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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 2:32 pm
Black Facts that happened on April the 3rd: 1865 Fifth Massachusetts Colored Cavalry and units of the Twenty-fifth Corps were in the vanguard of Union troops entering Richmond. Second Division of Twenty-Fifth Corps helped chase Robert E. Lee's army from Petersburg to Appomattox Court House, April 3-10. The Black division and white Union soldiers were advancing on General Lee's trapped army with fixed bayonets when the Confederate troops surrendered. 1883 H.H. Reynolds patents Window Ventilator for Railroad Patent No.275,271 1888 Rainey, Ma(Gertrude Bridget) Born april 3, 1888. Known as the"Mother of the Blues," "Ma" Rainey was born in Columbus, Ga. She made her stage debut at the Columbus Opera House in 1900 in a talent show called "The Bunch of Blackberries". She made her first recording in 1923 and her last on Dec 28, 1928. She died Dec 22, 1939, in Columbus, GA. 1888 A. B. Blackburn invented the spring seat for chairs, which became patent #380,420 1889 Savings Bank of the Order of True Reformers opened in Richmond, Virginia. 1930 Ras Tafari was proclaimed Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. 1944 Supreme Court (Smith v. Allwright) said "white primaries" that excluded Blacks were unconstitutional. The US Supreme Court, in an 8-1 ruling declared that Blacks could not be barred form voting in the Texas Democratic primaries. The high court repudiated the contention that political parties are private associations and held that discrimination against Blacks violated the 15th Amendment. 1950 Death of Carter G. Woodson (74), "father of Black history," Washington, D.C. 1961 Eddie Murphy, 38, comedian Born Brooklyn, NY, April 3, 1961. 1962 In retaliation against a Black Boycott of downtown stores, the Birmingham,AL, City Commission voted not to pay the city's $45,000 share of a $100,000 county program which supplied surplus food to the needy. More than 90 percent of the recipients of aid were Black. When the NAACP protested the Commission decision's, Birmingham Mayor Arthur J Hanes dismissed their complaint as a "typical reaction from New York Socialist radicals" 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. opened anti-segregation campaign in Birmingham. More than two thousand demonstrators, including King, were arrested before the campaign ended. 1968 I've Been To The Mountaintop In 1968, on this date, Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his final address at Bishop Charles J. Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee. www.blackfacts.com
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Saturday, April 03, 2004 - 2:47 pm
Happy Birthday Eddie Murphy!
Eddie Murphy was born in Brooklyn New York in 1961, the youngest son of Lillian Murphy, a widow who married Vernon Lynch, the step father of Eddie, his brother Charlie, and Vernon Jr. Eddie himself had aspirations of being in show business since he was a child. A bright kid growing up in the streets of New York, Murphy spent a great deal of time on impressions and comedy stand-up routines rather than academics. His sense of humor and wit made him a stand out amongst his classmates at Roosevelt Junior High School. By the time he was 15, Murphy worked as a stand up comic on the lower part of New York, wooing audiences with his dead-on impressions of celebrities and outlooks on life. In the early '80s at 19, Murphy was offered a contract for the "Not-Ready-for Prime Time Players." It was from SNL, where Murphy exercised his comedic abilities in impersonation African American figures and originating some of the shows most memorable characters: Velvet Jones, Mr. Robinson, and a disgruntled and angry Gumby. Murphy made his feature film debut in 48 Hrs. (1982), alongside Nick Nolte. The two's comedic and antagonistic chemistry, alongside Murphy's believable performance as a street wise convict aiding a bitter, aging cop, won over critics and audiences. The next year, Murphy went 2 for 2 with another hit, pairing him with John Landis, who later became a frequent collaborator with Murphy in "Coming to America" and the third installment of his 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop. Beverly Hills Cop (1984) was the film that made Murphy a box-office superstar, and most notably made him a celebrity worldwide. It remains one of the all-time biggest domestic blockbusters in motion picture history. Murphy's performance as a young Detroit cop in pursuit of his friend's murderers earned him a third consecutive Golden Globe nomination. Axel Foley became one of Murphy's signature characters. On top of his game, Murphy was unfazed by his success, that is until his box office appeal and choices in scripts resulted into a spotty mix of hits and misses into the late '80s and early '90s. Films like Golden Child, The (1986) and Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) were critically panned, but were still massive draws at the box office. In 1989, Murphy, coming off another hit Coming to America (1988) found failure with his directorial debut Harlem Nights. The sequel to "48 Hours" (1990) and his turn as a hopeless romantic in Boomerang (1992) did little to resuscitate his career. His remake of Jerry Lewis' Nutty Professor, The (1996) brought Murphy's drawing power back into fruition. From there, Murphy rebounded with occasional hits and misses, but has long proven himself as a skilled comedic actor, with applaudable range pertaining to characterizations and mannerisms. Though he has grown up a lot since his fast-lane rise as a superstar in the 1980s, Murphy has lived the Hollywood lifestyle with controversy, criticism, scandal, and the admiration of millions worldwide for his talents. As Murphy had matured throughout the years, learning many lessons about the Hollywood game in the process, he settled down with more family-oriented humor with Doctor Dolittle (1998) and Mulan (1998), Bowfinger (1999), and the animated smash Shrek (2001) , in a supporting role that showcased Murphy's comedic personality and charm. In spite of being vocal in interviews about his career, Eddie Murphy continues to live a happy life with his wife and kids and has said that if his career would to end tomorrow he would be content just being with his family. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000552/bio Quote: "The strangest thing I ever hear is when people say my career is in trouble. How can some journalist look at my career and ask if it's in decline? Why don't they write that shit about Christian Slater? He's made about 30 bad movies...So what if my career dies? I stopped thinking in terms of career $80 million ago. If it ends, I'll sit home and chill and raise babies." --Daily News, May 16, 1994 http://www.eonline.com/Facts/People/Bio/0,128,11328,00.html
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Sunday, April 04, 2004 - 7:09 pm
