July First
1915: Willie Dixon, American blues musician, born in Vicksburg, MS. 1967: Marisa Monte, singer, Tribalistas, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1999: Reggae star Dennis Brown died at University Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, of a collapsed lung. He was 43.

July Second
1945: Thomas Mapfumo, worldbeat singer, born in the town of Marondera, Zimbabwe. 1992: Camarón de la Isla, flamenco singer, died of lung cancer at age 41.

July Third
1935: Cheo Feliciano (Jose Luis Feliciano), romantic salsa vocalist, born in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

July Fourth
1929: Anescar do Salgueiro, Brazilian composer, born.

July Fifth
1943: Robbie Robertson, part Native American musician, born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 1992: Astor Piazzolla, the originator of the "nuevo tango," died.

July Sixth
1938: Franco, African guitarist, born in Sona-Bata, Zaire. 1971: Louis Armstrong, legendary jazz musician, regarded as the single most important figure of American music in the 20th century died short of his 70th birthday. 1978: Faudel Belloua, singer, born in Mantes-la-Jolie, France.

July Seventh
1932: Josef Zawinul, fusion musician, Weather Report, born in Vienna, Austria. 1961: Dougie Pincock, Celtic bagpipes player, born.

July Ninth
1901: Jorge Faraj (Jorge Vidal Faraj), Brazilian lyricist, born. 1935: Mighty Sparrow (Slinger Francisco), calypso singer, born in Grandroy Bay, Grenada, West Indies.

July Tenth
1958: Bela Fleck, bluegrass banjo player, born in New York, NY.

July Eleventh
1957: Michael Rose, reggae singer, Black Uhuru, born in Kingston, Jamaica. 1966: Cheb Mami (Khelifati Mohamed), Algerian rai singer, born in Saida, Algeria.

July Twelfth
1986: In South Africa, one thousand defied an emergency decree by singing banned songs at the funeral of five black officials killed by apartheid foes.

July Thirteenth
2003: Compay Segundo, vocalist-guitarist, died in Miramar, Cuba from compilations of a severe metabolism disorder and kidney failure at age 95.

July Fourteenth
1912: Woody Guthrie, folk singer, born in Okemah, Oklahoma. 1960: Angélique Kidjo, West African singer, born in Ouidah, Benin.

July Fifteenth
1975: Diana García-Pelayo, Spanish pop/rock singer, born.

July Sixteenth
1923: Bola Sete (Djalma de Andrade), Latin musician, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1942: Desmond Dekker, reggae musician, born in Jamaica. 1982: The first WOMAD (World Of Music Arts and Dance) festival was held in rural Shepton Mallet, England. Acts ranged from the Drummers of Burundi to Australian Aboriginal artists; from Indian masters Imrat Khan and L. Shankar to the Japanese Ondeko-Za group. 2003: Celia Cruz, known as the Queen of Salsa, died from cancer at her home in New Jersey. She was 77.

July Seventeenth
1917: Generoso "El Tojo" Jimenez, Latin musician, born in Cruces, Cuba. 1977: M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam), Sri Lanka-raised singer, born in Hounslow, London, UK.

July Eighteenth
1968: South Africa's Hugh Masekela was awarded a gold record for his breezy, Latin-soul instrumental, "Grazing In The Grass," after selling more than one million copies worldwide.

July Nineteenth
1996: Emmanuel Tettey 'E.T.' Mensah, African musician, died at the age of 78.

July Twentieth
1947: Carlos Santana, guitar-leader of Santana, born in Autlan de Navarro, Mexico. 1973: Susheela Raman, singer, born in London, England to South Indian parents.

July Twenty-first
1947: Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), singer, born in London, England. 1978: Damian Marley, reggae singer, born in Kingston, Jamaica.

July Twenty-second
1954: Al DiMeola, world fusion guitarist, born in Jersey City, NJ.

July Twenty-third
1947: L. Subramaniam, world fusion violinist, born in Madras, India.

July Twenty-fourth
1965: Sister Blade, African gospel singer, born in Frankfort, South Africa. 2002: West African singer Angélique Kidjo is appointed goodwill ambassador for the UN Children's Fund UNICEF.

July Twenty-fifth
1944: Marília Medalha, Brazilian singer, born.

July Twenty-sixth
1959: Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, Celtic fiddler, born.

July Twenty-eighth
19??: N'Faly Kouyate, kora player, Afro Celt Sound System, born. 1966: Jesus Cifuentes, Spanish musician, born.

July Twenty-ninth
1920: Anísio Silva, Brazilian musician, born. 1953: Anup Jaluta, Indian vocalist, born.

July Thirty-first
1953: Suru Ekeh, African percussionist, born in Lagos, Nigeri.