera singer & actor)
1963 – Karl Amadeus Hartmann (German composer)
1973 – Walter Hofermayer (Austrian baritone)
1986 – Carmol Taylor (American country songwriter & singer)
1987 – "Fat" Larry James (American funk & disco drummer & singer, Fat Larry's Band)
1989 – Sir John Pritchard (English conductor, violinist & pianist)
1993 – Doug Hopkins (American rock guitarist & songwriter, Gin Blossoms)
1996 – Peter Hall (British folklorist & musician)
1996 – Montana Slim [Wilf Carter] (Canadian country singer, songwriter, guitarist & yodeller)
2007 – Karlheinz Stockhausen (German composer)
2007 – Andrew Imbrie (American composer)
2008 – Anca Parghel (Romanian jazz singer, composer, pianist & teacher)

Amadeus!!

It was the middle name of... the composer many think was the finest German symphonist of the 20th century, giving others like Henze and Hindemith a run for their money. There's one of those symphonies for you here, played live and well-recorded this past summer at the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado.

And then there's Sir John Pritchard, who was known especially for his interpretations of a little-known composer by the name of Mozart. No Pritchard for you today, but perusing "The Dead and Dying" will reveal that you already have some nice choices in the way of this Mozart character. If that's not enough for you, how about some of his divertimenti played on period instruments? I had a feeling you might enjoy that. Always good to get to know some of the lesser lights of the musical pantheon, isn't it?

And of course, Karlheinz Stockhausen, who was right there at the top of the heap of the post-war European avant garde, along with Pierre Boulez, and Luigi Nono, and just a few others who might deserve to be mentioned in the same breath. Read about them... learn about Darmstadt, and what came out of it, the actions and the reactions. And listen! This stuff happened half a century ago, but it's had a profound effect on you, whether you realize it or not.

Well, maybe not. But anyway, it's Stockhausen. Essential stuff. Not any of his seminal early works from the 50s and early 60s, but essential stuff nonetheless. Listen to it, it's good for you.

And my, isn't Blogger being a buggy little bitch today?

10-16b: Eyedea & Abilities : By The Throat 2009 - Toše Proeski : Božilak 2006 - Blakey & Jazz Messengers : Free For All 1964 - Mozart String Quintets / Grumiaux et al 1976 - Wagner-Liszt Tannhäuser Overture / Bolet 1973

1983 – George Liberace (American violinist & arranger, older brother & business partner of the pianist)
1983 – Jakov Gotovac (Croatian composer & conductor)
1986 – Arthur Grumiaux (Belgian violinist & pianist)
1990 – Jorge Bolet (Cuban-born pianist & teacher, active mostly in America)
1990 – Art Blakey [Abdullah Ibn Buhaina] (American jazz drummer & bandleader, The Jazz Messengers)
1991 – Ole Beich (American rock bass guitarist, L.A. Guns, Guns N' Roses)
2005 – Len Dresslar (American jazz singer & advertising voice actor, The Jolly Green Giant)
2005 – David Reilly (American rock & electronica singer, songwriter & producer, God Lives Underwater)
2006 – Tommy Johnson (American orchestral & soundtrack tuba player, Jaws, etc.)
2007 – Toše Proeski [Тоше Проески] (Macedonian classical, pop & rock singer, songwriter, keyboardist, guitarist, actor & humanitarian)
2010 – Eyedea [Micheal Larsen] (American rapper, singer, producer & guitarist, Eyedea & Abilities)

I'm doing 10-16b before 10-16a? Well, yes, I am. Why? Because I feel like it. If you don't like it, start your own blog that nobody ever bothers to leave a comment on. ;>

Sorry, but I'll have to skip the write-up tonight. There is just too much on my plate right now. I'd love to drone on and on about Art Blakey, perhaps the quintessential hard bop drummer, but it would take me too long. I don't write quickly, tend to be too perfectionistic about my spellnig & syntax my too also, as well. Even this write-up telling you there will be no write-up is taking me forever!

Anyway, Eyedea. He wasn't one of those rappers who sang about "ho's" a lot, but we'll we're on the subject, of course the guy who voiced the Jolly Green Giant was a legitimate musician, even if you never heard him sing anything but three different notes and just that one syllable. And that little tune was so short and simple: first down a major 2nd, and then down a perfect 4th. But I bet it made you run out and grab some Niblets, didn't it?

