Lead Belly
Huddie William Ledbetter, a.k.a. Lead Belly, "the King of the Twelve-String," was born an only child in 1889 on a Louisiana plantation. His love affair with music began at the age of 2, and shortly thereafter he picked up guitar, mandolin, accordion, and piano. Nearing the age of 14 he quit school and started performing in juke joints, where he became a popular attraction. Ledbetter also worked as a cotton picker and railroad track-worker. His hard life heavily influenced his music--he landed in jail, escaped, lived under an alias for two years, then returned to prison in 1918, convicted of murder (he earned a pardon in 1925 by writing a song for the governor). In 1930, he was arrested again and sentenced to hard time in Louisiana's infamous Angola Farm prison. Father-and-son folk historians John and Alan Lomax were working on a collection of prison songs for the Library of Congress when they discovered and immortalized Lead Belly on vinyl. These recordings gave him the opportunity to petition for another pardon. His freedom was granted again in 1934, and he became the toast of the New York nightclub scene. Lead Belly's catalogue includes nearly 500 songs, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Lead Belly suffered from ALS and died in 1949. Set up in his memory, The Lead Belly Foundation preserves his musical heritage, supports educational programs, and provides scholarships. The 1930s recording "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?," from the collection The Best of Lead Belly, just says it all.
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Genre: Blues
Artist: Lead Belly
Song: Where Did You Sleep Last Night?
Album: The Best of Lead BellyDonations: Visit
Sondre Lerche
Singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche was born in 1982 and raised in Bergen, on the West Coast of Norway. His formative music years were greatly influenced by Norwegian pop-rock band
A-Ha as well as Elvis Costello (whom he's toured with twice and credits as a major songwriting influence), The Beach Boys, Prefab Sprout, and Jobim. Around the age of 16 Lerche was signed to Virgin Records, and in 2002 at the age of 20 he won a Norwegian Grammy. The title "Hell No," a duet sung with Regina Spektor from the Dan in Real Life soundtrack, is an endearing and flavorful ditty, sophisticated and melodic.
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Genre: Alternative
Artist: Sondre Lerche
Song: Hell No (Featuring Regina Spektor)
Album: Dan in Real Life (Soundtrack)
Rachael Yamagata
Rachael Yamagata sings with the wisdom of an old soul. Born in Arlington, Virginia, on September 23, 1977, she is of Japanese-American (father's side) and Italian and German (her mother's side) descent. Yamagata is an artist who delivers: smart lyrics and a gifted sense of melody. Her distinctive voice urges you to take notice. "Elephants," from her August 2008 EP Selections From Elephants ... Teeth Sinking Into Heart, is a delicate and captivating haunting.
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Genre: Alternative
Artist: Rachael Yamagata
Song: Elephants
Album: Selections From Elephants ... Teeth Sinking Into Heart
Aqualung
Aqualung is London-based artist Matt Hales, born in 1972 in Southampton, England (a bit of a prodigy and the product of his record-store-owning parents). By the age of 4 he picked up piano and started writing songs. By 16 he received a scholarship to study composition. As a teen, he formed his first band with his brother Ben and went on to play with Brit-pop group Ruth, then signed to Universal in 2000 with The 45's. Ultimately going solo as Aqualung, Hales enjoyed success with the single "Strange and Beautiful." "Brighter Than Sunshine" was the featured title in the film A Lot Like Love. Hales's 2007 album Memory Man contains the extremely romantic "Broken Bones"--very much worth a little ear time.
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Genre: Rock
Artist: Aqualung
Song: Broken Bones
Album: Memory Man
Auktyon
Auktyon is a Russian experimental indie band founded in 1983 in St. Petersburg by Leonid Fedorov (vocals, guitar, percussion), Oleg Garkusha (vocals), Viktor Bondarik (bass), Dmitry Ozersky (keyboard, percussion, trumpet), Boris Shaveinikov (drums, percussion), Pavel Litvinov (percussion), Nikolay Rubanov (saxophones, bass-clarinet, jaleika), and Mikhail Kolovsky (tube, trumpet). Their high octane "inside" arrangements are engaging and original. The title "Dolgi," from the 2007 album Girls Sing, which features an all-star underground guest list including Marc Ribot and John Medeski, is jazz-funk-injected rock 'n' roll worth a listen.
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Genre: Experimental
Artist: Auktyon
Song: Dolgi
Album: Girls Sing
Tan Dun
Classical composer Tan Dun was born in China's Hunan Province in August 1957. His boyhood was spent in a small village with his grandmother and her traditional spiritual teachings. Though forced to work as a rice planter during the Cultural Revolution, Tan became his community's music director by the age of 17, conducting for funerals and weddings, experimenting with any instruments he could find, even using pots and pans. His professional break came in the wake of tragedy: The Peking Opera's boat capsized and many musicians drowned, permitting Tan to be hired as the group's arranger and fiddle player. He went on to study in Beijing and New York and has composed for opera and symphony as well as soundtracks. Tan Dun's accolades include the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, a Grammy, an Oscar, and the British Academy Award. "Eternal Vow," from the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon soundtrack, performed with master cellist Yo-Yo Ma, is stirring and of the heart.
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Genre: Classical
Artist: Tan Dun
Song: Eternal Vow
Album: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon