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Gordon Powell
Gordon "Specs" Powell (June 5, 1922 – September 15, 2007) was a jazz drummer who began performing in the swing era. Career Specs was the first black staff musician hired by CBS in 1943. Born in New York City, he started on piano but became exclusively a drummer in the late 1930s. He worked with Edgar Hayes (1939), Benny Carter (1941–42), and Ben Webster. He played percussion on the ''Ed Sullivan Show'' in the early 1960s and remained active professionally until the 1970s. At some point in the early 1960s he approached the Latin percussion maker Martin Cohen and had Cohen make for him an early (perhaps the first) bongo stand. In 2004 he was inducted into the Big Band Jazz Hall of Fame. Powell was also a photographer, and his photographic archives of 2500 images are preserved in the Tom and Ethel Bradley Center at California State University, Northridge. He died in San Diego of kidney disease at the age of 85. Discography As leader * ''Movin' in'' (Roulette, 1957 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jazz Drumming
Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques and instrumentation of this type of performance have evolved over several periods, influenced by jazz at large and the individual drummers within it. Stylistically, this aspect of performance was shaped by its starting place, New Orleans,Gioia, T. (1997). ''The History of Jazz''. Oxford University Press: New York. as well as numerous other regions of the world, including other parts of the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa.Brown, T, D. (1976). ''A History and Analysis of Jazz Drumming to 1942''. University Microfilms: Ann Arbor, Michigan. Jazz required a method of playing percussion different from traditional European styles, one that was easily adaptable to the different rhythms of the new genre, fostering the creation of jazz drumm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernard Purdie
Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie (born June 11, 1939) is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul and funk musician. He is known for his precise musical time keeping and his signature use of triplets against a half-time backbeat: the "Purdie Shuffle." He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2013. Purdie recorded ''Soul Drums'' (1968) as a band leader and although he went on to record ''Alexander's Ragtime Band'', the album remained unreleased until ''Soul Drums'' was reissued on CD in 2009 with the ''Alexander's Ragtime Band'' sessions. Other solo albums include ''Purdie Good!'' (1971), '' Soul Is... Pretty Purdie'' (1972) and the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film ''Lialeh'' (1973). In the mid-1990s he was a member of The 3B's, with Bross Townsend and Bob Cunningham. Biography Purdie was born on June 11, 1939 in Elkton, Maryland, US, the eleventh of fifteen children. At an early age he began hitting cans with sticks and learned the elements of dru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carla Thomas
Carla Venita Thomas (born December 21, 1942) is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Thomas is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits "Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)" (1960), "B-A-B-Y" (1966) and "Tramp" (1967), a duet with Otis Redding. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas. Biography Childhood Thomas was born and raised in the Foote Homes Projects in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Along with her siblings, Marvell and Vaneese, she was one of three musical children of Rufus and Lorene Thomas. Despite growing up in the projects, the Thomas family lived near the Palace Theater on Beale Street, as Rufus was the theater's Master of Ceremonies (MC) for their amateur shows.Freeland, David. "Carla Thomas – Memphis's Reluctant Soul Queen". ''Ladies of Soul''. University Press of Mississippi, 2001. pp. 56–75. This access not only gave Thomas her first taste of the music world but it also provided a springboar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bert Sommer
Bert Sommer (February 7, 1949 – July 23, 1990) was an American folk singer and songwriter. He appeared in the musical '' Hair'' and at the Woodstock Festival, and released several albums as a singer-songwriter. Life and career Sommer was born in New York City and grew up in Queens and Hartsdale, New York. He was a self-taught musician (piano and guitar), who began writing songs in his teens. He attended Woodlands High School as well as Quintano's School for Young Professionals in Manhattan. He became friendly with other young musicians and songwriters in the area, including Peter Sabatino, Leslie West, Tom Feher, and Michael Brown, and wrote several songs for West (then known as Weinstein)'s band, the Vagrants, including their single "Beside the Sea", co-written with producer Felix Pappalardi and his wife Gail Collins.Sharon Watts, "We're All Playing In The Same Band", ''Shindig!'' No. 94, August 2019, pp.44–48 In 1967, Sommer joined Michael Brown's band, The Left Banke, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
To Love Somebody (album)
''To Love Somebody'' is an album by jazz singer-songwriter/pianist Nina Simone. It was released as quickly as possible to prolong the unexpected success of '' 'Nuff Said!'' The title is taken from the Bee Gees song ''" To Love Somebody"''; her cover of the song became her second British hit single after "Ain't Got No-I Got Life". Information about songs on this album *The title track, ''"To Love Somebody''", as well as ''"I Can't See Nobody"'' are songs by the Bee Gees. *''" Suzanne"'', originally by Leonard Cohen; covered by many artists by the time of this album. *''"Turn! Turn! Turn!"'', originally by Pete Seeger. Simone recorded an alternative version of the song that was (previously) unreleased. *"Revolution" (parts 1 & 2) was Simone's third subsequent single released in the UK after ''"Ain't Got No–I Got Life"'' and ''"To Love Somebody"'' both became hits. The song was released around the time of the same titled song by The Beatles and, although it has a similar hoo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nina Simone Sings The Blues
