R.I.P: Manny Green

The big-band leader Manny Green died July 30th in Houston, Texas, at the age of 86. Green had started his career at age 16 as a singer in the band of the pianist Peck Kelley. His big-band, which he had founded in 1948, belonged to the most popular dance orchestras in Texas in the 50s and 60s. Green only gave up music in 2006 when his fight against lung cancer made him oxygen-dependent. Obituary: Houston Chronicle .