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World Statesman
''World Statesman'' is an album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, recorded in 1956 and released on the Norgran Records, Norgran label.Dizzy Gillespie discography accessed March 26, 2012 The album was reissued as part of the 2CD compilation ''Birks' Works, Birks Works: The Verve Big Band Sessions''.Yanow, S ''Birks Works'' Allmusic Review accessed March 26, 2012 Reception The AllMusic review states: "This set introduced the new Dizzy Gillespie big band which was making headlines for the acclaim it received (and for the excitement it caused) during its State Department-sponsored world to ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of Harmony, harmonic and rhythmic complexity previously unheard in jazz. His combination of musicianship, showmanship, and wit made him a leading popularizer of the new music called bebop. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, scat singing, bent horn, pouched cheeks, and light-hearted personality have made him an enduring icon. In the 1940s, Gillespie, with Charlie Parker, became a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He taught and influenced many other musicians, including trumpeters Miles Davis, Jon Faddis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Morgan, Chuck Mangione, and balladeer Johnny Hartman. He pioneered Afro-Cuban jazz and won several Grammy Awards. Scott Yanow wrote: "Di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stella By Starlight
"Stella by Starlight" is a popular jazz standard with music by Victor Young that was drawn from thematic material composed for the main title and soundtrack of the 1944 Paramount Pictures film ''The Uninvited (1944 film), The Uninvited''. Appearing in the film's underscoring, underscore as well as in source music as an instrumental theme song without lyrics, it was turned over to Ned Washington, who wrote the lyrics for it in 1946. At one point in the film, the main character, Rick (Ray Milland) tells Stella (Gail Russell) that he is playing a serenade, "To Stella by Starlight". Recording history "Stella by Starlight" is one of the most popular jazz standards, ranked number 10 by the website ''jazzstandards.com''. Its May 1947 recording by Harry James and his orchestra reached the 21st place in the pop charts. Two months later, the recording by Frank Sinatra with Axel Stordahl and his orchestra also rose to the 21st position. alto saxophone, Alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Mitchell (saxophonist)
William Melvin Mitchell (November 3, 1926 – April 18, 2001) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.[ Allmusic] Career Mitchell was born in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, United States. He and his family moved to Detroit, where he received early music education at Cass Tech. He was known for his close association with trumpeter Thad Jones, who was also from Detroit, and worked in several big bands, including Woody Herman's when he replaced Gene Ammons. In 1949, Mitchell recorded with the Milt Buckner band, as well as making several recordings with Thad Jones. From 1951 to 1954, Mitchell led the house band at the Blue Bird Inn in Detroit. The band operated in different configurations, including with drummer Oliver Jackson (musician), Oliver Jackson and his bassist brother Ali Jackson (jazz bassist), Ali; as a quartet with Terry Pollard, Beans Richardson, and Elvin Jones; as a quintet including Thad Jones; and, for several months in 1953, with Miles Davis as a g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alto Saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ (musical note), E, smaller than the B♭ (musical note), B Tenor saxophone, tenor but larger than the B Soprano saxophone, soprano. It is the most common saxophone and is used in popular music, concert bands, chamber music, List of concert works for saxophone, solo repertoire, military bands, marching bands, pep bands, carnatic music, and jazz (such as big bands, jazz combos, swing music). The alto saxophone had a prominent role in the development of jazz. Influential jazz musicians who made significant contributions include Don Redman, Jimmy Dorsey, Johnny Hodges, Benny Carter, Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz, Jackie McLean, Phil Woods, Art Pepper, Paul Desmond, and Cannonball Adderley. Although the role of the alto saxophone in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods (November 2, 1931 – September 29, 2015) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, and composer. Biography Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. After inheriting a saxophone at age 12, he began taking lessons from Harvey LaRose at a local music shop. His heroes on the alto saxophone included Benny Carter and Johnny Hodges. He studied music with Lennie Tristano at the Manhattan School of Music and at the Juilliard School. His friend, Joe Lopes, coached him on clarinet as there was no saxophone major at Juilliard at the time and received a bachelor’s degree in 1952. Although he did not copy Charlie Parker, Woods was known as the New Bird, a nickname also given to other alto saxophone players such as Sonny Stitt and Cannonball Adderley. In the 1950s, Woods began to lead his own bands. Quincy Jones invited him to accompany Dizzy Gillespie on a world tour sponsored by the U.S. State Department. A few years later he toured Europe wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Powell (musician)
James Theodore Powell (October 24, 1914 – February 16, 1994) was an American jazz saxophonist who played alto sax. He played on two recording dates with Billie Holiday for Columbia. The first, in February 1940, was with a band comprising Roy Eldridge on trumpet, Carl Frye and Powell on alto saxophones, Kermit Scott (musician) on tenor sax, Sonny White on piano, Lawrence Lucie on guitar, John Williams on bass and Hal West on drums. The second recording session was in May 1941, again with Eldridge, together with Lester Boone, Ernie Powell, and Jimmy Powell on alto saxophones, Eddie Heywood on piano, Paul Chapman on guitar, Grachan Moncur on bass, and Herbert Cowans on drums. In December 1944, he recorded with Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra, with Oscar Pettiford, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Gene Ammons, Thomas Crump, Wardell Gray, Dizzy Gillespie, Chippy Outcalt, and Trummie Young, among others. The album was released in 1960 as ''Mr "B"''. In 1945, he recorded in N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Rehak
