Curated playlist
Jazz musicians from New York (state)
- Louis ArmstrongLouis Armstrong fired a blank from his stepfather's gun and spent the night in juvenile court.
- Woody AllenWoody Allen failed a film production course at New York University, then went on to direct Annie Hall.
- Ella FitzgeraldElla Fitzgerald walked onstage at the Apollo Theater planning to dance, then chose to sing. She was 17 in 1934.
- George GershwinGeorge Gershwin's last words were "Fred Astaire." He collapsed at age 38 while working on a film score.
- Aaron CoplandComposer Aaron Copland planned one year of study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger but stayed three.
- John WilliamsSteven Spielberg laughed at John Williams's two-note Jaws theme, thinking it was a joke.
- Sammy Davis Jr.Sammy Davis Jr. once answered a simple golf question with a line that became his signature. Playing a round with Jack Benny, he was asked what his handicap was. Davis replied, "Handicap?" and then went on: "Talk about handicap. I'm a…
- Norah JonesNorah Jones was born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar in Manhattan on the 30th of March 1979. At sixteen, with the consent of both parents, she made the shorter name official. By 2023, records sold under that name had passed 53 million…
- Alan GreenspanIn October 2008, Alan Greenspan told Congress his faith in free markets had a flaw.
- Kristin ChenowethKristin Chenoweth is 4 feet 11 inches tall, and as a child she sang a song about it. At the age of 12, she stood alone before the national conference of the Southern Baptist Convention and performed "Four Feet Eleven," an Evie song. Its…