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Ellington '66
''Ellington '66'' is an album by American pianist, composer, and bandleader Duke Ellington that was recorded and released on the Reprise label in 1965.A Duke Ellington Panorama accessed May 10, 2010 The album won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance – Large Group or Soloist with Large Group. /ref> Reception The |
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 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 Standard (music), standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's "Caravan (1937 song), Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz. At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly thirty five-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's Lennon–McCartney, songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history. Born in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the Skiffle revival, skiffle craze as a teenager. In 1956, he formed the Quarrymen, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Lennon initially was the group's ''de facto'' leader, a role he gradually seemed to cede to McCartney, writing and co-writing songs with increasing innovation, including "Strawberry Fields Forever", which he later cited as his finest work with the band. Lennon soon expanded his work into other media by participating in numerous films, including ''How I Won the War'', and authoring ''In His Own Write'' and ''A Spaniard in the Works'', both collections of literary nonsense, ... [...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] |
Herbie Jones
Herbie Jones (born Herbert Robert Jones) (March 23, 1926, Miami - March 19, 2001, New York City) was an American jazz trumpeter and arranger. Jones dropped out of college to move to New York, where he joined the Lucky Millinder band. In subsequent years he worked with Andy Kirk, Buddy Johnson, and Cab Calloway, and studied under Eddie Barefield. Jones spent several years as Duke Ellington's first trumpeter in the 1960s, and worked as an arranger and transcriber with Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Among his arrangements were "El Busto", "Cootie's Caravan", "The Prowling Cat", and "The Opener". After leaving Ellington, Jones became director of an alternative school in New York, and directed the Police Athletic League's bugle corps. He died as a result of complications from diabetes in March 2001. Discography As sideman With Duke Ellington * ''Plays with the Original Motion Picture Score Mary Poppins'' (Reprise, 1964) * ''Ellington '65'' (Reprise, 1964) * ''Concert in the Virg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cat Anderson
William Alonzo "Cat" Anderson (September 12, 1916 – April 29, 1981) was an American jazz trumpeter known for his long period as a member of Duke Ellington's orchestra and for his wide range, especially his ability to play in the altissimo register. Biography Early life Born in Greenville, South Carolina, Anderson lost both parents when he was four years old, and was sent to live at the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston, where he learned to play trumpet. Classmates gave him the nickname "Cat" (which he used all his life) based on his fighting style. Career He toured and made his first recording with the Carolina Cotton Pickers, a small group based at the orphanage. After leaving the Cotton Pickers, Anderson played with guitarist Hartley Toots, Claude Hopkins' big band, Doc Wheeler's Sunset Orchestra (1938–1942), with whom he also recorded, Lucky Millinder, the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, Sabby Lewis's Orchestra, and Lionel Hampton, with whom he recorded the classic "Fl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moon River
"Moon River" is a song composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was originally performed by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'', winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song also won the 1962 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. In 1999, Mancini's recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.''sic''">sic.html" ;"title="/nowiki>''sic">/nowiki>''sic''/nowiki> to wanderlust. Or a romantic song in which the romantic partner is the idea of romance." An inlet near Savannah, Georgia, Johnny Mercer's hometown, was named Moon River in honor of him and this song. Versions Original Mercer and Mancini wrote the song for Audrey Hepburn to sing in the film '' Breakfast at Tiffany's''. The lyrics, written by Mercer, are reminiscent of his childhood in Savannah, Georgia, including its waterways. As a child, he had picked huckleberries in summer, and he connected them with a carefree childhood and Mark Twain's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Strayhorn
William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include "Take the 'A' Train", "Chelsea Bridge (song), Chelsea Bridge", "A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing", and "Lush Life (jazz song), Lush Life". Early life Strayhorn was born in Dayton, Ohio, United States. His family then moved to the Homewood (Pittsburgh), Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His mother's family came from Hillsborough, North Carolina, and she sent him there to protect him from his father's drunken rages. Strayhorn spent many months of his childhood at his grandparents' house in Hillsborough. In an interview, Strayhorn said that his grandmother was his primary influence during the first ten years of his life. He became interested in music while living with her, playing hymns on her piano and listening to records on her Victrol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satin Doll
