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Abandoned Garden
''Abandoned Garden'' is an album by American vocalist Michael Franks. Released in 1995 by Warner Bros. Records, it was Franks' thirteenth studio album and his final album of new material with Warner Bros. Background The album is a dedication to the memory of Brazilian jazz musician, singer and composer Antônio Carlos Jobim. Franks had drawn artistic inspiration throughout his career from Jobim, and had collaborated with him in the past. "Somehow Our Love Survives" marked the return of keyboardist and lyricist Joe Sample, with whom Franks had collaborated on numerous albums, including '' Sleeping Gypsy'' in 1977 and '' Blue Pacific'' in 1990. Track listing Reception Writing for AllMusic, Ross Boissoneau praised the input of "heavy hitters" but lamented it was "neither Franks' best effort nor particularly evocative of the great Brazilian composer" the album was dedicated to. He concluded "while the revolving door of stars has served Franks well on other recordings, here they d ... [...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 Thurman, his mother Vera, 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, Ira 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 received. At Univ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Sanborn
David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school. One of the most commercially successful American saxophonists to earn prominence since the 1980s, Sanborn is described by critic Scott Yannow as "the most influential saxophonist on pop, R&B, and crossover players of the past 20 years." He is often identified with radio-friendly smooth jazz, but he has expressed a disinclination for the genre and his association with it. Early life Sanborn was born in Tampa, Florida, and grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri. He suffered from polio for eight years in his youth. He began playing saxophone on a physician's advice to strengthen his weakened chest muscles and improve his breathing, instead of studying piano. Alto saxophonis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Alias
Charles "Don" Alias (December 25, 1939 in New York City – March 28, 2006 in New York City) was an American jazz percussionist. Alias was best known for playing congas and other hand drums. He was, however, a capable drum kit performer: for example, Alias played drums on the song "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" from trumpeter Miles Davis's album '' Bitches Brew'' (1969) when neither Lenny White nor Jack DeJohnette was able to play the marching band-inspired rhythm requested by Davis.see the notes for ''The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions'' (1998) Alias performed on hundreds of recordings and was perhaps best known for his associations with Miles Davis and saxophonist David Sanborn, though he also performed or recorded with the group Weather Report, singer Joni Mitchell, pianist Herbie Hancock, the Brecker Brothers, Jaco Pastorius, Pat Metheny, Nina Simone and many others. Alias was born in New York City and arrived in Boston in the early 1960s intending to study medicine but, afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lewis Nash
Lewis Nash (born December 30, 1958) is an American jazz drummer. According to ''Modern Drummer'' magazineNashhas one of the longest discographies in jazz and has played on over 400 records, earning him the honor of Jazz's Most Valuable Player by the magazine in its May 2009 issue. In 2012The Nash Jazz Club] opened in Phoenix, AZ. Named after Lewis Nash bJazz in AZ501(c)(3), The Nash Jazz Club is dedicated to performances and educational programs that promote jazz education. In 2017, Nash joined the jazz studies faculty at Arizona State University, where he was named the Bob and Gretchen Ravenscroft Professor of Practice in Jazz. In early 2021, the Lewis Nash Scholarship Endowment was created by the university to be awarded annually to a deserving ASU undergraduate or graduate jazz performance student. Nash is noted for his adaptability to a vast array of genres, as evidenced by his performances with such different musicians as Tommy Flanagan and Don Pullen. Nash has made 5 r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Parker (musician)
Chris Parker is an American drummer. During his childhood, Parker's father, artist Robert Andrew Parker, attached wooden blocks to the hi-hat and bass drum pedals, so that Parker's feet could reach the pedals to play the drums along with records. His father, who was also a jazz drummer, introduced young Parker to the music of Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Leadbelly, Ray Charles, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. When he became a teenager he began practicing with friends and finding out the nostalgia of rock and roll by listening to such jazz drummers as Roger Hawkins, D. J. Fontana, and New Orleans icons such as Earl Palmer, Smokey Johnson and James Black. His enthusiasm grew as he went to New York City's School of Visual Arts to study painting, where he saw an ad for a drummer. He became a member of a band called Holy Moses when he moved to Woodstock, New York. That band was short lived during which Parker recorded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the drums at the age of four. He graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, then studied percussion at Indiana University. Career His professional music career started in 1972 when he joined the Stan Kenton Orchestra. After three years with Kenton, he joined Maynard Ferguson for two years. In 1978, he joined Weather Report, joining Jaco Pastorius in the rhythm section. After four years and five albums with Weather Report and the Jaco Pastorius big band's ''Word of Mouth'', he joined Steps Ahead. In 1983, he performed on the Antilles Records release ''Swingrass '83''. He toured the US in 1992 with Chick Corea. Erskine splits his time as a musician and a professor at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern Californ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manolo Badrena
