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Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans (), was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and whistling skills, and composing. According to jazz historian Ted Gioia, his most important contribution was in "championing the humble harmonica", which Thielemans made into a "legitimate voice in jazz".Gioia, Ted. ''The History of Jazz'', Oxford Univ. Press (2011) p. 382 He eventually became the "preeminent" jazz harmonica player.Morton, Brian, and Cook, Richard. ''The Penguin Jazz Guide: the History of the Music in the 1000 Best Albums'', Penguin UK, (2010) ebook. His first professional performances were with Benny Goodman's band when they toured Europe in 1949 and 1950. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1951, becoming a citizen in 1957. From 1953 to 1959 he played with George Shearing, and then led his own groups on tours in the U.S. and Europe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalities, 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country. It is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, and is separate from the Flemish Region (Flanders), within which it forms an enclave, and the Walloon Region (Wallonia), located less than to the south. Brussels grew from a small rural settlement on the river Senne (river), Senne to become an important city-region in Europe. Since the end of the Second World War, it has been a major centre for international politics and home to numerous international organisations, politicians, Diplomacy, diplomats and civil servants. Brussels is the ''de facto' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Evans
William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, and trademark rhythmically independent "singing" melodic lines continue to influence jazz pianists today. Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, United States, he studied classical music at Southeastern Louisiana College and the Mannes School of Music, in New York City, where he majored in composition and received an artist diploma. In 1955, he moved to New York City, where he worked with bandleader and theorist George Russell (composer), George Russell. In 1958, Evans joined Miles Davis's sextet, which in 1959, then immersed in modal jazz, recorded ''Kind of Blue'', the best-selling jazz album of all time. In late 1959, Evans left the Miles Davis band and began his career as a leader, forming a Jazz trio, trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drumm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midnight Cowboy
''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film directed by John Schlesinger, adapted by Waldo Salt from the 1965 novel by James Leo Herlihy. The film stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with supporting roles played by Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Bob Balaban, Jennifer Salt and Barnard Hughes. Set in New York City, ''Midnight Cowboy'' depicts the unlikely friendship between two hustlers: naïve prostitute Joe Buck (Voight) and ailing con man Rico Rizzo (Hoffman), referred to as "Ratso". At the 42nd Academy Awards, the film won three awards: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. ''Midnight Cowboy'' is the only X-rated film (equivalent of the current NC-17 rating) to win Best Picture. It placed 36th on the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the 100 greatest American films of all time, and 43rd on its 2007 updated version. In 1994, ''Midnight Cowboy'' was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Reivers
''The Reivers: A Reminiscence'', published in 1962, is the last novel by the American author William Faulkner. It was published a month before his death. The bestselling novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1963. Faulkner previously won this award for his book ''A Fable (novel), A Fable'', making him one of only four authors to be awarded it more than once. Unlike many of his earlier works, it is a straightforward narration and eschews the complicated literary techniques of his more well-known works. It is a picaresque novel, and as such may seem uncharacteristically lighthearted given its subject matter. For these reasons, ''The Reivers'' is often ignored by Faulkner scholars or dismissed as a lesser work. He previously had referred to writing a "Golden Book of Yoknapatawpha County" with which he would finish his literary career. It is likely that ''The Reivers'' was meant to be this "Golden Book". ''The Reivers'' was adapted into a The Reivers (film), film of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pawnbroker (film)
''The Pawnbroker'' is a 1964 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, starring Rod Steiger, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Brock Peters, Jaime Sánchez and Morgan Freeman in his feature film debut. The screenplay was an adaptation by Morton S. Fine and David Friedkin from the 1961 novel of the same name by Edward Lewis Wallant. The film was the first produced entirely in the United States to deal with the Holocaust from the viewpoint of a survivor. It earned international acclaim for Steiger, launching his career as an A-list actor. It was among the first American films to feature a homosexual character and nudity during the Production Code, and was the first film featuring a woman's bare breasts to receive Production Code approval. Although it was publicly announced to be a special exception, the controversy proved to be first of similar major challenges to the Code that ultimately led to its abrogation. In 2008, ''The Pawnbroker'' was selected for preservation in the United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paquito D'Rivera
Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras (born 4 June 1948), known as Paquito D'Rivera, is a Cuban-American alto saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. He was a member of the Cuban songo band Irakere and, since the 1980s, he has established himself as a bandleader in the United States. His smooth saxophone tone and his frequent combination of Latin jazz and classical music have become his trademarks. Early life Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras was born on 4 June 1948 in Havana, Cuba. His father played classical saxophone, entertained his son with Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman records and sold musical instruments. He took D'Rivera to clubs like the Tropicana (frequented by his musician friends and customers) and to concert bands and orchestras. At age five, D'Rivera began saxophone lessons by his father Francisco Lorenzo Rivera Sanchez (tito). In 1960, he attended Alejandro Garcia Caturla Conservatory of Music, where he learned saxophone and clarinet In 1965, he was a fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Simon & Garfunkel. Their blend of folk and rock, including hits such as "The Sound of Silence" (1965), "Mrs. Robinson" (1968), "America (Simon & Garfunkel song), America" (1968), and "The Boxer" (1969), served as a soundtrack to the Counterculture of the 1960s, 1960s counterculture. Their final album, ''Bridge over Troubled Water'' (1970), is among List of best-selling albums, the best-selling of all time. As a solo artist, Simon has explored genres including gospel music, gospel, reggae, and soul music, soul. His albums ''Paul Simon (album), Paul Simon'' (1972), ''There Goes Rhymin' Simon'' (1973), and ''Still Crazy After All These Years'' (1975) kept him in the public eye and drew acclaim, producing the hits "Mother and Child Reunion" (1972 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Joel
William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has had a successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s. From 1971 to 1993, he released 12 studio albums spanning the genres of pop and rock, and in 2001 released a one-off studio album of classical compositions. With over 160 million records sold worldwide, Joel is one of the world's List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists and is the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States. His 1985 compilation album, ''Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II'', is one of the List of best-selling albums in the United States, best-selling albums in the United States. Joel was born in the Bronx in New York City and grew up in Hicksville, New York, Hicksville on Long Island, where he began taking piano lessons at his mothe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natalie Cole
Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut album Inseparable (album), ''Inseparable'' (1975), along with the song "This Will Be, This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)", and the album's Inseparable (song), title track. Its success led to her receiving the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 18th Annual Grammy Awards, for which she became the first African-American recipient as well as the first R&B act to win the award. The singles "Sophisticated Lady (She's a Different Lady), Sophisticated Lady" (1976), "I've Got Love on My Mind", and "Our Love (Natalie Cole song), Our Love" (1977) followed. After releasing several albums, she departed from her R&B sound and returned as a Pop music, pop singer on the 1987 album Everlasting (Natalie Cole album), ''Everlasting'', along with her cove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations received by Quincy Jones, many accolades including 28 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for seven Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. Jones came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor before producing pop hit records for Lesley Gore in the early 1960s (including "It's My Party") and serving as an arranger and conductor for several collaborations between Frank Sinatra and the jazz artist Count Basie. Jones produced three of the most successful albums by Michael Jackson: ''Off the Wall'' (1979), ''Thriller (album), Thriller'' (1982), and ''Bad (album), Bad'' (1987). In 1985, Jones produced and conducted the charity song "We Are the World", which raised funds for victims ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mina Mazzini
Mina Anna Mazzini (born 25 March 1940) or Mina Anna Quaini (for the Swiss civil registry), known mononymously as Mina, is an Italian singer and actress. She was a staple of television variety shows and a dominant figure in Italian pop music from the 1960s to the mid-1970s, known for her three-octave vocal range, the agility of her soprano voice, and her image as an emancipated woman. In performance, Mina combined several modern styles with traditional Italian melodies and swing music, which made her the most versatile pop singer in Italian music. With over 150 million records sold worldwide, she is the best-selling Italian musical artist, as well as one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Mina dominated the country's charts for 15 years and reached an unsurpassed level of popularity. She has scored 79 albums and 71 singles on the Italian charts. Mina's TV appearances in 1959 were the first for a female rock and roll singer in Italy. Her loud syncopated singing ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, Pastorius recorded albums as a solo artist, band leader, and as a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. He also collaborated with numerous artists, including Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and Joni Mitchell. His bass style was influenced by funk and employed the use of Fretless bass guitar, fretless bass, lyrical solos, bass Chord (music), chords and innovative use of harmonics. As of 2017, he was the only one of seven bassists inducted into the ''DownBeat'' Jazz Hall of Fame to have been known for their work on the electric bass, and he has been lauded as among the best bassists of all time. Pastorius suffered from Addiction, drug addiction and mental health issues and, despite his widespread acclaim, over the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
