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Christmas Fantasy
''Christmas Fantasy'' is the seventh and final studio album by American R&B singer Anita Baker. It is Baker's first (and only) Christmas album, and was released on October 4, 2005 by Blue Note Records. The album peaked at number 120 on the Billboard 200, and number 31 on the R&B chart. For the album, Baker performed several classic Christmas songs such as: "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "O Come All Ye Faithful", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", and "Christmas Time is Here" (which received a Grammy nomination). "Frosty's Rag" is a re-imagined version of "Frosty the Snowman", and also featured is Baker's rendition of the Broadway theatre, Broadway Holiday song "My Favorite Things (song), My Favorite Things". The album also includes three original compositions by Baker: "Moonlight Sleighride", "Family of Man" and "Christmas Fantasy". Track listing #"Frosty the Snowman, Frosty's Rag (Frosty the Snowman)" (Walter E. Rollins, Jack Rollins/Steve Nelson (songwriter), Steve Nelson) - 3:46 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual Phonograph record#78 rpm disc developments, 78 rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP record, long-playing (LP) records played at revolutions per minute, rpm. The album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption from the mid-1960s to the early 21st century, a period known as the album era. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The 8-track tape was the first tape format widely used alongside vinyl from 1965 until being phased out by 1983 and was gradually supplanted by the cassette tape during the 1970s and early 1980s; the populari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
My Favorite Things (song)
"My Favorite Things" is a song from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''The Sound of Music.'' In the original Broadway production, this song was introduced by Mary Martin playing Maria and Patricia Neway playing Mother Abbess. Julie Andrews, who played Maria in the 1965 film version of the musical, had previously sung it on the 1961 Christmas special for ''The Garry Moore Show''. In 2004 the movie version of the song finished at No. 64 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. Other notable versions John Coltrane played a fourteen-minute version in E minor as the title track of an album recorded in October 1960 and released in March 1961. It became a jazz classic and a signature song for Coltrane in concert, also appearing on ''Newport '63'' in 1963. In 1964, Jack Jones became the first of many artists to include the song on a Christmas album. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass released a version in 1969 as a single from their 1968 al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Duke
George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a professor of music. He first made a name for himself with the album '' The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience with the George Duke Trio''. He was known primarily for 32 solo albums, of which '' A Brazilian Love Affair'' from 1979 was his most popular, as well as for his collaborations with other musicians, particularly Frank Zappa. Biography George M. Duke was born in San Rafael, California, United States, to Thadd Duke and Beatrice Burrell and raised in Marin City. At four years old, he became interested in the piano. His mother took him to see Duke Ellington in concert and told him about this experience. "I don't remember it too well, but my mother told me I went crazy. I ran around saying 'Get me a piano, get me a piano!'" He began his formal pia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Many of his songs are standard repertoire for vocalists and jazz musicians. He co-wrote 850 songs. He is best known for his collaborations with composer Richard Rodgers, as the duo Rodgers and Hammerstein, whose musicals include ''Oklahoma!'', '' Carousel'', '' South Pacific'', ''The King and I'', and ''The Sound of Music''. Described by Stephen Sondheim as an "experimental playwright", Hammerstein helped bring the American musical to new maturity by popularizing musicals that focused on stories and character rather than the lighthearted entertainment that the musical had been known for beforehand. He also collaborated with Jerome Kern (with whom he wrote ''Show Boat''), Vincent Y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American composers of the 20th century, and his compositions had a significant influence on popular music. Rodgers is known for his songwriting partnerships, first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and then with Oscar Hammerstein II. With Hart he wrote musicals throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including ''Pal Joey (musical), Pal Joey'', ''A Connecticut Yankee (musical), A Connecticut Yankee'', ''On Your Toes'' and ''Babes in Arms.'' With Hammerstein he wrote musicals through the 1940s and 1950s, such as ''Oklahoma!'', ''Flower Drum Song'', ''Carousel (musical), Carousel'', ''South Pacific (musical), South Pacific'', ''The King and I'', and ''The Sound of Music''. His collaborations with Hammerstein, in particular, are celebrated for brin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Yellowjackets
Yellowjackets is an American jazz fusion band founded in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. History In 1977, guitarist Robben Ford, for his first solo album, recruited keyboardist Russell Ferrante, electric bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Ricky Lawson. They decided to continue as a group and were signed to Warner Bros. Records by producer Tommy LiPuma, who chose the name "Yellowjackets" from a list of potential group names the band had compiled. In 1984, the band's second album, ''Mirage a Trois'', was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Fusion Performance. Ford only played on half this album, and after he departed the group, saxophonist Marc Russo was hired in his place. The next album, '' Shades'', reached No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' magazine jazz album chart, while the single "And You Know That" won a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental Performance. Lawson left and was replaced by Will Kennedy in 1987. Their next three albums, ''Four Corners'', ''Politics'', and ''The Spin'' a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