09-19: Johnny Răducanu Confesiuni 1979 - Gram Parsons Grievous Angel 1974 - X-Ecutioners : Japan X-clusive 1997 - Mozart Piano Concerto 21 K. 467 Casadesus Munch 1948

1756 – Josef Antonín Sehling (Czech composer, choirmaster & violinist)
1830 – Stanislas Champein (French composer)
1836 – Carl Friedrich Ebers (German composer)
1918 – Liza Lehmann (British composer, singer & pianist of German & Scottish ancestry)
1936 – Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (Indian singer, musicologist & music theorist)
1949 – Nikos Skalkottas (Greek composer & violinist, pupil of Schoenberg)
1954 – Tibor Harsányi (Hungarian composer, pupil of Kodály, active in Holland & France)
1966 – Jenő Vécsey (Hungarian composer, library director, musicologist & teacher)
1968 – Red Foley (American country & R&B singer, songwriter, guitarist & banjoist, "Mr. Country Music")
1972 – Robert Casadesus (French pianist & composer)
1973 – Gram Parsons (American country & rock singer, songwriter, guitarist & keyboardist)
1982 – Samuel L. M. Barlow II (American composer, pianist & art critic)
1990 – Werner Janssen (American conductor & composer)
1995 – Louis "Mr. Bo" Collins (American blues guitarist & singer)
1997 – Rich Mullins (American contemporary Christian singer, songwriter & multi-instrumentalist)
2003 – Slim Dusty (Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist & producer)
2004 – Skeeter Davis (American country singer & songwriter)
2004 – Ellis Marsalis, Sr. (American businessman, musician & civil rights activist, grandfather of Wynton & Branford)
2006 – Chuck Rio [Danny Flores] (American rock singer, saxophonist & songwriter, The Champs, "Tequila")
2009 – Arthur Ferrante (American pop & easy listening pianist, Ferrante & Teicher)
2009 – Roc Raida (American DJ, turntablist & producer, The X-Ecutioners)
2011 – Johnny Răducanu (Romanian jazz pianist & bassist of Romani ancestry)

~ RIP Johnny Răducanu ~

(1 Dec. 1931 – 19 Sep. 2011)

Ne Rugăm Pentru Tine Familia, Prietenii, Si Colegii

 

*  *  *  *  *

Quite a varied lineup we have here. I'm always glad to see a woman composer like Liza Lehmann on the list. I put the link to her bio on the Naxos site up there mainly because of its writer's curious fixation with the breakfast habits of famous composers: Liszt, a friend of Ms. Lehmann's family, demanding eggs & bacon whenever he visited them; Brahms, consuming a tin of sardines in the morning and then drinking the oil in a single gulp, as recounted in Lehmann's memoirs. Pretty odd stuff.

Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande is credited with developing, in the early 20th century, the thāt system of classifying ragas in Hindustani (North Indian) classical music. Bhatkhande's system was based on the Melakarta system of Carnatic (South Indian) music that had been developed in the 16th & 17th centuries by Raamamaatya and Venkatamakhin. Bhatkhande's contribution thus represents an important and far-reaching consolidation of the music theories of the two distinct yet integrally related branches of Indian classical music.

Nikos Skalkottas, a pupil of Schoenberg and an ancillary member of the Second Viennese School, put a spin on 12-tone composition that is unique in drawing upon the resources of Greek traditional music. It's unfortunate that Skalkottas didn't live to see the blossoming of interest in his music. He died of what is thought to have been a ruptured hernia when he was just in his mid-40s.

Pianists Robert Casadesus, Ellis Marsalis, Sr., and Johnny Răducanu were all members of large families for whom music was "the family business." Casadesus was the most famous member of his family's dynasty, and was noted for his polished and elegant style, and his fine recordings, in particular those of Mozart's sonatas and concertos, the complete piano works of Ravel, and the entire cycle of Beethoven's violin sonatas, with his friend and compatriot Zino Francescatti doing the fiddle honors.

Ellis Marsalis, Sr. was the patriarch of that very famous family of jazz musicians, which now encompasses three generations, and will likely encompass a fourth before too long.

