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I Hear A Rhapsody
"I Hear a Rhapsody" is a 1941 pop song that became a jazz standard, composed by George Fragos, Jack Baker, and Dick Gasparre. Written in 1940, in 1941 it was a top 10 hit for three separate artists, Charlie Barnet, Jimmy Dorsey and Dinah Shore. “I Hear a Rhapsody” was at the top of "Your Hit Parade" in 1941. It was featured in the 1952 film noir '' Clash by Night'', in which it was sung by Tony Martin. The soundtrack featured jazz notables such as pianist Gerald Wiggins, alto saxophonist Benny Carter, and tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. The film, directed by Fritz Lang, involved a love triangle in a small fishing village and starred Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, and Paul Douglas. Versions * Charlie Barnet and His Orchestra with Bob Carroll, recorded October 14, 1940 (10" shellac single, Bluebird, 1941) * Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra with Bob Eberly, recorded December 9, 1940 (10" shellac single, Decca, 1941) * Duke Ellington and His Orchestra with Herb Jeffries and B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Dorsey
James Francis Dorsey (February 29, 1904 – June 12, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and big band leader. He recorded and composed the jazz and pop standards " I'm Glad There Is You (In This World of Ordinary People)" and " It's the Dreamer in Me". His other major recordings were "Tailspin", " John Silver", " So Many Times", " Amapola", "Brazil ( Aquarela do Brasil)", " Pennies from Heaven" with Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, and Frances Langford, "Grand Central Getaway", and " So Rare". He played clarinet on the seminal jazz standards " Singin' the Blues" in 1927 and the original 1930 recording of "Georgia on My Mind", which were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Early life Jimmy Dorsey was born on Leap Day 1904 in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, United States, the first son of Theresa Langton Dorsey and Thomas Francis Dorsey. His father, Thomas, was initially a coal miner, but would later become a music teacher and marching-band director. Both Jimmy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Douglas (actor)
Paul Douglas Fleischer (April 11, 1907 − September 11, 1959), known professionally as Paul Douglas, was an American actor. Early years Douglas was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Margaret (Douglas) and William Paul Fleischer. He attended Yale University and participated in dramatics as a student there. Career Before becoming an actor, Douglas spent 20 years in the 20th Century-Fox newsreel department as a narrator and writer of captions. He had also been a narrator for several Vitaphone short films. Douglas made his Broadway debut in 1936 as the radio announcer in Doty Hobart and Tom McKnight's ''Double Dummy'' at the John Golden Theatre. In 1946, he won both a Theatre World Award and a Clarence Derwent Award for his portrayal of Harry Brock in Garson Kanin's '' Born Yesterday''. Douglas began appearing in films in 1949. He may be best remembered for two baseball comedy movies, '' It Happens Every Spring'' (1949) and '' Angels in the Outfield'' (1951). He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Hall (musician)
James Stanley Hall (December 4, 1930 – December 10, 2013) was an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Biography Early life and education Born in Buffalo, New York, Hall moved with his family to Cleveland, Ohio, during his childhood. Hall's mother played the piano, his grandfather played violin, and his uncle played guitar.Hall, Devra "Sketches from PROS Folios: Jim Hall". Copyright 1988-2004. He began playing the guitar at the age of 10, when his mother gave him an instrument as a Christmas present. At 13 he heard Charlie Christian play on a Benny Goodman record, which he calls his "spiritual awakening". As a teenager in Cleveland, he performed professionally, and also took up the double bass. Hall's major influences since childhood were tenor saxophonists Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Paul Gonsalves, and Lucky Thompson. While he copied out solos by Charlie Christian, and later Barney Kessel, it was horn players from whom he took the lead. In 1955, Hall attended th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Shearing
Sir George Albert Shearing (13 August 191914 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 songs, including the jazz standards "Lullaby of Birdland" and "Conception (song), Conception", and had multiple albums on the Billboard charts, ''Billboard'' charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s. Early life Born in Battersea, London, Shearing was the youngest of nine children. He was born blind to working-class parents: his father delivered coal and his mother cleaned trains in the evening. He started to learn piano at the age of three and began formal training at Linden Lodge School, Linden Lodge School for the Blind, where he spent four years. Though he was offered several scholarships, Shearing opted to perform at a local public house, pub, the Mason's Arms in Lambeth, for "25 bob a week" playing piano and accordion. He joined ... [...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 1971 motion picture '' Play Misty for Me''. Scott Yanow of Allmusic calls him "one of the most distinctive of all pianists" and a "brilliant virtuoso". Garner received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6363 Hollywood Boulevard. His live album '' Concert by the Sea'' first released in 1955, sold more than 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 fell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Song Is You (Frank Sinatra Album)
