Cedar Anthony Walton, Jr. was an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers, before establishing a long career as a bandleader and composer. Several of his compositions have become jazz standards, including "Mosaic", "Bolivia", "Holy Land", "Mode for Joe" and "Fantasy in D".
Brian Blade is an American jazz drummer, composer, session musician, and singer-songwriter.
James Lee Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America".
Gary Bartz is an American jazz saxophonist.
John Arnold Griffin III was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of his death. A pioneering figure in hard bop, Griffin recorded prolifically as a bandleader in addition to stints with pianist Thelonious Monk, drummer Art Blakey, in partnership with fellow tenor Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and as a member of the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band after he moved to Europe in the 1960s. In 1995, Griffin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.
Ernest James Watts is an American jazz and rhythm and blues saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's album The Grand Wazoo he played the "Mystery Horn", a straight-necked C melody saxophone. He played the notable saxophone riff on "The One You Love" by Glenn Frey.
Kenny Garrett is an American post-bop jazz saxophonist and flautist who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and of Miles Davis's band. Since then, he has pursued a solo career.
Wallace Roney was an American jazz trumpeter.
Robert McElhiney James, known professionally as Bob James, is an American jazz keyboardist, arranger, and record producer. He founded the band Fourplay and wrote "Angela", the theme song for the TV show Taxi. Music from his first seven albums has often been sampled and has contributed to the formation of hip hop. Among his most well known recordings are "Nautilus", "Westchester Lady", "Tappan Zee", and his version of "Take Me to The Mardi Gras".
Reginald "Reggie" Workman is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey.
"The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was influenced by the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", both in the title of the song and through the song's opening refrain. The band used "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" as the B-side to this song. The song was released on R.E.M.'s 1992 album, Automatic for the People, and was later released as a single in 1993, reaching number one in Iceland, number 13 in Ireland, number 17 in the United Kingdom and number 29 in New Zealand.
Randal Edward Brecker is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B.
Back Door were a British jazz-rock trio, formed in 1971.
Richard Thomas Marotta is an American drummer and percussionist. He has appeared on recordings by leading artists such as Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Hall & Oates, Stevie Nicks, Wynonna, Roy Orbison, Todd Rundgren, Roberta Flack, Peter Frampton, Quincy Jones, Jackson Browne, Al Kooper, Waylon Jennings, Randy Newman, Peter Gabriel, Kenny G, The Jacksons, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Warren Zevon, and Linda Ronstadt. He is also a composer who created music for the popular television shows, Everybody Loves Raymond and Yes, Dear.
James Gadson is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and songwriter.
Back Door is the eponymously titled debut studio album of Back Door, released independently in 1972 by Blakey Records. It received wider distribution when it was adopted by Warner Bros. the following year. It introduced the group's virtuoso approach to jazz, funk, soul, blues and hard rock music. In 2005, the album was listed on JazzTimes' top fifty albums released between 1970 and 2005. In 2014 it was re-released on CD, compiled with 8th Street Nites and Another Fine Mess, by BGO Records. The album cover shows a photograph of the back door of the Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge in the North York Moors.
8th Street Nites is the second studio album by Back Door, released in 1973 by Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York and produced by Felix Pappalardi, famous for his production of Cream and playing in the American rock band, Mountain.
Activate is the fourth studio album by Back Door, released in 1976 by Warner Bros. Records. It was produced by Carl Palmer, known for his drumming in the bands Atomic Rooster and ELP. Original member Tony Hicks had left the band before recording the album and had been replaced by Adrian Tilbrook on drums. After the release of Activate, the band played less and less together, and eventually broke up around 1977.
The Lion Inn is a public house at Blakey Ridge, near Kirkbymoorside, in North Yorkshire, England. The building was completed between 1553 and 1558, and has been used as an inn for four centuries, sitting adjacent to a road across the moors between Castleton and Hutton-le-Hole. During the ironstone industry boom in Rosedale, it catered mainly for those engaged in the mining industry. The inn is known for being subjected to extremes of weather, like Tan Hill Inn, also in North Yorkshire.
