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Absolute Benson
'' Absolute Benson '' is an enhanced studio album by American jazz musician George Benson. It was released by GRP and Verve Records on May 23, 2000 in the United States. Taking a tip from 1999's pop-man-of-the-year Carlos Santana, Benson goes Latin on this release. Critical reception AllMusic editor William Ruhlmann that ''Absolute Benson'' "is another in a series of consistently excellent CDs that characterize it ..If it is difficult to crossover from jazz to pop, crossing back can be just as treacherous. Benson's oldest fans, who later became his detractors, still may not be satisfied with his current approach, but it has deservedly won him a secure place in contemporary jazz." Track listing Personnel and credits Musicians * George Benson – guitar (1-9), vocals (1, 2, 8) * Joe Sample – Hammond B3 organ (1, 2), Wurlitzer electric piano (1, 2), synthesizers (1, 2), acoustic piano (3-9), synthesizer arrangements * Ricky Peterson – Hammond B3 organ (8), synthesizer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, playing soul jazz with Jack McDuff and others. He then launched a successful solo career, alternating between jazz, pop, R&B singing, and scat singing. His album ''Breezin''' was certified triple-platinum, hitting no. 1 on the ''Billboard'' album chart in 1976. His concerts were well attended through the 1980s, and he still has a large following. Benson has won ten Grammy Awards and has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Biography Early career Benson was born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of seven, he first played the ukulele in a corner drug store, for which he was paid a few dollars. At the age of eight, he played guitar in an unlicensed nightclub on Friday and Saturday ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Genius". Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called "Brother Ray". Charles was blinded during childhood, possibly due to glaucoma. Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by combining blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records. He contributed to the integration of country music, rhythm and blues, and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, notably with his two ''Modern Sounds'' albums. While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first black musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company. Charles's 1960 hit "Georgia On My Mind" was the first of his three career No. 1 hits on the ''Billboard'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jon Fausty
Jon Fausty (born February 20, 1949 ) is a multiple Grammy Award-winning sound and recording engineer best known for his work on some of the most successful Latin albums ever recorded. Fausty's career has spanned over six decades. He has designed studios, produced and engineered recordings throughout the United States, Canada, Cuba and Europe - both in studio and live performances. Early career Born in Westchester, New York of Russian and Hungarian Jewish ancestry, Fausty “helped shape the sound of Latin music.” Fausty originally wanted to be a radio disc jockey but became interested in sound engineering after a chance visit in 1960 to Mirasound Studios in Manhattan. The engineers allowed him watch and learn. His first job was at Groove Sound studios where he became Wiley C. Brooks assistant. After Brooks left, Fausty became the chief engineer at 18 years old. He remained at Groove Studios for one year. His first Latin recording was for the Cesta All-Stars at Groove Soun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La India
Linda Viera Caballero (born March 9, 1969), better known as La India, is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter of salsa, house music and Latin pop. La India has been nominated for both Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, winning the Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album for the ''Intensamente La India Con Canciones De Juan Gabriel'' album. Early life Caballero was born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico. Both her parents moved to New York City soon after her birth, settling in the South Bronx area of the city. Initially, they lived with Caballero's grandmother, a woman who served as an important influence on Caballero's life. Caballero began singing as a young girl, even taking opera training for a brief time. Her stage name, La India, was given to her by her grandmother because of her dark features and long, straight, black hair. La India describes herself as a feminist, having watched her father abuse her mother while she hid under the bed. Career 1985: Early career In 1985, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lisa Fischer
Lisa Fischer (born December 1, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She found success with her 1991 debut album ''So Intense'', which produced the Grammy Award–winning hit single "How Can I Ease the Pain". She has been a back-up singer for a number of famous artists, including Sting, Luther Vandross, and Tina Turner, and she toured with The Rolling Stones from 1989 to 2015. Early life Fischer was born in the Fort Greene neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Fischer's mother gave birth to her at age 16 and had a total of three children by the time she was 19. Fischer has fond memories of singing with her mother (a homemaker), her father (a warehouse worker and security officer), and her two younger brothers. She attended The High School of Music & Art in Manhattan. When Fischer was 14 her father left the family and when Fischer was 17, her mother died. In an interview with Christian Wikane of ''PopMatters'', Fischer stated she was influenced by Freda P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Ayers
Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk. He is a key figure in the acid jazz movement, and has been dubbed "The Godfather of Neo Soul". He is best known for his compositions "Everybody Loves the Sunshine", "Searchin", and "Running Away". At one time, he was said to have more sampled hits by rappers than any other artist. Biography Early life Ayers was born on September 10, 1940, in Los Angeles. He grew up in a musical family, where his father played trombone and his mother played piano. At the age of five, he was given his first pair of vibraphone mallets by Lionel Hampton. The area of Los Angeles that Ayers grew up in, South Park (later known as South Central) was at the center of the Southern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arif Mardin
Arif Mardin (March 15, 1932 – June 25, 2006) was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for over 30 years, as producer, arranger, studio manager, and vice president, before moving to EMI and serving as vice president and general manager of Manhattan Records. His collaborations include working with The Rascals, Queen, John Prine, the Bee Gees, Hall & Oates, Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, Michael Crawford, Chaka Khan, Laura Nyro, Ringo Starr, Carly Simon, Phil Collins, Daniel Rodriguez, Danny O'Keefe, and Norah Jones. Mardin was awarded eleven Grammy Awards and has eighteen nominations. Biography Early life Mardin was born in Istanbul into a renowned family that included statesmen, diplomats and leaders in the civic, military and business sectors of the Ottoman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timbales
Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfico y técnico''. Entries for ''Paila criolla''; ''Timbal criollo''. They were developed as an alternative to classical timpani in Cuba in the early 20th century and later spread across Latin America and the United States. Timbales are struck with wooden sticks on the heads and shells, although bare hands are sometimes used. The player (called a ''timbalero'') uses a variety of stick strokes, rim shots, and rolls to produce a wide range of percussive expression during solos and at transitional sections of music, and usually plays the shells (or auxiliary percussion such as a cowbell or cymbal) to keep time in other parts of the song. The shells and the typical pattern played on them are referred to as ''cáscara''. Common stroke patterns incl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luis Conte
Luis Conte (born 16 November 1954) is a Cuban percussionist best-known for his performances in the bands of artists including James Taylor, Madonna, Pat Metheny Group, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and Shakira. He began his music career as a studio musician for Latin Jazz acts like Caldera. Conte's live performance and touring career took off when he joined Madonna's touring band in the 1980s. Neil Strauss of The New York Times describes Conte's playing as "grazing Latin-style percussion". Conte immigrated to Los Angeles in 1967, where he attended Los Angeles City College studying music, and entrenched himself in the music community. Conte's career includes composing and playing in ABC TV's Dancing with the Stars band, along with many TV and film projects. Early years Conte was born in Santiago de Cuba. As a child, Conte began his musical odyssey playing the guitar. However, he soon switched to percussion, and that has remained his primary instrument e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cindy Blackman
Cindy Blackman Santana (born November 18, 1959), sometimes known as Cindy Blackman, is an American jazz and rock drummer. Blackman has recorded several jazz albums as a bandleader and has performed with Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Simmons, Ron Carter, Sam Rivers, Cassandra Wilson, Angela Bofill, Buckethead, Bill Laswell, Lenny Kravitz, Joe Henderson and Joss Stone. Biography and early career Born November 18, 1959, in Yellow Springs, Ohio, her mother and grandmother were classical musicians and her uncle a vibist. When Cindy was a child, her mother took her to classical concerts. Blackman's introduction to the drums happened at the age of seven in her hometown of Yellow Springs, Ohio. At a pool party at a friend's house she saw a drum set and began playing them. "Just looking at them struck something in my core, and it was completely right from the second I saw them", says Blackman. "And then, when I hit them, it was like, wow, that's me.". Soon after, Blackman began playing in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Gadd
Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1984. Gadd's performances on Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and "Late in the Evening" and Steely Dan's "Aja (song), Aja" are examples of his style. He has worked with other popular musicians from many genres including Simon & Garfunkel, Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Harry Chapin, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt, Grover Washington Jr., Michael Brecker, Chick Corea, Lee Ritenour, Paul Desmond, Kate Bush, Chet Baker, Al Di Meola, Chuck Mangione, Kenny Loggins, Eric Clapton, Pino Daniele, Michel Petrucciani, and Toshiki Kadomatsu. Early life Gadd grew up in Irondequoit, New York. He started playing the drums at a very early age. At age 11, he entered the Mickey Mouse National Talent Round Up contest and was one of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian McBride
Christian McBride (born May 31, 1972) is an American jazz bassist, composer and arranger. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner. McBride has performed and recorded with a number of jazz musicians and ensembles, including Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Joe Henderson, Diana Krall, Roy Haynes, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Eddie Palmieri, Joshua Redman, and Ray Brown's " SuperBass" with John Clayton, as well as with pop, hip-hop, soul and classical musicians like Sting, Paul McCartney, Celine Dion, Isaac Hayes, The Roots, Queen Latifah, Kathleen Battle, Renee Fleming, Carly Simon, Bruce Hornsby, and James Brown. Early life McBride was born in Philadelphia on May 31, 1972. After starting on bass guitar, McBride switched to double bass. He is a graduate of the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, and studied at the Juilliard School. Later life and career McBride was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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