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Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts
''Sacred Concert'' by Duke Ellington is one of the following realisations: * 1965 - ''Concert of Sacred Music'' * 1968 - ''Second Sacred Concert'' * 1973 - ''Third Sacred Concert'' Ellington called these concerts "the most important thing I have ever done". He said many times that he was not trying to compose a "Mass" (liturgy). The critic Gary Giddins has characterized these concerts as Ellington bringing the Cotton Club revue to the church. ''Concert of Sacred Music'' Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco planned a "Festival of Grace", with a variety of cultural works and speakers, to occur during the first year the cathedral was open, and Ellington's concert was to be a part of it. (The "festival" also included a performance by Vince Guaraldi.) The concert premiered on September 16, 1965, and was recorded by KQED (TV), KQED, a local public television station. The performance was released on CD as ''A Concert of Sacred Music Live from Grace Cathed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's " Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz. At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly thirty-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writing and arranging companion. With Strayhorn, he composed multipl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. It was invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700. Description The word "piano" is a shortened form of ''pianoforte'', the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from ''clavicembalo col piano e forte'' (key cimbalom with quiet and loud)Pollens (1995, 238) and ''fortepiano''. The Italian musical terms ''piano'' and ''forte'' indicate "soft" and "loud" respectively, in this context referring to the variations in volume (i.e., loudness) produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on the keys: the grea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alto Saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor but larger than the B soprano. It is the most common saxophone and is used in popular music, concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, military bands, marching bands, pep bands, and jazz (such as big bands, jazz combos, swing music). The alto saxophone had a prominent role in the development of jazz. Influential jazz musicians who made significant contributions include Don Redman, Jimmy Dorsey, Johnny Hodges, Benny Carter, Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz, Jackie McLean, Phil Woods, Art Pepper, Paul Desmond, and Cannonball Adderley. Although the role of the alto saxophone in classical music has been limited, influential performers include Marcel Mule, Sigurd Raschèr, Jean-Marie Londeix, Eugene Rousseau, and Frederick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Hamilton
Jimmy Hamilton (May 25, 1917 – September 20, 1994) was an American jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, who was a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Biography Hamilton was born in Dillon, South Carolina, United States, and grew up in Philadelphia. Having learned to play piano and brass instruments, in the 1930s he started playing the latter in local bands before switching to clarinet and saxophone. During this time he studied with clarinet teacher Leon Russianoff. In 1939, he played with Lucky Millinder, Jimmy Mundy, and Bill Doggett, going on to join the Teddy Wilson sextet in 1940. After two years with Wilson, he played with Eddie Heywood and Yank Porter. In 1943, he replaced Barney Bigard in the Duke Ellington orchestra and stayed with Ellington until 1968. His style was different on his two instruments: on tenor saxophone he had an R&B sound, while on clarinet he was much more precise and technical. He wrote some of his own material in his time with Ellington. Aft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russell Procope
Russell Keith Procope (August 11, 1908 – January 21, 1981) was an American clarinetist and alto saxophonist who was a member of the Duke Ellington orchestra. Before Ellington Procope was born in New York City, United States, and grew up in San Juan Hill, where he attended school with Benny Carter. His first instrument was the violin, but he switched to clarinet and alto saxophone. He began his professional career in 1926 as a member of Billy Freeman's orchestra. He recorded with Jelly Roll Morton at the age of 20, and played with bands led by Benny Carter, Chick Webb (1929–30), Fletcher Henderson (spring of 1931 to 1934), Tiny Bradshaw, Teddy Hill, King Oliver, and Willie Bryant. Fletcher Henderson's band dissolved in 1934. Along with several other ex-Henderson musicians, Procope joined Benny Carter's orchestra. He also worked for a time with the Tiny Bradshaw and Willie Bryant bands before joining Teddy Hill in 1935. During his stay with Teddy Hill's orchestra the trumpet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bass Trombone
The bass trombone (german: Bassposaune, it, trombone basso) is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to facilitate low register playing, and usually two valves to fill in the missing range immediately above the pedal tones. History The earliest bass trombones were the bass sackbuts, usually pitched in G, F, or E♭ below the B♭ tenor. They had a smaller bore and less flared bell than modern instruments, and a longer slide with an attached handle to allow slide positions otherwise beyond the reach of a fully outstretched arm. The earliest known surviving specimen is an instrument in G built in Germany in 1593. This instrument matches descriptions and illustrations by Praetorius from his 1614–20 ''Syntagma Musicum''. These bass sackbuts were sometimes called , , and (Old German, , referring to intervals below B♭), though sometimes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column inside the instrument to vibrate. Nearly all trombones use a telescoping slide mechanism to alter the Pitch (music), pitch instead of the brass instrument valve, valves used by other brass instruments. The valve trombone is an exception, using three valves similar to those on a trumpet, and the superbone has valves and a slide. The word "trombone" derives from Italian ''tromba'' (trumpet) and ''-one'' (a suffix meaning "large"), so the name means "large trumpet". The trombone has a predominantly cylindrical bore like the trumpet, in contrast to the more conical brass instruments like the cornet, the euphonium, and the French horn. The most frequently encountered trombones are the tenor trombone and bass trombone. These are treated as trans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quentin Jackson
Quentin "Butter" JacksonFeather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' , US, 2007 (January 13, 1909 – October 2, 1976) was an American jazz trombonist. Career In the early stage of his career, Jackson worked with Cab Calloway for ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buster Cooper
George "Buster" Cooper (April 4, 1929 – May 13, 2016) was an American jazz trombonist. Career A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, Cooper played in a territory band with Nat Towles in Texas in the late 1940s and with Lionel Hampton in 1953. He played in the house band at the Apollo Theater in New York City in the mid-1950s, and following this he was in Benny Goodman's band. Late in the 1950s he and his brother Steve formed the Cooper Brothers Band. From 1962 to 1969, he was a trombonist in Duke Ellington's Orchestra. In 1973, he moved to Los Angeles, and played in jazz orchestras over the next several decades, including Bill Berry's band and The Capp-Pierce Juggernaut. He led a trio at a restaurant in St. Petersburg, Florida. In 1993, Cooper appeared as a jazz trombonist in the film ''Murder Between Friends'', set in New Orleans. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lawrence Brown (jazz Trombonist)
Lawrence Brown (August 3, 1907 – September 5, 1988) was a jazz trombonist from California best remembered for his work with the Duke Ellington orchestra. He was a session musician throughout his career, and also recorded albums under his own name. Early life Lawrence Brown was born on August 3, 1907, in Lawrence, Kansas. When Brown was about six or seven years old in 1914 his family moved to Oakland, California. He began playing the violin at a young age, but quickly grew tired of it and turned to playing the tuba in his school's band. Brown came from a musical background. His father was a preacher at the African Methodist Episcopal Church, where he often sang as a part of his sermons. Brown’s mother played the organ and the piano. Brown discovered the trombone while doing janitorial work at his father’s church. He stated that he wanted to replicate the sound of cello on a trombone. Career Brown began his career with Charlie Echols and Paul Howard. In 1932, Brown ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard B or C trumpet. Trumpet-like instruments have historically been used as signaling devices in battle or hunting, with examples dating back to at least 1500 BC. They began to be used as musical instruments only in the late 14th or early 15th century. Trumpets are used in art music styles, for instance in orchestras, concert bands, and jazz ensembles, as well as in popular music. They are played by blowing air through nearly-closed lips (called the player's embouchure), producing a "buzzing" sound that starts a standing wave vibration in the air column inside the instrument. Since the late 15th century, trumpets have primarily been constructed of brass tubing, usually bent twice into a rounded rectangular shape. There are many distinc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cootie Williams
Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams (July 10, 1911 – September 15, 1985) was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter. Biography Born in Mobile, Alabama, Williams began his professional career at the age of 14 with the Young Family band, which included saxophonist Lester Young. According to Williams he acquired his nickname as a boy when his father took him to a band concert. When it was over his father asked him what he'd heard and he replied, "Cootie, cootie, cootie." In 1928, he made his first recordings with pianist James P. Johnson in New York, where he also worked briefly in the bands of Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson. Williams rose to prominence as a member of Duke Ellington's orchestra when the band was playing at the Cotton Club, with which he first performed from 1929 to 1940. He also recorded his own sessions during this time, both freelance and with other Ellington sidemen. Williams was renowned for his "jungle"-style trumpet playing (in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
