Dawn Elder
Dawn Elder (San Francisco, California) is an American composer, pianist, impresario, music producer, and promoter best known for her efforts to fuse Middle Eastern music with contemporary rock and roll, rock and pop music. In the 1980s she began working as an impresario and promoter, music producer, record executive and or representative for diverse artists. She spent several years as the vice president of Ark 21/Mondo Melodia starting in 1999, and she has helped produce albums with Sting (musician), Sting, Cheb Mami, Simon Shaheen Qantara, and Cheb Khaled. After her work at Ark 21, Elder founded Dawn Elder World Media & Entertainment Enterprises, an entertainment firm based in California. Elder has developed and directed specials by networks such as American Broadcasting Company, ABC, NBC, PBS, MTV, and NPR. She founded the annual International Friendship Festival in California, Peace Through Music, Team Up America, and several other cultural festivals and conferences in the Unit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of California cities by population, fourth most populous in California and List of United States cities by population, 17th most populous in the United States, with 815,201 residents as of 2021. It covers a land area of , at the end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second most densely populated large U.S. city after New York City, and the County statistics of the United States, fifth most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. Among the 91 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco was ranked first by per capita income (at $160,749) and sixth by aggregate income as of 2021. Colloquial nicknames for San Francisco include ''SF'', ''San Fran'', ''The '', ''Frisco'', and '' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Amina
Aminatu (also Amina; died 1610) was a Hausa Muslim historical figure in the city-state Zazzau (now city of Zaria in Kaduna State), in what is now in the north-west region of Nigeria. She might have ruled in the mid-sixteenth century. A controversial figure whose existence has been questioned by some historians, her real biography has been somewhat obscured by subsequent legends and folk tales. Early life Amina was born in the middle of the sixteenth century CE to King Nikatau, the 22nd ruler of Zazzau, and Queen Bakwa Turunku (r. 1536–). She had a younger sister named Zaria for whom the modern city of Zaria (Kaduna State) was renamed by the British in the early twentieth century. According to oral legends collected by anthropologist David E. Jones, Amina grew up in her grandfather's court and was favored by him. He carried her around court and instructed her carefully in political and military matters. At age sixteen, Amina was named ''Magajiya'' (heir apparent), and was given ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Randy Waldman
Randy Waldman (born September 8, 1955, Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor. In 2019, Waldman's arrangement of the " Spider-Man Theme" on his ''Superheroes'' album garnered the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals at the 61st Grammy Awards. Waldman also co-arranged Barbra Streisand's " Somewhere", which was awarded with an arrangement Grammy in 1985. He has served as Streisand's pianist and conductor for over 35 years and has worked with numerous artists including Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, Ray Charles, and Stevie Wonder. He is also a helicopter and airplane pilot and instructor and holds a 2003 flight speed record in a Bell OH-58 helicopter.World and United States Aviation & Space Records, © 2004, National Aeronautic Association of the USA Early life Waldman was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 8, 1955. Waldman began playing piano at age five at which time he was co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Michael Sembello
Michael Andrew Sembello (born April 17, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer and producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sembello was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his 1983 song "Maniac", which he sang and co-wrote. The song reached number one in the United States and featured in the ''Flashdance'' film soundtrack. He is the brother of the late songwriter and composer Danny Sembello and the late singer songwriter John Sembello of Dino & Sembello fame. Early life Sembello was born and raised in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, a western suburb of Philadelphia. Career Sembello began his career in music as a session musician, working as a guitarist. By age 17, he was working professionally with Stevie Wonder on electric and acoustic guitar as a studio player on Wonder's ''Fulfillingness' First Finale''. He continued the same year, chosen as one of the core artists who worked on ''Songs in the Key of Life'', an ambitious doub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, Gospel music, gospel, funk, and jazz. A virtual one-man band, Wonder's use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of Contemporary R&B, R&B. He also helped drive such genres into the album era, crafting his LP record, LPs as cohesive and consistent, in addition to socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Visual impairment, Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder. Wonder's single "Fingertips" was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1963, at the age of 13, making him the List o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Carlos Santana
Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured his melodic, blues-based lines set against Latin American and African rhythms played on percussion instruments not generally heard in rock, such as timbales and congas. He experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s. In 2015, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine listed him at No. 20 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists. He has won 10 Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards, and was inducted along with his namesake band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Biography Early life Santana was born in Autlán de Navarro in Jalisco, Mexico on July 20, 1947. He learned to play the violin at age five and the guitar at age eight, under the tutelage of his father, who was a mariachi musician. His young ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Karina Pasian
