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Blue Skies (Irving Berlin Song)
"Blue Skies" is a popular song, written by Irving Berlin in 1926. "Blue Skies" is one of many popular songs whose lyrics use a "bluebird of happiness" as a symbol of cheer: "Bluebirds singing a song/Nothing but bluebirds all day long." The sunny optimism of the lyrics are undercut by the minor key giving the words an ironic feeling. History The song was composed in 1926 as a last-minute addition to the Rodgers and Hart musical ''Betsy''. Although the show ran for only 39 performances, "Blue Skies" was an instant success, with audiences on opening night demanding 24 encores of the piece from star Belle Baker. During the final repetition, Ms. Baker forgot her lyrics, prompting Berlin to sing them from his seat in the front row.Laurence Bergreen, ''As Thousands Cheer: The Life of Irving Berlin'', 1996, p. 277. In 1927, the music was published and Ben Selvin's recorded version (as The Knickerbockers with vocals by Charles Kaley) was a hit. That same year, it became one of the firs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irving Berlin, Inc
Irving may refer to: People *Irving (name), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters * Irving, the main character's love interest in Cathy (comic strip) * Lloyd Irving, the main protagonist in the ''Tales of Symphonia'' video game Places Canada * Irving Nature Park, a park in Saint John, N.B. United States *Irving, California, former name of Irvington, California * Irving, Illinois * Irving, Iowa *Irving (Duluth), Minnesota *Irving, New York *Irving, Texas *Irving, Wisconsin, a town **Irving (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community *Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois * Irving Township, Montgomery County, Illinois * Irving Township, Michigan * Irving Township, Minnesota * Lake Irving, a lake in Minnesota Companies * Irving Group of Companies, Canadian conglomerate based in Saint John, New Brunswick, controlled by the Irving family, including: ** J. D. Irving, a conglomerate with holdings in forestry, pulp and paper, tissue, newsprint, building su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. Many musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison, plunger trombonist Al Grey, and singers Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, Thelma Carpenter, and Joe Williams. Biography Early life and education William Basie was born to Lillian and Harvey Lee Basie in Red Bank, New Jersey. His father worked as a coachman and caretaker for a wealthy judge. After automobiles replaced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Data (Star Trek)
Data is a fictional character in the '' Star Trek'' franchise. He appears in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''TNG'') and '' Star Trek: Picard''; and the feature films ''Star Trek Generations'' (1994), '' Star Trek: First Contact'' (1996), '' Star Trek: Insurrection'' (1998), and '' Star Trek: Nemesis'' (2002). Data is portrayed by actor Brent Spiner. Data was found by Starfleet in 2338. He was the sole survivor on Omicron Theta in the rubble of a colony left after an attack from the Crystalline Entity. He is a synthetic life form with artificial intelligence, designed and built by Doctor Noonien Soong in his own likeness (likewise portrayed by Spiner). Data is a self-aware, sapient, sentient and anatomically fully functional male android who serves as the second officer and chief operations officer aboard the Federation starship USS ''Enterprise''-D and later the USS ''Enterprise''-E. His positronic brain allows him impressive computatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nemesis
In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), is the goddess who enacts retribution against those who succumb to hubris, arrogance before the gods.Ammianus Marcellinus 14.11.25 Etymology The name ''Nemesis'' is related to the Greek word νέμειν ''némein'', meaning "to give what is due", from Proto-Indo-European ''nem-'' "distribute". Origin Divine retribution is a major theme in the Hellenic world view, providing the unifying theme of the tragedies of Sophocles and many other literary works. Hesiod states: "Also deadly Nyx bore Nemesis an affliction to mortals subject to death" (''Theogony'', 223, though perhaps an interpolated line). Nemesis appears in a still more concrete form in a fragment of the epic '' Cypria''. She is implacable justice: that of Zeus in the Olympian scheme of things, although it is clear she existed prior to him, as her images look similar to several ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Get Happy! (Ella Fitzgerald Album)
''Get Happy!'' is a 1959 album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, recorded with various studio orchestras over a two-year period. History The original 12 songs on the album come from 5 different sessions, featuring orchestras led by Nelson Riddle, Frank DeVol, Russell (Russ) Garcia, Marty Paich or Paul Weston. The first two tracks are from the sessions for the '' George and Ira Gershwin Songbook'', which were later included on the 1998 reissue of the album, and Berlin's "Blue Skies" was recorded at the sessions for the 1958 album '' Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook'', but inexplicably omitted from the final cut, despite featuring one Ella's most impressive extended scat improvisations. Reception Writing for Allmusic, music critic Scott Yanow wrote of the album "As usual, Ella uplifts all of the material and her best moments come on "Somebody Loves Me," a heartfelt "Moonlight Becomes You," a scat-filled "Blue Skies" and (somewhat surprisingly) "St. Louis Blues." Alth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books