Răducanu, for his part, belonged to a musical lineage that stretches back all the way to the 17th century. Of course, having been Romani (the correct term for what used to be called "Gypsy"), music as the family avocation is hardly remarkable. What is remarkable about Răducanu is that he started out as a double bassist, and later switched to piano as his primary instrument. But he continued to play the bass sporadically throughout his career, sometimes playing both on the same album.

Some particular notables from the world of country music, in the form of Red Foley, Slim Dusty, Skeeter Davis, and Gram Parsons. 

Parsons was one of the primary figures in the early development of what he called "Cosmic American Music," but which everyone else calls "country rock." Parsons made a name for himself in the late 60s with stints in the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers before embarking on a solo career, in which he worked closely with Emmylou Harris as a duet singing partner, and toured with his band, the Fallen Angels.

Unfortunately, Parsons had managed to record only two albums for Reprise before his fondness for drug experimentation got the best of him, during one of his frequent excursions to the Joshua Tree National Monument. Parsons would often drop acid or psilocybin and hike through the desert looking for UFOs (which is a bit puzzling - if he did see a UFO, how would he know it wasn't a hallucination?), but on Sep. 19th, 1973, his drugs of choice were morphine and alcohol, and his dosage of choice was apparently too high of one or both. After his body was discovered, Bob Parsons, Gram's adoptive father, arranged for it to be flown to Louisiana; apparently Bob stood to inherit Gram's share of his wealthy grandfather's estate if it could be demonstrated that he was a resident of Louisiana. Parsons' body was at LAX, in a casket and ready to be shipped, when his road manager, Phil Kaufman, stole the body and drove it back out to the Joshua Tree monument in a borrowed hearse, in an effort to abide by Gram's stated wishes that in the event of his death he be cremated at Joshua Tree, and his ashes spread over Cap Rock there. By the time the police caught up with Kaufman, he had doused Parson, still in his coffin, with five gallons of gasoline and set it on fire, leaving 35 pounds of his charred remains. A makeshift memorial now marks the spot where Parsons' body was cremated.

And you've got Chuck Rio, who wrote, played the raunchy-sounding sax on, and uttered the words word on the big, not-quite-an-instrumental hit (#1 on both the pop and R&B charts for a while in the spring of 1958) "Tequila," the only hit his band The Champs would ever have, but it sure was a dandy!

And Grandmaster Roc Raida, who was part of the very first all-DJ/turntablism group in hip-hop history, the X-Ecutioners. Yes, dear readers, it's a virtual smörgåsbord for the ears on this edition of YiDM! Oops... NO, not for the ears! For the eyes and the mind only. For as you know, this blog contains nothing for the ears. It's all just "reading"... *wink* *wink* ... so, keep on reading... all you well-read literary geniuses...  ;>

Special Comment: REQUIEMS

Requiems. Aren't they great? Requiems.

Yup, we're all about 'em here. You know it!

Sure, they don't always work out. Sometimes you poop right in the middle of writing one, and then your widow has to try to get a composer even halfway as good as you to try to complete it. And then after he gives up on it, she gets your copyist to finish it, and she has to make up a story about how he was your pupil so nobody questions his qualifications.

Another thing about requiems is that they usually take quite a few people to perform, sometimes as many as an opera would. And sometimes even if you don't count the orchestra and chorus members, the names of those people can take up a lot of characters! And sometimes those characters can push you past some arbitrary limit, like, say... 200.

Requiems.

09-01: R.L. Burnside Mississippi Hill Country Blues 1985 - Chet Atkins & Jerry Reed : Me and Jerry 1970 - Ethel Waters Complete Decca - Coleridge-Taylor | Dvořák Violin Concerto - Mozart : Clifford Curzon | Dennis Brain

