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Friday, May 15, 2015

Robert Drasnin (17 November 1927 - 13 May 2015) was a composer and clarinet player.

Robert Drasnin was born on 17 November 1927 in Charleston, West Virginia. At an early age Drasnin was interested in the Clarinet so he took lessons but when his family moved to Los Angeles he wasn't to start until 1938. He attended Franklin Avenue Grammar School in East Hollywood and then Thomas Starr King Junior High and eventually Los Angeles High School in which he joined the American Federation of Musicians. Drasnin went into the Army after graduation. Robert Drasnin spent the vast majority of his career in music composing for films and television shows. He composed or supervised scores for well over 100 films and TV shows. In 1955 Drasnin scored the film One Way Ticket To Hell. Drasnin later went on to score incidental music for such notable TV shows as The Twilight Zone, Mission: Impossible, Wild, Wild West, Hawaii Five-0, Time Tunnel, Lost In Space, Mannix, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea. Robert Drasnin served as music supervisor for such TV shows as Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, The Twilight Zone and a host of made for TV movies. Dionysus Records announced that Robert Drasnin passed away on May 13, 2015.

WIKIPEDIA VIDEO: An overview of the career of Robert Drasnin, 2008 inductee in the Wesy Virginia Music Hall of Fame. For more information go to www.wvmusichalloffame.com. 

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Thursday, May 14, 2015

Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known by his stage name B.B. King, was an American blues musician, singer, songwriter, and guitarist.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No. 6 on its 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time (previously ranked No. 3 in the 2003 edition of the same list), and he was ranked No. 17 in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". According to Edward M. Komara, King "introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that would influence virtually every electric blues guitarist that followed." King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. King was also inducted into 2014 class of the R&B Music Hall of Fame. He is considered one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, earning the nickname "The King of Blues", and one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and Freddie King). King was also known for performing tirelessly throughout his musical career, appearing at 250–300 concerts per year until his seventies. In 1956 it was noted that he appeared at 342 shows. King continued to appear at 100 shows a year through the end of his career.
 

WIKIPEDIA

VIDEO: B.B. King plays live guitar solo. This came from the extras on the DVD The Road to Memphis:

 

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Rolf Smedvig, Trumpeter in the Empire Brass, Dies at 62

Rolf Smedvig, a virtuoso classical trumpeter who helped found the Empire Brass, a renowned quintet whose repertory extends from the Renaissance to the Jazz Age, died on Monday at his home in West Stockbridge, Mass. He was 62. The cause was a heart attack, said his manager, Mark Z. Alpert.

NYTimes Obit     Managment       

Discography:     Rolf Smedvig

 VIDEO: Rolf Smedvig - Haydn Trumpet Concerto Mov. III