Black Facts that happened on April the 4th: 1915 Muddy Waters, Born April 4, 1915 in Rolling Fork, Mississippi by the name of McKinley Morganfield was one of the greatest, most influential and enduringly important musicians of the century, one who had reshaped the course of the blues. 1928 Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928. She grew up in St. Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. She is an author, poet, historian, songwriter, playwright, dancer, singer, and civil rights activist. 1942 Richard Parsons, CEO of Dime Savings Bank, the first African American CEO of a large non minority U.S. savings institution, born. 1967 Speaking before the Overseas Press Club in New York City, Revered Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, announced his opposition to the Vietnam War. 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated by white sniper in Memphis, Tennessee. Assassination precipitated a national crisis and rioting in more than one hundred cities. Forty-six persons were killed in major rebellions in Washington, Chicago and other cities. Twenty thousand federal troops and thirty-four thousand National Guardsmen were mobilized to quell disturbances. Memorial marches and rallies were held throughout the country. Many public school systems closed and the opening of the baseball season was postponed. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared Sunday, April 6, a national day of mourning and ordered all U.S. flags on government buildings in all U.S. territories and possession to fly at half-mast. 1968 Independence Day in the Republic of Senegal. 1972 Death of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (63), former congressman and civil rights leader, in Miami. www.blackfacts.com
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Essence
Member
01-12-2002
| Monday, April 05, 2004 - 11:25 am
April 5: 1856 Booker Taliaferro Washington born a slave in Hale's Ford, Virginia. 1976 FBI documents, released in response to a freedom of information suit, revealed that the government mounted an intensive campaign against civil rights organizations in the sixties. In a letter dated August 25, 1967, the FBI said the government operation, called COINTELPRO, was designed "to expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit or otherwise neutralize the activities of Black nationalists, hate-type groups, their leadership, spokesmen, membership and supporters, and to counter their propensity for violence and civil disorders." A later telegram specifically named the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as organizations having "radical and violence prone leaders, members and followers." 1977 Gertrude Downing invented the corner cleaner attachment. 1990 Jazz vocalist Sarah Vaughn dies.
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Essence
Member
01-12-2002
| Monday, April 05, 2004 - 11:28 am
Happy Birthday Colin Powell!
Colin L. Powell was nominated by President Bush on December 16, 2000 as Secretary of State. After being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he was sworn in as the 65th Secretary of State on January 20, 2001. Prior to his appointment, Secretary Powell was the chairman of America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing people from every sector of American life to build the character and competence of young people. Secretary Powell was a professional soldier for 35 years, during which time he held myriad command and staff positions and rose to the rank of 4-star General. He was Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs from December 1987 to January 1989. His last assignment, from October 1, 1989 to September 30, 1993, was as the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the Department of Defense. During this time, he oversaw 28 crises, including Operation Desert Storm in the victorious 1991 Persian Gulf war. Following his retirement, Secretary Powell wrote his best-selling autobiography, My American Journey, which was published in 1995. Additionally, he pursued a career as a public speaker, addressing audiences across the country and abroad. Secretary Powell was born in New York City on April 5, 1937 and was raised in the South Bronx. His parents, Luther and Maud Powell, immigrated to the United States from Jamaica. Secretary Powell was educated in the New York City public schools, graduating from the City College of New York (CCNY), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in geology. He also participated in ROTC at CCNY and received a commission as an Army second lieutenant upon graduation in June 1958. His further academic achievements include a Master of Business Administration degree from George Washington University. Secretary Powell is the recipient of numerous U.S. and foreign military awards and decorations. Secretary Powell’s civilian awards include two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the President’s Citizens Medal, the Congressional Gold Medal, the Secretary of State Distinguished Service Medal, and the Secretary of Energy Distinguished Service Medal. Several schools and other institutions have been named in his honor and he holds honorary degrees from universities and colleges across the country. Secretary Powell is married to the former Alma Vivian Johnson of Birmingham, Alabama. The Powell family includes son Michael; daughters Linda and Anne; daughter-in-law Jane; son-in-law Francis; and grandsons Jeffrey and Bryan. Colin Powell
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 7:42 am
Renatta Frazier is a young black woman with a history and a story. She is the daughter of a heroin addict and a black panther member. She was the first black police woman in Springfield, IL. While in the police academy, a plot was uncovered to tie her to the back of a pickup truck and drag her through the town, a la Jasper. She was the victim of a racially motivated cover-up that extended up to the Chief of Police and the Mayor. She was set up to take the blame for the 'alleged' rape of a white woman by 4 black men. They ruined her career, her family, and her health. Finally someone in the media decided to investigate. A settlement with the city was recently reached. You can hear Renata's story on the Tavis Smiley show on npr for the next three days. Here is the link for the audio of this program. It will be available after approximately 1pm eastern today. I heard this woman's story this morning and it made me sick to my stomach.
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 8:08 am
Good lord!
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 10:01 am
Oh my goodness! What an amazing story, Ladyt. Thanks for posting it. I'll be sure to check out Tavis when the link is available.
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Essence
Member
01-12-2002
| Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 10:46 am
Dang! That is something. I'll have to listen to that link at home.
