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Al Viola
Alfred Viola (June 16, 1919 – February 21, 2007) was an American jazz guitarist who worked with Frank Sinatra for 25 years. He played the mandolin on the soundtrack of the film ''The Godfather''. Biography Viola grew up in an Italian family in Brooklyn and learned to play the guitar and mandolin as a teenager. He enlisted in the Army during World War II from 1942 to 1945 and played in an Army jazz band. After he was discharged in 1946, he and Page Cavanaugh, whom he had met while serving in the Army, formed a trio with bassist Lloyd Pratt. The band appeared in several films, including ''Romance on the High Seas'' with Doris Day, and played a few dates in 1946 and 1947 with Frank Sinatra. Viola continued to work with Sinatra regularly, accompanying him on several hundred studio recordings and concert dates between 1956 and 1980. Viola was a session musician in Los Angeles, performing in films, television and in commercials. His mandolin playing can be heard on the soundtra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behind New York County (Manhattan). Brooklyn is also New York City's most populous borough,2010 Gazetteer for New York State . Retrieved September 18, 2016. with 2,736,074 residents in 2020. Named after the Dutch village of Breukelen, Brooklyn is located on the w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romance On The High Seas
''Romance on the High Seas'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''It's Magic'') is a 1948 American musical film, musical romantic comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz, and starred Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Don DeFore and Doris Day in her film debut. Busby Berkeley was the choreographer. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, for Academy Award for Best Original Song, Original Song for "It's Magic" (music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn), and Academy Award for Best Original Score, Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture (Ray Heindorf). Plot Elvira Kent (Janis Paige) and her husband Michael (Don DeFore) suspect each other of cheating. For their wedding anniversary, Elvira books an ocean cruise to Rio de Janeiro but her husband claims that unexpected business will prevent him from going. Seeing an opportunity, Elvira pretends to take the trip alone, but in fact sends singer Georgia Garrett (Doris Day), a woman she'd met at the travel agency, in her place and under her na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julie London
Julie London (née Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch singer noted for her sultry, languid contralto vocals, London recorded over thirty albums of pop and jazz standards between 1955 and 1969. Her recording of " Cry Me a River", a track she introduced on her debut album, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. In addition to her musical notice, London was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1974 for her portrayal of nurse Dixie McCall in the television series ''Emergency!''. Born in Santa Rosa, California, to vaudevillian parents, London was discovered while working as an elevator operator in downtown Los Angeles, and she began her career as an actress. London's 35-year acting career began in film in 1944, and included roles as the female lead in numerous westerns, co-starring with Rock Hudson in '' The Fat Man'' (1951), with Robert Taylor and John Cassavetes in '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Lawrence
Steve Lawrence (born Sidney Liebowitz; July 8, 1935) is an American singer, comedian and actor, best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as " Steve and Eydie", and for his performance as Maury Sline, the manager and friend of the main characters in ''The Blues Brothers''. Steve and Eydie first appeared together as regulars on ''Tonight Starring Steve Allen'' in 1954 and continued performing as a duo until Gormé's retirement in 2009. Gormé died August 10, 2013.2003 Interview with , from a website (web archive from |
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of successes, earning him the nicknames "Prince of Motown" and "Prince of Soul". Gaye's Motown songs include "Ain't That Peculiar", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". Gaye also recorded duets with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell, and Diana Ross. During the 1970s, Gaye recorded the albums '' What's Going On'' and ''Let's Get It On'' and became one of the first artists in Motown to break away from the reins of a production company. His later recordings influenced several contemporary R&B subgenres, such as quiet storm and neo soul. "Sexual Healing", released in 1982 on the album ''Midnight Love'', won him his first two Grammy Awards. Gaye's last televised appearances we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. After a tumultuous adolescence, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success with the Chick Webb Orchestra, performing across the country but most often associated with the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Her rendition of the nursery rhyme "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" helped boost both her and Webb to national fame. After taking over the band when Webb died, Fitzgerald left it behind in 1942 to