News & Updates — Celebrate Icons

The underrated composer & avant-jazz pioneer Lennie Tristano may not get as much respect as he deserves, but the guy helped bridge bop to free jazz in the late '40's(!). A gifted pianist, the young Tristano, totally blind by age 9, did his first "pro" gigs at 11, playing clarinet in a Chicago whorehouse. He played saxophone and piano in "rumba" bands in the early '40s and was a teacher to future professional collaborators Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh. He went to NYC in '46 and started hangin' and playin' with Bird. In '49 his group recorded the first free...

Singer, composer and soul music icon, the wicked Wilson Pickett came out of the Detroit churches and joined the infamous Falcons (including Mack Rice & Eddie Floyd). Pickett co-wrote and sang lead on their classic proto-soul tune "I Found A Love" from '59. He then wrote "If You Need Me", which became a big hit for Solomon Burke. Starting in '65 he belted out some huge hits of his own. "In The Midnight Hour", a tune he was co-composer of, was recorded at Stax, "Land of 1000 Dances", "Mustang Sally", "Funky Broadway", "Hey Jude" (featuring Duane Allman) and "Don't Knock...

One of Brasil's most popular singers, Porto Alegre native Elis Regina started her career in '57 and became well-known as a teenager winning song contests and releasing albums. "Arrastão" was a huge hit for her in '65, propelling her to be the most popular singer in the country. She worked with some of the artists involved in the Tropicália movement of the late '60s/early '70s, recording songs by Gilberto Gil and others. (Indeed, she was a vocal critic of the dictatorial regime). She made a landmark bossa nova album (Elis & Tom) with Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim in '75. She...

Some may view Nat King Cole as an apolitical jazz-gone-pop sell-out "Uncle Tom" (as he has been called by some radicals) who moved into the upper-crust white neighborhood and made a bunch of Christmas dreck and soft music. Or you could view him as a major black superstar who had his hand in a number of respectable endeavors with much success. Regardless, it is hard to deny his sweet voice and the immense popularity he found. A talented pianist, he found that audiences started preferring his vocal numbers more than the instrumentals so he obliged with his smooth baritone. A...

Let's hear it for animal rights activists who double as successful musicians! Fred Neil, friend of the dolphins and singer-songwriter, is from Florida but went to NYC in the '50s to write songs at the Brill Building. While there he wrote tunes for Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison, cut demos for Elvis and Bobby Darin, while also recording some rockabilly 45s. In the early 60s he was part of the Greenwich Village folks scene, making records with Vince Martin and his backing groups included people like John Sebastian, Bob Dylan and the Seventh Sons in its ranks. He was an...