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Birdland (Weather Report Song)
"Birdland" is a jazz/pop song written by Joe Zawinul of the band Weather Report as a tribute to the Birdland nightclub in New York City, which appeared on the band's 1977 album '' Heavy Weather''. The Manhattan Transfer won a Grammy Award with their 1979 version of the song, which had lyrics by Jon Hendricks. Quincy Jones won two Grammy Awards for the version of the piece he included on his 1989 album ''Back on the Block''. The leading Cuban band Los Van Van included an extended interpolation of the piece in their song Tim Pop/Birdland. History "Birdland" opens '' Heavy Weather'', the 1977 album that marked the commercial peak of Weather Report's career. The composition is a tribute to the famous New York City jazz club named Birdland that operated on Broadway from 1949 through 1965 and hosted many great jazz musicians of the era. This was where Zawinul, who visited the club almost daily, heard performances by Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian virtuoso keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer and vocalist Alphonse Mouzon as well as American percussionists Don Alias and Barbara Burton. The band was initially co-led by co-frontmen Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter but, subsequently as the 1970s progressed, Joe Zawinul largely became the sole musical leader of the group. Other prominent members at various points in the band's lifespan included Jaco Pastorius, Alphonso Johnson, Victor Bailey, Chester Thompson, Peter Erskine, Airto Moreira, and Alex Acuña. Throughout most of its existence, the band was a quintet consisting of Zawinul, Shorter, a bass guitarist, a drummer, and a percussionist. The band started as a free improvising jazz group with avant-garde and experimental electronic leanings (pioneered by Zawinul); when Vitouš left Weathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bass guitar, bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. He also collaborated with other artists, most notably Pat Metheny and Joni Mitchell. His bass playing employed funk, lyrical solos, bass Chord (music), chords, and innovative harmonics. As of 2017 he was the only electric bassist of seven bassists inducted into the ''DownBeat'' Jazz Hall of Fame, and he has been lauded as among the best electric bassists of all time. Pastorius suffered from Addiction, drug addiction and mental health issues and, despite his widespread acclaim, over the latter part of his life he had problems holding down jobs due to his unreliability. In frequent financial difficulties, he was often homeless in the mid-1980s. He died in 1987 as a result of injuries sustained in a beating outside a South Flor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fretless Bass
A fretless bass is a bass guitar whose neck does not have any frets. While the instrument is played in all styles of music, it is most common in pop, rock, and jazz. It first saw widespread use during the 1970s, although some players used them before then. Instead of being invented by an instrument manufacturer, the first fretless basses usually resulted from modifications made by bass guitar players. One of the first (if not the first) examples of this is Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, who removed the frets from his bass guitar in 1961 to fix a fret buzz issue. The first fretless bass to be produced by a designated company is the Ampeg AUB1, first released in 1965. Characteristics The lack of frets allows for more fluid slides between notes, but also requires greater precision by the player, as the instrument may sound out of tune if notes are not fretted accurately. Like fretted bass guitars, they can have four, five, six, or even more strings. While some have "fret lines" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenor Saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while the alto is pitched in the key of E), and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F key have a range from A2 to E5 (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. People who play the tenor saxophone are known as "tenor saxophonists", "tenor sax players", or "saxophonists". The tenor saxophone uses a larger mouthpiece, reed and ligature than the alto and soprano saxophones. Visually, it is easily distinguished by the curve in its neck, or its crook, near the mouthpiece. The alto saxophone lacks this and its neck goes straight to the mouthpiece. The tenor saxophone is most recognized for it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soprano Saxophone
The soprano saxophone is a higher-register variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument invented in the 1840s. The soprano is the third-smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists (from smallest to largest) of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass saxophone and tubax. Soprano saxophones are the smallest and thus highest-pitched saxophone in common use. The instrument A transposing instrument pitched in the key of B, modern soprano saxophones with a high F key have a range from concert A3 to E6 (written low B to high F) and are therefore pitched one octave above the tenor saxophone. There is also a soprano saxophone pitched in C, which is uncommon; most examples were produced in America in the 1920s. The soprano has all the keys of other saxophone models (with the exception of the low A on some baritones and altos). Soprano saxophones were originally keyed from low B to high E, but a low B mechanism was patented in 1887 and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Davis's Second Great Quintet, and then co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report. He has recorded over 20 albums as a bandleader. Many Shorter compositions have become jazz standards, and his music has earned worldwide recognition, critical praise and commendation. Shorter has won 11 Grammy Awards. He is acclaimed for his mastery of the soprano saxophone since switching his focus from the tenor in the late 1960s and beginning an extended reign in 1970 as ''Down Beat''s annual poll-winner on that instrument, winning the critics' poll for 10 consecutive years and the readers' for 18. ''The New York Times Ben Ratliff described Shorter in 2008 as "probably jazz's greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melodica
