Category Archives: Music

March 23

John Lennon: James Joyce’s Illegitimate Son?

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On the 23rd of March 1964, In His Own Write by John Lennon was first published. The book was the first solo Beatle project in any form that turned out to be an instant success. Printed initially by Jonathan Cape of Great Britain, it sold only in England 50,000 copies on the first day. In […]

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March 01

Frederic Chopin: Child Prodigy and Master of the Pedal

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On the 1st of March 1810, Frederic Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola, the Duchy of Warsaw (now Poland). The great Polish composer, associated with passionate love and physical suffering, and, in an indirect way, with Polish insurrection, has gained the status of a leading symbol of the Romantic period in music. According to A. […]

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January 27

The Mozart Effect

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People say, live fast, die young. As vague as this may sound, by looking at the life of one of the greatest, if not the greatest, composers of all time, there seems to be some degree of relevance in it. On the 27th of January 1756, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria. The […]

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January 23

Django’s Hand: The Story of Success

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If you are looking for inspiration to boost your enthusiasm for following your dreams this year, you will find it in the story of the famous guitarist and banjo player Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt, better known by his stage name Django. Born on the 23rd of January 1910  in Liberchies, Pont-à-Celles, Belgium, into a family of travelling Manouche Gypsy entertainers, Django […]

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December 07

Louis Prima: Just a Gigolo

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On the 7th of December 1910, Louis Prima, an American trumpet player and singer of Italian descent, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His performances, starting from the jazz infused 1920s right up to the  pop and rock dominated 1960s at the end of his career, were a rich combination of musical showmanship, comic genius and Italian […]

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November 06

Jeanette Schmid, the Cross-dressing Whistler

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On the 6th of November 1924, Rudolf Schmid was born in Volary, Sudetenland (now in the Czech Republic). In 1941 he enlisted in the Wehrmacht, the German Armed Forces, aged just 17 and served in the beginning of WWII at Udine in Italy. However, Schmid’s constitution was not built for the army. “A delicate young […]

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October 13

Art Tatum: The Prodigy of Jazz

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Art Tatum, one of the most famous jazz pianists in history, was born on the 13th of October 1909, in Toledo, Ohio. His exceptional talent and prodigious technique were a true revelation to the jazz lovers at the time. Many would agree that Tatum was to jazz what Mozart to classical music. “When Art Tatum arrived…, […]

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