Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Al Bell was in the Stax recording studio in Memphis at the very moment Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed just a few blocks away. Ironically, the recording Al was producing at that time was a song he wrote encouraging Dr. King, whom he had known for years, to be cautious carrying...
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...
Richard Blackford is the noted classical composer who studied at the Royal College of Music in England before becoming the assistant to Hans Werner Henze in Rome. His works are heard at the ballet and in the opera house and with such accessibility he began receiving requests to compose for film...
Billy Taylor was first and foremost a jazz pianist. This fact might surprise some people who knew Billy best for one of a number of other careers he enjoyed in music, including teaching, composing and advocating for music education. As a jazz performer, Billy learned from the best including Ben...