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Billy Strayhorn
William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include " Take the 'A' Train", " Chelsea Bridge", "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing", and " Lush Life". Early life Strayhorn was born in Dayton, Ohio, United States. His family soon moved to the Homewood section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. However, his mother's family came from Hillsborough, North Carolina, and she sent him there to protect him from his father's drunken sprees. Strayhorn spent many months of his childhood at his grandparents' house in Hillsborough. In an interview, Strayhorn said that his grandmother was his primary influence during the first ten years of his life. He became interested in music while living with her, playing hymns on her piano, and playing records on her Victrola record player. Return to Pittsburgh and meeting Ellin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William P
William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of England in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar versions in English include Will, Wills, Willy, Willie, Liam, Bill, and Billy. A common Irish form is Liam. Scottish diminutives include Wull, Willie or Wullie (as in Oor Wullie or the play ''Douglas''). Female forms are Willa, Willemina, Wilma and Wilhelmina. Etymology William is related to the German given name ''Wilhelm''. Both ultimately descend from Proto-Germanic ''*Wiljahelmaz'', with a direct cognate also in the Old Norse name ''Vilhjalmr'' and a West Germanic borrowing into Medieval Latin ''Willelmus''. The Proto-Germa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lush Life (jazz Song)
"Lush Life" is a jazz standard that was written by Billy Strayhorn from 1933 to 1936. It was performed publicly for the first time by Strayhorn and vocalist Kay Davis with the Duke Ellington Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on November 13, 1948. Background The lyric describes the author's weariness of the night life after a failed romance, wasting time with "jazz and cocktails" at "come-what-may places" and in the company of girls with "sad and sullen gray faces/with ''distingué'' traces". Strayhorn was a teenager when he wrote most of the song, which was to become his signature composition (along with " Take the 'A' Train"). The song was written in the key of D-flat major. The melody is over relatively complex chord changes, compared with many jazz standards, with chromatic movement and modulations that evoke a dreamlike state and the dissolute spirit characteristic of the "lush life." During a 1949 interview, Strayhorn spoke of the song’s genesis: “’Lush Life’ wasn’t th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teddy Wilson
Theodore Shaw Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive swing pianist", Wilson had a sophisticated, elegant style. His work was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald. With Goodman, he was one of the first black musicians to appear prominently with white musicians. In addition to his extensive work as a sideman, Wilson also led his own groups and recording sessions from the late 1920s to the 1980s. Biography Wilson was born in Austin, Texas. He studied piano and violin at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. After working in Speed Webb's band, with Louis Armstrong, and also understudying Earl Hines in Hines's Grand Terrace Cafe Orchestra, Wilson joined Benny Carter's Chocolate Dandies in 1933. In 1935, he joined the Benny Goodman Trio (which consisted of Goodman, Wilson and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Tatum
Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraordinary. Many pianists attempted to copy him; others questioned their own skills after encountering him, and some even switched instruments in response. In addition to being acclaimed for his virtuoso technique, Tatum extended the vocabulary and boundaries of jazz piano far beyond his initial stride influences, and established new ground in jazz through innovative use of reharmonization, voicing, and bitonality. Tatum grew up in Toledo, Ohio, where he began playing piano professionally and had his own radio program, rebroadcast nationwide, while still in his teens. He left Toledo in 1932 and had residencies as a solo pianist at clubs in major urban centers including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In that decade, he settled into a pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Something To Live For (Billy Strayhorn Song)
"Something to Live For" is a 1939 jazz composition by Billy Strayhorn. It was the first collaboration between Strayhorn and Duke Ellington and became the first of many Strayhorn compositions to be recorded by Ellington's orchestra. The song was based on a poem Strayhorn had written as a teenager. According to an all-day tribute to Strayhorn on KCSM radio on 29 November 2008—Strayhorn's birthday—Strayhorn began working on this tune in 1933 when he was 18. The song has been recorded many times, by Ellington, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Carmen McRae, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Mel Torme and many others. Fitzgerald has called it her favorite song. See also *List of 1930s jazz standards References External linksReview of ''Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn''(Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classical Music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also