Died On This Date (July 26, 1995) Laurindo Almeida
themusicsover Laurindo Almeida
September 2, 1917 – July 26, 1995
Laurindo Almeido was a world-class Brazilian guitarist. Almeida was one of the most popular Spanish guitarist performing in and around Rio de Janeiro when he was invited to join Stan Kenton’s band in 1947. After he moved to America, Almeido played with Kenton and became an in-demand session player. Almeido’s guitar work can be heard in many classic films including The Godfather, Camelot, A Star Is Born, and The Old Man And The Sea. He recorded many albums throughout his career, with a handful of them winning him Grammy awards. Laurindo Almeido passed away on July 26, 1995 at the age of 77.
Known as the “Little Giant,” Johnny Griffin was a tenor saxophonist of the bop and hard bop idioms of jazz. Griffin began playing music while in school, and was playing in a band with 
Hiram Bullock, known to David Letterman fans as the “barefoot guitarist” in Paul Shaffer’s World’s Dangerous Band has passed away on July 25, 2008 after battling throat cancer for several months. Besides his work on the Letterman show, Bullock lent his talents to recordings by some of music’s greatest artists. He can be heard on Sting’s Nothing Like The Sun, Paul Simon’s One Trick Pony, and Billy Joel’s The Stranger. Bullock also released several of his own albums throughout his career. He was 52 when he passed away.
