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Eunice Kathleen Waymon (21 February 1933 – 21 April 2003), better known by her stage name Nina Simone, was an American singer, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, soul, folk, rhythm and blues, gospel, and pop. Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on 21st February 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina, USA, one of eight children. Read more on Last.fm

Aretha Franklin (March 25, 1942 - August 16, 2018) was a Memphis, Tennessee born and Detroit, Michigan reared American iconic gospel, soul, and R&B singer, songwriter and pianist. Many have called her "The Queen Of Soul" and "Lady Soul". She is renowned for her soul and R&B recordings (on many, of which, she accompanied herself on keyboards and piano, a skill she learned at an early age, learning to play by ear, according to lifetime friend Smokey Robinson) but was also adept at jazz, rock, blues, pop, and gospel. Read more on Last.fm

James Holden is an electronic musician and tinkerer who has worn many hats across his twenty year musical career: producer, remixer, DJ, record label boss, synth maestro, band leader, mix engineer, software developer and all round jack of all vaguely musical trades. He lives in London with his partner (in life and business) Gemma, and their rescue Staffy Heidi. Holden was just nineteen years old and not quite finished university when he fell into a Read more on Last.fm

Massive Attack is an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles. The group consists of Del Naja and Marshall. Their debut album, "Blue Lines" (1991), is frequently cited as the first major work of the trip hop genre. The single "Unfinished Sympathy" achieved chart success in Europe, including reaching number one on the Dutch Top 40. Their second album Read more on Last.fm

Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer, and DJ who has been active in electronic music since 1988. His work incorporates a variety of styles, including techno, ambient, acid, and jungle. He is often associated with the intelligent dance music (IDM) genre. Several publications such as Mixmag, The New York Times, NME, Fact, Clash, and The Guardian have recognized him as an influential figure in contemporary electronic music. Read more on Last.fm

The Books was an American-Dutch duo, formed in New York City in 1999, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong. In early 2012, Nick Zammuto announced the end of the duo and the beginning of his solo project Zammuto. Subsequently, Paul de Jong released two solo albums. Zammuto and de Jong met through a friend in New York City. Sharing similar interests but different backgrounds in acoustic music and found sound, Zammuto and de Jong took their sonic experiments to the studio. Read more on Last.fm

A unique talent from Leeds. Easily seen as a novelty act or comic poet but theres an emotional and sometimes dark undercurrent! Read more on Last.fm

A Brazilian organist/composer who stumbled upon a gold mine in the 1960s, Walter Wanderley has been resurrected posthumously in the 1990s, a purveyor of lounge music for a young generation. Yet his sound on the organ, generated by a crisp, lightweight, staccato attack, can be mistaken for no one else's - and his choice of material showed much good taste, particularly when exploring his countrymen' s songs. Although his most popular records contained only a minimum of melodic jazz improvisation, he could stretch out when he wanted to. Read more on Last.fm

Devo are an American new wave band formed in Akron, Ohio in 1972. The band split in 1991 and returned in 1996. The band currently consists of Gerald Casale (vocals, bass), Mark Mothersbaugh (vocals, synthesizer), Bob Mothersbaugh (guitar), and Josh Freese (drums). Former members include Bob Casale (guitar, keyboards) (born July 14, 1952; died February 17, 2014) and Alan Myers (drums) (born 1955; died 2013). The band released their first album in 20 years, Something for Everybody on June 15, 2010. Read more on Last.fm