What do Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, and James Brown have in common? They all won the Apollo Amateur Night in the early stages of their respective careers. Today, the theater will celebrate its 75th birthday and if you're fast enough, you might get the chance to be part of the celebration since the theater is giving away the first 75 tickets for just $7.50, AP reports today.

The Apollo was originally named Hurtig and Seamon's New Burlesque Theater and was built in 1914. It was 20 years later that Ralph Cooper, Sr. launched his Amateur Nite Hour which was a live version of his own radio show. Ella Fitzgerald was actually one of the first winners of the show and was followed by a who is who of the best jazz, soul, R&B artists ever. The Apollo nowadays also hosts regular concerts the last one I saw there was by super talented singer N'Dambi who used to sing backgrounds in Erykah Badu's band and who we feature also here on JazzRadio 101,9.

On Tuesday, saxophonist and flutist David "Fathead" Newman died at the age of 75 of pancreatic cancer. Newman died at a hospital in Kingston, New York. Ever since JazzRadio started, his recordings continuously were and still are a vital part of our playlist. Newman was best known for his work with the late Ray Charles who asked him to join his band back in 1954. Only five years later, he recorded his first solo album which had Charles as pianist. Newman was originally from Texas and his robust sound graced the recordings of Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Scott, Lee Morgan, Cal Tjader, Donny Hathaway and hundreds more. He came to Europe quiet often and was seen on stages in Montreux, London, The Hague, Paris and lots of other festivals. For a short run, Newman returned to Ray Charles in the 70s, but he mostly recorded under his own name for various labels throughout his long career. Starting in the early 80s, he began his fruitful stay at New York's Muse Records which later became HighNote Records which was his home label until his death. JazzRadio still features dozens of his recordings including his last one which was released last year called Diamondhead and which featured Curtis Fuller on trombone and Cedar Walton on piano.