03/31/1913 - 09/23/2006
Etta Baker (March 31, 1913 – September 23, 2006) was a Piedmont blues guitarist and singer. Etta’s music ranges over a century of music styles and influences from 19th century parlor music to post-WW II electric blues.
06/20/1924 - 06/30/2001
Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), better known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound,...
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09/27/1909 - 03/15/1959
Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959),nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums.
Freddie Hubbard (Frederick Dewayne Hubbard)
04/07/1938 - 12/29/2008
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008)was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from...
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04/22/1927 - 07/17/2005
Lorenzo Aitken (April 22, 1927 – July 17, 2005), better known as Laurel Aitken, was a singer and one of the originators of Jamaican ska music . He is often referred to as the "Godfather of ska
09/09/1941 - 12/10/1967
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American soul singer. Often called the "King of Soul", he is renowned for an ability to convey strong emotion through his voice.
Redding's...
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Teena Marie (Mary Christine Brockert)
03/05/1956 - 12/26/2010
Mary Christine Brockert, better known by her stage name Teena Marie, (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter and producer. She was known as Tina before taking the stage name Teena Marie; she later acquired the...
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Tommy Newsom (Thomas Penn Newsom)
02/25/1929 - 04/28/2007
Thomas Penn "Tommy" Newsom (February 25, 1929 – April 28, 2007) was a saxophone player in the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, for which he later became assistant director.
01/16/1979 - 08/25/2001
Brooklyn-born and Detroit-raised R&B singer Aaliyah hit the big time in her early teens with a spate of hit records before she embarked at the ripe old age of twenty on a film acting career. A losing appearance on "Star Search" at ag...
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05/11/1888 - 09/22/1989
Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was an American composer and lyricist, widely considered one of the greatest American songwriters in history.
03/17/1919 - 02/15/1965
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular...
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01/10/1924 - 08/16/2007
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.
05/23/1910 - 12/30/2004
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky (May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004), better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writ...
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06/29/1943 - 04/10/2003
Eva Narcissus Boyd (June 29, 1943 – April 10, 2003), known by the stage name of Little Eva (after a character from Uncle Tom's Cabin), was an American pop singer.