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Blue Pacific (album)
''Blue Pacific'' is a smooth vocal jazz album by American singer-songwriter and musician Michael Franks, released in 1990 with Reprise. Background The album marked three notable returns for Franks. The first was a return to the Reprise label since he'd released '' The Art of Tea'' in 1976. Tommy LiPuma also returned as producer of three tracks after a ten-year absence, the last album they worked on being '' One Bad Habit'' in 1980. Three other tracks on the album were produced by Walter Becker of Steely Dan and the remaining four by Jeff Lorber. Commentators noted the stylistic return to the more laid back, Brazilian jazz inspired music of his earlier works, as opposed to the more electronic pop sound Franks had experimented with throughout the 1980s. Reception Writing for AllMusic, Stephen J. Matteo praised Franks' "return to form and his best album since 1979's ''Tiger in the Rain'' ", commenting that " e album marked a total rebirth for Franks." He described the album a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Franks (musician)
Michael Franks (born September 18, 1944) is an American singer and songwriter, considered a leader of the quiet storm movement. He has recorded with a variety of well-known artists, such as Patti Austin, Art Garfunkel, Brenda Russell, Claus Ogerman, Joe Sample, and David Sanborn. His songs have been recorded by Gordon Haskell, Shirley Bassey, The Carpenters, Kurt Elling, Diana Krall, Patti LaBelle, Lyle Lovett, The Manhattan Transfer, Leo Sidran, Veronica Nunn, Carmen McRae, Ringo Starr and Natalie Cole. Biography Franks grew up in southern California with his father Jerry, his mother Betty, and two younger sisters. Although no one in his family was a musician, his parents loved swing music, and his early influences included Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Johnny Mercer. At age 14 Franks bought his first guitar, a Japanese Marco Polo for $29.95 with six private lessons included; those lessons were the only music education that he rec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Musical ensemble, bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All-Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar, and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as compact discs (CDs) replaced LP record, LPs and cassette (format), cassettes as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it, he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cymbal
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a definite note (such as crotales). Cymbals are used in many ensembles ranging from the orchestra, percussion ensembles, jazz bands, heavy metal bands, and marching groups. Drum kits usually incorporate at least a crash, ride, or crash/ride, and a pair of hi-hat cymbals. A player of cymbals is known as a cymbalist. Etymology and names The word cymbal is derived from the Latin , which is the latinisation , which in turn derives . In orchestral scores, cymbals may be indicated by the French ; German , , , or ; Italian or ; and Spanish . Many of these derive from the word for plates. History Cymbals have existed since ancient times. Representations of cymbals may be found in reliefs and paintings from Armenian Highlands (7t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Patitucci
John Patitucci (born December 22, 1959) is an American jazz bassist and composer. Biography John James Patitucci was born in Brooklyn, New York. He began playing the electric bass at age 10, performing and composing at age 12, and at age 15, started playing the acoustic bass, as well as piano by age 16. He listened to bass parts in R&B songs on the radio and on his grandfather's jazz records. He cites as influences Oscar Peterson's albums with Ray Brown (musician), Ray Brown and Wes Montgomery's with Ron Carter. For the development of rhythm, he points to the time he has spent with Danilo Pérez, a pianist from Panama. In the late 1970s he studied acoustic bass at San Francisco State University and Long Beach State University. He began his professional career when he moved to Los Angeles in 1980 and made connections with Henry Mancini, Dave Grusin, and Tom Scott (saxophonist), Tom Scott. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s he was a member of three Chick Corea groups: the Chick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freddie Washington (bassist)
"Ready" Freddie Washington is an American session bassist who has played with artists such as Herbie Hancock, Michael Jackson, Al Jarreau, Aaron Neville, Lionel Richie, Anita Baker, B.B. King, Elton John, Patrice Rushen, Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston, Donald Fagen, The Crusaders, George Benson, Deniece Williams, Johnny Mathis, Burt Bacharach, Kenny Loggins, Celine Dion and Steely Dan. He is best known for his songwriting contribution to " Forget Me Nots" by Patrice Rushen, which heavily features his bass work and was later sampled by Will Smith for "Men in Black". During the 1990s, Washington and Rushen were part of a popular rhythm section known as "The Meeting". In 2005, Washington was a participant in Star Licks Productions’ All-Star Bass Series. Since 2006, Washington has been the touring bassist for Steely Dan. Early life Freddie Washington is from Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of Californi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neil Stubenhaus
Neil Stubenhaus is an American bass guitarist. Career He started his musical training playing drums and switched to bass guitar at the age of 12. In one of his early bands, The Neighbourhood in 1969, he played with future Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent, with whom he played again in 1974 in Little Anthony and the Imperials. He studied at the Berklee College of Music where he graduated in 1975. After graduation, he was recommended by Steve Swallow and started teaching while playing in a band with another Berklee student Steve Smith ( Vital Information, Journey). While at Berklee, Neil met session drummers Vinnie Colaiuta (who has worked with famous musicians such as Sting, & Frank Zappa) and John Robinson (who has also worked with superstars, including Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, Chaka Khan, Michael Jackson). In 1977 he joined Blood Sweat & Tears and recorded David Clayton-Thomas' first solo album. In 1978, he went on tour with Larry Carlton. That led him to move to the W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Thompson (guitarist)
