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Bang On!
''Bang On!'' is an album by violinist Billy Bang. It was recorded on April 21 and 23, 1997, at Sound on Sound Studios in New York City, and was released later that year by Justin Time Records. On the album, which features a blend of jazz standards and original compositions, Bang is joined by pianist D. D. Jackson, double bassist Akira Ando, and drummer Ronnie Burrage. Reception In a review for AllMusic, Michael G. Nastos stated that the album "shows angbalancing music both inside and out," and wrote: "This is Billy Bang's finest recorded hour -- a hallmark for modern jazz violin in the 1990s, and a strong candidate for best jazz CD of 1997." The authors of ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings'' awarded the album a full 4 stars, calling it "a complete surprise," and "by far the straightest and most mainstream sound Bang has ever committed to record." They described Jackson as "superb," while Barrage "deserves to be better known." Writing for ''JazzTimes'', Fred Bouchard noted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Bang
Billy Bang (September 20, 1947 – April 11, 2011), born William Vincent Walker, was an American free jazz violinist and composer. Biography Bang's family moved to New York City's Bronx neighborhood while he was still an infant, and as a child he attended a special school for musicians in nearby Harlem.Hull, Tom (October 3, 2005)"Billy Bang Is in the House" ''The Village Voice''. Retrieved July 17, 2007. . At that school, students were assigned instruments based on their physical size. Bang was fairly small, so he received a violin instead of either of his first choices, the saxophone or the drums. It was around this time that he acquired the nickname of "Billy Bang", derived from a popular cartoon character.Kelsey, Chris. "Billy Bang – Biography" Allmusic. Retrieved July 17, 2007. Bang studied the violin until he earned a hardship scholarship to the Stockbridge School in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, at which point he abandoned the instrument because the school did not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Bernie
Benjamin Anzelevitz, known professionally as Ben Bernie (May 30, 1891 – October 20, 1943),DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 32. was an American jazz violinist, bandleader, and radio personality, often introduced as "The Old Maestro". He was noted for his showmanship and memorable bits of snappy dialogue, being part of the first generation of "stars" of American popular music, alongside other artists such as Paul Whiteman (a fellow violinist and bandleader), Ted Lewis (musician), Ted Lewis and Al Jolson. Career Early years Bernie was born Benjamin Anzelevitz in Bayonne, New Jersey, Bayonne, New Jersey. He attended Columbia University and the New York College of Music. By the age of 15 he was teaching violin, but this experience apparently diminished his interest in the violin for a time. Bernie performed in vaudeville, appearing with Charles Klass as The Fidd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1997 Albums
Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 16 – Murder of Ennis Cosby: Near Interstate 405 (California) on a Los Angeles freeway, Bill Cosby's son Ennis is shot in the head in a failed robbery attempt. * January 17 – A Delta II rocket carrying a military GPS payload explodes, shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral. * January 18 – In northwest Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 6 Spanish aid workers and three soldiers, and seriously wound another. * January 19 – Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years, and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city. (→ Hebron Agreement) * January 23 – Madeleine Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State of the United States, after confirmation by the United States Senat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raised in North Carolina, after graduating from high school Coltrane moved to Philadelphia, where he studied music. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of Modal jazz, modes and was one of the players at the forefront of free jazz. He led at least fifty recording sessions and appeared on many albums by other musicians, including trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk. Over the course of his career, Coltrane's music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension, as exemplified on his most acclaimed album ''A Love Supreme'' (1965) and others. Decades after his death, Coltrane remains influential, and he has received numerous posthumous awards, including a Pulitzer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ann Ronell
Ann Ronell (née Rosenblatt; December 25, 1905 – December 25, 1993) was an American composer and lyricist. She was best known for the standards " Willow Weep for Me" (1932) and "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" (1933). Early life Ronell was born in Omaha, Nebraska, to Morris and Mollie Rosenblatt, and graduated from Omaha's Central High School in 1923. She enrolled in Wheaton College, in Massachusetts, but transferred after her sophomore year to pursue a serious music education.Benjamin Sears"Ann Ronell" ''American National Biography Online'', 2000 She graduated from Radcliffe College, where she studied music under Walter Piston. While at Radcliffe, Ronell wrote music for college plays and contributed reviews and interviews to the school's music publication. After interviewing George Gershwin, she struck up a friendship with the composer, who hired her as a rehearsal pianist for his show '' Rosalie''. Gershwin suggested that she change her name from Rosenblatt to Ronell. Musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willow Weep For Me
