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Something Cool
''Something Cool'' is the debut solo album by June Christy, released on Capitol Records first as a 10-inch LP of seven selections in August of 1954, and then as a 12-inch LP of eleven selections the following August, both times in monophonic sound. The original seven selections for the 1954 release were recorded over seven sessions from August 1953 through March 1954, with the additional four for the 1955 issue from four additional sessions in December 1954 as well as May and June of 1955, with arrangements for all sessions written and conducted by Pete Rugolo. Her saxophonist husband, Bob Cooper, also played on many of these sessions. In April 1960, Christy and Rugolo re-recorded all 11 selections in stereophonic sound, so that a stereo version of ''Something Cool'' could be issued. For many years, this re-recorded version of the album was the only one commercially available. Background and reception Christy had been associated with "cool" jazz since her vocal work with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
June Christy
June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925 – June 21, 1990) was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a solo career from 1954 and is best known for her debut album '' Something Cool''. After her death, she was hailed as "one of the finest and most neglected singers of her time." Biography Early life Shirley Luster was born in Springfield, Illinois, United States. She moved with her parents Steve and Marie (née Crain) Luster to Decatur, Illinois, when she was three years old. She began to sing with the Decatur-based Bill Oetzel Orchestra at thirteen. While attending Decatur High School she appeared with Oetzel and his society band, the Ben Bradley Band, and Bill Madden's Band. Her first work outside of Decatur was with the Dick Cisne Orchestra of nearby Champaign, IL, performing as far away as Texas and Louisiana. After high school she ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though Kenton had several pop hits from the early 1940s into the 1960s, his music was always forward-looking. Kenton was also a pioneer in the field of jazz education, creating the Stan Kenton Band Clinics, Stan Kenton Jazz Camp in 1959 at Indiana University.Sparke, Michael. ''Stan Kenton: This is an Orchestra.'' UNT Press (2010). . Early life Stan Kenton was born on December 15, 1911, in Wichita, Kansas; he had two sisters (Beulah and Erma Mae) born three and eight years after him, respectively. His parents, Floyd and Stella Kenton, moved the family to Colorado, and in 1924, to the Greater Los Angeles Area, settling in suburban Bell, California. Kenton attended Bell High School (Bell, California), Bell High School; his high-school yearbook pict ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Rosolino
Frank Rosolino (August 20, 1926 – November 26, 1978) was an American jazz trombonist. Biography Rosolino was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, He performed with the big bands of Bob Chester, Glen Gray, Tony Pastor, Herbie Fields, Gene Krupa, and Stan Kenton. After a period with Kenton he settled in Los Angeles, where he performed with Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars (1954–1960) in Hermosa Beach. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, between nightclub engagements, Rosolino was active in many Los Angeles recording studios where he performed with such notables as Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Mel Tormé, Michel Legrand, and Quincy Jones. In the mid-to-late 1960s he and fellow trombonist Mike Barone, billed as "Trombones Unlimited," recorded for Liberty Records several albums of pop-style arrangements of current hits, such as the 1968 album ''Grazing in the Grass.'' He can also be seen performing with Shelly Manne's group in the film '' I Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shorty Rogers
Milton "Shorty" Rogers (born Milton Rajonsky; April 14, 1924 – November 7, 1994) was an American jazz musician, one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played trumpet and flugelhorn and was in demand for his skills as an arranger. Biography Rogers was born as Milton Rajonsky in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, United States. He worked first as a professional musician with Will Bradley and Red Norvo. From 1947 to 1949, he worked extensively with Woody Herman and in 1950 and 1951 he played with Stan Kenton. On June 7, 1953, Rogers and his orchestra, including Johnny "Guitar" Watson, performed for the famed ninth Cavalcade of Jazz concert at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. Also featured that day were Roy Brown and his Orchestra, Don Tosti and His Mexican Jazzmen, Earl Bostic, Nat "King" Cole, and Louis Armstrong and his All Stars with Velma Middleton. From 1953 through 1962, Rogers recorded a series of albums for RCA Victo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Roberts (trombonist)
George Mortimer Roberts (March 22, 1928 – September 28, 2014) was an American trombonist. Career Born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, Roberts began his career after service in the United States Navy. Roberts was a member of the Ray Robbins band, then quit to join Gene Krupa in 1947 when he was in the same section with Urbie Green. It was Urbie's lyric tenor trombone playing that inspired George to be an "Urbie" one octave lower. After the Krupa band broke up in 1949, Roberts was a freelance musician in Reno, Nevada, for a year before being hired by Stan Kenton to replace Bart Varsalona, who had left the band during its 1949–1950 hiatus. Roberts opted to stay in Los Angeles rather than go with Kenton on his 1953 European tour. Working freelance again, he was introduced to Nelson Riddle by Lee Gillette, one of the executives at Capitol Records who had produced Kenton's recordings. Roberts began recording with Riddle, Don Costa, Billy May, Axel Stordahl, Gordon Jenkins, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shelly Manne
Sheldon "Shelly" Manne (June 11, 1920 – September 26, 1984) was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, swing, bebop, avant-garde jazz, and later fusion. He also contributed to the musical background of hundreds of Hollywood films and television programs. Family and origins Sheldon "Shelly" Manne was born June 11, 1920, in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Manne's father Max Manne and uncles were drummers. In his youth he admired many of the leading swing drummers of the day, especially Jo Jones and Dave Tough. Billy Gladstone, a colleague of Manne's father and the most admired percussionist on the New York theatrical scene, offered the teenage Shelly tips and encouragement. From that time, Manne rapidly developed his style in the clubs of 52nd Street in New York in the late 1930s and 1940s. His first professional job with a kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeets Herfurt
