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Handscapes
''Handscapes'' is a double live album by The Piano Choir featuring Stanley Cowell, Nat Jones, Hugh Lawson, Webster Lewis, Harold Mabern, Danny Mixon, and Sonelius Smith recorded in 1973 and first released on the Strata-East label. Reception At the time of release Ebony reviewer Phyl Garland said "One needn't be a "piano freak" to appreciate a truly new recording. First of all imagine seven gifted and talented pianists sitting down to seven grand pianos (with electric piano, organ, harpsichord, a few tambourines for spice) and proceeding to tear up these instruments - musically, that is. ...the torrrent of sound springing from their 70 fingers is so powerful and majestic as to be unlike anything one has ever heard."Garland, P.Ebony magazine review June 1973 In his review for AllMusic, Michael G. Nastos simply states "Brilliant". Track listing ''Side A:'' # "Jaboobie's March" (Hugh Lawson) - 13:40 # " Straight, No Chaser" (Thelonious Monk) - 6:00 # " Precious Lord" (Thomas A. Dor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Handscapes 2
''Handscapes 2'' is an album by The Piano Choir featuring Ron Burton, Stanley Cowell, Nat Jones, Hugh Lawson, Webster Lewis, Harold Mabern, and Sonelius Smith recorded in 1974 and first released on the Strata-East label. accessed January 20, 2015 Reception In his review for , Michael G. Nastos simply states "more of the same".Track listing ''Side A:'' # "Ballad for the Beast from Bali-Bali" (Hugh Lawson) - 7:04 # "The Need to Smile" (Sonelius Smith) - 6:24 # "Barbara Ann" (Webster Lewis) - 4:47 ''Side B:'' # "In What Direction Are You Headed" (Harold Mabern) - 6:30 # "Prayer for Peace" (Stanley Cowell) - 8:45
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Hugh Lawson (jazz Pianist)
Hugh Lawson (March 12, 1935 – March 11, 1997), was an American jazz pianist from Detroit who worked with Yusef Lateef for more than 10 years. Inspired by Bud Powell, Hampton Hawes and Bill Evans, Lawson first gained recognition for his work with Lateef from 1957 onwards. He recorded with Harry "Sweets" Edison (1962), Roy Brooks, and Lateef again on several occasions in the 1960s. In 1972, he performed with "The Piano Choir" ( Strata-East), a group with seven pianists including Stanley Cowell and Harold Mabern. He went on to tour with Charles Mingus in 1975 and 1977 and made recordings with Charlie Rouse (1977), George Adams, and as a leader. Lawson died of colon cancer in White Plains, NY, March 11, 1997, at the age of 61. Discography As leader/co-leader As sideman With George Adams *'' Hand to Hand'' (Soul Note, 1980) with Dannie Richmond *''Gentleman's Agreement'' (Soul Note, 1983) with Dannie Richmond *''Nightingale'' (Blue Note, 1989) *''America'' (Blue Note, 1990 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Webster Lewis
Webster Samuel Lewis (September 1, 1943 – November 20, 2002) was an American jazz and disco composer, arranger and keyboardist. Career Lewis was born in 1943 in Baltimore, Maryland. At a young age, his family encouraged him to take up music. Later, he earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Morgan State University and then completed a master's degree at the New England Conservatory of Music with Gunther Schuller as his mentor. He started out in jazz working with drummer Tony Williams, George Russell, Bill Evans, Stanton Davis, and the Piano Choir. His first release was ''Live at Club 7'', issued in 1972. He signed with Epic Records in 1976 and began releasing disco music, where he found commercial success. He had several charting singles including 1977's "On the Town/Saturday Night Steppin' Out/Do It with Style" (U.S. Club Play #36) and 1980's " Give Me Some Emotion" (U.S. #107, R&B Singles #41). Lewis worked extensively as a session musician and studio arranger, for H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strata-East Records
Strata-East Records is an American record company and label specialising in jazz founded in 1971 by Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell with the release of their first recording ''Music Inc.'' The label released over 50 albums in the 1970s. Many of the label's releases are now hailed as prime examples of 1970s post-bop, spiritual jazz, and afro-jazz. Gil Scott-Heron recorded his 1974 album ''Winter in America'' with Brian Jackson for Strata-East. "The Bottle" featured on the album, was a popular single. This album stands as one of the label's best-known recordings. Clifford Jordan and Bill Lee, father of Spike Lee, were involved in many releases. Discography SES Series SECD Series *SECD 9001 (Bellaphon 660-51-004) - Charles Tolliver Music Inc & Orchestra - ''Impact'', recorded January 17, 1975, released on CD 1990. *SECD 9002 (Bellaphon 660-51-002) - John Hicks - ''Hells Bells'', Recorded May 21, 1975, released on CD 1990. *SECD 9003 (Bellaphon 660-51-001) - Charles Tol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley Cowell
Stanley Cowell (May 5, 1941 – December 17, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and co-founder of the Strata-East Records label. Early life Cowell was born in Toledo, Ohio. He began playing the piano around the age of four, and became interested in jazz after seeing Art Tatum at the age of six. Tatum was a family friend. After high school, Cowell studied at Oberlin College and received a graduate degree in classical piano from the University of Michigan. During his time at college, he played with jazz multi-instrumentalist Roland Kirk, which proved to be formative for the pianist. He moved to New York in the mid-1960s. Later life and career Cowell played with Marion Brown, Max Roach, Bobby Hutcherson, Clifford Jordan, Harold Land, Sonny Rollins and Stan Getz. Cowell played with trumpeter Charles Moore and others in the Detroit Artist's Workshop Jazz Ensemble in 1965–66. In 1971, Cowell co-founded the record label Strata-East with trumpeter Charles Tolliver. The label woul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Mabern
