216th birthday of Alexandre Dumas

(Born 24 July 1802, Villiers-Cotterêts, France)

Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe

ONE of the preeminent luminaries of French letters, prolific across genres – novels, drama, travel books, history, journalism – with classics which include The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, Twenty Years Later, The Last Cavalier, Georges

(Miles Davis Quintet featuring Sonny Stitt, “Autumn leaves” [personnel: Davis, trumpet; Stitt, tenor saxophone; Wynton Kelly, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Jimmy Cobb, drums; recorded: live, L’Olympia, Paris, France, 11 October 1960])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

81st birthday of Ron Carter

(Born 4 May 1937, Ferndale, Michigan, US)

BASSIST, cellist, composer, bandleader, academic, arguably the most recorded jazz bassist and member of Miles Davis Second Great Quintet, 1963-1968 *****(Davis, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano; Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums)

(Miles Davis Quintet plays Ron Carter’s composition, “RJ” [personnel: Davis, trumpet; Shorter, tenor saxophone; Hancock, piano; Carter, bass; Williams, drums; recorded: Columbia Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, US, 20 January 1965])

*****Miles Davis First Great Quintet (1955-1958, full personnel: Davis, trumpet; John Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Red Garland, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums)

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

78th birthday of Herbie Hancock

(Born 12 April 1940, Chicago, US)

CHILD PRODIGY, very distinguished pianist, composer and bandleader, member of the Miles Davis Second Great Quintet***** of the 1960s (1964-1968, full personnel: Davis, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums), academic (Thelonious Monk Institute/Herb Alpert School of Music, University of California Los Angeles)

(Herbie Hancock Quintet, “The eye of the hurricane” [personnel: Hancock, piano; Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; George Coleman, tenor saxophone; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums; recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Englewoods Cliffs, NJ, US, 17 March 1965])

(Miles Davis Quintet, “All blues” [personnel: Davis, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Hancock, piano;  Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums; recorded: live, Teatro dell’Arte, Milan, Italy, 11 October 1964])

*****Miles Davis First Great Quintet (1955-1958, full personnel: Davis, trumpet; John Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Red Garland, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Philly Joe Jones, drums)

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

286th birthday of Benjamin Banneker

(Born 9 November 1731, Baltimore county, Maryland, US)

INFLUENTIAL African-centred mathematician, astronomer, inventor, author, surveyor, farmer, freedom exponent, who documents his astronomical discoveries in his widely-circulated almanacs as well  as correspondences with Thomas Jefferson (principal drafter of US constitution and future president) and others where he unambiguously asserts unfettered African freedom

(Miles Davis Quintet plays Wayne Shorter’s composition, “Footprints” [personnel: Davis, trumpet;  Shorter, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums; recorded: 30th Street Columbia Studio, New York, US, 24-25 October 1966])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

79th birthday of Alexander Obiefoka Animalu

(Born 28 August 1938, Okuzu, Biafra)

DISTINGUISHED theoretical physicist and expert on solar energy, professor emeritus, prolific multidisciplinary author whose publications include a set of biographical studies on leading Biafran intellectuals, one of which is on mathematician Chike Obi aptly subtitled: The foremost African mathematical genius of the 20th century

(Miles Davis Quintet, “Circle” [personnel: Davis, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums; recorded: Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York, US, 24-25 October 1966])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

77th birthday of Herbie Hancock

(Born 12 April 1940, Chicago, US)

CHILD PRODIGY, very distinguished pianist, composer and bandleader, member of the Miles Davis Second Great Quintet of the 1960s (full personnel: Davis, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums), academic (Thelonious Monk Institute/Herb Alpert School of Music, University of California Los Angeles)

(Herbie Hancock Quintet, “The eye of the hurricane” [personnel: Hancock, piano; Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; George Coleman, tenor saxophone; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums; recorded: Van Gelder Studio, Englewoods Cliffs, NJ, US, 17 March 1965])

(Miles Davis Quintet, “All blues” [personnel: Davis, trumpet; Wayne Shorter, tenor saxophone; Hancock, piano;  Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums; recorded: live, Teatro dell’Arte, Milan, Italy, 11 October 1964])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

85th birthday of Stuart Hall

(Born 3 February 1932, Kingston, Jamaica)

One of African British preeminent intellectuals – cultural theorist, editor, academic, radio & television analyst

(Miles Davis Quintet, “Sid’s ahead” [personnel: Davis, trumpet, piano; Julian  “Cannonball” Adderley, alto saxophone; John Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Paul Chambers, bass; Philly Joe Jones;, drums; recorded: Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York, US,  4 March 1958])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

74th birthday of Stanley Macebuh

(Born 28 December 1942, Aba, Biafra)

Celebrated cultural and literary critic and executive editor of The Guardian, Lagos, Nigeria, beginning February 1983, when he embarks on the  radical transformation of the focus and scope and qualitative threshold of journalism practice not seen in Africa’s southwestcentral region in 50 years

(Miles Davis Quintet plays Wayne Shorter’s composition, “Footprints” [personnel: Davis, trumpet; Shorter, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums; recorded: Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York, US, 24/25 October 1966])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe

285th birthday of Benjamin Banneker

(Born 9 November 1731, Baltimore county, Maryland, US)

Influential African-centred mathematician, astronomer, inventor, author, surveyor, farmer, freedom exponent, who documents his astronomical discoveries in his widely-circulated almanacs as well  as correspondences with Thomas Jefferson (principal drafter of US constitution and future president) and others where he unambiguously asserts unfettered African freedom

(Miles Davis Quintet plays Wayne Shorter’s composition, “Footprints” [personnel: Davis, trumpet;  Shorter, tenor saxophone; Herbie Hancock, piano; Ron Carter, bass; Tony Williams, drums; recorded: 30th Street Columbia Studio, New York, US, 24-25 October 1966])

Twitter @HerbertEkweEkwe