Rocky was released on this date in 1976. The Rocky movies have not only been a source for inspiration for athletes, but have had great music, including “Eye of the Tiger,” to accompany the victories and defeats of the “Italian Stallion.”

In honor of all the Rocky flicks, let’s watch videos of some of those inspiring tunes and movie moments.

The Rocky IV soundtrack is one of my favorite soundtrack, and it includes “Living in America,” “No Easy Way Out,” “Burning Heart,” and “Hearts on Fire”

And here’s the theme and the inspiring scene that started it all. Even after 33 years, Rocky’s triumph is still cool!

“Gonna Fly Now”

Today, November 17th, albums were released by three excellent voices in music: Norah Jones (a full review will be posted soon), John Mayer, and Leona Lewis.

Here’s a taste of what you’ll hear on the albums The Fall and Echo.

Chasing Pirates by Norah Jones

Happy by Leona Lewis

Here’s an interview with John Mayer talking about his new album Battle Studies.

Just came across the song “I Wonder Why?” by Harmonica Shah. (It’s currently the Free Discovery Download on iTunes.) This guy is smokin’!

Check him out:

Grammy winner Bryan Adams was born on November 5, 1959 in Ontario. Although “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” is a song I really hate, and I haven’t liked much of his stuff after that, Reckless was a good rockin’ album, and “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” is a great song. The line When you can see your unborn children in her eyes is really something and Paco de Lucía’s Spanish guitar on the song is fabulous.

Here are some of Bryan’s great songs (in my book):

Heaven

Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?

Summer of ‘69

The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You

It’s Only Love (with Tina Turner)

Carlos Santana was born in Mexico and came to San Francisco as a teenager. In San Francisco, he was introduced to jazz, world, and folk music. Santana decided to become a full-time musician in 1966 and formed the Santana Blues Band with fellow street musicians keyboardist Gregg Rolie and bassist David Brown.

With its original blend of Latin-infused rock, jazz, blues, and African rhythms, the band, (which became known simply as Santana) gained a following in the San Francisco club scene. The band’s memorable performance at Woodstock in 1969 led to a recording contract with Columbia Records. Watch that performance below.

The band’s unique sound features Carlos’ melodic, blues-based guitar set against Latin percussion, such as timbales and congas. In 2003, Rolling Stone named Carlos Santana number 15 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Black Magic Woman

Oye Como Va

Evil Ways

Samba Pa Ti

Celia Cruz, The Queen of Salsa, was born on this day, October 21st, in 1925. and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, with 23 gold albums. She’s also know as “La Guarachera de Cuba.”

“Cruz is indisputably the best known and most influential female figure in the history of Cuban music.” Celia Cobo, Billboard Magazine

Watch some of Celia’s performances below:

Perez Prado

Tito Puentes

Generacion del 80

Desi Arnaz (Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III) was a Cuban-American musician, actor, and TV producer (Our Miss Brooks, The Andy Griffith Show, The Untouchables, and Star Trek).

He arrived in the U.S. in the 30’s, starred on Broadway and in movies, and played guitar in Xavier Cugat’s band. In the 40s, he formed his own Latin orchestra and launched the conga craze in America.

And in 1951, with his wife Lucille Ball and their show I Love Lucy, he played a fictional version of himself, Ricky Ricardo. On the show, he sang, dance, and played the conga drums and the guitar.

Some of his hits include “Babalu,” “Rumba Matumba,” ” and “El Cumbanchero.”

Babalu

In Santiago, Chile (‘Tain’t Chilly at All)

Cuban Pete (with Lucy)

Chico (Artuto) O’Farrill, a composer, arranger, bandleader, and trumpeter, was one of the leaders in the emergence of Afro-Cuban Jazz in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He arrived in New York City from Cuba when Machito and Dizzy Gillespie were blending bebop and Cuban music. O’Farrill quickly became a key figure in the movement. He preferred jazz over the Cuban music he had experienced before arriving in the U.S. and exposure to the new sounds helped him shape his musical ideas.

He worked as an arranger with Benny Goodman, and also wrote the popular “Undercurrent Blues” for the band. He also worked with other arrangers including Quincy Jones.

His first major contribution to Afro-Cuban Jazz was a recording session for Machito in 1950. O’Farrill’s The Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite is regarded as an important transition in adapting Cuban music to a modern jazz big band. It featured Charlie Parker, Flip Phillips, and Buddy Rich. He described Afro-Cuban Jazz as “a very delicate marriage,” in which each aspect of the music had to be held in proper balance.

Chico’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite

As well as leading his own band, he composed The Manteca Suite for Dizzy Gillespie in 1955, expanding the trumpeter’s famous 1947 hit “Manteca.” O’Farrill also arranged for Stan Kenton and Stan Getz.

He left the USA in 1955. He returned to Cuba, then moved to Mexico in 1957, where he remained until 1965, recording and working with local bands. His compositions from this period include The Aztec Suite for trumpeter Art Farmer.

He reunited with Machito and Gillespie in 1975 for an album, Afro- Cuban Jazz Moods. In 1995, he wrote a commissioned piece for Lincoln Center, featuring Wynton Marsalis, and led his own big band in a weekly residence at NYC’s Birdland, with his son, pianist Arturo O’Farrill, who has taken over conducting the band.

Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

In 2002, Arturo created The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra for Jazz at Lincoln Center. I went to see Arturo and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra last year at Birdland and I was very impressed. The band was comprised of both young and seasoned musicians. Arturo’s teenage sons are also quite talented and performed on one song a piece. Arturo has continued where his father left off. As an educator, he has certainly inspired many young musicians and turned them on to the music that perhaps their grandparents grew up with. His latest release Song For Chico won a Gammy for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2008.

Interview with Arturo O’Farrill

The Cuban musicians Mario Bauzá and Machito played a huge role in the history of Latin jazz. Machito’s bands of the 1940s, especially the Afro-Cubans, were among the first to fuse Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz improvisation. Machito was the singer, conductor, and maraca player of the Afro-Cubans. Machito’s brother-in-law Mario Bauza was the musical director of the band.

Mario Bauzá

(Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo) “Machito” and His Afro-Cubans