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 12:17 pm
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1814053 Race and Redemption: Renatta Frazier's Story Former Cop Wrongly Accused Wins Suit Claiming Police Cover-Up Mrs. Frazier relates her story to Tavis Smiley on his NPR radio program. Go to the above link for the Real Audio format of the first two parts of this story. 1st Part of Renatta's Story in Windows Media Format Her Story Part 2
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Essence
Member
01-12-2002
| Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 2:17 pm
April 6: 1798 James P. Beckwourth is born in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He will become a noted scout in the western United States and will discover a pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains between the Feather and Truckee rivers that will bear his name. 1830 James Augustine Healy is born to an Irish planter and a slave on a plantation near Macon, Georgia. He will become the first African American Roman Catholic bishop in America. 1865 Writing in the "Philadelphia Press" under the pen name "Rollin," Thomas Morris Chester describes the Union Army's triumphant entry into the city of Richmond, Virginia, during the closing days of the Civil War. Rollin is the only African American newspaperman writing for a mainstream daily. There will be no others for almost 70 years. 1846 Dred Scott Case - Dred Scott and his wife Harriet filed suit against Irene Emerson for their freedom. The Dred Scott case was first brought to trial in 1847 in the first floor, west wing courtroom of St. Louis' Courthouse. A black slave from Missouri who claimed his freedom on the basis of seven years of residence in a free state and a free territory. 1869 Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett, the principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is named Minister to Haiti and becomes the first major African American diplomat and the first African American to receive a major appointment from the United States government. 1909 Matthew Henson, accompanying Commander Robert Peary's expedition, is the first, in the party of six, to discover the North Pole. The claim, disputed by scientific skeptics, was upheld in 1989 by the Navigation Foundation. Although in later years Henson will be called Peary's servant or merely "one Negro" on the expedition, Henson is a valuable colleague and co-discoverer of the pole. Peary says, "I couldn't get along without him." 1931 The first trial of the Scottsboro Boys begins in Scottsboro, Alabama. This trial of nine African American youths accused of raping two white women on a freight train become a cause celebre. 1931 Ivan Dixon is born in New York City. He will become an actor and director and will be best known for his comedic role on the TV "Hogan's Heroes." One of his first acting credits will be for the celebrated television anthology show "The Dupont Show of the Month" in the 1960 production of "Arrowsmith." He will go on to act in the film version of the theatrical drama "A Raisin in the Sun" with Ruby Dee and Sidney Poitier in 1961, in which he plays Asagai, the African boyfriend of Beneatha. He will also portray Jim in the 1959 film version of "Porgy and Bess." His other pre-"Hogan's Heroes" film work includes: "Something of Value" (1957), "The Murder Men" (1961), and "The Battle at Bloody Beach" (1961). After leaving Hogan's heroes he will appear in more films including "A Patch of Blue" and "Car Wash." Ivan will begin directing films in the early 1970s, such as the 1972 gang warfare flick "Trouble Man" and the 1973 action movie "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" (which he will also produce). For television, he will direct "Love Is Not Enough" (1978), the series "Palmerstown, U.S.A." (1980), the detective series "Hawaiian Heat" (1984), and the telemovie "Percy & Thunder" (1993). 1937 William December is born in the village of Harlem in New York City. He will become one of the most romantic leading men of film and television, better known as 'Billy Dee Wlliams.' Among his best known roles will be football great Gale Sayers in the TV movie "Brian's Song" as well as leading parts in the movies "Lady Sings the Blues," "Mahogany" and two "Star Wars" films. 1971 "Contemporary Black Artists in America" opens at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. The exhibit includes the work of 58 master painters and sculptors such as Jacob Lawrence, Charles White, Alma Thomas, Betye Saar, David Driskell, Richard Hunt, and others.
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Pamy
Member
01-02-2002
| Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 6:57 pm
I am so glad you all are keeping this thread going, I really enjoy reading here. Thanks!!!!
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Essence
Member
01-12-2002
| Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 6:30 am
April 7: 1712 A slave uprising in New York City results in the death of nine whites. This is one of the first major revolts of African slaves in the American colonies. After the militia arrived, the uprising was suppressed. As a result of the action, twenty one slaves were executed and six others committed suicide. 1867 Johnson C. Smith University was founded in Charlotte, North Carolina. 1872 William Monroe Trotter was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. Editor of the Boston "Guardian," he was also a militant civil rights activist and adversary of Booker T. Washington and his moderate politics. 1915 Eleanor Fagan was born in East Baltimore, Maryland. She became a jazz singer who influenced the course of American popular singing, better known as Billie Holiday or "Lady Day." She was best known for her songs, "Strange Fruit," "Lover Man," and "God Bless the Child." Although she enjoyed limited popular appeal during her lifetime, her impact on other singers is profound. Troubled in life by addiction, Holiday died as a result of drug and alcohol abuse in 1959. 1922 Ramon "Mongo" Santamaria was born in Havana, Cuba. He dropped out of school to become a professional musician, playing gigs at the legendary Tropicana Club in Havana. In 1950 Santamaria moved to New York, where he hooked up with such Latin jazz greats as Perez Prado, Tito Puente and Cal Tjader. In 1963 Santamaria scored his first Top 10 hit with the single "Watermelon Man," written by then bandmate Herbie Hancock. Santamaria will perform and record steadily throughout the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s. In 1977, he was awarded a Grammy for his album "Amancer." In 1999 Rhino Records released a double-CD retrospective of Santamaria's music, The Mongo Santamaria Anthology 1958-1995, culling his greatest work during those five decades. He was considered one of the most influential percussionists of his generation. He died in Miami, Florida on February 1, 2003. 1938 Trumpeter Frederick Dewayne Hubbard was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. From a musical family, Hubbard played four instruments in his youth and later played with "Slide" Hampton, Quincy Jones, and Art Blakey. A leader of his own band since the 1960's, he recorded the noteworthy albums "Red Clay," "First Light," and the Grammy Award-winning "Straight Life." 1940 The first U.S. stamp ever to honor an African American was issued bearing the likeness of Booker T. Washington. His likeness is on a 10-cent stamp. 1954 Tony Dorsett was born in Rochester, Pennsylvania. He became a star football player at the University of Pittsburgh, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1976. He then became the number one pick in the 1977 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He played in two Super Bowls, five NFC championship games, four Pro Bowls, was an All-NFL in 1981, and NFC rushing champion in 1982. His career totals include 12,739 yards rushing, 398 receptions for 3,544 yards, 16,326 combined net yards, 90 touchdowns, and a record 99 yard run for a touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings in 1983. He ended his career with the 1988 Denver Broncos. He was enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame in 1994.
