Composer/Songwriter
Johnny Vidacovich was born in New Orleans and raised by his mother and grandparents. He started playing drums when he was ten years old and would go to night clubs around New Orleans and stand outside the open windows of the clubs to listen and learn from some of the city's best drummers and...
Herlin Riley is a native of New Orleans and a continuing link in the chain of great jazz drummers. Herlin was raised in a musical household by his grandparents and originally played the trumpet in the family group, The Lastie Brothers Combo, as well as unknowingly playing in the same youth marching...
James Singleton was born in Chicago and took to playing bass at an early age. After performing in the Chicago area and briefly attending the University of North Texas, James was called to New Orleans to perform with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. As he cut his teeth further with Brown, James became a...
Donald Harrison Jr. was born in New Orleans to a deeply musical family steeped in all styles of music: brass bands, jazz, R&B, funk, and world music. His father was a Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief, an offshoot of the cultural tradition that goes all the way back to the time of Congo Square. ...
Peter Yarrow is the Peter in the wildly successful popular folk music trio Peter, Paul, and Mary. During his often musical NAMM Oral History interview, Peter spoke of the role music played during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, as well as the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War. The...
Charlie Feldman was inspired to play the guitar thanks to this father. While a teenager, Charlie formed several bands and over the years played with such great named bands as The Bassmen (named after the amp) and The Candy Store Profits. In the late 1960s, he went up to the recording studios in...
Laurie Spiegel joined Bell Labs in 1973 wanting to explore what digital computers could offer for musical composition beyond what she'd been able to do with traditional acoustic, written and analog electronic music technologies. She worked at Bell Labs, independently, under the sponsorship of her...
Desmond Child is the songwriter behind such hit collaborations as "Livin' On a Prayer" with Bon Jovi, "Dude Looks Like a Lady" with Aerosmith, and "Livin’ La Vida Loca" for Ricky Martin. Desmond started as a recording artist with his band Desmond Child & Rouge on Capitol Records in the late...
Rudy Perez was born in Cuba and arrived in Florida when he was eight years old. Soon after, he purchased his first guitar from Ace Music in Miami and formed a touring band. Along the way, Rudy began writing songs for both his band and for other artists, which led to his introduction into music...
Larry Dvoskin can trace his passion for music back to an early age when he was classically trained on the piano. He purchased a guitar while in high school to gain the attention of girls and soon joined a rock band. Later, Larry gravitated towards the emerging electronic keyboards and the Hammond...