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Black And Blue (musical)
''Black and Blue'' is a musical revue celebrating the black culture of dance and music in Paris between World War I and World War II. Based on an idea by Mel Howard and conceived by Hector Orezzoli and Claudio Segovia, it consists of songs by artists such as W. C. Handy, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Eubie Blake, and Big Maybelle and skits peppered with bits of bawdy humor. Productions The revue was first presented at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ... in 1985. The revue included Sandra Reaves-Phillips. The Broadway theatre, Broadway production opened on January 26, 1989, at the Minskoff Theatre and closed on January 20, 1991, after 829 performances and 32 previews. Directed by Orezzoli and Segovia and choreographed by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several eras in the history of jazz. Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an inventive trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. Around 1922, he followed his mentor, Joe "King" Oliver, to Chicago to play in the . In Chicago, he spent time with other popular jazz musicians, reconnecting with his friend Bix Beiderbecke and spending time with Hoagy Carmichael and Lil Hardin. He earned a reputation at "cutting contests", and his fame reached band leader Fletcher Henderson. Henderson persuaded Armstrong to come to New York City, where he became a featured and musically influential band soloist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fayard Nicholas
Fayard Antonio Nicholas (October 20, 1914 – January 24, 2006) was an American choreographer, dancer and actor. He and his younger brother Harold Nicholas made up the Nicholas Brothers tap dance Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ... duo, who starred in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, MGM musicals ''An All-Colored Vaudeville Show'' (1935), ''Stormy Weather (1943 film), Stormy Weather'' (1943), ''The Pirate (1948 film), The Pirate'' (1948), and ''Hard Four'' (2007). The Nicholas brothers also starred in the 20th Century-Fox musicals ''Down Argentine Way'' (1940), ''Sun Valley Serenade'' (1941), and ''Orchestra Wives'' (1942). Early life Nicholas was born in Alabama, but grew up primarily in Philadelphia. He learned to dance while watching vaudeville shows with his brother whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cast Album
A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the show's original cast. A cast recording featuring the first cast to perform a musical in a particular venue is known, for example, as an "original Broadway cast recording" (OBCR) or an "original London cast recording" (OLCR). Cast recordings are (usually) studio recordings rather than live recordings. The recorded song lyrics and orchestrations are nonetheless identical (or very similar) to those of the songs as performed in the theatre. Like any studio performance, the recording is an idealized rendering, more glossily perfect than any live performance could be, and without audible audience reaction. Nevertheless, the listener who has attended the live show expects it to be an accurate souvenir of the experience. History The British were the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LaVern Baker
Delores LaVern Baker (November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American R&B singer who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedle Dee" (1955), " Jim Dandy" (1956), and "I Cried a Tear" (1958). Baker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. The Hall remarked that her "fiery fusion of blues, jazz and R&B showcased her alluring vocals and set the stage for the rock and roll surge of the Fifties". Between 1955 and 1965, 20 of her songs made the R&B charts. Over the years, Elvis Presley recorded eight Baker songs. Early life Baker was born Delores Evans in Chicago. She was raised in Calumet City, Illinois. Under her mother's new surname, McMurley, Delores – on December 23, 1948, at age , in Cook County, Illinois – married Eugene Williams.Goldberg, Marv (2009)"Lavern Baker". ''Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks'' Retrieved May 25, 2014. Career Baker began singing in Chicago clubs such as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dianne Walker
Dianne Walker (born March 8, 1951), also known as Lady Di, is an American tap dancer. Her thirty-year career spans Broadway, television, film, and international dance concerts. Walker is the Artistic Director of TapDancin, Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts. Career She began her dance training in Boston with Mildred Kennedy-Bradic and later studied with Leon Collins, Jimmy "Sir Slyde" Mitchell, and Jimmy Slyde. In 1979, she began a professional dance career. She later performed with Collins & Company and became one of the Directors of the Leon Collins Dance Studio, Inc. in Brookline, Massachusetts. She is considered a pioneer in the resurgence of tap dancing. The ''Boston Herald'' has called her "America's First Lady of Tap." Prominent contemporary tap dancer Savion Glover and his peers affectionately call her “Aunt Dianne” in acknowledgment of her unique place as a mentor, teacher, and confidante. She is often seen in jazz clubs and festivals around the US. A memorable appeara ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bunny Briggs
Bunny Briggs (February 26, 1922 – November 15, 2014) was an American tap dancer who was inducted into the American Tap Dancing Hall of Fame in 2006. Briggs was born under the name Bernard Briggs in Harlem, New York on February 26, 1922. When asked about his nickname Briggs said "Well, I'm fast." At one point he thought about becoming a Catholic priest but his priest told Briggs that "God clearly wanted him to be a dancer." In the 1960s, Briggs was known to dance with the likes of bandleaders Lionel Hampton and Duke Ellington, so much so that Briggs was deemed "Duke's dancer." In May 1985 Briggs performed on the NBC TV Special, "Motown Returns to the Apollo." He was nominated for a Tony Award in 1989 for his work in the Broadway show ''Black and Blue''. He appeared on stage and in movies including the Gregory Hines film ''Tap'' in 1989. In 2002, Briggs received an honorary Doctorate of Performing Arts in American Dance by Oklahoma City University in 2002, honoring him as one of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Easley