"Willow Weep for Me" is a popular song composed in 1932 by Ann Ronell, who also wrote the lyrics. The song form is AABA, written in time,Zimmers, Tighe, E. (2009). ''Tin Pan Alley Girl: A Biography of Ann Ronell''. McFarland. pp. 19-22. although occasionally adapted for waltz time. One account of the inspiration for the song is that, during her time at Radcliffe College, Ronell "had been struck by the loveliness of the willow trees on campus, and this simple observation became the subject of an intricate song." The song was rejected by publishers for several reasons. First, the song is dedicated to George Gershwin. A dedication to another writer was disapproved of at the time, so the first person presented with the song for publication, Saul Bornstein, passed it to Irving Berlin, who accepted it. Other reasons stated for its slow acceptance are that it was written by a woman and that its construction was unusually complex for a composition that was targeted at a commercial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Harbach
Otto Abels Harbach, born Otto Abels Hauerbach (August 18, 1873 – January 24, 1963) was an American lyricist and librettist of nearly 50 musical comedies and operettas. Harbach collaborated as lyricist or librettist with many of the leading Broadway composers of the early 20th century, including Jerome Kern, Louis Hirsch, Herbert Stothart, Vincent Youmans, George Gershwin, and Sigmund Romberg. Harbach believed that music, lyrics, and story should be closely connected, and, as Oscar Hammerstein II's mentor, he encouraged Hammerstein to write musicals in this manner. Harbach is considered one of the first great Broadway lyricists, and he helped raise the status of the lyricist in an age more concerned with music, spectacle, and stars. Some of his more famous lyrics are " Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", " Indian Love Call" and " Cuddle up a Little Closer, Lovey Mine". Biography Early life and education Otto Abels Hauerbach was born on August 18, 1873, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Dani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance (song), A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "The Song Is You", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Long Ago (and Far Away)". He collaborated with many of the leading librettists and lyricists of his era, including George Grossmith Jr., Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin and Yip Harburg. A native New Yorker, Kern created dozens of Broadway theatre, Broadway musicals and musical films, Hollywood films in a career that lasted for more than four decades. His musical innovations, such as 4/4 dance rhythms and the employment of syncopati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yesterdays (1933 Song)
"Yesterdays" is a 1933 song about nostalgia composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Otto Harbach. They wrote the song for ''Roberta'', a musical based on the novel ''Gowns by Roberta'' by Alice Duer Miller. "Yesterdays" was overshadowed by the musical's more popular song, " Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", which was a number one hit for the Paul Whiteman orchestra. Other recordings * Gato Barbieri -- ''The Third World Revisited'' (1988) *Billie Holiday - 1939 recording , and 1952 recording *Larry Coryell – '' Shining Hour'' (1989) * Miles Davis 1951 recording, and 1965 recording. * Dorothy Donegan * Clifford Brown -- '' Clifford Brown with Strings'' (1955) *Booker Ervin -- '' The Song Book (1964) * Marianne Faithfull -- '' Strange Weather'' (1987) * Tal Farlow -- '' Tal'' (1956) * Ella Fitzgerald -- '' Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Song Book'' (1963) * Nnenna Freelon --''Nnenna Freelon'' (1992) * Four Freshmen -- ''Voices in Latin'' (1958) * Erroll Garner – ''Magician'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sun Ra
Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific output, and theatrical performances. For much of his career, Ra led The Arkestra, an ensemble with an ever-changing name and flexible line-up. Born and raised in Alabama, Blount became involved in the Music of Chicago, Chicago jazz scene during the late 1940s. He soon abandoned his birth name, taking the name Le Sony'r Ra, shortened to Sun Ra (after Ra, the Egyptian god of the Sun). Claiming to be an alien from Saturn on a mission to preach peace, he developed a mythical persona and an idiosyncratic credo that made him a pioneer of Afrofuturism. Throughout his life he denied ties to his prior identity saying, "Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym." His widely eclectic and avant-garde music echoed the entire history of jazz, from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenneth Casey
Kenneth Casey (January 10, 1899 – August 10, 1965) was an American composer, publisher, author, and child movie star in early silents. Biography Born in New York City, Casey worked as a child actor in over thirty films for Vitagraph Studios between the years 1909 and 1913. He appeared with a young Moe Howard in the 1909 picture '' We Must Do Our Best''. Howard later became famous as one of The Three Stooges. As a songwriter, Casey is best remembered for writing the lyrics to "Sweet Georgia Brown", in 1925. Filmography * '' We Must Do Our Best'', directed by Van Dyke Brooke (1909) * ''Mario's Swan Song'' (1910) * ''Over the Garden Wall'' (1910) * ''Chew Chew Land; or, The Adventures of Dolly and Jim'' (1910) * '' Two Waifs and a Stray'' (1910) * '' A Lunatic at Large'' (1910) * '' Ransomed; or, A Prisoner of War'' (1910) * '' The Children's Revolt'' (1910) * '' Jean Goes Fishing'' (1910) * '' Drumsticks'' (1910) * '' A Tin-Type Romance'' (1910) * '' The Misses Finch and Their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maceo Pinkard
Maceo Pinkard (June 27, 1897 – July 21, 1962) was an American composer, lyricist, and music publisher. Among his compositions is " Sweet Georgia Brown", a popular standard for decades after its composition and famous as the theme of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. Pinkard was inducted in the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984. Biography Pinkard was born in Bluefield, West Virginia to Mary Ellen Jimerson, educator, and G. Pinkard, a coal miner. He was educated at the Bluefield Colored Institute, class of 1913, and wrote his first major song ("I'm Goin' Back Home") one year later. He was one of the greatest composers of the Harlem Renaissance. In his early career he formed his own orchestra and toured throughout the US as the conductor. In 1914, at age 17, Pinkard founded the theatrical agency in Omaha, Nebraska and eventually founded Pinkard Publications, a music publishing firm in New York City. In 1917, he formed his own publishing f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
