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Chiaroscuro Records
Chiaroscuro Records is a jazz record company and label founded by Hank O'Neal in 1970. The label's name comes from the art term for the use of light and dark in a painting. O'Neal came up with the name via his friend and mentor Eddie Condon, a jazz musician who performed in what were called Chiaroscuro Concerts in the 1930s. O'Neal also got the name from a store that sold only black and white dresses. O'Neal ran the label from 1969–1977 and produced all but two of the albums. Its catalogue included Earl Hines, Joe Venuti, Teddy Wilson, and Ruby Braff. O'Neal sold the label to Audiophile Enterprises in 1978, then bought back the catalogue when he started SOS Productions in 1987. Chiaroscuro released new discs and reissues through the 1990s. In 2011, Chiaroscuro's founders donated the company to the Northeast Pennsylvania Educational Television Association, owner of WVIA-FM- TV, the PBS and NPR member for northeastern Pennsylvania. WVIA-FM used Chiaroscuro's library to start an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hank O'Neal
Hank O’Neal (born Harold L. O'Neal Jr.; June 5, 1940) is an American music producer, author and photographer. Background His mother, Sarah Christian O’Neal, was a musically and intellectually inclined housewife from Tyler, Texas. His father was a professional soldier and educator in the U.S. Army in Texas and the Pacific (1929–1947) and, following World War II, an educator and public school superintendent in upstate New York (1953–72). O’Neal was raised in Texas; Bloomington, Indiana; and Syracuse, New York. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1962. Early career In 1963, O’Neal accepted employment with the CIA remained with it until 1976. He served in the U.S. Army during the same period (1962–1967), rising to the rank of captain. Music During a 40-year career in music, he formed two record companies, Chiaroscuro Records and Hammond Music Enterprises, built two recording studios (WARP and Downtown Sound), produced over 200 jazz LPs/CDs and - in conjunction wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene Bertoncini
Gene J. Bertoncini (born 6 April 1937) is an American jazz guitarist. Biography Bertoncini was born in New York City, where he was raised in a musical family. His father, Mario Bertoncini (1901–1978), played guitar and harmonica. Gene began playing guitar at age seven and by age sixteen was appearing on television. He graduated from high school and attended the University of Notre Dame, where, in 1959, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Engineering.Summerfield, Maurice. 1998. ''The Jazz Guitar: Its Evolution, Players and Personalities Since 1900''. United Kingdom: Ashley Mark Publishing Early in life, Bertoncini had lessons with Bob Scilingo and Johnny Smith. After college Bertoncini moved to Chicago where he became immersed in the jazz scene, working with Carmen McRae. He returned to New York and played with vibraphonist Mike Mainieri and then played in one of Buddy Rich's ensembles. Bertoncini's career has included playing with Benny Goodman, Wayne Sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Friedman
Donald Ernest Friedman (May 4, 1935 – June 30, 2016) was an American jazz pianist. He began playing in Los Angeles and moved to New York in 1958. In the 1960s, he played with both modern stylists and more traditional musicians. Early life Friedman was born on May 4, 1935, in San Francisco. Both of his parents immigranted to the United States: his father, Edward Friedman, was from Lithuania, and his mother, Alma Loew, was from Germany. He began playing the piano at the age of four, switching from classical music to jazz after his family moved to Los Angeles when he was fifteen. His early jazz piano influence was Bud Powell. Friedman briefly studied composition at Los Angeles City College. Later life and career On the West Coast, Friedman performed with Dexter Gordon, Chet Baker, Buddy DeFranco, and Ornette Coleman. He was also a member of Clark Terry's big band. Friedman moved to New York permanently in 1958. In the 1960s, Friedman played with both modern jazz and more trad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bud Freeman
Lawrence "Bud" Freeman (April 13, 1906 – March 15, 1991) was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing tenor saxophone, but also the clarinet. Biography In 1922, Freeman and some friends from high school formed the Austin High School Gang. Freeman played the C melody saxophone with band members such as Jimmy McPartland and Frank Teschemacher. before switching to tenor saxophone two years later. The band was influenced by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and Louis Armstrong. While Armstrong was in King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, Freeman attended performances at Lincoln Gardens with McPartland. They were nicknamed "Alligators". In 1927, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a session musician and band member with Red Nichols, Roger Wolfe Kahn, Ben Pollack, and Joe Venuti. One of his most notable performances was a solo on Eddie Condon's 1933 recording, ''The Eel'', which became Freeman's nickname for his long snake-like improvisation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Ewell
Donald Tyson Ewell (November 14, 1916 – August 9, 1983) was an American jazz stride pianist. He worked with Sidney Bechet, Kid Ory, George Lewis, George Brunis, Muggsy Spanier, and Bunk Johnson. Biography Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Ewell played with Bill Reinhardt's Jazz, Ltd. band in Chicago in 1947, 1948, and 1949. From 1956 to 1962, Ewell was a member of the Jack Teagarden band. After Teagarden died, Ewell toured Europe, then returned to New Orleans and performed in clubs and hotels. From 1976 to 1978, he concertized and suffered from alcoholism while living with his friend King Denton, the manager of a jazz club where Ewell was Artist-in-residence. Ewell moved back to his native Maryland. After his daughter's death from cancer and after suffering two strokes, Ewell died on August 9, 1983, aged 66, in Pompano Beach, Florida. Discography As leader * ''Mama Yancey Singer/Don Ewell Pianist'' (Windin' Ball, 1955) * ''Music to Listen to Don Ewell By'' ( Good Time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Eaton (pianist)
