Lionel Richie - American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and television judge. Eric Dolphy - American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the same era. His use of the bass clarinet helped to […]
Brenda Holloway - American singer and songwriter, who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the soul hits, "Every Little Bit Hurts", "When I'm Gone", and "You've Made Me So Very Happy." Mitty Collier - American church pastor, gospel singer and former rhythm and blues singer. Clay Hammond […]
Lee John - British musician, singer, and actor of St Lucian descent. Jimmy Castor - American funk, R&B, and soul musician. He is credited with vocals, saxophone and composition. He is best known for songs such as It's Just Begun, Bertha Butt Boogie, and his biggest hit single, the million-seller Troglodyte. Rosetta Hightower - American […]
Marvin "Smitty" Smith - American jazz drummer and composer. Marvin Smith was born in Waukegan, Illinois, where his father, Marvin Sr., was a drummer. "Smitty" was exposed to music at a young age, receiving formal musical training at the age of three.
Louis Risbrook - Bassist in American funk/disco group, B.T. Express. Doc Pumus - American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-writer of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer in 1992, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Blues Hall […]
Jimmy Mundy - American jazz tenor saxophonist, arranger, and composer, best known for his arrangements for Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Earl Hines. Joe Smith - American jazz trumpeter.
Florence Ballard - American singer and a founding member of the Motown vocal female group the Supremes. She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the group, including ten number-one hits. Ronald Winans - American Gospel singer who gained fame as a member of The Winans. Stanley Clarke - American bassist, film composer and founding […]
Bobby Day - American rock and roll and R&B singer, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, and songwriter. He is best known for his hit record "Rockin' Robin", written by Leon René under the pseudonym Jimmie Thomas. Sly Johnson - American blues and soul singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. His most successful records included "Different Strokes", "Is […]
Bill Withers - American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine", "Grandma's Hands", "Use Me", "Lean on Me", "Lovely Day" and "Just the Two of Us". Withers won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for six more. Ralph Johnson - American singer, songwriter, musician and […]
Arthur Blythe - American jazz alto saxophonist and composer. Tommy Lipuma - American music producer. He received 33 Grammy nominations, 5 Grammy wins, and his productions sold over 75 million albums.
Doc Severinsen - American jazz trumpeter who led the NBC Orchestra on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Joe Zawinul - Austrian jazz keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, a musical genre […]
Earl Van Dyke - American soul musician, most notable as the main keyboardist for Motown Records' in-house Funk Brothers band during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Louis Jordan - American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "The King of the Jukebox", he […]
