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Ballades (Ahmad Jamal Album)
''Ballades'' is the final album by American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. Consisting mostly of solo piano recordings, the album was recorded at the same time as the 2016 album ''Marseille''. Jamal wrote of the album, "It includes my solo version of “Poinciana”, recorded between takes during our session for “Marseille”. My original version remains one of the most successful recordings in the history of instrumental music; and one of the most plagiarized." Critical reception In a review for KCRW, Tom Schnabel writes, "Ballades was released only at the insistence of Jamal’s executive producer, Seydou Barry, and we are fortunate to have it. Solo piano distills Jamal’s genius to its essence—a distillation involving a lifetime of creative imagination and superb musicianship. It amounts to the full evolution of a life in music from one of our greatest musical artists." Dan Bilawsky writes for All About Jazz, "His calling cards—vamping moorings, dancing lines, intelligent rest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ahmad Jamal
Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones, July 2, 1930) is an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and educator. For six decades, he has been one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. Biography Early life Jamal was born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1930. He began playing piano at the age of three, when his uncle Lawrence challenged him to duplicate what he was doing on the piano. Jamal began formal piano training at the age of seven with Mary Cardwell Dawson, whom he describes as greatly influencing him. His Pittsburgh roots have remained an important part of his identity ("Pittsburgh meant everything to me and it still does," he said in 2001) and it was there that he was immersed in the influence of jazz artists such as Earl Hines, Billy Strayhorn, Mary Lou Williams, and Erroll Garner. Jamal also studied with pianist James Miller and began playing piano professionally at the age of fourteen, at which point he was recogni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
What's New?
What's New?" is a 1939 popular song composed by Bob Haggart, with lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was originally an instrumental tune titled "I'm Free" by Haggart in 1938, when Haggart was a member of Bob Crosby and His Orchestra. The tune was written with a trumpet solo, meant to showcase the talents of band-mate Billy Butterfield. Crosby's orchestra recorded "I'm Free" the same day it was written. The following year, the music publishers hired Johnny Burke to write lyrics for the tune. Burke's telling of the torch song is unique, using one side of a casual conversation between former lovers. Thus the song was retitled using the song's first line, "What's New?". The song was recorded with the new title in 1939 by Bob Crosby and His Orchestra with vocalist Teddy Grace. The song reached a peak chart position of #10. Bing Crosby recorded the song on June 30, 1939 with John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra and this was the biggest hit recording of the song, peaking at #2 during a 10 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musical keyboard, keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. It was invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700. Description The word "piano" is a shortened form of ''pianoforte'', the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from ''clavicembalo col piano e forte'' (key cimbalom with quiet and loud)Pollens (1995, 238) and ''fortepiano''. The Italian musical terms ''piano'' and ''forte'' indicate "soft" and "loud" respectively, in this context referring to the variations in volume (i.e., loudness) produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallichs. He is best known as a Tin Pan Alley lyricist, but he also composed music, and was a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as songs written by others from the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s. Mercer's songs were among the most successful hits of the time, including "Moon River", " Days of Wine and Roses", " Autumn Leaves", and " Hooray for Hollywood". He wrote the lyrics to more than 1,500 songs, including compositions for movies and Broadway shows. He received nineteen Oscar nominations, and won four Best Original Song Oscars. Early life Mercer was born in Savannah, Georgia, where one of his first jobs, aged 10, was sweeping floors at the original 1919 location of Leopold's Ice Cream. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Mandel
John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Diane Schuur and Shirley Horn. He won five Grammy Awards - from 17 nominations; his first nomination was for his debut film score for the multi-nominated 1958 film '' I Want to Live!'' Early life Mandel was born in the borough of Manhattan in New York City on November 23, 1925. His father, Alfred, was a garment manufacturer who ran Mandel & Cash; his mother, Hannah (Hart-Rubin), had aimed to be an opera singer and discovered her son had perfect pitch at the age of five. His family was Jewish. They moved to Los Angeles in 1934, after his father's business collapsed during the Great Depression. Mandel was given piano lessons, but switched to the trumpet and later the trombone. Career Mandel studied at the Manhattan School of Music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emily (1964 Song)
"Emily" is a popular song composed by Johnny Mandel, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was the title song to the 1964 film ''The Americanization of Emily.'' (The song wasn't sung in the movie, which is the reason that it couldn't be nominated for an Academy Award.) It has since been recorded by numerous artists, notably Bill Evans, Tony Bennett, and Barbra Streisand. Frank Sinatra recorded it twice, for his 1964 album '' Softly, as I Leave You'' and again in the 1970s for an unreleased album. His second recording was released on '' The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings''. Andy Williams released a version in 1964 as the B-side to his hit "Dear Heart" and it was also included in his album ''Andy Williams' Dear Heart'' (1965). Jack Jones for his album ''Dear Heart and Other Great Songs of Love'' (1965). Paul Desmond recorded the piece on his album '' Summertime''. "Emily" became particularly associated with Bill Evans, who recorded it for the first time for his 1967 album ''Furthe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Evans
