02/01/1948 - 08/06/2004
James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. James was a popula...
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09/26/1898 - 07/11/1937
George Gershwin (September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known. Among his best known works are...
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07/29/1916 - 03/02/1942
Charles Henry "Charlie" Christian (July 29, 1916 – March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist. He was one of the first to produce improvised masterpieces using electrically amplified equipment.
Jackie Wilson (Jack Leroy Wilson)
06/09/1934 - 01/21/1984
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement". He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in...
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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.
Lou Rawls (Louis Allen Rawls)
12/01/1933 - 01/06/2006
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer.
12/17/1942 - 05/04/1987
Paul Butterfield (17 December 1942 – 4 May 1987) was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival.
09/20/1927 - 02/06/2010
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist. He was the husband of jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, who surviv...
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10/09/1940 - 12/08/1980
John Winston Ono Lennon was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular mu...
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02/20/1967 - 04/05/1994
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana.
Nirvana was labeled "the flagship band" of G...
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04/28/1924 - 02/07/2009
Blossom Dearie (April 28, 1924 – February 7, 2009) was an American jazz singer and pianist, often performing in the bebop genre and remembered for her girlish voice
Jelly Morton (Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe)
09/20/1885 - 07/10/1941
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (September 20, 1885 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer.
01/06/1946 - 07/07/2006
Syd Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006), born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and painter. He is most remembered as a founding member of psychedelic/progressive rock band Pink Floyd, providing major musica...
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02/24/1923 - 06/23/2011
Fred Steiner (February 24, 1923 – June 23, 2011) was an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, film historian and arranger for television, radio and film.
11/14/1915 - 06/16/2005
Billy Bauer (November 14, 1915 – June 16, 2005) was an American cool jazz guitarist.
Bauer was an impressive jazz guitarist. He was a melodic, tasteful and sensitive improviser, and a superb accompanist and rhythm-section member with Her...
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