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 7:48 am
Kevin Clash
Kevin Clash provides the distinctive voice for Elmo, the immensely popular Muppet character introduced on "Sesame Street" in the 1980s. Told to provide a voice for Elmo soon after joining Sesame Street as a puppeteer, Clash came up with Elmo's distinctive voice and laugh, turning the puppet into one of the show's most popular characters. It also netted Clash an Emmy Award. BORN September 17, 1960 in Baltimore, Maryland. CAREER Clash began making puppets when he was 10, having been a "Sesame Street" fan from early childhood. He began performing with his puppets at age 12 in his neighborhood, later taking his act to Baltimore's Harborplace. Local Baltimore television personality Stu Kerr spotted Clash and hired him for his show, "Caboose." In 1979, he began working for national television shows like "The Great Space Coaster" and "Captain Kangaroo." His work came to the attention of Muppet designer Kermit Love, and he joined the cast of "Sesame Street" full-time in 1985. At that time, the Elmo character existed, but his character did not emerge until Clash was given the task to develop it. Clash gave Elmo a falsetto voice and a sweet, curious outlook on the world, and soon Elmo was one of the most popular characters on "Sesame Street." Clash also contributed his voice to the "Tickle Me Elmo" doll, a marketing sensation during the 1996 Christmas season. The toys disappeared from store shelves as soon as they appeared, and tales of parents going to great lengths to acquire a doll became a footnote to the season. Clash also was executive producer for the film "Elmopalooza," (1998) co-producer for "The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland" (1999) and co-executive producer for "CinderElmo" (1999) and "Elmo's World." Clash's other Muppet characters include Hoots, Natasha and many others from "Sesame Street," Leon from "The Jim Henson Hour" and Clifford from "The Jim Henson Hour" and "Muppets Tonight." He also works as a talent scout for Jim Henson Productions. AWARDS Nominated several times for an Emmy, Clash took home the award in 1990 for outstanding performer in a children's series. He won again in 2001 for his work as co-executive producer of "Sesame Street." PERSONAL Clash has a 9-year-old daughter, Shannon Elyse Clash. CNN Article
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 3:14 pm
I just ran across this item on this CBC site for nominating "the greatest Canadian". One of the people listed to be nominated is :
quote:MARY ANN SHADD 1823-1893 She was 28 when she 'went alone into Canada West in the fall of 1851.' There she became the first black woman in North America to publish a newspaper, The Provincial Freeman. An abolitionist, teacher, public speaker and writer, Shadd led a life of courageous activism.
While I have never heard of her, I have to admit I have never heard of about 80% of the people they highlight. Doesn't say much for our education in Canadian history in my day!
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Wednesday, April 07, 2004 - 9:51 pm
Jan, thanks for posting that. I had never heard of her before and so I just had to do some research on her. Here is just some of what I found: Mary Ann Shadd started the first integrated school in Canada and was the first female newspaper editor and first female black lawyer in North America. In 1855 Shadd was the first woman to speak at the National Negro Convention. Frederick Douglass said that she gave one of the most convincing and telling speeches in favor of Canadian emmigration. QUOTE: "Self-reliance Is the Fine Road to Independence." http://www.whitepinepictures.com/seeds/i/5/ http://www.brightmoments.com/blackhistory/nmas.stm http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/cary-mar.htm
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Essence
Member
01-12-2002
| Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 6:55 am
April 8: 1872 Ruth Gaines-Shelton was born. She was an African- American Playwright born at Glasgow, MO. Best known for prize winning comedy The Church Fight, which was published in Crisis (a publication of NAACP) in May of 1926. 1920 Carmen McRae was born in the village of Harlem in New York City. She studied classical piano in her youth, even though singing was her first love. She won an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater and begin her singing career. She was influenced by Billie Holiday, who became a lifelong friend and mentor. She devoted her albums and the majority of her nightclub acts to Lady Day's memory. Her association with jazz accordionist Matt Mathews led to her first solo recordings in 1953-1954. In her later years, McRae's original style influenced singers Betty Carter and Carol Sloane. Her best known recordings were "Skyliner" (1956) and "Take Five" with Dave Brubeck (1961). She also worked in films appearing in "Hotel" (1967) and "Jo Jo Dancer Your Life is Calling" (1986). She received six Grammy award nominations and the National Endowment for the Arts' National Jazz Masters Fellowship Award in 1994. She died in 1994. 1938 Cornetist and bandleader Joe "King" Oliver died in Savannah, Georgia. He was considered one of the leading musicians of New Orleans-style jazz and served as a mentor to Louis Armstrong, who played with him in 1922 and 1923. 1956 Christopher Darden was born April 8, 1956. He was a prosecuting attorney in O.J. Simpson's murder trial. Christopher left the District Attorney's office to continue teaching law and later began an acting career. 1960 The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was organized on this date. 1965 16 year old Lawrene Bradford of New York City was the first Black Page appointed to the US Senate. 1974 Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th home run against a pitch thrown by Los Angeles Dodger Al Downing at a home game in Fulton County Stadium. Aaron's home run broke the long-standing home run record of Babe Ruth. 1975 Frank Robinson, major league baseball's first African American manager, gets off to a winning start as his team, the Cleveland Indians, defeat the New York Yankees, 5-3. 1987 Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Al Campanis is fired for alleged racially biased comments about the managerial potential of African Americans. 1990 Percy Julian, who helped create drugs to combat glaucoma and methods to mass produce cortisone, and agricultural scientist George Washington Carver are the first African American inventors admitted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in the hall's 17-year history. 1992 Tennis great Arthur Ashe announces at a New York news conference that he had AIDS. He contracted the virus from a transfusion needed for an earlier heart surgery. Ashe died in February 1993 of AIDS-related pneumonia at age 49. 2001 Tiger Woods became the first golfer to hold all four major professional golf titles at one time when he won the 2001 Masters tournament.