''The Song Is You'' is a 1994 box set by American singer Frank Sinatra. This five disc box set contains every studio recording Frank Sinatra performed with Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra, a few tracks of alternate recording takes, and a full disc of mostly-unreleased radio broadcasts. It is considered a definitive look at the first years of what would become a half-a-century long career. Track listing Disc one #"The Sky Fell Down" (Edward Heyman, Louis Alter) - 3:14 #"Too Romantic" ( Johnny Burke, James Monaco) - 3:11 #:Recorded on February 1, 1940 #"Shake Down the Stars" ( Ed DeLange, Jimmy Van Heusen) #"Moments in the Moonlight" ( Richard Himber, Irving Gordon, Alvin Kaufman) #" I'll Be Seeing You" (Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal) #:Recorded on February 26, 1940 #"Say It" (Frank Loesser, Jimmy McHugh) #" Polka Dots and Moonbeams" (Burke, Van Heusen) #:Recorded on March 4, 1940 #"The Fable of the Rose" (Bickley Reichner, Josef Myrow) #"This Is the Beginning of the End" (Mack Gordo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NBC Radio
The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it was one of the first two nationwide networks established in the United States. Its major competitors were the CBS Radio, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), founded in 1927, and the Mutual Broadcasting System, founded in 1934. In 1942, NBC was required to divest one of its national networks. As such, it sold NBC Blue, which was soon renamed the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). After this separation, the Red Network continued as the NBC Radio Network. For the first 61 years of its existence, this network was owned by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) with New York City radio station WFAN (AM), WEAF (renamed WNBC in 1946, WRCA in 1954 and again as WNBC in 1960) as its flagship station. Following the emergence of television as the domi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century, most popular entertainers of the 20th century. Sinatra is among the List of best-selling music artists, world's best-selling music artists, with an estimated 150 million record sales globally. Born to Italian Americans, Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era and was influenced by the easy-listening vocal style of Bing Crosby. He joined the Harry James band as the vocalist in 1939 before finding success as a solo artist after signing with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "Bobby-soxer, bobby soxers". In 1946, Sinatra released his debut album, ''The Voice of Frank Sinatra''. He then signed with Capitol Records and released several albums wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombone, trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombone playing. His theme song was "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You". His technical skill on the trombone gave him renown among other musicians. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey. After Dorsey broke with his brother in the mid-1930s, he led an extremely successful band from the late 1930s into the 1950s. He is best remembered for standards such as "Opus No. 1, Opus One", "This Love of Mine" (no. 3 in 1941) featuring Frank Sinatra on vocals, "Song of India (song), Song of India", "Marie", "On Treasure Island", and his biggest hit single, "I'll Never Smile Again" (no. 1 for 12 weeks in 1940). Early life Born in Mahanoy Plane, Pennsylvania, Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. was the second of four children born to Thomas Fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Webster
Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor Saxophone, saxophonist. He performed in the United States and Europe and made many recordings with Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Johnny Hodges, and others. Career Early life and career A native of Kansas City, Missouri, he studied violin, learned how to play blues on the piano from Pete Johnson (musician), Pete Johnson, and received saxophone lessons from Budd Johnson. He played with Lester Young in the Young Family Band. He recorded with Blanche Calloway and became a member of the Bennie Moten Orchestra with Count Basie, Hot Lips Page, and Walter Page. During the 1930s, he played in bands led by Willie Bryant, Benny Carter, Cab Calloway, Fletcher Henderson, Andy Kirk (musician), Andy Kirk, and Teddy Wilson. With Ellington Webster was a soloist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra starting in 1940, appearing on "Cotton Tail". He considered Johnny Hodges, an alto saxophonist in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herb Jeffries
Herb Jeffries (born Umberto Alexander Valentino; September 24, 1913 – May 25, 2014) was an American actor of film and television and popular music and jazz singer-songwriter, known for his baritone voice. He starred in several low-budget "race" Western feature films aimed at black audiences, '' Harlem on the Prairie'' (1937), '' Two-Gun Man from Harlem'' (1938), ''Rhythm Rodeo'' (1938), '' The Bronze Buckaroo'' (1939) and '' Harlem Rides the Range'' (1939). He also acted in several other films and television shows. During his acting career he was usually billed as Herbert Jeffrey (sometimes "Herbert Jeffries" or "Herbert Jeffries, Sensational Singing Cowboy"). In the 1940s and 1950s Jeffries recorded for a number of labels, including RCA Victor, Exclusive, Coral, Decca, Bethlehem, Columbia, Mercury and Trend. His album ''Jamaica'', recorded by RKO, is a concept album of self-composed calypso songs. Early life and ethnicity Jeffries was born Umberto Alexander Valentino in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become Standard (music), standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan (1937 song), Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz. At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly thirty five-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