The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books were a series of eight studio albums released in irregular intervals between 1956 and 1964, recorded by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, supported by a variety of orchestras, big bands, and small jazz combos. The eight albums are as follows, with arrangers in parentheses: * ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book'' (1956) (Buddy Bregman) * ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Song Book'' (1956) (Bregman) * ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book'' (1957) ( Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn) * ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book'' (1958) (Paul Weston) * ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book'' (1959) ( Nelson Riddle) * '' Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book'' (1961) ( Billy May) * '' Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Song Book'' (1963) (Riddle) * ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Song Book'' (1964) (Riddle) As stated in the liner notes, Fit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Song Book
''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book'' is a 1958 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Paul Weston, focusing on the songs of Irving Berlin. It was part of the popular and influential ''Songbook'' series. Grammy Awards At the inaugural Grammy Awards, ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book'' was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Fitzgerald won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Female for her performance on the album. Reception In a review for AllMusic, Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. wrote: "For fans who have enjoyed other songbook recordings, this reissue is a must-have; for those unfamiliar with Fitzgerald's songbook work, this is an excellent place to start." David Adler of All About Jazz called the album "essential in any music library," and commented: "Ella Fitzgerald's talent speaks for itself, as does Berlin's. The compatibility of these two American lege ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LP Record
The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a vinyl (a copolymer of vinyl chloride acetate) composition disk. Introduced by Columbia in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry. Apart from a few relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound, it remained the standard format for record albums (during a period in popular music known as the album era) until its gradual replacement from the 1980s to the early 2000s, first by cassettes, then by compact discs, and finally by digital music distribution. Beginning in the late 2000s, the LP has experienced a resurgence in popularity. Format advantages At the time the LP was introduced, nearly all phonograph records for home use were made of an abrasive shellac compound ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scat Singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. This is different from vocalese, which uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos. Characteristics Structure and syllable choice Though scat singing is improvised, the melodic lines are often variations on scale and arpeggio fragments, stock patterns and riffs, as is the case with instrumental improvisers. As well, scatting usually incorporates musical structure. All of Ella Fitzgerald's scat performances of "How High the Moon", for instance, use the same tempo, begin with a chorus of a straight reading of the lyric, move to a "specialty chorus" introducing the scat chorus, and then the scat itself. Will Friedwald has compared Ella Fitzgerald to Chuck Jones directing his Roadrunner cartoon—each us ... [...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] |
White Christmas (film)
''White Christmas'' is a 1954 American musical film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. Filmed in Technicolor, it features the songs of Irving Berlin, including a new version of the title song, " White Christmas", introduced by Crosby in the 1942 film ''Holiday Inn''. Produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film is notable for being the first to be released in VistaVision, a widescreen process developed by Paramount that entailed using twice the surface area of standard 35mm film; this large-area negative was also used to yield finer-grained standard-sized 35mm prints. Plot On Christmas Eve in Europe in 1944, at the height of World War II, former Broadway star Captain Bob Wallace and aspiring performer Private Phil Davis entertain the 151st division with a soldier's show. The men have just received word their beloved Major General Thomas F. Waverly has been relieved of his command. Waverly arrives and d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs. Kaye starred in 17 films, notably ''Wonder Man'' (1945), ''The Kid from Brooklyn'' (1946), ''The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'' (1947), '' The Inspector General'' (1949), ''Hans Christian Andersen'' (1952), '' White Christmas'' (1954), and ''The Court Jester'' (1955). His films were popular, especially for his performances of patter songs and favorites such as "Inchworm" and "The Ugly Duckling". He was the first ambassador-at-large of UNICEF in 1954 and received the French Legion of Honour in 1986 for his years of work with the organization. Early years David Daniel Kaminsky was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 18, 1911 (though he would later say 1913), to Ukrainian–Jewish immigrants Jacob and Clara (''n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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