The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usually covers two or three octaves. Melodicas are small, lightweight, and portable, and many are designed for children to play. They are popular in music education programs, especially in Asia. The modern form of the instrument was invented by Hohner in the late 1950s, though similar instruments have been known in Italy since the 19th century. Description The mouthpiece can be a short rigid or semi-flexible plastic piece or a long flexible plastic tube (designed to allow the player to either hold the keyboard so the keys can be seen or lay the keyboard horizontally on a flat surface for two-handed playing). A foot pump can also be used as an alternative to breathing into the instrument. Melodica keyboards typically ascend from a low F note. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Synthesizer
A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and frequency modulation synthesis. These sounds may be altered by components such as filters, which cut or boost frequencies; envelopes, which control articulation, or how notes begin and end; and low-frequency oscillators, which modulate parameters such as pitch, volume, or filter characteristics affecting timbre. Synthesizers are typically played with keyboards or controlled by sequencers, software or other instruments, and may be synchronized to other equipment via MIDI. Synthesizer-like instruments emerged in the United States in the mid-20th century with instruments such as the RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer, RCA Mark II, which was controlled with Punched card, punch cards and used hundreds of vacuum tubes. The Moog synthesizer, d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oberheim Polyphonic
The Oberheim Polyphonic Synthesizer is a range of analog music synthesizers that was produced from 1975 to 1979 by Oberheim Electronics. It was developed by Tom Oberheim, and was the first production synthesizer capable of playing chords. Specification Oberheim took the idea and electronics of a Minimoog synthesizer and put them in a small box, making a few changes, and in 1974 introduced the SEM (Synthesizer Expander Module), which became the building block of his polyphonic synths. By strapping two, four, or eight of these SEMs together under keyboard control, he was able to create practical, albeit large, synthesizers that could play two, four, or eight notes simultaneously. The Oberheim Polyphonic Synthesizer was born. Each SEM in an Oberheim Polyphonic generates one voice (or note). There was an optional Polyphonic Synthesizer Programmer module (PSP-1) for the four- and eight-voice models with 16 memories, which allowed the user to store and recall some sound settings of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ARP 2600
The ARP 2600 is a semi-modular analog subtractive audio synthesizer produced by ARP Instruments, Inc. History Developed by a design team headed by ARP namesake Allen R. Pearlman and engineer Dennis Colin, the ARP 2600 was introduced in 1971 as the successor to ARP's first instrument, the ARP 2500, at a retail price of US$2600. Unlike other modular systems of the time, which required modules to be purchased individually and wired by the user, the 2600 was semi-modular with a fixed selection of basic synthesizer components internally pre-wired, with clear text labels and front panel screen printed graphics indicating the function of different sections of controls, and the signal flow between them. The 2600 was thus ideal for musicians new to synthesis, due to its ability to be operated either with or without patch cords. On its initial release it was heavily marketed to high schools and universities. Features and architecture The ARP 2600 features three VCOs, a 4-pole (24 dB ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. It was invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700. Description The word "piano" is a shortened form of ''pianoforte'', the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from ''clavicembalo col piano e forte'' (key cimbalom with quiet and loud)Pollens (1995, 238) and ''fortepiano''. The Italian musical terms ''piano'' and ''forte'' indicate "soft" and "loud" respectively, in this context referring to the variations in volume (i.e., loudness) produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on the keys: the grea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Yamaha Products
This is a list of products made by Yamaha Corporation. This does not include products made by Bösendorfer, which has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation since February 1, 2008. For products made by Yamaha Motor Company, see the list of Yamaha motorcycles. Yamaha Motor Company shares the brand name but has been a separate company since 1955. Musical instruments Pianos In 1900, Yamaha started to manufacture pianos. Grand pianos ;CF series * FC / CF * CFIII * CFIIIS * CF4 (2010– * CF6 (2010– * CFX (2010–) ;C series * G1 / C1 / C1x ** DC1A * G2 / C2 /C2x ** G2F / DG2FII * C3 / C3x * #35 / G5 / ''new'' C5 / C5x * ''old'' C5 / C6 / C7 * G7 / C7 / C7x * SC / CS ;G series * ''G1, G2, G5, G7'' * #25 / G3 * GA1E / DGA1 GE] * GC1 ** GC1S / GC1SG ** GC1G / GC1FP ** GC1M / DGC1 / DGC1ME3 * GC2 * GH1 / GH1G * GT7 ;A series * A1 ** A1 S] G** DA1IIXG / DA1E3 / DA1M4 * EA1 ;S series * S4 ** S4BB ** DS4E3PRO PE * S6 ** S6BB ** DS6E3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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