Nino Rota was one of the most prolific and acclaimed film composers of his era, and his 30-year collaboration with Fellini became one of the classic director-composer pairings. His soundtrack credits range from Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" to Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet" to Francis Ford Coppo
The two-pronged talent of Louis Armstrong was one of the more joyous treasures to have come out of jazz -- his warm, jubilant vocals were as intricate and charismatic as his trumpeting. Raised in New Orleans in loving poverty by his grandmother, Armstrong organized a street performance group at ag
A minimalist jazz pianist who took bebop to even higher heights, Thelonious Sphere Monk was a unique character and a maverick in the music industry. How else can we describe a man who kept his grand piano in his kitchen? Not interested in using his music to please people, Monk strove to discover ways