applies to non-Western art music. Classical music is often characterized by formality and complexity in its musical form and harmonic organization, particularly with the use of polyphony. Since at least the ninth century it has been primarily a written tradition, spawning a sophisticated notational system, as well as accompanying literature in analytical, critical, historiographical, musicological and philosophical practices. A foundational component of Western Culture, classical music is frequently seen from the perspective of individual or groups of composers, whose compositions, personalities and beliefs have fundamentally shaped its history. Rooted in the patronage of churches and royal courts in Western Europe, surv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and LP versions). Williams wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie. Early years The second of eleven children, Williams was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A musical prodigy, at the age of two, she was able to pick out simple tunes and by the age of three, she was taught piano by her mother. Mary Lou Williams played piano out of necessity at a very young age; her white neighbors were throwing bricks into her house until Williams began playing the piano in their homes. At the age of six, she supported her ten half-brothers ... [...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] |
Erroll Garner
Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad " Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first recorded in 1956 with Mitch Miller and his orchestra, and played a prominent part in the motion picture ''Play Misty for Me''. Scott Yanow of Allmusic calls him "one of the most distinctive of all pianists" and a "brilliant virtuoso." He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6363 Hollywood Blvd. His live album '' Concert by the Sea'' first released in 1955, sold over 1 million copies by 1958, and Yanow's opinion on the album is that it "made such a strong impression that Garner was considered immortal from then on." Life and career Garner was born, along with twin brother Ernest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 15, 1921, the youngest of six children. He attended George Westinghouse High School (as did fellow pianists Billy St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westinghouse High School (Pittsburgh)
Westinghouse High School, also known as The Academy at Westinghouse or Westinghouse Academy is one of 10 high schools and of four 6-12 schools in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. It is located in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is named for Pittsburgh resident and entrepreneur George Westinghouse. As of October 2019, Westinghouse has an enrollment of 697 students, 95% of whom are African American. Westinghouse High School serves East Hills, East Liberty, Highland Park, Homewood North, Homewood South, Homewood West, Larimer, Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, and Point Breeze North, as well as the nearby town of Wilkinsburg. The school's mascot is a bulldog. History Early years Westinghouse High School opened in 1917 and served a diverse population of middle- and working-class individuals who lived in the neighborhood of Homewood in Pittsburgh, PA. The school was built and opened by industrialist George Westinghouse whose home and electric business was l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlotte Enty Catlin
Charlotte Dyer Enty Catlin (1903 – November 13, 1968) was an American pianist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who worked with Lena Horne. Among her piano students was jazz pianist and composer Billy Strayhorn. Early life Charlotte Dyer Enty was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Clever "Frank" Enty and Mary Jane Little Enty. Her father was a contractor. Her mother played church organ. She completed an undergraduate degree in music education at Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1923, and was one of the eight founding members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority's graduate chapter in Pittsburgh, in 1927. Career Catlin taught piano at Volkwein's Music Store in Pittsburgh, served as music director at a dance school, and frequently entertained at society parties where Catlin also encouraged Lena Horne to accompany her with her singing. In 1924, she accompanied tenor Ruby Blakey at a music festival, and soprano Florence Cole Talbert at the People's Tabernacle. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victrola
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidiary called RCA Victor. Headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, it was the largest and most prestigious firm of its kind in the world, probably best known for its use of the iconic "His Master's Voice" trademark and the production, marketing, and design of the popular "Victrola" line of phonographs. After its merger with RCA in 1929, the company continued to make phonographs, records, radios and other products. History In 1896, Emile Berliner—inventor of the gramophone and disc record—contracted machinist Eldridge R. Johnson to manufacture his inventions.Gelatt, Roland, ''The Fabulous Phonograph: 1877–1977'', MacMillan, New York, 1954. Name There are different accounts as to how the "Victor" name came about. RCA historian Fred Ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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