Arthur Relsmond "Skeets" Herfurt (28 May 1911 – 17 April 1992) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. Career highlights Herfurt was born in Cincinnati and raised in Denver and played in bands while attending the University of Colorado. He performed with Smith Ballew (1934), Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey (together 1934–1935, Jimmy 1935–1937, and Tommy 1937–1939), and Ray Noble. After moving to California, he worked with Alvino Rey, then served in the Army from 1944 to 1945. After the war, he flourished as a studio musician in Hollywood, led his own band, and performed with Benny Goodman from 1946 to 1947 and Earle Spencer in 1946. His studio credits, into the 1960s, include sessions with Billy May, Louis Armstrong, Georgie Auld, Jack Teagarden, and Stan Kenton. He worked with Goodman again in 1961 and 1964. End of the 1960s he joined the Ray Conniff orchestra for several tours (a. o. Japan and Germany) and recording sessions during the 1970s. Herfurt was a member of La ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Graas
John Graas (March 14, 1917 – April 13, 1962) was an American jazz French horn player, composer, and arranger from the 1940s through 1962. He had a short but busy career on the West Coast, and became known as a pioneer of the French horn in jazz. Music career Graas was born in Dubuque, Iowa, on March 14, 1917. He was educated in classical music and attended Tanglewood Music Center, where he performed under the tutelage of Serge Koussevitsky. He soon became interested in jazz and studied ways to bring jazz and classical music together, an early effort at what would later be called Third Stream music. Following the path of his dual interests, he was a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (1941), the Claude Thornhill Orchestra (1942), the Army Air Corps band during World War II (1942–1945), the Cleveland Orchestra (1945–1946), the Tex Beneke Orchestra (1946–1949), and the Stan Kenton Orchestra (1950–1953). The 1950s were a period of intense a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maynard Ferguson
Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served as stepping stones for up-and-coming talent, his versatility on several instruments, and his ability to play in a high register. Biography Early life and education Ferguson was born in Verdun (now part of Montreal), Quebec, Canada. Encouraged by his parents, he started playing piano and violin at the age of four. At nine years old, he heard a cornet for the first time in his local church and asked his parents to buy one for him. When he was thirteen, he soloed with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra. He was heard frequently on the CBC, notably featured on a "Serenade for Trumpet in Jazz" written for him by Morris Davis. He won a scholarship to the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal where he studied from 1943 t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conte Candoli
Secondo "Conte" Candoli (July 12, 1927 – December 14, 2001) was an American jazz trumpeter based on the West Coast. He played in the big bands of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Benny Goodman, and Dizzy Gillespie, and in Doc Severinsen's NBC Orchestra on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. He played with Gerry Mulligan, and on Frank Sinatra's TV specials. He also recorded with Supersax, a Charlie Parker tribute band that consisted of a saxophone quintet, the rhythm section, and either a trumpet or trombone. Music career Conte was the younger brother of trumpeter Pete Candoli. He was born in Mishawaka, Indiana, United States. During the summer of 1943, while at Mishawaka High School, Secondo "Conte" Candoli sat in with Woody Herman's First Herd. After graduating in 1945, he joined the band full-time, where he sat side by side with his brother Pete in the trumpet section. Conte immediately went on the road, where he stayed for the next ten years, with Herman, Stan Kent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milt Bernhart
Milt Bernhart (May 25, 1926 – January 22, 2004) was a West Coast jazz trombonist who worked with Stan Kenton, Frank Sinatra, and others. He supplied the solo in the middle of Sinatra's 1956 recording of ''I've Got You Under My Skin'' conducted by Nelson Riddle. Biography Bernhart (occasionally spelled Bernhardt) began on tuba, but switched to trombone in high school. At 16 he worked in Boyd Raeburn's band and later had some "gigs" with Teddy Powell. After time in the United States Army he worked, off and on, with Stan Kenton for the next ten years. He is perhaps most associated with Kenton, but in 1955 he had his first album as a leader. In 1986 he was elected President of the Big Band Academy of America. Although known as "mild-mannered" or humorous, his brief period with Benny Goodman was one area that brought out his ire. He indicated working with Goodman was "the bottom", except for basic training in the Army, of his first 23 years of life. He called Goodman a "bore" and cla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pantheon Books
Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint. Founded in 1942 as an independent publishing house in New York City by Kurt and Helen Wolff, it specialized in introducing progressive European works to American readers. In 1961, it was acquired by Random House, and André Schiffrin was hired as executive editor, who continued to publish important works, by both European and American writers, until he was forced to resign in 1990 by Random House owner Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr. and president Alberto Vitale. Several editors resigned in protest, and multiple Pantheon authors including Studs Terkel, Kurt Vonnegut, and Barbara Ehrenreich held a protest outside Random House. In 1998, Bertelsmann purchased Random House, and the imprint has undergone a number of corporate restructurings since then. It is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group under Penguin Random House.Random House, Inc. Datamonitor Company Profiles Authority: Retrieved June 20, 2007, from EBSCO Hos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