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 11:22 am
Happy Birthday, Carmen McRae! R.I.P.
One of the best American jazz singers, McRae was also an accomplished pianist and songwriter. Early in her career she sang with bands led by Benny Carter, Mercer Ellington, Charlie Barnet and Count Basie (sometimes under the name of Carmen Clarke, from her brief marriage to Kenny Clarke). Although a familiar figure on the New York jazz club scene, including a spell in the early 50s as intermission pianist at Minton's Playhouse, her reputation did not spread far outside the jazz community. In the 60s and 70s she toured internationally and continued to record - usually accompanied by a small group - but she was joined on one occasion by the Clarke-Boland Big Band. By the 80s, she was one of only a tiny handful of major jazz singers whose work had not been diluted by commercial pressures. One of her early songs, "Dream Of Life", written when she was just 16 years old, was recorded in 1939 by Billie Holiday. Although very much her own woman, McRae occasionally demonstrated the influence of Holiday through her ability to project a lyric with bittersweet intimacy. She also sang with remarkable rhythmic ease and her deft turns-of-phrase helped to conceal a relatively limited range, while her ballad singing revealed enormous emotional depths. Her repertoire included many popular items from the Great American Songbook, but her jazz background ensured that she rarely strayed outside the idiom. Relaxed and unpretentious in performance and dedicated to her craft, McRae secured a place of honour in the history of jazz singing.
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Thursday, April 08, 2004 - 12:31 pm
Don't forget to check back at NPR and listen to Parts 3 and 4 of Renatta Frazier's story as told to Tavis Smiley. Part 3 in Windows Media Format Part 4 in Windows Media Format There are also links to the Illinois Times articles exposing and following up on this story.
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Friday, April 09, 2004 - 9:34 am
Black Facts that happened on April the 9th: 1865 Nine Black regiments of Gen. John Hawkins's division helped smash Confederate defenses at Fort Blakely, Alabama. Capture of the fort led to fall of Mobile. Sixty-eight U.S.C.T. had the highest number of casualties in the engagement. 1866 Civil Rights Bill passed over the president's veto. The bill conferred citizenship on Blacks and gave them "the same right, in every State and Territory... as is enjoyed by white citizens." 1870 American Anti-Slavery Society dissolved. 1888 Florence Price, composer born 1898 In 1898, athlete, actor, and activist Paul Leroy Robeson, the youngest of five children, is born to Rev. William Drew and Maria Louisa Robeson in Princeton, New Jersey. 1929 Paule Marshall, novelist, born 1933 Dr. Nathan Hare, publisher and educator is born in Slick, Oklahoma. 1939 Marian Anderson performs for 65,000 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after she is refused admission to the Daughters of the American Revolution's Constitutional Hall 1950 Juanita Hall becomes the first African American to win a Tony award for her role as Bloody Mary in the musical South Pacific. 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. buried after funeral services at Ebenezer Baptist Church and memorial services at Morehouse College, Atlanta. More than 300,000 persons marched behind the coffin coffin of the slain leader which was carried through streets of Atlanta on farm wagon pulled by two Georgia mules. Scores of national dignitaries, including Vice-President Humphrey, attended funeral. CORE and the Fellowship of Reconciliation sent twenty-three dignitaries. Ralph David Abernathy elected to succeed King as head of Southern Christian Leadership Conference. 1975 Entertainer Josephine Baker dies www.blackfacts.com
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 5:38 pm
Things you learn on the way to trying to find out something else. I was trying to find the origins of the song Stewball and came across some history of Leadbelly. WORKSONGS AND LEADBELLY by Tom Faigin Although the Civil War officially abolished slavery, new forms of slavery developed that kept blacks poor, disenfranchised and powerless. They became uneducated wage slaves who cleared, ploughed, and harvested southern lands, built levees, and hauled crops to market. Many songs sprang up that helped workers do the hard work of digging, chopping, lifting, hammering, and sailing. These songs were sung a cappella to strong rhythms which helped keep the workers’ minds off the monotony of their endless toil. A leader or head man often sang an improvised line, only to be answered by a choral group of field workers, convict laborers, or stevedores loading or unloading cargo. A good lead singer didn’t always have the best singing voice, but he was experienced at his work and he was comfortable with his co-workers. As the South became more and more mechanized, folksong scholars like John and Alan Lomax found black worksongs in southern prison camps. These prisons were often called county farms and were known for their brutality, isolation, and inhumanity. Often, blacks were sentenced to these "hell holes" for minor infractions of the law and were unable to regain their freedom before dying from overwork, medical neglect, or cruelty on the part of their oppressors. Lead singers reshaped old songs into new worksongs which helped the work gangs stay together while they hoed cotton, chopped weeds, broke rocks, or laid railroad track. The singers ranged in age from 18 to 50 and their jobs required coordinated physical effort. Older prisoners often passed on some of the oldest traditional songs to the younger men. "Long John" was of West African origin while "Stewball" has been traced to an 18th century English ballad. "The Gray Goose" uses words like "master," "missus," and "white house," and is a product of slavery times. Many of the tunes’ lyrics are interchangeable and once again have their antecedents in earlier times. "Take This hammer," a well—known Southern Protest worksong uses more or less the same melody and harmony as "I’m on My Way to Canaan’s Land" and ‘‘Irene, Good Night." Folkways’ "Negro Prison Camp Worksongs" one of the most famous collections of this type. In it you can hear the call and response patterns between the lead singer and the worksongs. The a cappella contains very little harmony, but a great deal of restrained emotion and vocal power. The melodies are sung "straight" at first, but then as the song progresses, the melodies are embellished more and more elaborately. Leadbelly was born near Moorings Port, Louisiana, in 1885 near the Texas-Louisians border (Texarkana). The area was farm country and young Huddle was taught music by an uncle Terrell Ledbetter. By age 15 Huddle could play the concertina, guitar, and fiddle and was