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Blue Bird Inn
The Blue Bird Inn, at 5021 Tireman, was a jazz night club in Detroit presenting music every night except Monday. An African American owned venue, by the end of the 1940s it was the most important live outlet for bop in the city. Thad Jones' composition "5021" refers to the Blue Bird's address and Tommy Flanagan placed tribute to the venue in the title track to an album with Kenny Burrell titled '' Beyond the Blue Bird'' (1990). The venue had featured live music since the 1930s, but in 1948 Phil Hill was hired to assemble a house band that could play bebop. Hill's first trio there comprised Abe Woodly on vibraphone and Art Mardigian on drums, with Hill on piano. The following year, Hill and Mardigan were joined by Wardell Gray, James "Beans" Richardson on bass and Jack Tiant on bongos, and, as the Phil Hill Quintet, recorded a live album on July 20, 1949. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ahmad Jamal
Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones, July 2, 1930) is an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and educator. For six decades, he has been one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. Biography Early life Jamal was born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1930. He began playing piano at the age of three, when his uncle Lawrence challenged him to duplicate what he was doing on the piano. Jamal began formal piano training at the age of seven with Mary Cardwell Dawson, whom he describes as greatly influencing him. His Pittsburgh roots have remained an important part of his identity ("Pittsburgh meant everything to me and it still does," he said in 2001) and it was there that he was immersed in the influence of jazz artists such as Earl Hines, Billy Strayhorn, Mary Lou Williams, and Erroll Garner. Jamal also studied with pianist James Miller and began playing piano professionally at the age of fourteen, at which point he was recogniz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jazz Clubs In The United States
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. But jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisational style ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yusef Lateef
Yusef Abdul Lateef (born William Emanuel Huddleston; October 9, 1920 – December 23, 2013) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and prominent figure among the Ahmadiyya Community in America. Although Lateef's main instruments were the tenor saxophone and flute, he also played oboe and bassoon, both rare in jazz, and non-western instruments such as the bamboo flute, shanai, shofar, xun, arghul and koto. He is known for having been an innovator in the blending of jazz with "Eastern" music. Peter Keepnews, in his ''New York Times'' obituary of Lateef, wrote that the musician "played world music before world music had a name". Lateef's books included two novellas entitled ''A Night in the Garden of Love'' and ''Another Avenue'', the short story collections ''Spheres'' and ''Rain Shapes'', also his autobiography, ''The Gentle Giant,'' written in collaboration with Herb Boyd. Along with his record label YAL Records, Lateef owned Fana Music, a music publishing com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernie Farrow
Ernest Farrow (November 13, 1928 – July 14, 1969) was a jazz bassist who occasionally played other instruments. His half-sister was Alice Coltrane. Early life Farrow was born in Huntington, West Virginia, on November 13, 1928. He started on piano before adding bass and drums. In his teens he had piano lessons from an uncle, Charles Lewis, who was a professional pianist. During high school he formed his own bands. Later life and career Farrow's career as a professional musician began in the early 1950s, playing with Terry Gibbs in 1954 and Stan Getz the following year. He then played with Yusef Lateef, recording with him during the period 1957–64. For Lateef, he also played other instruments, including the rabat. Farrow performed in his own groups, and was bassist in pianist Red Garland's band in 1960. He died in a swimming accident on July 14, 1969. Discography With Barry Harris *''Newer Than New'' (Riverside, 1961) With Yusef Lateef *''Jazz for the Thinker'' (Savoy, 1957) *' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvin Jackson (musician)
Alvin "AJ" Jackson was a jazz bassist. His first performances were in a high school band with his younger brother, Milt Jackson, Willie Anderson, Lucky Thompson, Art Mardigan, and George Sirhagen, c. 1939–40. About 1947, he was playing with Tommy Flanagan’s trio with Kenny Burrell, before briefly joining the house band led by Billy Mitchell at Detroit's Blue Bird Inn, before leading it himself in 1955. The Billy Mitchell-led house band comprised Flanagan, Tate Houston and Milt Jackson, who had just returned from touring with Woody Herman.Björn, Lars Olof (2001) ''Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-60'', p. 124. University of Michigan Press At Google Books. Retrieved 9 July 2013. Wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Pollard
Terry Pollard (August 15, 1931 – December 16, 2009) was an American jazz pianist and vibraphonist active in the Detroit jazz scene of the 1940s and 1950s. She has been described as a "major player who was inexplicably overlooked." Pollard began her career by collaborating with other Detroit musicians, such as Billy Mitchell (and Elvin Jones, in the house band at the Blue Bird Inn),Björn, Lars Olof (2001) ''Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-60'', p. 126. University of Michigan Press At Google Books. Retrieved 9 July 2013. Johnny Hill, and the Emmitt Slay Trio. She was discovered by |