William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block chords, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines continues to influence jazz pianists today. Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, United States, he was classically trained at Southeastern Louisiana University and the Mannes School of Music, in New York City, where he majored in composition and received the Artist Diploma. In 1955, he moved to New York City, where he worked with bandleader and theorist George Russell (composer), George Russell. In 1958, Evans joined Miles Davis's sextet, which in 1959, then immersed in modal jazz, recorded ''Kind of Blue'', the best-selling jazz album ever. In late 1959, Evans left the Miles Davis band and began his career as a leader, with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, a gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", " Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", and " My Funny Valentine". Life and career Hart was born in Harlem, New York City, the elder of two sons, to Jewish immigrant parents, Max M. and Frieda (Isenberg) Hart, of German background. Through his mother, he was a great-grandnephew of the German poet Heinrich Heine. His father, a business promoter, sent Hart and his brother to private schools. (His brother, Teddy Hart, also went into theatre and became a musical comedy star. Teddy Hart's wife, Dorothy Hart, wrote a biography of Lorenz Hart.) Hart received his early education from Columbia Grammar School and entered Columbia College in 1913, before switching to Columbia University School of Journalism, where he attended for two years.< ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American composers of the 20th century, and his compositions had a significant influence on popular music. Rodgers is known for his songwriting partnerships, first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and then with Oscar Hammerstein II. With Hart he wrote musicals throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including '' Pal Joey'', '' A Connecticut Yankee'', '' On Your Toes'' and '' Babes in Arms.'' With Hammerstein he wrote musicals through the 1940s and 1950s, such as ''Oklahoma!'', '' Flower Drum Song'', '' Carousel'', ''South Pacific'', ''The King and I'', and ''The Sound of Music''. His collaborations with Hammerstein, in particular, are celebrated for bringing the Broadway musical to a new maturity by telling stories that were focused on characters and drama rathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spring Is Here
"Spring is Here" is a 1938 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the musical '' I Married an Angel'' (1938), where it was introduced by Dennis King and Vivienne Segal. Rodgers and Hart had previously written a song entitled "Spring is Here in Person," which served as the title song for a 1929 Broadway production (filmed in 1930 - see '' Spring is Here (film)''). Theatrical producer Josh Logan, a longtime associate of Rodgers & Hart, would opine that "the most touching f Hart's lyricsare those about unrequited love ith the 1938 song'Spring is Here' eingone of the greatest examples". Hart had had a romantic interest in ''I Married an Angel'' leading lady Vivienne Segal who turned down more than one marriage proposal from him. Logan believed that Hart's lyrics for "Spring is Here" evoked the composer's disappointment over Segal's failure to reciprocate his interest. Notable recordings * Chet Baker – ''Deep in a Dream'' (2002, posthumo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Sharpe (songwriter)
John Rufus Sharpe III (October 31, 1909 – April 23, 1996) was an American songwriter, music publishing executive and author. He is best known for "So Rare", published in 1937, which he wrote with composer Jerry Herst. Sharpe was born in Berkeley, California, United States, the first of two children of John Rufus Sharpe Jr. and Regina Franvell Walshe. Although his father was not known to be musically inclined, that was not the case with his mother. She achieved some local renown for her operatic singing and she passed her love of music to her son. Sharpe was distantly related to the singer and entertainer Judy Canova. "So Rare" was a #2 hit in 1957 for Jimmy Dorsey, but it has been recorded by numerous artists including Carl Ravell and his Orchestra (1937), Gus Arnheim and his Coconut Grove Orchestra (1937), Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (1937), Andy Williams (1959), Ella Fitzgerald (1960) and Ray Conniff (1965). Sharpe and Herst have four collaborations listed at the pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Herst
Jerome Philip Herst (May 28, 1909, in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois – November 27, 1990, in Alameda, California), known as Jerry Herst, was a lawyer and a songwriter best known for his collaborations with Jack Sharpe on a number of compositions, notably "So Rare", a much-recorded song that was published in 1937. Early life In 1909, was born in Chicago to Abraham and Dora Schwartz. On December 24, 1947, he married Jeannde Lucille Taylor. Education His early education was in Townsend Hall in New York, followed by Western Military, in Alton Illinois. He attended college at Northwestern University and University of California, Berkeley. In 1934, he received his JD from University of California, Hastings College of Law, San Francisco. He studied music at the Conservatoire de Paris, and later studied composition privately with Joseph Schillinger, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Alexandre Tansman. Career Music While in college and law school he performed as a radio and night ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