Karina Pasian (born July 18, 1991) is an American singer. Life and career Karina Pasian was born in New York City and is of Dominican Republic, Dominican descent. Her first language was Russian, and she can sing in six other languages, including English, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Turkish, and French. Growing up in a musical family, she first began taking piano lessons at the age of three from her babysitter, and began classical piano training while in kindergarten. She began working with a vocal coach at the age of eight, and attended the Professional Performing Arts School in New York City along with Taylor Momsen and Mark Indelicato. In 2003, Pasian met Quincy Jones, who invited her and her family to his home in Bel Air, California. Soon after this, Pasian performed and won on ''Star Search''. She also performed at Quincy Jones' ''We Are The Future'' concert in Rome. On June 22, 2007, Pasian performed at the White House for President George W. Bush, in celebration of ''Black ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Paula Cole
Paula Cole (born April 5, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. After gaining attention for her performances as a vocalist on Peter Gabriel's 1993–1994 Secret World Tour, she released her first album, ''Harbinger (Paula Cole album), Harbinger'', which suffered from a lack of promotion when the label, Imago Records, folded shortly after its release. Her second album, ''This Fire (album), This Fire'' (1996), brought her worldwide acclaim, peaking at number 20 on the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 album chart and producing two hit singles, the triple-Grammy nominated "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?", which reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1997, and "I Don't Want to Wait", which was used as the theme song of the television show ''Dawson's Creek''. She won the Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Best New Artist, Best New Artist in 1998. Her third album, 1999's ''Amen (Paula Cole album), Amen'', marked a major stylistic departure for Cole, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert Kravitz (born May 26, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. His style incorporates elements of rock, blues, soul, R&B, funk, jazz, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, pop and folk. Kravitz won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance four years in a row from 1999 to 2002, breaking the record for most wins in that category and setting the record for most consecutive wins in one category by a male. He has been nominated for and won other awards, including American Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Radio Music Awards, Brit Awards, and Blockbuster Entertainment Awards. Kravitz's hit singles include "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" (1991) and "Again" (2000), each of which reached the top 10 on the ''Billboard'' Top 100 chart; other hits include " Let Love Rule" (1989), "Always on the Run" (1991), " Are You Gonna Go My Way" (1993), " Fly Away" (1998), and "American Woman" (1999), each of which reached the top 10 on the Alternative Airplay chart. Kravitz ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Mohammed Wardi
Mohammed Osman Hassan Salih Wardi ( ar, محمد عثمان حسن وردي; 19 July 1932 – 18 February 2012), also known as Mohammed Wardi, was a Nubian Sudanese singer, poet and songwriter. Looking back at his life and artistic career, Sudanese writer and critic Lemya Shammat called him an "inspirational figure in Sudanese music and culture, whose prolific talent and massive contribution remains unsurpassed in Sudan." Early life Wardi was born on 19 July 1932 in a small village called Sawarda close to Wadi Halfa in Northern Sudan. His mother, Batool Badri, died when he was an infant, and his father, Osman Hassan Wardi, died when he was nine years old. He was brought up in a diverse and culturally rich background and developed an interest in poetry, literature, music and singing. To complete his education, he moved to Shendi in Central Sudan, and returned to Wadi Halfa as a secondary school teacher. Musical career In 1953, Wardi went to Khartoum for the first time to attend a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Sabah Fakhri
Sabah al-Din Abu Qaws ( ar, صباح الدين أبو قوس), also known as Sabah Fakhri ( ar, صباح فخري; May 2, 1933 – November 2, 2021), was a Syrian tenor singer from Aleppo. With over 50 years of fame and popularity as a singer, Sabah Fakhri modified and popularized the then-fading forms of traditional Arabic music Muwashahat and Qudud Halabiya. He was well known for his strong vocals, execution of Maqamat and harmony, as well as his charismatic performances. Biography Sabah was born in Aleppo Syria 1933 and enrolled in the Academy of Arabic Music of Aleppo. He later studied at the Academy of Damascus, from which he graduated in 1948. He was given the stage name "Fakhri" by his mentor, Syrian nationalist leader Fakhri al-Barudi, who encouraged him as a young boy to stay in Syria and not travel to Italy. One of Fakhri's earliest performances was in 1948 at the Presidential Palace in Damascus, before President Shukri al-Quwatli and Prime Minister Jamil Mardam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Wadi Al-Safi
Wadih El Safi ( ar, وديع الصافي, born Wadih Francis; November 1, 1921 – October 11, 2013) was a Lebanese singer, songwriter, composer and actor. He was a Lebanese icon and the forefather of the country's musical culture. He was the longest singer in production, seventy-five years in the singing profession. He was the number one singer of his era. He was known amongst his peers to have incarnated and raised the ceiling of all the singing styles and music of that era and added his own intricate new styles and genres to the existing national musical and singing heritage. He is the reference to every new singer and the example to follow for generations to come. Born in Niha, Lebanon, Wadih El Safi started his artistic journey at the age of sixteen when he took part in a singing contest held by Lebanese Radio and was chosen the winner of all categories among 40 other competitors. Style and Career Wadih El Safi being a classically trained tenor is not a verified fact sin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |