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Driftwoods
''Driftwoods'' is a solo album by pianist Ran Blake recorded in 2008 and released on the Tompkins Square label in 2009.Tompkins Square Records accessed October 24, 2014 accessed October 24, 2014 Reception The review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4 stars stating "Blake's sense of restraint, even in the most deliberate of his improvised readings such as on Lewis Allan's "Strange Fruit," Quincy Jones' theme from The Pawnbroker, Milton Nascimento's "Cançao do Sol," and even Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ran Blake
Ran Blake (born April 20, 1935) is an American pianist, composer, and educator. He is known for his unique style that combines blues, gospel, classical, and film noir influences into an innovative and dark jazz sound. His career spans over 40 recording credits on jazz albums along with more than 40 years of teaching jazz at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he started the Department of Third Stream (now called the Department of Contemporary Improvisation) with Gunther Schuller. Early life Blake was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on April 20, 1935. He grew up in Suffield, Connecticut, and became fascinated by film noir after seeing Robert Siodmak's ''Spiral Staircase'' as a twelve-year-old. He began playing piano as a young child, and as a teenager studied with Ray Cassarino. In his teenage years, he developed a love for gospel music and studied the compositions of Béla Bartók and Claude Debussy. After high school, he attended Bard College in New York, graduati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
All That Is Tied
''All That Is Tied'' is a solo album by pianist Ran Blake which was recorded in 2005 to mark the 40th anniversary of his first solo recording '' Ran Blake Plays Solo Piano'' and his 70th birthday and was released on the Tompkins Square label in 2006.Tompkins Square Records accessed October 24, 2014 Reception '' The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' gave the album a maximum four star rating, and additionally awarded it a "Crown", signifying a recording that the authors "feel a special admiration or affection for". The review by Stewar ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lost Highway (Leon Payne Song)
"Lost Highway" is a country music song written and recorded by blind country singer-songwriter Leon Payne in 1948. It was released in October 1948 on Nashville-based Bullet label. In the early days of Leon Payne's career, he used to travel from one place to another, trying to find jobs wherever he could. Once he was in California hitchhiking to Alba, Texas, to visit his sick mother, he was unable to get a ride and finally got help from The Salvation Army. He wrote "Lost Highway" on the edge of the road while waiting for a ride. Payne wrote hundreds of country songs in a prolific career that lasted from 1941 until his death in 1969. He is perhaps best known for his hits "I Love You Because", "You've Still Got a Place in My Heart", and for the two songs that Hank Williams recorded: "Lost Highway" and " They'll Never Take Her Love from Me". Payne released his version in October 1948. Hank Williams version As Williams' biographer Colin Escott observes, "In recent years, 'Lost High ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Russell (songwriter)
Bob Russell (April 25, 1914 – February 18, 1970) was an American songwriter (mainly lyricist) born Sidney Keith Rosenthal in Passaic, New Jersey. Career Russell attended Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He worked as an advertising copywriter in New York; for a time, his roommate there was Sidney Sheldon, later a novelist. He turned to writing material for vaudeville acts, and then for film studios, ultimately writing complete scores for two movies: ''Jack and the Beanstalk (1952 film), Jack and the Beanstalk'' and ''Reach for Glory''. The latter film received the Locarno International Film Festival prize in 1962. A number of other movies featured compositions by Russell, including ''Affair in Trinidad'' (1952), ''The Blue Gardenia, Blue Gardenia'' (1953), ''The Girl Can't Help It'' (1956), ''The Girl Most Likely'' (1957), ''A Matter of WHO'' (1961), ''Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd'' (1952), ''Sound Off (film), Sound Off'' (1952), ''That Midnight Kiss'' (1949 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2009 Albums
The following is a list of albums, EPs, and mixtapes released in 2009. These albums are (1) original, i.e. excluding reissues, remasters, and compilations of previously released recordings, and (2) notable, defined as having received significant coverage from reliable sources independent of the subject. For additional information about bands formed, reformed, disbanded, or on hiatus, for deaths of musicians, and for links to musical awards, see 2009 in music. First quarter January February March Second quarter April May June Third quarter July August September Fourth quarter October November December References {{DEFAULTSORT:2009 albums Albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ... 2009 ... [...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] |
Charles Mitchell (songwriter)