in demand as a performer at dances. Around this time he got a girl pregnant and severe community pressure forced him to leave Louisiana for Dallas, Texas. In Dallas he hooked up with the brilliant singer and guitarist Blind Lemon Jefferson. They teamed up and played the streets of Dallas and Fort Worth and here Huddie first began to play the 12—string guitar which became his main instrument from then on. In 1917 he killed a man in a fight over a girl (self defense he would maintain for the rest of his life) and was sentenced to 30 years in the state penitentiary at Huntsville, Alabama. Although he made one attempt to escape, overpowering a guard in the process, he subsequently cooled down and became part of the everyday prison workforce. It was at this time he picked up the name "Leadbelly" due to his strength and endurance as a field worker. He also continued with his music in Huntsville, eventually sang for Governor Pat Neff during one of Neff’s prison inspection tours and on January 15, 1925, was pardoned when Neff left office. (He had made this a promise.) Leadbelly was a free man. Five years later in Louisiana, Leadbelly once again found himself arrested, tried, and convicted of assault with intent to murder and was sentenced from six to ten years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary of Angola, infamous for cruelty even to this day. At Angola he became the camp musician and in 1934 he was pardoned by Governor O.K. Allen as a result of a song which he composed pleading for a pardon. The song was recorded by folklorist John A. Lomax who subsequently took it to Allen and pleaded Leadbelly’s case. For the next couple of years Leadbelly ‘traveled with John Lomax and his son Alan, giving a number of concerts at colleges and universities where he electrified academic audiences with his powerful voice and 12-string guitar playing. In 1935 he married Martha Promise whom he had known since she was a little girl. They went to Louisiana, then to New York City in 1937 to stay for good. From this time on, Leadbelly always attempted to make his living as an artist in a day when folk music was not very popular. He performed at parties, concerts, radio programs, and left-wing political rallies. He also recorded for many different labels. However, he never saw any commercial success during his lifetime. Shortly after his death on December 6, 1949, from a muscular deteriorating disease that could not be halted, several of his songs became popular hits: "Goodnight, Irene," "Cotton Fields," "Rock Island Line," and "The Midnight Special." Huddie Ledbetter lived a full 65 years. His life reads like an adventure story, the wanderings of a black Ulysses. Although many of his songs were not original, they are his unmistakable creative energy and inventiveness. He was truly a great folk artist who specialized in worksongs, blues and dance songs, all coming out of black Southern musical traditions, but in particular the Southern prison environment. We are indebted to Leadbelly for his great tunes which he learned from others, embellished with his powerful Louisiana tenor voice and passed on to folk, rock, and country singers. "Cotton Fields," "Irene, Goodnight," "The Midnight Special," "Take This Hammer," "The Rock Island Line," and "Go Down Old Hannah" are now all a part of our heritage. Tom Faigin has taught guitar, ban]o, and mandolin to private students since 1960 while teaching guitar classes at UCLA, CSULA, CSUN, and many other colleges, schools, and organizations. Tom has performed on radio, TV, given concerts, and lectured on folk music at California State University at Los Angeles. Currently, Tom is teaching English and ESL at Birmingham High School and actively uses folksongs and guitar music to motivate his students. Source link
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 5:59 pm
Black Facts that happened on April the 10th: 1910 Charles W. Follis, first African American to play professional football, born 1926 Johnnie Tillmon Blackston, founder and director of the National Welfare Rights Organization, born 1938 Nana Annor Adjaye, Pan-Africanist, dies in W. Nzima, Ghana. 1943 Arthur Ashe, first African American American Davis Cup team member, first African American to win the U.S. Open and the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1975, born 1964 Actress Jamsime Guy is born in Boston, Massachusettes. Black Facts that happened on April the 11th: 1816 Richard Allen named 1st Bishop of AME church. By 1816 there were several African Methodist Churches around the country and that year they met to form the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church. On April 11, 1816 Richard Allen was named the first bishop of this church. 1865 President Lincoln recommended suffrage for Black veterans and Blacks. 1881 Spelman College, an institution sponsored by John D. Rockefeller's family, opened for Negro women in Atlanta, Georgia. It became the "Radcliffe and the Sarah Lawrence of Negro education." 1899 Chemist Percy Julian born in Montgomery, Alabama. Julian studied at DePauw, Fisk, Harvard and Vienna (Germany) Universities. In his lifetime he discovered several synthetic substances including one that made paint water-tight, cortisone and a fire suppressing foam. 1933 Tony Brown, television journalist, born 1948 Jackie Robinson signs a professional baseball contract and becomes the first black player in the major leagues. 1955 Roy Wilkins is elected NAACP executive secretary following the death of Walter White 1956 Singer Nat "King" Cole attacked on stage of Birmingham theater by whites who were "very intelligent." 1966 Emmett Ashford became the first Black major league umpire. 1967 Harlem voters defied Congress and re-elected Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. 1968 President Johnson signed a the 1968 Housing Act which outlawed discrimination in the sale, rental or leasing of housing. This bill also made it a crime to interfere with civil rights workers and to and to cross state lines to incite a riot. 1972 Benjamin L. Hooks, a Memphis lawyer-minister, becomes the first African American named to the Federal Communications Commission. 1988 Willie D. Burton becomes the first African American to win the Oscar for sound, for the movie Bird. 1990 Idaho became the 47th state to recognize Jan. 15 as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and as a national holiday. 1997 The new Museum of African American History opens in Detroit. It is the largest of its kind in the world. Facts courtesy of www.blackfacts.com
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Sunday, April 11, 2004 - 6:05 pm
Juju, you posted while I was looking up facts. You are so right about learning things while looking for other things. I learned something from your post today. I knew about Leadbelly and a little bit about him, but now I know a lot more. Thanks Juju and thanks Stewball (LOL).