Harold Mabern Jr. (March 20, 1936 – September 17, 2019) was an American jazz pianist and composer, principally in the hard bop, post-bop, and soul jazz fields.Feather, Leonard; Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz''. p. 425. Oxford University Press. He is described in ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings'' as "one of the great post-bop pianists". Early life Mabern was born in Memphis, Tennessee on March 20, 1936. He initially started learning drums before switching to learning piano. He had access to a piano from his teens, after his father, who worked in a lumber yard, saved to buy him one. Mabern learned by watching and emulating pianists Charles Thomas and Phineas Newborn Jr. Mabern attended Douglass High School,. before transferring to Manassas High School;Johnson, David Brent (March 18, 2011"A Few Miles from Memphis: Harold Mabern, the Early Years" Indiana Public Media. he played with saxophonists Frank Strozier, George Coleman and trumpeter Booker ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brilliant Circles
''Brilliant Circles'' is the second album led by American jazz pianist Stanley Cowell, recorded in 1969. It was first released on the Freedom label and rereleased on CD with bonus tracks on the Black Lion label. Reception In his review for AllMusic, Scott Yanow states: "The challenging repertoire falls between advanced hard bop and the avant-garde, consistently inspiring the talented players to play at their most creative. Recommended". There is a consensus among many collectors that the Black Lion CD edition, which includes one bonus track and an alternate take of the title track, was very poorly mastered (with reduced volume in the right channel, resulting in the virtual inaudibility of Tyrone Washington's woodwinds). Track listing ''All compositions by Stanley Cowell except as indicated'' # "Brilliant Circles" – 15:33 # "Earthly Heavens" (Tyrone Washington) – 7:45 # "Musical Prayers" (Washington) – 10:12 Bonus track on CD reissue # "Boo Ann's Grand" (Woody Shaw) – 9 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Illusion Suite (album)
''Illusion Suite'' is an album by American pianist and composer Stanley Cowell recorded in 1972 and released on the ECM label.ECM discography accessed January 6, 2015. Reception The review by Andrew Hamilton rated the album 4 stars, stating: "Cowell and Clarke display amazing technique ...and Hopps' impressionistic drumming is head clearing. ...Hopps plays as if he has four hands with a drumstick in each, Cowell's rolling piano chords are matched in fever by Clarke's bass work".Hamilton, AAllmusic Review accessed January ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danny Mixon
Daniel Asbury Mixon (born August 19, 1949) is an American jazz pianist. Mixon was born in Harlem, New York City. He gained some attention in the 1970s and continues to record and play in New York and abroad. He started off as a tap dancer, attending the Ruth Williams Dance Studio. Later, he attended the High School of Performing Arts with Dance as his major but soon switched to playing the piano after being inspired by visits with his grandfather to see jazz artists playing at the Apollo Theater. In 1966, at the age of 17, Mixon was invited to play with the trumpet player Sam Brown's band backing Patti LaBelle & the Blue Bells in Atlantic City at Reggie's Cocktail Lounge. After working with Joe Lee Wilson from 1967 to 1970, Mixon started to play regularly with Betty Carter during the years 1971–72. He formed his own jazz trio, recorded with the Piano Choir and worked with a variety of important jazz musicians including Kenny Dorham, Cecil Payne, Art Blakey's Jazz Messenger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mbira
Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs (at minimum), the right forefinger (most mbira), and sometimes the left forefinger. Musicologists classify it as a lamellaphone, part of the plucked idiophone family of musical instruments. In Eastern and Southern Africa, there are many kinds of mbira, often accompanied by the hosho, a percussion instrument. It is often an important instrument played at religious ceremonies, weddings, and other social gatherings. The "Art of crafting and playing Mbira/Sansi, the finger-plucking traditional musical instrument in Malawi and Zimbabwe" was added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020. A modern interpretation of the instrument, the kalimba, was commercially pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir. Singers may perform as soloists or accompanied by anything from a single instrument (as in art song or some jazz styles) up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Different singing styles include art music such as opera and Chinese opera, Indian music, Japanese music, and religious music styles such as gospel, traditional music styles, world music, jazz, blues, ghazal, and popular music styles such as pop, rock, and electronic dance music. Singing can be formal or informal, arranged, or improvised. It may be done as a form of religious devotion, as a hobby, as a source of pleasure, comfort, or ritual as part of music education or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excluding zoomusicological instruments and the human voice, the percussion family is believed to include the oldest musical instruments.''The Oxford Companion to Music'', 10th edition, p.775, In spite of being a very common term to designate instruments, and to relate them to their players, the percussionists, percussion is not a systematic classificatory category of instruments, as described by the scientific field of organology. It is shown below that percussion instruments may belong to the organological classes of ideophone, membranophone, aerophone and cordophone. The percussion section of an orchestra most commonly contains instruments such as the timpani, snare drum, bass drum, tambourine, belonging to the membranophones, and cy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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