Gitler, Ira
Ira Gitler (December 18, 1928 – February 23, 2019) was an American jazz historian and journalist. The co-author of ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' with Leonard Feather—the most recent edition appeared in 1999—he wrote hundreds of liner notes for jazz recordings beginning in the early 1950s and wrote several books about jazz and ice hockey, two of his passions.Manhattan School of MusicFaculty: Mr. Ira Gitler. Retrieved Oct. 16, 2008. Jazz Gitler was born at Brooklyn, New York into a Jewish family and grew up listening to swing bands in the late 1930s and 1940s, before discovering the new music of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. In the early 1950s, he worked as a producer of recording sessions for the Prestige label. He is credited with coining the term "sheets of sound" in the late 1950s, to describe the playing of John Coltrane. Gitler was the New York editor of ''Down Beat'' magazine during the 1960s and wrote for ''Metronome Magazine'', ''JazzTimes'', ''Jaz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Jackson (jazz Bassist)
Ali Muhammad Jackson (died 1987), also known as Ali Jackson, was a jazz bassist, composer, ethnomusicologist, actor, poet and artist. Musical Education: Tadd Dameron - Music Theory Charlie Parker - Music Theory Nasir Hafiz Jo Jones, sr. Live Performances with: Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, Elvin Jones, Thad Jones, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, James Moody, BuBu Turner, Mary Lou Williams. Ethnomusicologist teaching jazz improv: Oakland University (MI) Oberlin College (Ohio) Greenwich House ( N.Y.) Ali The Chosen And Beloved and the Silver Flutes Flourish was a musical group made up of Ali's students. Randy Harp played bass. Michael Layne, Eddie Tann and Kathy Ceasar on flutes. Marcia Miller played the tambourine. Junior Hill played the Golden Shofar, (trumpet) Tony Pantoja played conga drums. Ali The Chosen And Beloved and the Silver Flutes Flourish played for anyone under 10 and over 60 for free. The motto of the group was, Save The Children and Keep the 'Ol Folks Warm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oliver Jackson (musician)
Oliver Jackson (April 28, 1933 – May 29, 1994), also known as Bops Junior, was an American jazz drummer. Biography Jackson was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, where he played in the 1940s with Thad Jones, Tommy Flanagan, and Wardell Gray, and had a variety show with Eddie Locke called Bop & Locke. After working with Yusef Lateef from 1954 until 1956, he moved to New York, where he played regularly at the Metropole in 1957 and 1958. Following this he worked with Teddy Wilson, Charlie Shavers (1959–61), Buck Clayton, Benny Goodman (1962), Lionel Hampton (1962–64), Kenny Burrell, Earl Hines (1964–70 intermittently) and the JPJ Quartet with Budd Johnson. Later in life he played with Sy Oliver (1975–80), Oscar Peterson, and George Wein's Newport All-Stars. As a bandleader, Jackson led a 1961 date in Switzerland, and recorded at least five albums for Black & Blue Records between 1977 and 1984. His brother, bassist Ali Jackson, performed with him both at the beginn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Sound Systems
United Sound Systems is a recording studio and locally designated historic district in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Many popular music artists over the last seventy years have recorded at the facility, including blues musicians like John Lee Hooker (he recorded "Boogie Chillen'" there in 1948), and funk bands like Funkadelic. The studio was also the site of the first recording for Berry Gordy's Tamla label in 1959, starting what would become Motown Records. The building is threatened by a planned highway service drive expansion by the Michigan Department of Transportation. The studio ownership changed in 2009 and eventually reopened in 2014. It was designated a local historic district by the City of Detroit in 2015. Others who have recorded at the studio include Johnnie Ray, Dizzy Gillespie, Jackie Wilson, Dan Schafer and Alberta Adams. History There is currently a debate within collector forums and Detroit music historians about the origins of United. The issues revolve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detroit Sound Conservancy
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the United States. The metropolitan area, known as Metro Detroit, is home to 4.3 million people, making it the second-largest in the Midwest after the Chicago metropolitan area, and the 14th-largest in the United States. Regarded as a major cultural center, Detroit is known for its contributions to music, art, architecture and design, in addition to its historical automotive background. ''Time'' named Detroit as one of the fifty World's Greatest Places of 2022 to explore. Detroit is a major port on the Detroit River, one of the four major straits that connect the Great Lakes system to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The City of Detroit anchors the second-largest regional economy in the M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