1648 – Marin Mersenne (French Jesuit priest, theologian, philosopher, mathematician, & music theorist)
1777 – Johann Ernst Bach II (German composer & organist, 2nd cousin once removed of J. S. Bach)
1814 – Erik Tulindberg (Finnish composer, violinist & civil servant)
1867 – Edward Hodges (English church organist & composer, active at Trinity Church in NYC)
1896 – Johann Evangelist Habert (Austrian church musician & composer)
1912 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (British composer & pianist)
1935 – Felice Lyne (American operatic soprano)
1957 – Dennis Brain (English hornist, son of Aubrey)
1957 – Sabine Kalter (Polish mezzo-soprano)
1959 – Wilhelm Rode (German bass-baritone)
1964 – George Georgescu (Romanian conductor)
1964 – Otto Olsson (Swedish composer & organist)
1968 – Granville English (American composer)
1969 – William Flanagan (American composer, lover of Edward Albee)
1972 – May Aufderheide (American ragtime composer)
1973 – Graziella Pareto (Spanish operatic soprano leggiero)
1977 – Ethel Waters (American blues, jazz & gospel singer & actress)
1982 – Clifford Curzon (English pianist)
1996 – Vagn Holmboe (Danish composer & teacher)
1996 – Ljuba Welitsch (Bulgarian-born Austrian operatic soprano)
1999 – José Soler (Spanish operatic tenor)
2005 – R. L. Burnside (American blues & blues-rock singer, songwriter & guitarist)
2008 – Jerry Reed (American country music singer, guitarist & songwriter & actor)

First Jimmy Reed, now Jerry Reed. Somehow I knew it would be the case, since their similar names have always confused me - much as test audiences were confused when Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 was originally shot as Smokey IS the Bandit, with Jackie Gleason playing a dual role as both Sheriff Buford T. Justice and The Bandit (whose usual portrayor, Burt Reynolds, was demanding a bigger salary than the producers were willing to pay - although they did manage to include him in a cameo at the end of the film). As a result, many scenes were re-shot so that Reed's character Cledus Snow now assumed the role of The Bandit, a promotion from his usual position as sidekick of Reynolds' Bo Darville. But if you only know Jerry Reed as the grinning Snowman from that trio of cinematic masterpieces, you are in for a big surprise. Reed was not only a great rockabilly player from the 50s, and a fine singer and songwriter (e.g., "When You're Hot You're Hot"), but also an innovative fingerstyle guitarist who could hold his own with the likes of the formidably gifted Chet Atkins... (Reed more below)

Marin Mersenne is sometimes called the "Father of Acoustics." Aside from having some rather important mathematical principles named after him (Mersenne numbers, Mersenne primes, the Mersenne conjecture, etc.), he was, at the dawn of the Scientific Age, one of the first to apply a truly scientific methodology to the study of musical tone. In L'harmonie universelle (1636–37), he was the first to publish the law that the frequency of a vibrating string is proportional to the square root of the tension, and inversely proportional to the length, to the diameter, and to the square root of the specific weight of the string, provided all other conditions remain the same when one of these quantities is altered. He also provided the first truly correct calculation of the equal-tempered semitone as the 12th root of 2, which could be constructed using nothing more than a straightedge and compass. L'harmonie universelle isn't all the fun and games of math and physics, though. The work is replete with detailed illustrations and descriptions of all the instruments that were in use in Mersenne's day - a real treasury for early-music specialists. A serpent:

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was an African-British composer who enjoyed much success both in Britain and America between 1895 and his death in 1912 (of pneumonia, at the age of 37), to the extent that he was sometimes called the "African Mahler." Coleridge-Taylor composed orchestral works, chamber music, songs, and choral music, most notably his trilogy of cantatas for chorus, soloists, and orchestra The Song of Hiawatha, Op.30, written between 1898 and 1900. One of his last completed works was his Violin Concerto in G minor, Op.80, which he wrote for Maud Powell (music written by a great black composer for a great female violinist - nicely pluralistic for 1912), whose parts had to be quickly recopied by hand in time for the premiere after they got lost en route to America - although not on the Titanic, as legend has it... (Read more below). See you on the other side of the high-water mark in steerage...

08-24: Don Byas & Mary Lou Williams 1953 - Mozart Abduction from the Seraglio Beecham Simoneau 1956 - Antonio Paoli 1909 Verdi - Albert Sammons 1916 Vieuxtemps - Leo Blech 1931 Brahms

Pretty darned close to chronological. Tagged image here.

