May 8
LOUIS MOREAU GOTTSCHALK (May 8, 1829)
May 8 is the birthday of America's first international musical superstar LOUIS MOREAU GOTTSCHALK (1829-1869).
Gottschalk, who has half Creole, was America's first international musical superstar. When he was 13, Gottschalk, who was half-Creole, left New Orleans for Europe to pursue his musical studies.
"After Gottschalk returned to the United States in 1853, he traveled extensively; a sojourn in Cuba during 1854 was the beginning of a series of trips to Central and South America. Gottschalk also traveled to Puerto Rico after his Havana debut and at the start of his West Indian period. He was quite taken with the music he heard on the island, so much so that he composed a work, probably in 1857, entitled Souvenir de Porto Rico; Marche des gibaros, Op. 31. 'Gibaros' refers to the jíbaros, or Puerto Rican peasantry, and is an antiquated way of writing this name. The theme of the composition is a march tune which may be based on a Puerto Rican folk song form." (Wikipedia)
MARY LOU WILLIAMS (May 8, 1910)
May 8 is the birthday of American pianist and composer MARY LOU WILLIAMS (1910-1981).
"Anything you are shows up in your music - jazz is whatever you are, playing yourself, being yourself, letting your thoughts come through."
Williams, "The Lady Who Swings the Band," was pianist for Kansas City jazz band Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy. She made many recordings with the group throughout the 1930s. By the late 40s, Williams was composing more classical-influenced works. In 1954 she converted to Catholicism and started composing highly-regarded sacred music, including a Mass for Peace and Black Christ of the Andes, based on a hymn in honor of the Peruvian saint Martin de Porres.
DAVID ATTENBOROUGH (b. 1922)
Happy Birthday, DAVID ATTENBOROUGH!! The English environmentalist and television host is 99-years-old today. Woo Hoo!!! 🌎 🏜️ 🐅 🌲 🐻 🏔️ 🐻❄️ 🐋 🌊 🥳 🎁
“The fact is that no species has ever had such wholesale control over everything on earth, living or dead, as we now have. That lays upon us, whether we like it or not, an awesome responsibility. In our hands now lies not only our own future, but that of all other living creatures with whom we share the earth.”
Attenborough "is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature documentary series forming the Life collection, a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on Earth.
Attenborough was a senior manager at the BBC, having served as controller of BBC Two and director of programming for BBC Television in the 1960s and 1970s. First becoming prominent as host of Zoo Quest in 1954, his filmography as writer, presenter and narrator has spanned eight decades; it includes Natural World, Wildlife on One, the Planet Earth franchise, The Blue Planet and its sequel. He is the only person to have won BAFTA Awards in black and white, colour, high-definition, 3D and 4K resolution. Over his life he has collected dozens of honorary degrees and awards, including three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Narration.
While Attenborough's earlier work focused primarily on the wonders of the natural world, his later work has been more vocal in support of environmental causes. He has advocated for restoring planetary biodiversity, limiting population growth, switching to renewable energy, mitigating climate change, reducing meat consumption and setting aside more areas for natural preservation." (Wikipedia)
JEAN GIRAUD better known as MOEBIUS (May 8, 1938)
May 8 is the birthday of legendary French sci fi and fantasy artist JEAN GIRAUD better known as MOEBIUS (1938-2012).
"I consider him more important than Doré. He's a unique talent endowed with an extraordinary visionary imagination that's constantly renewed and never vulgar. Moebius disturbs and consoles. He has the ability to transport us into unknown worlds where we encounter unsettling characters. My admiration for him is total. I consider him a great artist, as great as Picasso and Matisse." - Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini
Giraud "was a French artist, cartoonist and writer who worked in the Franco-Belgian bandes dessinées (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim predominantly under the pseudonym Mœbius for his fantasy/science-fiction work, and to a slightly lesser extent as Gir, which he used for the Blueberry series and his other Western themed work. Esteemed by Federico Fellini, Stan Lee, and Hayao Miyazaki, among others, he has been described as the most influential bande dessinée artist after Hergé." (Wikipedia)
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THIS DAY IN HISTORY
JULIAN OF NORWICH
On May 8, 1373, English mystic JULIAN OF NORWICH, while sick and bedridden, experienced visions which she described in her "Revelations of Divine Love."
“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”
Julian "was an anchoress from at least the 1390s. Living in her cell, she would have played an important part within her community, devoting herself to a life of prayer to complement the clergy in their primary function as protectors of souls. Her solitary life would have begun after the completion of an onerous selection process. An important church ceremony would have taken place at St Julian's Church, in the presence of the bishop. During the ceremony, psalms from the Office of the Dead would have been sung for Julian (as if it were her funeral), and at some point she would have been led to her cell door and into the room beyond. The door would afterwards have been sealed up, and she would have remained in her cell for the rest of her life." Wikipedia)