Tonight, take 10 minutes to sit down and listen to this recording (George is playing the piano!) in his honor:
Ray Charles was born “Ray Charles Robinson” on September 23, 1930 in Albany, GA. He would have turned 83 today! Here are a few of my favorite videos of Ray performing to watch in his honor:
On September 16, 1963- 50 years ago today- The Beatles released “She Loves You”. It was an immediate success and was one of the five Beatles songs that set a record on April 4, 1964 by simultaneously holding the top five positions on the Billboard charts! These were the 5 songs:
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Happy Birthday, George Jones! George was born on September 12, 1931 – he would have turned turned 82 today. This is one of his most famous songs, “He Stopped Loving Her Today”, a song released in 1980 about a man who couldn’t forget about his lost love. For years, the man holds on to her letters and photos always hoping that she will “come back again”. He only stops loving her when he passes away and she comes to visit him one last time at his funeral. It’s a sad, but beautiful song regarded by many as the greatest country song of all time. Love the song? Here’s another beautiful performance of the song by LeAnn Rimes at the Grand Ole Opry.
[Brass at Jon Baltimore Music, NYC click to enlarge]
Katia and I dropped off one of TLB’s saxophones yesterday for repair at a place we’ve been going to for years, Jon Baltimore Music on 46th street. This place is amazing- I highly recommend it for NYC musicians! It is full of saxophones, trumpets, tubas, clarinets, bassoons, violins and much more. Everyone who works there is friendly and welcoming, down to the resident cat, Bruce.
{Debussy at the piano, 1893}
Today is French composer Claude Debussy’s birthday. He was born on August 22, 1862 and is one of my favorite classical composers. We often feature his compositions in our kids music classes at TLB. When I saw today’s Goodle Doodle dedicated to him, it reminded me of the perfect video to share in his honor! The video below is created by Steven Malinowski’s “music animation machine” and is set to Debussy’s Arabesque No. 1, one of the most beautiful, soothing pieces of music written for piano. Last August, I shared another similar animation of Debussy’s Clair de Lune. If you haven’t seen Malinowski’s mesmerizing “music animation machine”, I highly recommend it!
Enjoy and share!
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Happy Birthday, Madonna! Madonna Louise Ciccone was born on August 16, 1958 in Bay City, Michigan. In her honor, Katia and I put together a list of our favorite Madonna songs to share. Our list spans 29 years! Click through to watch videos of the reigning Queen of Pop for her birthday! What are your favorites?
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The one-and-only Whitney Houston’s birthday is today. She was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up surrounded by music: her mother was a gospel singer, Dionne Warwick is her cousin, and her honorary Aunt- Aretha Franklin! Although the world was robbed of her brilliant talent too early, she left behind a legacy of timeless music that remains unmatched. Here are 5 must-see performances to enjoy in her honor today. Share with friends! Happy Birthday, Whitney!
On August 8, 1969, The Beatles shot the cover for their last recorded album, Abbey Road. This album cover has become one of the most iconic of all time, coming in at #4 on this Rolling Stones reader-poll! The record itself was definitely one of my favorites to pull out of my Dad’s collection when I was young. Some of my most-played tracks: ”Come Together”, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”, “Octopus’s Garden”, “Here Comes the Sun”, and “Golden Slumbers”. For the cover photo, the photographer, Iain Macmillan shot the band from a stepladder positioned in the middle of the road as a policeman stopped the traffic behind him. To read about the day and see the original sketch created by Paul McCartney visit The Beatles Bible, my go-to resource for all things Beatles!
Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He grew from singing in the streets with a boys quartet for money at age 11 to becoming one of Jazz music’s most influential, charismatic, and memorable musicians. I love watching old recordings of Armstrong performing- joy covers every bit of his face as he sings and scats and his musicality comes naturally and effortlessly as he plays his trumpet. Here are a few of my favorites:
On July 25, 1975, A Chorus Line opened on Broadway at the Shubert Theater. During its run, it won 9 Tony awards and was nominated for 12! A Chorus Line also won the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The above audio of “What I Did for Love” is by the 1975 original Broadway cast.
The Beatles can trace their roots to John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s first meeting on July 6, 1957 at a Quarrymen performance- 56 years ago today! John was the lead singer of the band and while setting up to play at St Peter’s Church, one of his friends introduced him to Paul McCartney, who had just turned 15 years old. The two hit it off right away and soon after, Paul joined the Quarrymen! Read more on The Beatles Bible.