Manolo Badrena (born March 17, 1952, in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a percussionist most noted for his work with Weather Report from 1976 to 1977. He has made contributions to over 100 recordings that span jazz, world music, pop, and Latin music. Badrena has played with The Zawinul Syndicate, the Rolling Stones, Mezzoforte, Joni Mitchell, Spyro Gyra, Art Blakey, Bill Evans, Steve Khan, Carla Bley, Talking Heads, Blondie, Michael Franks, Ahmad Jamal, Hugo Fattoruso, and others. Badrena lives in Fair View, New Jersey. He is the leader (drums, percussion, guitar, vocals) of the Latin jazz band Trio Mundo. Discography As leader * ''Manolo'' (A&M, 1979) * ''Carnaval'' with Trio Mundo (Khaeon, 2002) * ''Trio Mundo Rides Again'' with Trio Mundo (ZOHO, 2004) As sideman With Herb Alpert * ''Main Event Live'' (A&M, 1978) * ''Rise'' (A&M, 1979) * ''Beyond'' (A&M, 1980) With Bill Evans * ''Living in the Crest of a Wave'' (Elektra Musician, 1984) * ''The Alternative Man'' (Blue Note, 198 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuck Loeb
Charles Samuel "Chuck" Loeb (December 7, 1955 – July 31, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist and a member of the groups Steps Ahead, Metro and Fourplay. Early years and education Loeb was born in Nyack, New York, near New York City. At a young age, he listened to Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan. According to a 2005 ''JazzTimes'' article, the first song he learned on guitar was Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", which he would later play at a guest appearance with Dylan. He discovered jazz when he was sixteen through the music of guitarists Wes Montgomery, George Benson, John McLaughlin, and Pat Martino. At that point, Loeb chose to become a musician and "never thought of doing anything else". He studied with local music teachers, then traveled to Philadelphia and became a student of jazz guitarist Dennis Sandole. In New York City, he learned from Jim Hall. For two years he attended Berklee College of Music in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Leventhal
John Leventhal (born December 18, 1952) is a musician, producer, songwriter, and recording engineer who has produced albums for William Bell, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Michelle Branch, Rosanne Cash, Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin, Sarah Jarosz, Rodney Crowell, Jim Lauderdale, Joan Osborne, Loudon Wainwright III and The Wreckers. He has won six Grammy Awards. Career As a musician, he has worked with such artists as Jackson Browne, Willie Nelson, Bruce Hornsby, Elvis Costello, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Charlie Haden, David Crosby, Levon Helm, Edie Brickell, Paul Simon, Patty Larkin, Susan Tedeschi, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Steve Forbert, Kelly Willis, Donald Fagen, Ry Cooder, and Johnny Cash. As a songwriter, over 200 of his songs have been recorded by various artists, including Rosanne Cash, Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn, Michelle Branch, The Tedeschi Trucks Band, Vince Gill, George Strait, Shelby Lynne, Patty Loveless, Jim Lauderdale, Joe Cocker and William Bell. In 1988, he produc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carla Bley
Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera '' Escalator over the Hill'' (released as a triple LP set), as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other artists, including Gary Burton, Jimmy Giuffre, George Russell, Art Farmer, John Scofield and her ex-husband Paul Bley. Early life Bley was born in Oakland, California, United States, to Emil Borg (1899–1990), a piano teacher and church choirmaster, who encouraged her to sing and to learn to play the piano, and Arline Anderson (1907–1944), who died when Bley was eight years old. After giving up the church to immerse herself in roller skating at the age of fourteen,Ben Sidran, ''Talking Jazz: An Illustrated Oral History'', Pomegranate Artbooks, 1992 she moved to New York at seventeen and became a cigarette girl at Birdland, where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob James (musician)
Robert McElhiney James (born December 25, 1939) is an American jazz keyboardist, arranger, and record producer. He founded the band Fourplay and wrote "Angela", the theme song for the TV show ''Taxi.'' According to VICE (magazine), music from his first seven albums has often been sampled and believed to have contributed to the formation of hip hop. Among his most well known recordings are "Nautilus", "Westchester Lady", "Tappan Zee", and his version of "Take Me to The Mardi Gras". Early life and family James was born on Christmas Day of 1939 in Marshall, Missouri, United States. He started playing the piano at age four. His first piano teacher, Sister Mary Elizabeth, who taught at Mercy Academy, discovered that he had perfect pitch. At age seven, James began to study with R. T. Dufford, a teacher at Missouri Valley College. At age 15, James continued his studies with Franklin Launer, a teacher at Christian College in Columbia, Missouri, with more music instruction during high ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russell Ferrante
Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion band founded in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. History In 1977, guitarist Robben Ford, for his first solo album, recruited keyboardist Russell Ferrante, electric bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Ricky Lawson. They decided to continue as a group and were signed to Warner Bros. Records by producer Tommy LiPuma, who chose the name "Yellowjackets" from a list of potential group names the band had compiled. In 1984, the band's second album, ''Mirage a Trois'', was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Fusion Performance. Ford only played on half this album, and after he departed the group, saxophonist Marc Russo was hired in his place. The next album, '' Shades'', reached No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' magazine jazz album chart, while the single "And You Know That" won a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. Lawson left and was replaced by Will Kennedy in 1987. Their next three albums, ''Four Corners'', ''Politics'', and ''The Spin'' a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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