Charles Mitchell is a songwriter, best known as a collaborator with Jimmie Davis. Davis's best-known composition, "You Are My Sunshine "You Are My Sunshine" is a song published by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell on January 30, 1940. According to Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the song has been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages. In 1977, the Louis ...", published in 1939 was co-written by Mitchell. References Year of birth missing Year of death missing American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters {{songwriter-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmie Davis
James Houston Davis (September 11, 1899 – November 5, 2000) was an American politician, singer and songwriter of both sacred and popular songs. Davis was elected for two nonconsecutive terms from 1944 to 1948 and from 1960 to 1964 as the governor of his native Louisiana. As Governor, Davis was an opponent of efforts to desegregate Louisiana. Davis was a nationally popular country music and gospel singer from the 1930s into the 1960s, occasionally recording and performing as late as the early 1990s. He appeared as himself in a number of Hollywood movies. He was inducted into six halls of fame, including the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame, and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. At the time of his death in 2000, he was the oldest living former governor as well as the last living governor to have been born in the 19th century. Early life and career Childhood and birth date confusion Davis was born to a sharecropping couple, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
You Are My Sunshine
"You Are My Sunshine" is a song published by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell on January 30, 1940. According to Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the song has been recorded by over 350 artists and translated into 30 languages. In 1977, the Louisiana State Legislature decreed "You Are My Sunshine" the state song in honor of Jimmie Davis, a two-time governor of the state. Writing and recording Earliest performances and recordings The Pine Ridge Boys (Marvin Taylor and Doug Spivey) recorded the song under the title "You Are My Sunshine" on August 22, 1939, and released it on October 6, 1939 for Bluebird Records. The song was recorded in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Pine Ridge Boys were from. No songwriter was listed. The Rice Brothers' Gang recorded the song next for Decca, on September 13, 1939, and released it the following month. This group was originally from Northern Georgia, but relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana, where they performed on the radio station KWKH. The songw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history,See the 1998 documentary ''Triumph of the Underdog'' with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Herbie Hancock. Mingus' compositions continue to be played by contemporary musicians ranging from the repertory bands Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty, and Mingus Orchestra, to the high school students who play the charts and compete in the Charles Mingus High School Competition. In 1993, the Library of Congress acquired Mingus' collected papers—including scores, sound recordings, correspondence and photos—in what they described as "the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jaz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award nominations, 28 Grammys, and a Grammy Legend Award in 1992. Jones came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor before working on pop music and film scores. He moved easily between musical genres, producing pop hit records for Lesley Gore in the early 1960s (including " It's My Party") and serving as an arranger and conductor for several collaborations between the jazz artists Frank Sinatra and Count Basie in the same time period. In 1968, Jones became the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "The Eyes of Love" from the film '' Banning''. Jones was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score for his work on the 1967 film ''In Cold Blood'', making him the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abel Meeropol
Abel Meeropol (February 10, 1903 – October 29, 1986)Baker, Nancy Kovaleff, "Abel Meeropol (a.k.a. Lewis Allan): Political Commentator and Social Conscience," '' American Music'' 20/1 (2002), pp. 25–79, ; see especially note 3. was an American songwriter and poet whose works were published under his pseudonym, Lewis Allan. He wrote the poem "Strange Fruit" (1937), which was recorded by Billie Holiday. Meeropol was a member of the American Communist Party, but later quit. Biography Early life Meeropol was born in 1903 to Russian Jewish immigrants in The Bronx, New York City. Meeropol graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1921 (his classmate Countee Cullen graduated in 1922); he earned a B.A. degree from City College of New York, and an M.A. from Harvard. He taught English at DeWitt Clinton High School for 17 years. During his tenure he taught the notable author and racial justice advocate James Baldwin. Song writing and poetry Meeropol wrote the anti-lynching poem "St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