Michael Thompson (born Michael Wood Thompson, February 11, 1954 in Port Washington, New York) is an American guitarist and songwriter. Thompson is known for his work as a session guitarist during the last 4 decades. He founded the rock group TRW in 2007. Early years Michael Thompson grew up in Port Washington, New York and attended Berklee College of Music for two years, studying with Pat Metheny before leaving to tour and record with a local R&B/funk group called The Ellis Hall Group. After four years with the group, Thompson moved to Los Angeles in the hopes of starting a career as a studio musician, almost immediately getting a touring gig with Joe Cocker. Money was tight and to support himself and his wife Gloria, Thompson supplemented gigs playing on songwriters' music publisher (popular music), publishing demo recording, demos and sporadic session work with a job as a taxicab, cab driver until landing a year-long world tour with Cher. Following the tour, Thompson playe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larry Carlton
Larry Eugene Carlton (born March 2, 1948) is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts including Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. One of the most sought after guitarists of his era, Carlton has participated in thousands of recording sessions, recorded on hundreds of albums in many genres including more than 100 gold records, in addition to music for television and movies. He has been a member of the jazz fusion group the Crusaders and the smooth jazz band Fourplay maintaining a long solo career. Music career Session work Carlton was born in Torrance, California in the South Bay Area of L.A., and, at the age of six, began guitar lessons. In the early 1960s, while he was still in high school, he debuted his talent playing surf guitar with Eddie and the Showmen, who became the house band at the Retail Clerks Union Hall in Buena Park, California west of Orange. His interest in jazz came from hearing guitarist Joe Pass on the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dean Parks
Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Parks has one Grammy nomination. Albums Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los Angeles to work with Sonny and Cher in 1970. In 1980, he was a founding member of the Christian Jazz Fusion band Koinonia. Parks is best known for his many contributions to albums by Steely Dan, Michael Jackson, and Bread. Notably, he played guitar on Steely Dan's '' Royal Scam'' track " Haitian Divorce". Parks is also a long-time collaborator on David Foster albums, such as ''Shadows'' by Gordon Lightfoot. Parks features on Cat Beach's albums ''Letting Go'' and ''Love Me Out Loud''. In 2008, Parks participated in the production of the album ''Psalngs'', the debut release of Canadian musician John Lefebvre. Parks is very prominently featured on Viktor Krauss' album ''II'' (2007), where he plays a plethora of other stringed instruments in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buzz Feiten
Howard "Buzz" Feiten II (born November 4, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, session musician, and luthier. He is a lead and rhythm guitarist and patented a tuning system for guitars and similar instruments. Feiten also manufactures and markets solid-body electric guitars. Early years Feiten grew up in Huntington Station and Centerport, New York, where he was known by schoolmates and friends as "Buzzy". The son of a musical mother, Pauline (a classical pianist), and an airline pilot, Howard Sr., Feiten received training in classical music as a child. His older sister Paula was a flautist and fashion model in the mid-1960s. A younger brother, Jon, was also involved in music and the arts. In youth, he studied several musical instruments, settling on the French horn. As a teenager, he played in all-county (Suffolk) and all-state (New York) youth orchestras on the instrument. Feiten first played Carnegie Hall in 1966 on French horn in American Youth Performs. In 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Jackson Jr
Paul Milton Jackson Jr. (born December 30, 1959) is an American fusion/urban jazz composer, arranger, producer and guitarist. In addition to being a recording artist in his own right, Jackson is also a session player, with a career spanning multiple decades. He has supported artists ranging from Michael Jackson (no relation)Vogel, Joachim (1995). ''Masters of Rhythm Guitar'', p. 93. AMA Verlag. (on the albums '' Thriller'', '' Bad'', '' Dangerous'', ''HIStory'' and '' Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix'') to the Temptations, Whitney Houston, Alexander O'Neal, Five Star (on the album '' Silk and Steel''), Howard Hewett, Thomas Anders, Patti LaBelle and Luis Miguel, to rockers such as Chicago and Elton John, to jazz-oriented players such as George Duke, George Benson, Dave Koz, Al Jarreau, David Benoit, Marcus Miller and Kirk Whalum, and to Christian artists such as Leon Patillo and Don Moen. He contributed to several tracks on the album ''Random Acce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larry Williams (jazz Musician)
Lawrence Lowell Williams is an American record producer, composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist. He is proficient on the keyboards, saxophone, flute, and clarinet. Williams began his musical career in the 1970s, and has since established himself as a prominent figure in the music industry. He regularly toured and recorded with Al Jarreau for over 3 decades and also was a musician on Michael Jackson's albums ''Off The Wall'', ''Thriller'', and ''Bad''. Early life Williams was born in Kansas City, Kansas and grew up in Overland Park. He began learning the clarinet at age 8, under the influence of his father who played the saxophone. Williams went on to study music at New Mexico State University and later transferred to Indiana University School of Music in 1969. While at university, Williams began playing with visiting orchestras, including those of Glen Campbell, Henry Mancini, and Johnny Mathis. While studying at Indiana University, he met Jerry Hey and Kim Hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