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Monday, April 12, 2004 - 8:05 am
Black Facts that happened on April the 12th: 1787 Richard Allen and Absalom Jones organized Philadelphia's Free African Society which Du Bois called "the first wavering step of a people toward a more organized social life." 1825 Richard Harvey Cain, founder of Paul Quinn College in Waco, Texas, born 1861 Confederate soldiers attacked Fort Sumter, in the Charleston, S.C., harbor. 1864 Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest captured Fort Pillow, Tenn., and massacred the inhabitants, sparing, the official report said, neither soldier nor civilian, Black nor white, male or female. 1869 North Carolina legislature passed anti-Klan Law 1869 Black students occupied administration building at Boston University in demand for Afro-American history courses and additional Black students. 1898 Sir Grantley H. Adams, political leader, president of Barbados, born on this day. 1913 Lionel Hampton, musician and bandleader, Born April 12, 1913. He recorded with Louis Armstrong and worked with Benny Goodman and was also responsible for introducing the vibraphone into jazz. 1940 Contemporary jazz composer and musician Herbie Hancock was born in Chicago, Illinois. 1960 Martin Luther King, Jr. denounced Vietnam War which he said was "rapidly degenerating into a sordid military adventure." 1975 Leontyne Price, opera singer, is awarded The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. 1975 Josephine Baker dies. Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, she later took the name Baker from her stepfather. Surviving the 1917 riots in East St. Louis, Illinois, where the family was living, she ran away a few years alter at age thirteen and began dancing in vaudeville and on Broadway. In 1925, she went to Paris where, after the jazz revue La Revue Nègre failed, her comic ability and jazz dancing drew attention of the director of the Folies Bergère. She died of a stroke. 1980 Liberian President William R. Tolbert Jr. and twenty-seven others were killed in coup d'etat by army enlisted men led by master Sergeant Samuel Doe. 1981 Joe Louis, heavyweight boxing champion, dies at the age of 66. He held the world title for a record 12 years and won 68 of his 71 professional fights. 1989 Sugar Ray Robinson, five-time winner of the world middleweight boxing championship and unbeaten welterweight champion, dies. www.blackfacts.com
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Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Monday, April 12, 2004 - 8:24 am
Happy Birthday, Herbie Hancock!
Herbie Hancock is a true icon of modern music. His explorations have transcended limitations and genres, and at the same time he has maintained his unmistakable voice. Hancock's success at expanding the possibilities of musical thought has placed him in the annals of this century's visionaries. What's more, he continues to amaze and expand the public's vision of what music is all about today. Herbie Hancock's creative path has moved fluidly between almost every development in acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B since 1960. He has attained an enviable balance of commercial and artistic success, arriving at the point in his career where he ventures into every new project motivated purely by the desire to expand the boundaries of his creativity. No stranger to career accolades, Herbie won the 1987 Academy Award for his soundtrack to the film Round Midnight. He has won eight Grammy Awards in the past two decades, including three for his 1998 classic Gershwin's World. Underlying these and countless other awards is the fact that there are few artists in the entire music industry who have gained more respect and cast more influence than Herbie Hancock. As the immortal Miles Davis said in his autobiography: "Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven't heard anybody yet who has come after him." Born in Chicago in 1940, Hancock was a child piano prodigy who performed a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the tender age of 11. He began playing jazz in high school, initially influenced by Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans. Also at this time, an additional passion for electronic science began to develop. As a result, he took a double major in music and electrical engineering at Grinnell College. In 1960, at age 20, Herbie was discovered by trumpeter Donald Byrd, who asked him to join his group. Byrd also introduced Hancock to Alfred Lion of Blue Note Records; and after two years of session work with the likes of Phil Woods and Oliver Nelson, he signed to the legendary label as a solo artist. His 1963 debut album, Takin' Off, was an immediate success, producing "Watermelon Man," an instant hit at jazz and R&B radio. Also in 1963, Hancock received the call that was to change his life and fix his place in jazz history. He was invited to join the Miles Davis Quintet. During his five years, with Davis, Hancock and his colleagues thrilled audiences and recorded classic after classic, including albums like ESP, Nefertiti, and Sorcerer. Most jazz critics and fans regard this group, which also included Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums) as the greatest small jazz group of the 1960s. Even after he left, Miles' group, Herbie continued to appear on Davis' groundbreaking recordings In A Silent Way and Brew, which heralded the birth of jazz-fusion. Simultaneously with his work for Miles, Hancock's own solo career blossomed on Blue Note with even more classics like Maiden Voyage, Empyrean Isles, and Speak Like A Child. 