1712 – Thomas Bullis (Scottish composer & organist)
1724 – Andreas Kneller (German composer & organist)
1804 – Valentin Adamberger [Adamonti] (German operatic tenor)
1817 – Nancy Storace (English operatic soprano)
1829 – Benjamin Jacob (English organist, conductor & composer)
1840 – Joseph Waast Aubert Nonot (French harpsichordist, organist & composer)
1841 – Karl Friedrich Curschmann (German composer & singer)
1932 – Gheorghe Cucu (Romanian composer, conductor & folklorist)
1946 – Antonio Paoli (Puerto Rican operatic tenor & boxer)
1949 – Hermann Devriès (French operatic baritone)
1957 – Albert Sammons (English violinist & composer)
1958 – Leo Blech (German composer & conductor)
1962 – Henry Ley (English organist, composer & teacher)
1964 – Maurice Schoemaker (Belgian composer)
1972 – Don Byas (American jazz tenor saxophonist, settled in France & Holland)
1973 – Sláva Vorlová [Mira Kord] (Czech composer & pianist)
1976 – Michael Head (English composer, pianist, organist & singer)
1978 – Louis Prima (American jazz & pop singer, trumpeter & bandleader)
1979 – Ernst Gruber (Austrian operatic tenor)
1985 – Paul Creston (American composer)
1988 – Kenneth Leighton (English composer & pianist)
1992 – Larrie Londin (American rock & country session & road drummer, Journey, Elvis, et al.)
1999 – Alexandre Lagoya (Egyptian-born Greek-Italian classical guitarist & boxer)
2005 – Kaleth Morales (Colombian vallenato singer, songwriter & guitarist)
2005 – Harold "Hal" Kalin (American pop singer, The Kalin Twins, "When")
2006 – Léopold Simoneau (French operatic lyric tenor)

Write-up pending... but it's going to be a good one... a great one... an exciting one, I can feel it...

08-21: Wesley Willis Greatest Hits Vol 2 - O Estranho Mundo de Raul Seixas 1973-89 - Bismillah Khan Shenai Nawaz - Mozart Nozze di Figaro Levine 1990

In sort-of-but-not-really chronological order. Tagged image here.

1627 – Jacques Mauduit (French composer)
1772 – Alessandro Felici (Italian composer)
1772 – Johann Andreas Giulini (German composer & church musician)
1812 – Silverius Müller (Austrian composer & Latin instructor)
1824 – Santiago Ferrer (Spanish composer)
1856 – Peter Joseph von Lindpaintner (German opera composer & conductor)
1898 – Niccolò van Westerhout (Italian composer)
1932 – Frederick Corder (English composer, teacher & pianist)
1935 – Josef Cyril Sychra (Czech composer, conductor & teacher)
1940 – Paul Juon (Russian-German violinist & composer)
1949 – Gerhard von Keussler (German conductor, composer, philosopher & poet)
1951 – Constant Lambert (English composer & conductor)
1958 – Stevan Hristić (Serbian composer)
1958 – Walter Schumann (American film, television & stage composer & conductor)
1970 – Timothy Mather Spelman (American composer, active in Italy)
1981 – Hermann Schey (German-Dutch concert & oratorio bass-baritone)
1988 – Teddy Diaz (Filipino rock guitarist & songwriter, The Dawn)
1989 – Raul Seixas (Brazilian rock singer, songwriter, guitarist & producer)
1993 – Tatiana Troyanos (American operatic mezzo-soprano)
1999 – Juan Carlos Zorzi (Argentine composer & conductor)
2000 – Tomata du Plenty (American painter & synthpunk singer, The Screamers)
2003 – Wesley Willis (American visual artist & street musician, singer & keyboardist)
2005 – Martin Dillon (American operatic tenor)
2006 – Ustad Bismillah Khan (Indian shehnai master)
2008 – Jerry Finn (American punk & alternative rock record producer)
2009 – Dean Turner (Australian rock bassist, singer & producer, Magic Dirt)

Well, as all two of you may have noticed, I'm three days behind now! So for the time being I'm going to be posting just the essentials of the content here: the image-collage, the list, and that extra-special text you find at the end. I'll probably be in this mode for a few days, until I can get caught up. So, check back later to see if I might by chance have said something mildly interesting. Thanks for reading, and looking, and above all listening! – Papa Pic

P.S. Actually, there is one comment I'd like to add off the top of my head Re: Constant Lambert. For God sakes, man, can't you wait until the orchestra goes on break before lighting up?