Ben Sidran

Ben Hirsh Sidran (born August 14, 1943) is an American jazz and rock pianist, organist, vocalist and writer born in Chicago, Illinois, noted for his work with the early Steve Miller Band.

Life and career

Sidran was raised in Racine, Wisconsin, and attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1961, where he became a member of The Ardells along with Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs. When Miller and Scaggs left Wisconsin for the West Coast and stardom, Sidran stayed behind to earn a degree in English literature. After graduating in 1966, Sidran enrolled in the University of Sussex, England, to pursue a PhD degree in American Studies.

Sidran rejoined Miller in an English recording studio the next year, playing on the 1968 album Children of the Future. While in England, Sidran was a session musician for artists who included Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Peter Frampton and Charlie Watts. Following the departure of Scaggs and Jim Peterman from Miller's band in 1969, Sidran joined as a full-time keyboardist, appearing on the albums Brave New World, Your Saving Grace, Number 5 and Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden. After a brief stint in Los Angeles, where he began his career as a recording artist (teamed with Scaggs and drummer Jim Keltner) and record producer, Sidran returned to Madison in 1971 and has kept the university town as a home-base ever since, playing often with such Madison-based talents as drummer Clyde Stubblefield and keyboardist-composer Leo Sidran, Sidran's son. Over the years, while continuing to travel, perform and produce, he taught courses at the university (on the business of music) and, beginning in 1981, hosted a variety of jazz programs for NPR (including the Peabody Award-winning Jazz Alive series) and for VH1 television (where his New Visions series in the early 1990s won the Ace Award.)

Don't Cry

"Don't Cry" is a power ballad by the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, two versions of which were released simultaneously on different albums. The version with the original lyrics is the fourth track on Use Your Illusion I, while the version with the alternate lyrics is the 13th track on Use Your Illusion II. Only the vocal tracks differ, and even then only in the verses; however, in those verses, not only are the words entirely different, but the meter and melody are also slightly different. There is also a third version, officially released only on the single for the song, which was recorded during Appetite for Destruction sessions in 1986. The song reached the top 10 in many countries, including number 8 in the UK Singles Chart and number 10 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100.

Background

"Don't Cry" features Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon on backing vocals. Along with "Estranged" and "November Rain," it forms a narrative inspired in part by the short story "Without You" by Del James. The song peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's fifth Top 10 hit there.

Federico García Lorca

Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca, known as Federico García Lorca (Spanish pronunciation: [feðeˈɾiko ɣarˈθi.a ˈlorka]; 5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director.

García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. The Generation of '27 was a group consisting of mostly poets who introduced the tenets of European movements (such as symbolism, futurism, and surrealism) into Spanish literature. He was executed by Nationalist forces at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. His body has never been found. In 2008, a Spanish judge opened an investigation into Lorca's death. The García Lorca family eventually dropped objections to the excavation of a potential gravesite near Alfacar, but no human remains were found.

According to Spanish naming customs, a person usually uses their father's surname as their main surname; as García is a very widely used name and Lorca is not, as is common in similar cases García Lorca is often referred to for short by his mother's less common surname "Lorca", rather than García. However, his name, by Spanish rules, should always be alphabetized under "G".

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern United States and is the United States' 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border in the Atlantic Ocean with Rhode Island, east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the north and Ontario to the west and north. The state of New York, with an estimated 19.8 million residents in 2015, is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City, the state's most populous city and its economic hub.

With an estimated population of nearly 8.5 million in 2014, New York City is the most populous city in the United States and the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States. The New York City Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City is a global city, exerting a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment, its fast pace defining the term New York minute. The home of the United Nations Headquarters, New York City is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural and financial capital of the world, as well as the world's most economically powerful city. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State. Two-thirds of the state's population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% live on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th century Duke of York, future King James II of England. The next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany.

Concert (disambiguation)

A concert is a form of musical performance.

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