Which musicians from the pre-rock era are still performing today?

I was gonna say Roger Williams, but the AMG sez he too started in '55.

Patti Page is 80. Her first album was in '51.

Chris Barber (77)

a jazz trombonist who led his first band in 1949.

Les Paul still plays every week in NYC, right?

Al Martino's still alive? Whoa.

The Beverley Sisters (78/75/75) are still going, just.

Ray Price signed with Columbia in 1951.

Go Patti! Alhough she doesn't turn 80 until November.

I'm particularly wondering about country artists...

Ralph Stanley is 80

Bobby Bland
BB King
Texas Johnny Brown

Pete Seeger is 88.

Sonny Rollins is 76.

Also, Fats Domino is definitely still around at 79, Hurricane Katrina and all.

Calvin Owens (who initially joined B.B. King's band in '53) is 78.

On the expatriate Brit-based jazz trumpeter front, both Kenny Wheeler and Harry Beckett are 77.

Lol Coxhill is 75.

Gospel act The Dixie Hummingbirds formed in 1928 and are still active, although not with the original members. Ira Tucker, however, has been in the group since 1938.

British jazz is actually quite a fertile ground. Stan Tracey is 82 and Don Rendell 86.

xpost Similarly, Clarence Fountain and Jimmy Carter have both been in the Blind Boys of Alabama since 1939.

Dave Brubeck is 86.

Hackberry Ramblers have been around since '33 and are still led by founding members Luderin Darbone and Edwin Duhon. I think they might have the all-time record.

Lloyd Price is 74 (his first single was in '52)

Annie Ross is 76 (her first solo album, pre-Lambert/Hendricks/Ross, was recorded in 1952).

Charlie Louvin

jazz pianist Hank Jones (89)is playing NYC this week

porter wagoner

Jazz drummer - Roy Haynes (80)

Jean Shepard is 73 and apparently still performing. How many of these people listed are performing regularly, though (unless otherwise noted)? Also Little Jimmy Dickens, 86.

Cachao Lopez is 89, I think, and still kicking. Best bass player I've ever seen.

Harry Belafonte and Odetta.

Pinetop Perkins is 94 and still tours.

Earl Mofo Scruggs.

And Jesse McReynolds, of the early bluegrass duo Jim & Jesse, still tours the festival circuit. Has J&J's awesome album of Chuck Berry covers ever made it to CD?

Omara Portuondo is 77, debuted professionally in 1945, played the Vienna Jazz Festival earlier this month.

Hank Jones is 88.

"little" jimmy scott - 82 years young.

Ornette Coleman (77)

His first record was in 1958, after the rock-era start date posited in the first post.

Country who might fit:

Ralph Stanley (80)
Jeanne Ritchie (85)
Porter Wagoner
Lil Jimmie Dickens
Wilma Lee Cooper

Wade Mainer played banjo at his 100th birthday party this spring, over seventy years after making his recorded debut (1935-ish) with his brother's Mountaineers. He was born two years before Maybelle Carter, which is mind-boggling.

http://jazz.com/page/2008/7/5/octojazzarians

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090615/LIVING/90615001/1032/Jazz+festival++Anderson+can+still+thrill+at+80

Michael Buble (kidding.. ) :)

Was about to write Yehudi Menuhin, but I see he died this year.

Les Paul still plays every week in NYC, right?

― tylerw, Friday, 6 July 2007 15:33 (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yup, passed his club on Times Square about a month ago. Still on the bill...

this thread is a regular dead pool, isn't it? a few country stars (aside from those mentioned above) are still active:

Bobby Osborne (79)(of the Osborne Brothers) performs without his brother now & still has that wonderfully smooth tenor voice.

Wanda Jackson (73) began recording country music in 1954, so she counts.

Jimmy C. Newman (83) still performs at the Opry every week.

Jim Smoak (a fiddler for Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys, who also recorded some Cajun-inflected bluegrass with his own group) is 77.

the country siblings The Browns (78, 76, and 73) still perform together occasionally, but the youngest one doesn't count b/c she debuted in 1955.

Ray Price is 85 and still touring.

Curly Seckler (91) has been performing since 1935 and has worked with just about every bluegrass legend you can name.

Kitty Wells (91) Johnnie Wright (96) have been married for 73 years, but they haven't performed live in over a decade, so to hell with them (kidding).

old bluegrass dude Mac Wiseman (85) apparently stopped touring in 2007.

one of the Andrews Sisters (Patty, age 92) is still alive, but she doesn't, like, do anything.

I don't remember when his debut was, but Mose Allison is still touring.

Mose Allison's first lp was in '57, but he was already 30, and probably had been at it for awhile then.

Might not exactly fit the description, but Quincy Jones got his start with Dizzy Gillespie in '55 or '56.

Is Dick Raaymakers still composing?

Or Morton Subotnick?

Morton Subotnick is not only still composing, he's playing Silver Apples of the Moon live here in Vienna next week.

I was about to suggest Dean Martin, but then got surprised when I found he had been dead for 15 years......

... news takes a while to reach the frozen wastes of Norway

RIP most of the people mentioned in this thread

But Tony Bennett thrives on.

So happy I got to see Mel Torme perform in the twilight of his career. He still sounded incredible.

Abbey Simon (97), pianist.

Jazz drummer - Roy Haynes (80)

― earlnash, Friday, July 6, 2007 9:59 PM (nine years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Jazz drummer - Roy Haynes (92)

(i know that doesn't seem to make sense but earl was underestimating)

And Viola Smith (104), one of the first female big band drummers, still performs it seems.

Sonny Rollins is 86. Apparently, he hasn't played out since 2012 -- he's had respiratory issues due to his proximity to Ground Zero.

Marshall Allen is 93 and tirelessly leading the Sun Ra Arkestra.