''Sings the Blues'' is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. This was Simone's first album for RCA Records after previously recording for Colpix Records and Philips Records. The album was also reissued in 2006 with bonus tracks, and re-packaged in 1991 by RCA/Novus as a 17-track compilation under the title ''The Blues''. Song information * "My Man's Gone Now," from the opera Porgy & Bess by George Gershwin. * "Backlash Blues," one of Simone's civil rights songs. The lyrics were written by her friend and poet Langston Hughes. * "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl," based on a song by Simone's great example, Bessie Smith, but with somewhat different lyrics. * "The House of the Rising Sun" was previously recorded live by Simone in 1962 on ''Nina at the Village Gate.'' After its cover by The Animals became a hit, she recorded it in studio. The fast-paced version on this album is very different from the slow, intimate version on ''Nina at the Village Gate.'' Track listin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop. The sixth of eight children born from a poor family in Tryon, North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a few supporters in her hometown, she enrolled in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where, despite a well received audition, she was denied admission,Liz Garbus, 2015 documentary film, ''What Happened, Miss Simone?'' which she attributed to racism. In 2003, just days before her death, the Institute awarded her an honorary degree. To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Shavers
Charles James Shavers (August 3, 1920 – July 8, 1971) was an American jazz trumpeter who played with Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Dodds, Jimmie Noone, Sidney Bechet, Midge Williams, Tommy Dorsey, and Billie Holiday. He was also an arranger and composer, and one of his compositions, "Undecided", is a jazz standard. Career Shavers's father, a distant relative of Fats Navarro, was from the Shavers family of Key West, Florida. Charlie Shavers was a cousin of heavyweight boxer Earnie Shavers. Born in New York City, he took up piano and banjo before switching to trumpet. In the mid-1930s, he performed with Tiny Bradshaw and Lucky Millinder. In 1935, he played in the trumpet section with Dizzy Gillespie and Carl (Bama) Warwick in Frankie Fairfax's Campus Club Orchestra. In 1936, he joined John Kirby's Sextet as trumpet soloist and arranger. He was only 16, but gave his birth date as 1917 to avoid child labor laws; many biographies still list this date. Sha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soul Song (Shirley Scott Album)
''Soul Song'' is an album by organist Shirley Scott recorded in 1968 and released on the Atlantic Records, Atlantic label.Payne, DShirley Scott discographyaccessed July 4, 2012 Reception The Allmusic site awarded the album 2 stars stating "This collector's item has its interesting moments, but it is one of Shirley Scott's less significant dates".Yanow, SAllmusic Reviewaccessed July 4, 2012 Track listing # "Think (The "5" Royales song), Think" (Lowman Pauling) - 8:06 # "When a Man Loves a Woman (song), When a Man Loves a Woman" (Calvin Lewis, Andrew Wright) - 6:59 # "Mr. Businessman" (Ray Stevens) - 3:12 # "Blowin' in the Wind" (Bob Dylan) - 6:24 # "Soul Song" (Shirley Scott) - 5:30 # "Like a Lover" (Marilyn Bergman, Alan Bergman, Dori Caymmi, Nelson Motta) - 4:03 *Recorded at Atlantic Studios, New York City on September 9 (track 5) and September 10 (track 2) and at RCA Studios, New York City on November 6 (tracks 3 & 4) and November 7 (tracks 1 & 6), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shirley Scott
Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ". Life and career Scott was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father operated a jazz club in the basement of the family home and her brother played Saxophone. At the age of eight, Scott began piano lessons. After enrolling at Philadelphia High School for Girls, where she was awarded a scholarship, Scott switched to trumpet and played in the all-city schools band. She studied for bachelor and master's degrees at Cheyney University. Later in life Scott would return to the university as a teacher. As a performer in the 1950s, she played the Hammond B-3 organ. Her recordings with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis included the hit "In the Kitchen". Influenced by gospel and blues, she played soul jazz in the 1960s with Stanley Turrentine, who became her husband during the same decade; the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hustlers Convention (Lightnin' Rod Album)
''Hustlers Convention'' is an album recorded by Jalal Mansur Nuriddin under the pseudonym Lightnin' Rod. The album was a major influence on hip hop music and combined poetry, funk, jazz and spoken word. ''Hustlers Convention'' helped add a sociopolitical element to black music Black music is a sound created, produced, or inspired by black people, people of African descent, including African music traditions and African popular music as well as the music genres of the African diaspora, including Caribbean music, Lati .... The album narrates the story of two fictional hustlers, named Sport and Spoon. Track listing External linksHustlers Convention: rap's great lost album References {{Authority control 1973 albums History of hip hop Hip hop albums by American artists Celluloid Records albums ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lightnin' Rod
Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin (July 24, 1944 – June 4, 2018) was an American poet and musician. He was one of the founding members of The Last Poets, a group of poets and musicians that evolved in the 1960s out of the Harlem Writers Workshop in New York City. He was born Lawrence Padilla in Fort Greene in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Earlier in his career he used the names Lightnin' Rod and Alafia Pudim. He is sometimes called "The Grandfather of Rap". A devout Muslim, poet, acupuncturist, and martial art exponent (a practitioner of a form of Bak Mei), Nuriddin's talent and genius with words and rhythm are renowned and he produced some epic poems such as "Be-Yon-Der", an 18-minute piece on The Last Poets 1977 album ''Delights of the Garden'', which was originally released on Alan Douglas (record producer), Douglas Records, and later on Celluloid Records. Early life Jalal Mansur Nuriddin grew up in Fort Greene, a neighborhood of Public housing, project buildings near the Brooklyn N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