Frank Rehak (July 6, 1926, in New York City, New York – June 22, 1987, in Badger, California) was an American jazz trombonist. He began on piano and cello before switching to trombone. He worked with Gil Evans and Miles Davis. He also appeared with Davis on the broadcast "The Sounds of Miles Davis." He had a failed marriage to nightclub dancer Jerri Gray. He also had a heroin addiction, which combined with other financial problems led to his withdrawal from music and lapsing into relative obscurity. In an effort to deal with these issues he spent time at Synanon, which led to his mention in Art Pepper's autobiography. He died in Badger of throat cancer at the age of 60. Discography As leader * Frank Rehak Sextet/Alex Smith Quintet, ''Jazzville Vol. 2'' (Dawn, 1957) As sideman With Tony Bennett * '' My Heart Sings'' (Columbia, 1961) * '' Tony Bennett at Carnegie Hall'' (Columbia, 1962) With Al Cohn * ''Mr. Music'' (RCA Victor, 1955) * '' The Natural Seven'' (RCA Victor, 1955) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melba Liston
Melba Doretta Liston (January 13, 1926 – April 23, 1999) was an American jazz trombonist, arranger, and composer. Other than those playing in all-female bands, she was the first woman trombonist to play in big bands during the 1940s and 1960s, but as her career progressed she became better known as an orchestration, arranger, particularly in partnership with pianist Randy Weston. Other major artists with whom she worked include Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, and Count Basie. Biography Early life and education Liston was born in Kansas City, Missouri. At the age of seven, Liston's mother purchased her a trombone and she began learning to play. Her family encouraged her musical pursuits, as they were all music lovers. Liston was primarily self-taught, but she was "encouraged by her guitar-playing grandfather", with whom she spent significant time learning to play spirituals and folk songs. At the age of eight, she was good enough to be a solo act on a local ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rod Levitt
Rodney Charles Levitt (September 16, 1929 in Portland, Oregon – May 8, 2007 in Wardsboro, Vermont) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, and bandleader. Levitt studied composition at the University of Washington, where he took his BA in 1951. He was in the orchestra at Radio City Music Hall from 1957 to 1963, and played with Dizzy Gillespie (1956–57), Ernie Wilkins (1957), Kai Winding (1958), and Sy Oliver (1959-60), and also worked with Gil Evans in 1959 when his orchestra accompanied Miles Davis. In 1960, he played with Gerry Mulligan and Mundell Lowe, with Quincy Jones in 1961, and with Oliver Nelson in 1962. He recorded four albums as a leader of an octet in 1963-6,6 and continued to work with this combination into the 1970s, when he also played with bassist Chuck Israels. Later in his career he worked with Cedar Walton and Blue Mitchell, and wrote music for commercials with a company he ran from 1966-1989. In the late 1970s he taught at Fairleigh Dickinson, Hofs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Gordon (musician)
Joseph Henry Gordon (May 15, 1928 – November 4, 1963) was an American jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ... trumpeter. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. H is first professional gigs were in Boston in 1947; he played with Georgie Auld, Charlie Mariano, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Parker (1952–55 intermittently), Art Blakey (1954), and Don Redman. In 1956 he toured the Middle East with Dizzy Gillespie's big band; he was a soloist on "A Night in Tunisia". Following this he played with Horace Silver. After moving to Los Angeles, he recorded with Barney Kessel, Benny Carter, Harold Land, Shelly Manne (1958–60) and Dexter Gordon. He recorded as a bandleader for two sessions, and appeared on one recording with Thelonious Monk. He has an uncredited role ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claude Debussy
Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born to a family of modest means and little cultural involvement, Debussy showed enough musical talent to be admitted at the age of ten to France's leading music college, the Conservatoire de Paris. He originally studied the piano, but found his vocation in innovative composition, despite the disapproval of the Conservatoire's conservative professors. He took many years to develop his mature style, and was nearly 40 when he achieved international fame in 1902 with the only opera he completed, ''Pelléas et Mélisande (opera), Pelléas et Mélisande''. Debussy's orchestral works include ''Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune'' (1894), ''Nocturnes (Debussy), Nocturnes'' (1897–1899 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larry Clinton
Larry Clinton (August 17, 1909 – May 2, 1985) was an American musician, best known as a trumpeter who became a prominent American bandleader and arranger. His jazz and pop standards were "The Dipsy Doodle" (1937), "My Reverie" (1938), and "Heart and Soul" (1938). He also composed "Satan Takes a Holiday", "Midnight in the Madhouse", and "Calypso Melody". Biography Clinton was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He became a versatile musician, playing trumpet, trombone, and clarinet. While in his twenties, he became a prolific arranger for dance orchestras; bandleaders Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Glen Gray, Louis Armstrong, and Bunny Berigan all used Larry Clinton charts. His first stint as a bandleader was from 1937 to 1941, and he recorded a string of hits for RCA Victor. The Clinton band's repertoire was split between pop tunes of the day ("I Double Dare You", "Summer Souvenirs", "Deep Purple"), ambitious instrumentals penned by Clinton like "Satan Takes a Hol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