O Come, All Ye Faithful
"O Come, All Ye Faithful" (originally written in Latin as "") is a Christmas carol that has been attributed to various authors, including John Francis Wade (1711–1786), John Reading (1645–1692), King John IV of Portugal (1604–1656), and anonymous Cistercian monks. The earliest printed version is in a book published by Wade. A manuscript by Wade, dating to 1751, is held by Stonyhurst College in Lancashire. The original four verses of the hymn were extended to a total of eight, and these have been translated into many languages. The English translation of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" by the English Catholic priest Frederick Oakeley, written in 1841, is widespread in most English-speaking countries. Text The original text of the hymn has been from time to time attributed to various groups and individuals, including St. Bonaventure in the 13th century or King John IV of Portugal in the 17th, though it was more commonly believed that the text was written by Cistercian monk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
"God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" is an English traditional Christmas carol. It is in the Roxburghe Collection (iii. 452), and is listed as no. 394 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It is also known as "Tidings of Comfort and Joy", and by other variant incipits. History An early version of this carol is found in an anonymous manuscript, dating from the 1650s.. At page 291, Brown notes that "the main part of the collection, that is, what is transcribed between pages 1 and 119, was put together in a few years in the early 1650s". It contains a slightly different version of the first line from that found in later texts, with the first line "Sit yow merry gentlemen" (also transcribed "Sit you merry gentlemen" and "Sit you merry gentlemen"). The earliest known printed edition of the carol is in a broadsheet dated to c. 1760. A precisely datable reference to the carol is found in the November 1764 edition of the ''Monthly Review''. Some sources claim that the carol dates as far back as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Kent
Walter Kent (born Walter Maurice Kaufman, November 29, 1911 – March 2, 1994) was an American composer and conductor. Some notable compositions are: "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" and " (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover". Early life Walter Kent was born to a Jewish family on November 29, 1911 in New York City. He graduated from Townsend Harris Hall High School. Kent received a scholarship to attend the Juilliard School of Music in New York where he chose to pursue advanced study of the violin. Kent was also involved in private music study with Leopold Auer and Samuel Gardner. He also received more formal education at City College of New York. After completion of his university education, Kent conducted his own orchestra in New York, performing in theatres and on the radio. Additionally, Kent became a freelance architect following his education, continuing to write music in his spare time. Career Following his completion of h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kim Gannon
James Kimball "Kim" Gannon (November 18, 1900 – April 29, 1974) was an American songwriter, more commonly a lyricist than a composer. Biography Gannon was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Irish-American family from Fort Ann in upstate New York, but grew up in New Jersey where he attended Montclair High School and was a member of The Omega Gamma Delta Fraternity. He graduated from St. Lawrence University and, intending to become a lawyer, attended the Albany Law School, passing the bar examination in New York State in 1934. In 1939 he wrote his first song, "For Tonight". His 1942 song, "Moonlight Cocktail", was recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra and was the best-selling record in the United States for 10 weeks. In 1942 he began writing songs for films, beginning with the lyrics of the title song for '' Always in My Heart.'' He subsequently contributed songs to other films, including ''The Powers Girl'' and ''If Winter Comes''. In 1951 he turned to the Broadway stage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buck Ram
Samuel "Buck" Ram (November 21, 1907 – January 1, 1991) was an American songwriter, and popular music producer and arranger. He was one of BMI's top five songwriters/air play in its first 50 years, alongside Paul Simon, Kris Kristofferson, Jimmy Webb, and Paul McCartney. He is best known for his long association with The Platters and also wrote, produced and arranged for the Penguins, the Coasters, the Drifters, Ike and Tina Turner, Ike Cole, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others. He was also known as Ande Rand, Lynn Paul or Jean Miles. Biography He was born Samuel Ram in Chicago, Illinois in 1907, to Jewish parents. Ram was a talent manager with his own firm, Personality Productions and an A&R man when Tony Williams, the brother of singer Linda Hayes, auditioned for him. Ram was looking for a group to sing the songs he wrote and found the voice he was looking for in Williams. He transformed the Platters and changed their rhythm and blues style, buil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vince Guaraldi
Vincent Anthony Guaraldi (; birth name, né Dellaglio, July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. His compositions for this series included their signature melody "Linus and Lucy" and the holiday standard "Christmas Time Is Here". He is also known for his performances on piano as a member of Cal Tjader's 1950s ensembles and for his own solo career. His 1962 composition "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" became a radio hit and won a Grammy Award in 1963 for Grammy Award for Best Original Jazz Composition, Best Original Jazz Composition. He died of a sudden heart attack in February 1976 at age 47, moments after concluding a nightclub performance in Menlo Park, California. Early career Guaraldi was born in San Francisco's North Beach, San Francisco, North Beach area, a place that became very important to his blossoming musical career. His last name changed to "Guaraldi" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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