start her solo career. Her manager was Moe Gale, co-founder of the Savoy, until she turned the rest of her career over to Norman Granz, who founded Verve Records to produce new records by Fitzgerald. With Verve she recorded some of her more widely noted works, particularly he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts: "Cracklin' Rosie", "Song Sung Blue", "Longfellow Serenade", "I've Been This Way Before", "If You Know What I Mean", "Desiree (song), Desirée", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", "America (Neil Diamond song), America", "Yesterday's Songs", and "Heartlight (song), Heartlight". Thirty-eight songs by Diamond have reached the top 10 on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Adult Contemporary (chart), Adult Contemporary charts, including "Sweet Caroline". He has also acted in films, making his screen debut in the 1980 Musical film, musical drama film ''The Jazz Singer (1980 film), The Jazz Singer''. Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, and he received ... [...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 American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the hits "This Will Be", " Inseparable" (1975), and " Our Love" (1977). She returned as a pop singer on the 1987 album ''Everlasting'' and her cover of Bruce Springsteen's " Pink Cadillac". In the 1990s, she sang traditional pop by her father, resulting in her biggest success, '' Unforgettable... with Love'', which sold over seven million copies and won her seven Grammy Awards. She sold over 30 million records worldwide. Early life Natalie Cole was born at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California, to American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole and former Duke Ellington Orchestra singer Maria Hawkins Ellington, and raised in the affluent Hancock Park district of Los Angeles. Regarding her childhood, Cole referred to her family ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
June Christy
June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925June 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. After high school she moved to Chicago, changed her name to Sharon Leslie, and sang with a group led by Boyd Raeburn. Later she joined Benny Strong's band. In 1944, St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Humes
Helen Humes (June 23, 1913 – September 9, 1981) was an American singer. Humes was a teenage blues singer, a vocalist with Count Basie's band, a saucy R&B diva, and a mature interpreter of the classic popular song. Early life She was born on June 23, 1913, in Louisville, Kentucky, to Emma Johnson and John Henry Humes. She grew up as an only child. Her mother was a schoolteacher, and her father was the first black attorney in her home town. In an interview, Humes recalled her parents singing to each other around the house and in a church choir. Humes was introduced to music in the church, singing in the choir and getting piano and organ lessons given at Sunday school by Bessie Allen, who taught music to any child who wanted to learn. Humes began occasionally playing the piano in a small and locally traveling dance band, the Dandies. This constant involvement in music would lead to her singing career in the mid-1920s. Career Early career Her career began with her first vocal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Witherspoon
James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, and his mother was an avid piano player. Witherspoon's grandson Ahkello Witherspoon is the starting cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Witherspoon eventually joined the Merchant Marines. Career Witherspoon first attracted attention singing in Calcutta, India, with Teddy Weatherford's band, which made regular radio broadcasts over the US Armed Forces Radio Service during World War II. Witherspoon made his first records with Jay McShann's band in 1945. He first recorded under his own name in 1947, and two years later with the McShann band, he had his first hit, " Ain't Nobody's Business", a song that came to be regarded as his signature tune. In 1950 he had hits with two more songs closely identified with him—"No Rollin' Blues" and "Big Fin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (film)
''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a 1966 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols in his directorial debut. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman is an adaptation of Edward Albee's 1962 play of the same name. It stars Elizabeth Taylor as Martha, Richard Burton as George, George Segal as Nick, and Sandy Dennis as Honey. The film depicts a late-night gathering at the home of George, a college history professor, and his wife Martha, the daughter of the university's president. The guests are Nick, a new biology professor at the school, and his wife, Honey. The film was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Mike Nichols. It is one of only two films to be nominated in every eligible category at the Academy Awards (the other is '' Cimarron''). All four main actors were nominated in their respective acting categories, the first time a film's entire credited cast was nominated. The film won five Oscars, including a second Academy Award for Best ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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