April 2009

In the United States, Armed Forces Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in May. The day was created in 1949, and was a result of the consolidation of the military services in the Department of Defense. It was intended to replace the separate Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Days, but observance of these days, especially within each particular service, continues to this day.

Big Bill Broonzy (26 June 1898 – 14 August 1958) was a prolific American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s when he played Country blues to mostly black audiences. Through the ‘30s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to a more urban blues sound popular with white audiences. In the 1950s a return to his traditional folk-blues roots made him one of the leading figures of the emerging American folk music revival and an international star. His long and varied career marks him as one of the key figures in the development of blues music in the 20th century.

Fats Waller (May 21, 1904 - December 15, 1943) born Thomas Wright Waller was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer and comedic entertainer.

He was a skilled pianist, and master of stride piano, having been the prize pupil and later friend and colleague of the greatest of the stride pianists, James P. Johnson. Waller was one of the most popular performers of his era, finding critical and commercial success in his homeland and in Europe. He was also a prolific songwriter, and many songs he wrote or co-wrote are still popular still, such as "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Squeeze Me". Fellow pianist and composer Oscar Levant dubbed Waller "the black Horowitz". Waller composed many novelty swing tunes in the 1920s and 30s, and sold them for relatively small sums. When the compositions became hits, other songwriters claimed them as their own. Many standards are alternatively and sometimes controversially attributed to Waller.

Joe "King" Oliver (May 11 (?) / December 19 (?), 1885 – April 10, 1938) was a jazz cornet player and bandleader. He was particularly noted for his playing style, pioneering the use of mutes. Also a notable composer, he wrote many tunes still played regularly, including "Dippermouth Blues", "Sweet Like This", "Canal Street Blues", and "Doctor Jazz". He was the mentor and teacher of Louis Armstrong. Two of Armstrong's most famous recordings, "West End Blues" and "Weather Bird", were Oliver compositions. His influence was such that Armstrong claimed, "if it had not been for Joe Oliver, Jazz would not be what it is today".

"Mother Maybelle" Carter (May 10, 1909 - October 23, 1978) was an American country musician.

She was a member of the original Carter Family, which was formed in 1927 by her brother-in-law, A. P. Carter, who was married to her cousin, Sara, also a part of the trio. It was perhaps the first commercial rural Country music group. Maybelle was the guitarist and also played autoharp and banjo; she created a unique sound for the group with her innovative 'scratch' style of guitar playing, also called Carter Family picking, where she used her thumb to play melody on the bass and middle strings, and her index finger to fill out the rhythm.

William Samuel McTell, better known as Blind Willie McTell (May 5, 1898 (sometimes reported as 1901 or even 1903) – August 19, 1959), was an influential American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was a twelve-string finger picking Piedmont blues guitarist, and recorded 149 songs between 1927 and 1956.

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Louis Jordan was one of the most successful African-American musicians of the 20th century. He scored at least four million-selling hits during his career. Jordan regularly topped the R&B "race" charts, and was one of the first black recording artists to achieve a significant "crossover" in popularity into the mainstream (predominantly white) American audience, scoring simultaneous Top Ten hits on the white pop charts on several occasions. After Duke Ellington and Count Basie, Louis Jordan was probably the most popular and successful black bandleader of his day. But in contrast to almost all of his colleagues of all races, he was a major personality in his own right, an all-round entertainer of enormous and diverse accomplishments.