Bill Easley (born January 13, 1946) is an American jazz musician who plays saxophone, flute, and clarinet. Early life and education Easley was born and raised in Olean, New York. He began playing music at the age of 13 and studied at Memphis State University during the 1960s. Career Easley worked with George Benson in the late 1960s and with Isaac Hayes in the 1970s. He also did sessions at Stax and Hi Records (with Ann Peebles and Al Green). He moved back to New York in 1980. He has worked with Roland Hanna, Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, Ruth Brown, James Williams, Bill Mobley, George Caldwell, Mulgrew Miller, Grady Tate, Victor Gaskin, Panama Francis, Mercer Ellington, and Billy Higgins. Discography * ''Wind Inventions'' ( Sunnyside, 1986) * ''First Call'' (Milestone, 1990) * ''Easley Said'' (Evidence, 1997) * ''Business Man's Bounce'' (18th & Vine, 2007) * ''Hearing Voices'' (18th and Vine, 2008) * ''Love Stories '' (American Showplace, 2010) As sideman With Mercer Ell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Slyde
James Titus Godbolt (October 2, 1927 – May 16, 2008), known professionally as Jimmy Slyde and also as the "King of Slides", was an American tap dancer known for his innovative tap style mixed with jazz. Slyde was a popular rhythm tap dancer in America in the mid-20th century, when he performed on the nightclub and burlesque circuits. He was also popular in Europe and lived in Paris for a brief period of his life. Slyde appeared in several musicals and shows in the 1980s, and he received numerous awards for his talent. He was known for his signature move, the slide. Early life Godbolt was born in Atlanta and moved to Boston at the age of three. As a child, his mother encouraged him to play the violin, and he enrolled at the Boston Conservatory of Music to advance as a violinist. However, the Conservatory was across the street from Stanley Brown's dance studio, which he would visit to watch great tap dancers such as Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, John W. Bubbles, Charles "Honi" Col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grady Tate
Grady Tate (January 14, 1932 – October 8, 2017) was an American jazz and soul-jazz drummer and baritone vocalist. In addition to his work as sideman, Tate released many albums as leader and lent his voice to songs in the animated '' Schoolhouse Rock!'' series. Biography Tate was born in Hayti, Durham, North Carolina, United States. In 1963 he moved to New York City, where he became the drummer in Quincy Jones's band. Grady Tate's drumming helped to define a particular hard bop, soul jazz and organ trio sound during the mid-1960s and beyond. His slick, layered and intense sound is instantly recognizable for its understated style in which he integrates his trademark subtle nuances with sharp, crisp "on top of the beat" timing (in comparison to playing slightly before, or slightly after the beat). The Grady Tate sound can be heard prominently on many of the classic Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery albums recorded on the Verve label in the 1960s. During the 1970s he was a member ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland Hanna
Roland Pembroke Hanna (February 10, 1932 – November 13, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and teacher. Biography Hanna studied classical piano from the age of 11, but was strongly interested in jazz, having been introduced to it by his friend, pianist Tommy Flanagan.Keepnews, Peter (November 15, 2002) "Roland Hanna, a Jazz Pianist and Composer, Dies at 70"''New York Times''/ref> This interest increased after his time in military service (1950–1952). He studied briefly at the Eastman School of Music in 1953 and then enrolled at the Juilliard School when he moved to New York City two years later. He worked with several big names in the 1950s, including Benny Goodman and Charles Mingus, and graduated in 1960. Between 1963 and 1966, Hanna led his own trio, then from 1966 to 1974 he was a regular member of The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. Hanna also toured the Soviet Union with the orchestra in 1972.Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claude Williams (musician)
Claude "Fiddler" Williams (February 22, 1908 – April 25, 2004) was an American jazz violinist and guitarist who recorded and performed into his 90s. He was the first guitarist to record with Count Basie and the first musician to be inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame. Early life Claude Gabriel Williams was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma on February 22, 1908, the son of Lee J. Williams, a blacksmith, and Laura Williams, home maker. He was the youngest of six children. Talented from a young age, Williams could play multiple instruments in his brother-in-law's string band: banjo, cello, guitar, mandolin. Their early band played outside, in hotels, and at barbershops around their hometown of Muskogee, Oklahoma and on a circuit up through Oklahoma City. At the time he'd make six to seven dollars for a night of playing. He commented that at this time people would work the whole week for about five or six dollars. At a concert in Muskogee he heard Joe Venuti play, and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Savion Glover
Savion Glover (born November 19, 1973) is an American tap dancer, actor, and choreographer. Early life The youngest of three sons, Glover was born to a white father, who left the family before he was born, and a black mother. Glover's great grandfather on his mother's side, Dick Lundy, was a shortstop in the Negro leagues. He managed eleven Negro league baseball teams, including the Newark Eagles.Lahr, 270. His grandfather, Bill Lewis, was a big band pianist and vocalist. His grandmother, Anna Lundy Lewis, was the minister of music at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. She played for Whitney Houston when she was singing in the gospel choir, and was the one who first noticed Savion's musical talent. She once held him and hummed some rhythms to him, and he smiled and joined along. Glover graduated from Newark Arts High School in 1991. Career Glover stated that his style is "young and funk." When asked to describe what funk is, he says it is the bass line. "Funk is anyt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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