News & Updates — Celebrate Icons

One of the most important Jamaican musical figures was the keyboardist/composer Jackie Mittoo. He was a child prodigy who learned piano at four years old, was leading popular club bands recording sessions for Studio One as a teenager. He became the label's Musical Director and was a founding member of The Skatalites, along with Tommy McCook (who shares a date of birth today). Very much influenced by soul music (such as Booker T & the MG's), he not only held down key roles in The Soul Vendors, Sound Dimension and The Soul Brothers, but he also made some funky records...

The great Cuban-born saxophonist Tommy McCook came out of the important Kingston JA-based Alpha Boys School (home to many great Jamaican musicians) and worked on a gazillion sessions of ska, reggae, jazz, rocksteady and soul, and was a founding (and long-time) member of The Skatalites (along with Jackie Mittoo--whose born day is also today). He was Musical Director for The Supersonics and cut a few sides under his own name, as well as the band backing singers like Alton Ellis, Justin Hinds and others. A lyrical tenor player, he cited John Coltrane as one of his biggest influences. Early on...

The social worker-turned-rap producer/DJ Scott La Rock formed Boogie Down Productions with homeless teen KRS-One in the South Bronx in 1986 and the act brought the art of rap to a new level of poetry. Their first album, the proto-gangsta Criminal Minded, was a heavy blast of borough pride, battle raps, sparse and cutting funky production (inspired by James Brown and dancehall) and a gritty urban realism that has been a continuation in rap (for good or bad) ever since. They (theatrically?) initiated the "rap beef" with their battle boasts. Scott was shot while trying to defuse a situation and...

Here's a birthday shout to Lou Reed, urban storyteller, composer, guitarist, avant-rocker and NYC icon. The Velvet Underground are one of my all time favorite rock bands, and although his solo work is very hit-or-miss he displays heart and passion through all of it. He was a drug-using, free-jazz loving, dark poet with a life of ups & downs who captivated through song and sound. He is one of the godfathers of punk & no wave, a huge influence on Krautrock and sympathized with the freaks of the world. His biggest hit "Walk On The Wild Side" has been sampled...

He produced Al Green and was an owner, engineer and staff producer for the Memphis-based soul label Hi Records. He also produced albums for Syl Johnson, Ann Peebles, O.V. Wright, Otis Clay and others. Papa Willie Mitchell was a major part of the Southern soul scene and his Hi Records company was one of the most successful independent labels in the world. A Memphis native, Mitchell started playing trumpet at 8 and was writing and arranging music soon after. His early groups included musicians such as Booker Little, Phineas Newborn Jr, Charles Lloyd and George Coleman. He gigged with Elvis...