"Satin Doll" is a jazz standard written by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Written in 1953, the song has been recorded by Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Billy Eckstine, Nancy Wilson, Bobby Short, and many other vocalists. As an instrumental, it has been recorded by hundreds of jazz artists. Its chord progression is well known for its unusual use of chords and opening with a ii-V-I turnaround. Background According to Strayhorn biographer David Hajdu, Ellington wrote the main melodic themes for "Satin Doll", then asked Strayhorn to harmonize and orchestrate the tune and write an original lyric.( Hajdu wrote that Strayhorn did pen a lyric for the song that was a tribute to Strayhorn's mother (whom Strayhorn called "Satin Doll"), but that Strayhorn's lyric was not performed and is now lost. The Duke Ellington Orchestra recorded the piece as an instrumental in 1953, and the song charted that same year and remained popular through the 1950s. Arou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sacha Distel
Alexandre "Sacha" Distel (29 January 1933 – 22 July 2004) was a French musician and singer who had hits with a cover version of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" in 1970, which reached No 10 in the UK Charts, " Scoubidou", and " The Good Life". He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur in 1997. He had also scored a hit as a songwriter when Tony Bennett recorded Sacha's song for "The Good Life" in 1963. It peaked at #18 on ''Billboard''s Hot 100 chart and Top 10 on the Easy Listening chart. Career Distel was the son of Russian-French émigré Léonide Distel who was born in Odessa, Ukraine and French-Jewish pianist Andrée Ventura (1902–1965), born in Constantinople. His uncle was bandleader Ray Ventura. After Ventura settled in Paris with his orchestra Les Collégiens, Distel gave up piano and switched to guitar. During his career, Distel worked with Kenny Clarke, Jimmy Gourley, Lionel Hampton, Slide Hampton, Bobby Jaspar, Barney Kessel, John Lewis, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Good Life (1962 Song)
"The Good Life" (originally "La Belle Vie" in French) is a song by Sacha Distel with French lyrics by Jean Broussolle, published in 1962. It was featured in the movie '' The Seven Deadly Sins''. Tony Bennett recording The song is best known in the English-speaking world via a 1963 recording by Tony Bennett with English lyrics by Jack Reardon. In the US, it was a number 18 hit on the U.S. pop singles chart, and number 7 on the Middle-Road Singles chart. Outside the US, "The Good Life" rose to number 27 on the UK Singles Chart. "The Good Life" became one of Bennett's staple songs, and was featured on four of his top-selling albums, including 1994's '' MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett'' and 2006's '' Duets: An American Classic'', the latter featuring Billy Joel. Bennett also named his 1998 autobiography after the song. He continued to perform the song live and did so at his final concerts, at Radio City Music Hall, aged 95. Chart performance Other recorded versions *Billy Eckstine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Gibson
Donald Eugene Gibson (April 3, 1928 – November 17, 2003) was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson wrote such country standards as " Sweet Dreams" and " I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits (" Oh Lonesome Me") from 1957 into the mid-1970s. Gibson was nicknamed "The Sad Poet" because he frequently wrote songs that told of loneliness and lost love. Early days Don Gibson was born in Shelby, North Carolina, United States, into a poor working-class family. He dropped out of school in the second grade. Career His first band was called Sons of the Soil, with whom he made his first recording for Mercury Records in 1949. In 1957, he journeyed to Nashville to work with producer Chet Atkins and record his self-penned songs " Oh Lonesome Me" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" for RCA Victor. The afternoon session resulted in a double-sided hit on both the country and pop charts. "Oh Lonesome Me" set the patt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Can't Stop Loving You
"I Can't Stop Loving You" is a popular song written and composed by the country musician Don Gibson from his 1958 album ''Oh Lonesome Me'', who first recorded it on December 3, 1957, for RCA Victor Records. It was released in 1958 as the B-side of "Oh Lonesome Me", becoming a double-sided country hit single. At the time of Gibson's death in 2003, the song had been recorded by more than 700 artists, most notably by Ray Charles, whose recording reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Composition Don Gibson wrote both "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "Oh Lonesome Me" on June 7, 1957, in Knoxville, Tennessee. "I sat down to write a lost love ballad," Gibson said in Dorothy Horstman's 1975 book ''Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy.'' "After writing several lines to the song, I looked back and saw the line 'I can't stop loving you.' I said, 'That would be a good title,' so I went ahead and rewrote it in its present form." Charts ''Note'': This original recording was released a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
