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Skylarkin' (Grover Washington Jr. Album)
''Skylarkin is a 1980 studio album by American jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. The record was released via Motown label. Reception A reviewer of Dusty Groove wrote "Sweet Motown grooving from Grover Washington – a set that has him working with slightly larger backings than his Kudu years, but in a way that still lets his soulful horn stand strongly out front! As always, Washington is a killer talent on the soprano sax – able to inflect the instrument with these soulful twists and turns that he virtually invented at the time, and which so many others have tried to copy over the years. Yet the set also has Grover on a bit of tenor and baritone sax, too – plus some flute – all over arrangements mostly handled by the man himself, with a bit of help from William Eaton". Track listing #"Easy Loving You" - 7:17 #"Bright Moments" (Roland Kirk) - 6:25 #"Snake Eyes" - 4:25 #"I Can't Help It" (Stevie Wonder, Susaye Greene) - 6:26 #"Love" (Ralph MacDonald, William Salter, Da ...
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Grover Washington Jr
Grover Washington Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre. He wrote some of his material and later became an arranger and producer. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Washington made some of the genre's most memorable hits, including "Mister Magic", "Reed Seed", "Black Frost", "Winelight", "Inner City Blues", "Let it Flow (For 'Dr. J')" and "The Best is Yet to Come". In addition, he performed very frequently with other artists, including Bill Withers on " Just the Two of Us", Patti LaBelle on "The Best Is Yet to Come" and Phyllis Hyman on "A Sacred Kind of Love". He is also remembered for his take on the Dave Brubeck classic "Take Five", and for his 1996 version of "Soulful Strut". Early life Washington was born in Buffalo, New York, United States, on December 12, 1943. His mother was a church choris ...
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Flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening. According to the instrument classification of Hornbostel–Sachs, flutes are categorized as edge-blown aerophones. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist or flutist. Flutes are the earliest known identifiable musical instruments, as paleolithic examples with hand-bored holes have been found. A number of flutes dating to about 53,000 to 45,000 years ago have been found in the Swabian Jura region of present-day Germany. These flutes demonstrate that a developed musical tradition existed from the earliest period of modern human presence in Europe.. Citation on p. 248. * While the oldest flutes currently known were found in Europe, Asia, too, has ...
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Oberheim Polyphonic Synthesizer
The Oberheim Polyphonic Synthesizer is a range of analog music synthesizers that was produced from 1975 to 1979 by Oberheim Electronics. It was developed by Tom Oberheim, and was the first production synthesizer capable of playing chords. Specification Oberheim took the idea and electronics of a Minimoog synthesizer and put them in a small box, making a few changes, and in 1974 introduced the SEM (Synthesizer Expander Module), which became the building block of his polyphonic synths. By strapping two, four, or eight of these SEMs together under keyboard control, he was able to create practical, albeit large, synthesizers that could play two, four, or eight notes simultaneously. The Oberheim Polyphonic Synthesizer was born. Each SEM in an Oberheim Polyphonic generates one voice (or note). There was an optional Polyphonic Synthesizer Programmer module (PSP-1) for the four- and eight-voice models with 16 memories, which allowed the user to store and recall some sound settings of ...
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Clavinet
The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds by a rubber pad striking a point on a tensioned string, and was designed to resemble the Renaissance-era clavichord. Although originally intended for home use, the Clavinet became popular on stage, and could be used to create electric guitar sounds on a keyboard. It is strongly associated with Stevie Wonder, who used the instrument extensively, particularly on his 1972 hit "Superstition", and was regularly featured in rock, funk and reggae music throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Modern digital keyboards can emulate the Clavinet sound, but there is also a grass-roots industry of repairers who continue to maintain the instrument. Description The Clavinet is an electromechanical instrument that is usually used in conjunction with a keyboard amplifier. Most models have 60 keys ra ...
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Paul Griffin (musician)
Paul Griffin (August 6, 1937 – June 14, 2000) was an American pianist and session musician who recorded with hundreds of musicians from the 1950s to the 1990s. Career Born in Harlem, New York, he began as the touring pianist in the backing band for King Curtis and eventually worked with Bob Dylan, Steely Dan, Don McLean, the Isley Brothers, Van Morrison, the Shirelles, and Dionne Warwick. He may be best known for his colourful and distinctive playing on the Bob Dylan albums ''Highway 61 Revisited'' and ''Blonde on Blonde'', and also on Steely Dan's '' Aja''. He is extensively featured playing a virtuoso performance of gospel piano on Don McLean's single, " American Pie" He is credited as co-author of the song "The Fez" on Steely Dan's '' The Royal Scam''. He was an arranger for '' The Warriors'' (1979) and '' Four Friends'' (1981) and performed in ''On Location: Robert Klein at Yale'' (1982) and on the soundtrack for '' Blue Sunshine'' (1976). He died of a heart attack ...
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Jorge Dalto
Jorge Dalto (July 8, 1948 – October 27, 1987) was a pop, jazz and Afro-Cuban music pianist from Argentina, and the former musical director and keyboardist (together with Ronnie Foster) for George Benson, contributing the acoustic piano intro and solo to Benson's 1976 Grammy-winning hit version of Leon Russell's "This Masquerade". He also performed with Tito Puente, Grover Washington, Spyro Gyra, Fuse One, Gato Barbieri, Willie Colon and others. He died of cancer at the age of 39. Dalto's wife, Adela, is a jazz singer. His son, Billy, served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007. Discography As leader *1976: ''Chevere'', with Adela Dalto (vocals), Bernard Purdie (drums), Ronnie Foster (keyboards), Tom Malone (trombone), Jerry Dodgion (alto, flute), Ernie Royal (trumpet), Victor Paz (trumpet), Rubén Blades *1983: ''Rendezvous'', with David Sanborn (alto sax), Bob Mintzer (tenor sax), Tom Browne (trumpet), Artie Webb (flute), George Benson (guitar), ...
