Page "Music of Maryland" Paragraph 25

Maryland has produced popular musicians from many fields, including doo wop and hardcore punk, as well as the gangsta rap of Tupac Shakur, the contemporary R & B of Toni Braxton and the pop of Cass Elliott.

Though doo wop can be traced to many urban areas across the United States, especially New York City, Sonny Til's 1946 band called The Vibranaires, later known as The Orioles, can be considered the first doo wop group.

The genre-crossing Frank Zappa was also from Maryland, as was Tupac Shakur, who was born in Harlem, though he began his career in Baltimore, eventually becoming one of the most famous rappers in hip hop history.

Maryland has also produced many renowned jazz musicians, such as Eubie Blake, Elmer Snowden and Billie Holiday.

The Urbanite magazine describes Baltimore jazz as variously a wildly varying array of styles or a " hard bop town, where R & B, gospel and bebop meet "; during the middle of the 20th century, Baltimore produced a vibrant local jazz tradition characterized by the use of the B3 organ.

Many modern Baltimorean jazz musicians are renowned saxophonists, including Gary Thomas, Gary Bartz and the Afro-Caribbean influenced TK Blue.

Internationally acclaimed jazz ensemble Fertile Ground lead by Baltimore native James H. Collins Jr. are also based in Baltimore.

Famed Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne lived in Baltimore.

Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Good Charlotte, All Time Low, and O. A. R.

are other popular American rock bands with strong ties to Maryland.