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Eleanora Fagan was born on April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia. As a child, she started going by Billie Holiday, Billie from Billie Dove and Holiday from her dad. She began listening to records by Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. Her mother…

Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was born on Christmas Day 1907 in Rochester, living on Sycamore Street. His mother was a teacher and church organist and his father was a lawyer. When Calloway was 11, they moved to Baltimore. After he was caught…

Opera Saratoga has announced the first performance events as the start to the company's 60th Anniversary Season. On Thursday, November 19, in partner with Caffe Lena, Opera Saratoga will launch AMERICA SINGS, a monthly concert series…

On May 21, 1904, Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller was born to Adeline Locket Waller, a musician and Rev. Edward Martin Waller, a trucker and pastor in New York City. He began playing piano at the age of six and began playing organ at his…

Order of Operations, a Brooklyn-based synth-pop project released their cover of "Psycho Killer." This is the first to be shared off of their upcoming Talking Heads covers EP. It is the solo project of musician and producer Alain Paradis.…

Ethel Waters was born on October 31, 1896 in Chester, Pennsylvania. She was raised in poverty by her grandmother as well as two aunts and an uncle. When asked about her childhood, Waters once said "I never was a child. I never was…

On December 6 at 7 p.m., KeyBank is presenting the second annual Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards. The show was originally scheduled for April 14 at Proctors in Schenectady, but was cancelled due to COVID-19. The new event will be…

On April 15, 1894, Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her parents and brother had died by the time Smith was nine, leaving her sister Viola as the caretaker. Therefore, Smith had a "wretched childhood" and never received an…

On October 16, indie-rock band El Modernist released their newest single, 'Evolution,' proudly played as an LGBTQ+ Fight Song. All proceeds from the track will be donated directly to The Trevor Project, an organization dedicated to…

William James "Count" Basie was born in Red Bank, New Jersey in August 1904. Both of his parents played instruments: his dad on mellophone, his mom on piano. He dreamt of traveling, heavily inspired by touring carnivals. However, he spent…