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Alex Otey
Alex Otey (born 1959) is a singer-songwriter, music producer, pianist, and trumpeter. He has performed with jazz musicians such as Richie Cole and Lew Soloff, and recorded with Grover Washington Jr. on the 1979 ''Skylarking'' album. He has produced, arranged, and co-written five albums by children's singer-songwriter Miss Amy, and released the albums on his label Ionian Productions. The fifth of these albums, ''Fitness Rock & Roll,'' was nominated in the 54th Grammy Awards, and ''Healthy Food For Thought: Good Enough To Eat'' was nominated the year before. He also appears on the 54th Grammy winning album, ''All About Bullies... Big And Small''. He performs frequently with Miss Amy & Her Big Kids Band, and in 2013 released an album entitled ''Angels Riding Shotgun'' with Americana rock band Off the Map, which features the same line-up of musicians. Otey also performs popular vocal jazz as a soloist and with The Alex Otey Trio. Early life, education Alex V. Otey was born in 1959 ...
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Jon Faddis
Jon Faddis (born July 24, 1953) is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator, renowned for both his playing and for his expertise in the field of music education. Upon his first appearance on the scene, he became known for his ability to closely mirror the sound of trumpet icon Dizzy Gillespie, who was his mentor along with pianist Stan Kenton and trumpeter Bill Catalano. Biography Jon Faddis was born in Oakland, California, United States. At 18, he joined Lionel Hampton's big band before joining the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra as lead trumpet. After playing with Charles Mingus in his early twenties, Faddis became a noted studio musician in New York City, appearing on many pop recordings in the late 1970s and early 1980s. One such recording was "Disco Inferno" with the Players Association in which he plays trumpet recorded in 1977 on the LP ''Born to Dance''. In the mid-1980s, he left the studios to continue to pursue his solo career, which res ...
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Syndrum
The Pollard Syndrum is the first commercially available electronic drum, invented by Joe Pollard and Mark Barton in 1976. There were 3 major types: The Syndrum 1, the Syndrum TwinDrum, and the Syndrum Quad, the last being the most famous. At the time of its conception, Pollard was a session drummer working for the Beach Boys and the Grass Roots. In 1976, he met Barton, who had designed and built some working prototypes which were previewed to some prominent drummers. Their reactions were encouraging, so Joe, Mark and Donald Stone incorporated Pollard Industries and starting selling Syndrums in Culver City, California. There were two models sold at the time, the single drum 177 and the four drum 477. Syndrums were a musical success with a surplus of endorsees, but a financial failure for the young company. Legacy Although the Syndrum was capable of many different sounds, the one favored by most recording artists was a sine wave that pitch-bends down; it can be heard at the beginni ...
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Idris Muhammad
Idris Muhammad ( ar, إدريس محمد; born Leo Morris; November 13, 1939 – July 29, 2014) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He had an extensive career performing jazz, funk, R&B, and soul music and recorded with musicians such as Ahmad Jamal, Lou Donaldson, Pharoah Sanders, Bob James, and Tete Montoliu. Biography Born Leo Morris in New Orleans, Idris Muhammad grew up in the city's 13th Ward in a home next door to a dry cleaner’s shop. He later would claim the sound of the shop’s steam presser influenced his hi-hat technique. Growing up, he spent time with fellow New Orleanians The Neville Brothers. Also interested in other instruments, he showed early talent as a percussionist, playing in a Mardi Gras parade at age 9. Muhammad asked Paul Barbarin to teach him to read music but Barbarin, who thought he was already so talented, declined. At the age of 14, Muhammad began his professional career by performing with The Hawketts on their iconic recordi ...
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Marcus Miller
William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work as a bassist. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonist David Sanborn, among others. He was the main songwriter and producer on three of Davis' albums: '' Tutu'' (1986), ''Music from Siesta'' (1987), and '' Amandla'' (1989). His collaboration with Vandross was especially close; he co-produced and served as the arranger for most of Vandross' albums, and he and Vandross co-wrote many of Vandross' songs, including the hits " I Really Didn't Mean It", " Any Love", "Power of Love/Love Power" and "Don't Want to Be a Fool". He also co-wrote the 1988 single "Da Butt" for Experience Unlimited. Early life William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on June 14, 1959. He grew up in a musical family; his father, William Miller, was a church organ ...
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Eric Gale
Eric Gale (September 20, 1938 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. ''Early life and career'' Born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, Gale grew up in a diverse household. His paternal grandfather was from Yorkshire, England. He had extended family in Barbados and Venezuela. Gale often visited the U.K. and Venezuela as an adolescent, which influenced his style into adulthood. He was fluent in Spanish. Gale started playing the guitar at age 12. At that time, he skipped junior high school. Soon after, in high school, he visited John Coltrane's home after school and sat in on jam sessions, which inspired Gale's readily recognizable style. Gale received his Master of Science in chemistry at Niagara University. He was also on the football team. Later, Gale was pursued by Frank Sinatra to work on the hit song "My Way", as mentioned in Frank Sinatra's autobiography. Gale decided to pursue a musical career full-time instead of getting his Ph.D. in Chemi ...
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