A New Orleans Jazz History, 1895-1927. Even before jazz, for most New Orleanians, music was not a luxury as it often is elsewhereâit was a necessity. Throughout the nineteenth century, diverse ethnic and racial groups â French, Spanish, and African, Italian, German, and Irish â found common cause in their love of music.
Edward Herrmann. Edward Herrmann -- perhaps best known for playing Richard Gilmore on  Gilmore Girls  -- died this morning in a hospital in New York. He was 71. Herrmann's family tells TMZ he had been battling brain cancer and had been in ICU for the last 3 1/2 weeks.
(CNN)Alan Rickman, the British actor with the unforgettable voice who played the brooding Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films as well as Die Hard villain Hans Gruber, died Thursday after a short battle with cancer, according to his representatives at Independent Talent Group. He was 69.