1n 1966, he composed the score to Michelangelo Antonioni's film, Blow Up. This led to a successful career in feature film and television music, including Bill Cosby's Emmy-winning Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert, and later, Death Wish, Colors, Jo Jo Dancer Your Life Is Calling, Action Jackson, Harlem Nights, and his Oscar-winning Round Midnight. After leaving Miles Davis in 1968, Hancock stepped full-time into the new electronic jazz-funk that was sweeping the world. In 1973, Headhunters, the second LP in his new deal with Columbia Records, became jazz's first platinum album. With its Sly Stone-influenced hit single "Chameleon," this album (and its follow-up Thrust) signaled, once and for all, that Herbie Hancock would not be pigeonholed or categorized. By mid-decade, Hancock was playing to stadium-sized crowds all over the world, and had no fewer than four albums in the pop charts at once. In total, Herbie had eleven albums in the pop charts during the 1970s. What's even more remarkable about Herbie's 70s output is the inspiration and inexhaustible supply of samples he provided for the generations of hip hop and dance music artists to follow, almost twenty years after these recordings were at their peak popularity. But it would not be the only time in his career that his work would have such an influence. Not content to travel one creative path, Hancock also stayed close to his acoustic jazz heart in the 70s. He recorded and performed with VSOP (a reunification of the 60s Miles Davis Quintet, substituting the great Freddie Hubbard for Davis), with various trios and quartets under his own name, and in duet settings with fellow pianists Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson. In 1980, Hancock introduced the young Wynton Marsalis to the world as a solo artist, producing the trumpeter's debut album as a leader. In 1983, a new pull to the alternative side led Herbie to a series of collaborations with the notorious musical architect Bill Laswell. The first, Future Shock, again struck platinum, as the single "Rockit" rocked the dance and R&B charts, winning a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental. Moreover, the video of the track, created by Kevin Godley and Lol Crème, won five MTV awards. Sound System, the follow-up to Future Shock, also received a Grammy in the R&B instrumental category. Once again, Herbie Hancock had blazed a new path for younger musicians to follow. Numerous television appearances over the years led to two hosting assignments in the 1980s. The first, Rock School, was an innovative educational music show for PBS, the second, Showtime's Coast To Coast, was a unique series of in-concert performances, interviews and collaborations, and ran from 1989-91. Hancock once again scaled the charts in 1994, but in a most unique way. A British hip hop group called US3 sampled a classic Hancock Blue Note side, "Cantaloupe Island" for a track called "Cantaloop" which became a huge international hit for Herbie's old label. The track went Top 20 in a number of countries and was licensed countless times for TV commercials and promos, leading to the resurrection of many great Hancock tracks throughout the decade. Hancock signed to the Polygram Label Group in 1994. After an adventurous pop-oriented project for Mercury Records, Dis Is Da Drum, he moved on to Polygram's Verve label, forming an all-star band to record 1996's Grammy-winning The New Standard. This album, another landmark, adapted rock and R&B tunes from recent times to a straightahead jazz format. In 1997, an eloquent and daring album of duets with Wayne Shorter, 1+1, was released. The legendary Headhunters reunited in 1998, recording an album for Herbie's own Verve-distributed imprint, and touring with the Dave Matthews Band at the arena-rock giant's own request. But the crowning achievement of Herbie Hancock's Verve years thus far has been Gershwin's World. Recorded and released in 1998, this masterwork brought artists from all over the musical spectrum together in a celebration of George Gershwin and his entire artistic milieu. Herbie's collaborators included Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Kathleen Battle, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea. Gershwin's World won three Grammies in 1999, including Best Traditional Jazz Album and Best R&B Vocal Performance for Stevie Wonder's "St. Louis Blues." The entire music world celebrated this album as one of the very finest in Herbie Hancock's incomparable career. Hancock's career outside the performing stage and recording studio has continued apace. In 1996, he founded the Rhythm Of Life Foundation. This organization's mission is twofold: to help narrow the gap between those technologically empowered and those who are not; and to find ways to help technology improve humanity. The philosophy of the foundation is based on the communication of multi-cultural awareness and tolerance among communities, instilling a sense of courage and creative initiative in children, and educating one another about our rich and complex ethnic heritage. Hancock also holds several prominent artistic and cultural appointments. Since 1991, he has been the Distinguished Artist in Residence at Jazz Aspen Snowmass in Colorado; a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation and performance of jazz and American music. Herbie also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the foremost international organization devoted to the development of jazz performance and education worldwide. He has taken on a number of roles on behalf of the institute, from competition judge to master class teacher, to guest performer with the Institute's prestigious college program. At the end of 1999, Herbie joined two partners---his manager David Passick and former Verve Records president Chuck Mitchell---to form Transparent Music, a multi-media music company dedicated to the presentation of barrier-breaking music of all types, at all tiers of distribution including recordings, films and TV, concert events and the Internet. In a unique arrangement, Herbie will continue to make smaller-group jazz recordings for Verve and larger scope projects for Transparent. In yet another innovative stylistic move, his first work for Transparent will reunite him with Bill Laswell in the creation of a 21st Century collaboration with some of the young hip-hop and techno artists who have drawn on his massive influence to create their own music of the future. The album released in spring, 2001, and is entitled FUTURE2FUTURE. As he enters his fifth decade of professional life, Herbie Hancock remains where he has always been: in the forefront of world culture, technology, business and music. Though one can't track exactly where he will go next, you may be sure that he'll leave his own inimitable creative style and imprint wherever he lands. http://www.herbiehancock.com/ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bio.asp?oid=2750&cf=2750 An interview with Herbie Hancock can be found here. Congratulations to Herbie Hancock recipient of the 2004 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship! The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowships are the highest honors that our government bestows upon jazz musicians. These fellowships are given in recognition that this magnificent art form, so profoundly based in American culture, is one of America's greatest gifts to the world. http://arts.endow.gov/honors/jazz/jazz04/jazz04.html
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