The story of Tennessee's contribution to American music is essentially the story of three cities: Nashville, Memphis, and Bristol. While Nashville is most famous for its status as the long-time capital of country music, Bristol is recognized as the "Birthplace of Country Music". Memphis musicians have had an enormous influence on blues, early rock and roll, R&B, and soul music, as well as an increasing presence in rap.
Andrew Charles Cyrille is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographer Chris Kelsey wrote: "Few free-jazz drummers play with a tenth of Cyrille's grace and authority. His energy is unflagging, his power absolute, tempered only by an ever-present sense of propriety."
Steven Lee Cropper, sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor. He also acted as the producer of many of these records. He was later a member of the Blues Brothers band. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 36th on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, while he has won two Grammy Awards from his seven nominations.
Shawn Lane was an American musician who released two studio albums and collaborated with a variety of musicians including Ringo Starr, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Reggie Young, Joe Walsh, Jonas Hellborg, Anders Johansson, Jens Johansson and many others. After studying the piano, he learned to play the guitar, which he played with exceptional speed.
Albert J. Jackson Jr. was an American drummer, producer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, a group of session musicians who worked for Stax Records and produced their own instrumentals. Jackson was affectionately dubbed "The Human Timekeeper" for his drumming ability. He was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s in 1992.
South Carolina is one of the Southern United States and has produced a number of renowned performers of jazz, rock, blues, R&B, country, bluegrass and other popular styles.
George Edward Coleman is an American jazz saxophonist known for his work with Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock in the 1960s. In 2015, he was named an NEA Jazz Master.
Adam Levy is a jazz guitarist who was a member of Norah Jones's band.
Uriel Jones was an American musician. Jones was a recording session drummer for Motown's in-house studio band, the Funk Brothers, during the 1960s and early 1970s.
Ben S. Cauley Jr. was an American trumpet player, vocalist, songwriter, and founding member of the Stax recording group the Bar-Kays. He was the only survivor of the 1967 plane crash that claimed the lives of soul singer Otis Redding and four members of the Bar-Kays.
The W. C. Handy Jazz All-Stars is a group of jazz musicians who play annually at the W. C. Handy Music Festival in Florence, Alabama. During the last week of July each year, these musicians travel from all over the United States to gather in Florence and perform in various combinations. In addition to performing jazz, members of the W. C. Handy Jazz All-Stars serve as the resident faculty of the W. C. Handy Jazz Camp, also teaching the "A B Cs of Jazz, Blues and Beyond".
Lee Alexander is an American bassist, songwriter, and music producer best known for his work on Norah Jones' albums Come Away with Me, Feels Like Home, and Not Too Late.
Anthony Crawford is an American bassist, songwriter, producer, and recording artist from Memphis, Tennessee.
The Bo-Keys are a soul jazz band from Memphis, Tennessee, formed as an homage to the city's rich musical tradition.
Tom Hampton is a multi-instrumentalist, sideman, session musician and singer/songwriter. In April 2020, he joined the country-rock band Poco as guitarist and vocalist.
Chris Gero is a Grammy nominated American music industry executive, concert producer, record producer, songwriter, film director and composer, founder of the Yamaha Entertainment Group of America, and Chief Artist Relations Executive for Yamaha Artist Relations Group. Gero is responsible for the management and branding of Yamaha's global roster, having signed more than 3,600 artists to contract to date. Gero oversees Yamaha's artist collaborations, including Elton John, Alicia Keys, Paul McCartney, Norah Jones, Josh Groban, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, John Legend, and Ben Folds.
Stanley Augustus Kesler was an American musician, record producer and songwriter, whose career began at the Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. He co-wrote several of Elvis Presley's early recordings including "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" and "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", and played guitar and bass on hit records by Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. As a producer, his successful records included "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.
This topic covers notable events and articles related to 2017 in music.
Don Heffington was an American drummer, percussionist, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the Los Angeles alternative country band Lone Justice, which he performed with from 1982 to 1985. Heffington was also a member of the bluegrass band Watkins Family Hour, recorded three solo albums, and was a session and touring musician for various artists, including Lowell George, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne, Victoria Williams, the Wallflowers, the Jayhawks, and Joanna Newsom.
Michael Blake is a Canadian-born American saxophonist, composer and arranger. Blake is based in New York City where he has led a robust career leading his own bands. As a sideman Michael has performed with Charlie Hunter, The Lounge Lizards, Steven Bernstein/Henry Butler and the Hot 9, Ben Allison and Ray LaMontagne. The New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff wrote,"Mr. Blake, on tenor especially, is an endlessly engaging improviser, and an inquisitive one".