John Livingston Eaton (born May 29, 1934, Washington, D.C.) is an American pianist, musicologist, humorist, educator and interpreter of jazz and American popular music. He is "considered one of the foremost interpreters of American music." Early life Eaton was born in Washington, D.C. He first learned about jazz from his father, a journalist who played the piano every evening after work. He attended Yale University where he studied with renowned classical teacher Alexander Lipsky. There, he was a member of the social and literary fraternity St. Anthony Hall. He graduated from Yale University in 1956. Career Eaton started playing music in the late 1960s. He played in the house trio of Blues Alley, playing with the touring stars who needed a backing band for three years. He also played piano in hotel lounges. In 1988, he was named to the Steinway Concert Artist roster. Also in 1988, Eaton has performed as headliner in the East Room of the White House for President Reagan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorothy Donegan
Dorothy Donegan (April 6, 1922 – May 19, 1998) was a classically trained American jazz pianist and occasional vocalist, primarily known for performing stride and boogie-woogie, as well as bebop, swing, and classical. Early life, family and education Donegan was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and began studying piano in 1928. She took her first lessons from Alfred N. Simms, a West Indian pianist who also taught Cleo Brown. She graduated from Chicago's DuSable High School, where she studied with Walter Dyett, a teacher who also worked with Dinah Washington, Johnny Griffin, Gene Ammons, and Von Freeman. She also studied at the Chicago Musical College and the University of Southern California. Career She was known for her work in Chicago nightclubs. In 1942 she made her recording debut. She appeared in ''Sensations of 1945'' with Cab Calloway, Gene Rodgers, and W. C. Fields. She was a protege of Art Tatum, who called her "the only woman who can make me practice". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lou Donaldson
Lou Donaldson (born November 1, 1926) is an American retired jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist. He is best known for his soulful, bluesy approach to playing the alto saxophone, although in his formative years he was, as many were of the bebop era, heavily influenced by Charlie Parker. Life and career Donaldson was born in Badin, North Carolina, United States. He attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro in the early 1940s. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was trained at the Great Lakes bases in Chicago where he was introduced to bop music in the lively club scene. At the war's conclusion, he returned to Greensboro, where he worked club dates with the Rhythm Vets, a combo composed of A and T students who had served in the U.S. Navy. The band recorded the soundtrack to a musical comedy featurette, ''Pitch a Boogie Woogie'', in Greenville, North Carolina, in the summer of 1947. The movie had a limited run at black audie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Davison
William Edward Davison (January 5, 1906 – November 14, 1989), nicknamed "Wild Bill", was an American jazz cornetist. He emerged in the 1920s through his work playing alongside Muggsy Spanier and Frank Teschemacher in a cover band where they played the music of Louis Armstrong, but he did not achieve wider recognition until the 1940s. He is best remembered for his association with bandleader Eddie Condon, with whom he worked and recorded from the mid-1940s through the 1960s. His nickname of "Wild Bill" reflected a reputation for heavy drinking and womanizing in his younger years. Reception The poet Philip Larkin, a fan, described his playing thus: :"...a player of notable energy, he uses a wide range of conscious tonal distortions, heavy vibrato, and an urgent, bustling attack. At slow tempos he is melting, almost articulate. Humphrey Lyttelton has compared him with the kind of reveler who throws his arm round your neck one moment and tries to knock you down the next." :"A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenny Davern
John Kenneth Davern (January 7, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American jazz clarinetist. Biography He was born in Huntington, Long Island, to a family of mixed Jewish and Irish-Catholic ancestry. His mother's family originally came from Vienna, Austria, where his great-grandfather Alfred Roth had been a colonel in the Austro-Hungarian cavalry, the highest rank accessible to a Jew in the Habsburg Imperial army. After hearing Pee Wee Russell the first time, he was convinced that he wanted to be a jazz musician, too; and at the age of 16 he joined the musician's union, first as a baritone saxophone player. In 1954 he joined Jack Teagarden's Band, and after only a few days with the band he made his first jazz recordings. Later on, he worked with bands led by Phil Napoleon and Pee Wee Erwin before joining the Dukes of Dixieland in 1962. The late 1960s found him freelancing with, among others, Red Allen, Ralph Sutton, Yank Lawson and his lifelong friend Dick Wellstood. At this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Costa
Johnny Costa (born John Costanza; January 18, 1922 – October 11, 1996) was an American jazz pianist. Given the title "The White Art Tatum" by jazz legend Art Tatum, Costa is best known for his work as musical director of the children's television series ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''. Biography Costa learned to play accordion at age seven and was reading music three years later. Frank Oliver, Costa's high school music teacher, urged him to learn the piano after discovering that Costa had perfect pitch. Costa graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with degrees in music and in education. In case he failed as a musician, Costa prepared himself to teach. On the day of his graduation, he began work as the house pianist for a radio station in Pittsburgh. Eventually he performed the same role for KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh. He provided piano and organ music for many programs, eventually teaming with Fred Rogers to arrange and perform the music heard on ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buck Clayton
Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton (November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong, first hearing the record "Confessin' That I Love You" as he passed by a shop window. Early years Clayton learned to play the piano from the age of six. His father was an amateur musician associated with the family's local church, who was responsible for teaching his son the scales on a trumpet, which he did not take up until his teens. From the age of 17, Clayton was taught the trumpet by Bob Russell, a member of George E. Lee's band. In his early twenties he was based in California, and was briefly a member of Duke Ellington's Orchestra and worked with other leaders. Clayton was also taught at this time by trumpeter Mutt Carey, who later emerged as a prominent west-coast revivalist in the 1940s. He also met Louis Armstrong while Armstrong was performing at Sebastian's Cotton Club, who taugh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
