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Harry Carney
Harry Howell Carney (April 1, 1910 – October 8, 1974) was a jazz saxophonist and clarinettist who spent over four decades as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He played a variety of instruments but primarily used the baritone saxophone, being a critical influence on the instrument in jazz. Early life Carney was born on April 1, 1910, in Boston, Massachusetts. In Boston, he grew up close to future bandmate Johnny Hodges. Carney began by playing the piano at age seven, moved to the clarinet at 14, and added the alto saxophone a year later. He first played professionally in clubs in Boston. Early influences on Carney's playing included Buster Bailey, Sidney Bechet, and Don Murray. Carney also reported that, for his baritone saxophone playing, he "tried to make the upper register sound like Coleman Hawkins and the lower register like Adrian Rollini". Later life and career After playing a variety of gigs in New York City at the age of 17, Carney was invited to join the ...
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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 ...
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Taylor Made Jazz
''Taylor Made Jazz'' is an album by American jazz pianist Billy Taylor. It was recorded in Chicago on November 17, 1957 and released by the Argo label. The album includes members of Duke Ellington's orchestra performing arrangements by Johnny Pate. Reception Allmusic awarded the album 3 stars stating: "though this isn't one of those small Ellingtonian unit sessions, it's just about the next best thing. Having assembled several members of Duke's band and written eight definitely Duke-influenced tunes, pianist/composer Billy Taylor's ''Taylor Made Jazz'' would probably have been marketed as a 'tribute album' if it had been released recently".Uhl, JAllmusic Reviewaccessed September 18, 2012 Track listing ''All compositions by Billy Taylor'' # "Biddy's Beat" # "Theodora" # "Mood for Mendes" # "Daddy-O" # "Cu-Blu" # "Day Dreaming" # "Can You Tell by Looking at Me" # "Tune Up!" Personnel * Billy Taylor – piano * Willie Cook – trumpet * Clark Terry – trumpet * Britt Woodman †...
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Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Song Book
''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book'' is a 1957 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by Duke Ellington and his orchestra, focusing on Ellington's songs. Part of Fitzgerald's "Song Book" series, it is the only one where the composer is also featured as a performer and the first occasion Fitzgerald recorded with Ellington. It is also the entry in the ''Song Book'' series that provided her with the most opportunities to exhibit her skill at scat singing. The greater part of disc three is devoted to two original compositions by Billy Strayhorn, inspired by Fitzgerald's life, character, and artistry. Fitzgerald's performance on this album won her the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance, Individual, at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards. The album was released in two volumes: The first volume comprised Fitzgerald with the Ellington orchestra, the second of Fitzgerald with a small group setting. This album marked the start of a fruitful ...
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Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. After a tumultuous adolescence, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success with the Chick Webb Orchestra, performing across the country but most often associated with the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. Her rendition of the nursery rhyme "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" helped boost both her and Webb to national fame. After taking over the band when Webb died, Fitzgerald left it behind in 1942 to start her solo career. Her manager was Moe Gale, co-founder of the Savoy, until she turned the rest of her career over to Norman Granz, who founded Verve Records to produce new records by Fitzgerald. With Verve she recorded some of her more widely noted works, particularly he ...
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Blue Rose (album)
''Blue Rose'' is the debut studio album by Rosemary Clooney, accompanied by Duke Ellington and his orchestra, released in mono on Columbia Records, catalogue CL 872. Although she had appeared on albums before, it had been in the context of either a musical theater or multiple artist recording. The album also marked the return of Ellington to Columbia after an absence of four years, and was one of the first examples of overdubbing being used as an integral part of the creation, rather than for effects or to correct mistakes. Background and content During the early 1950s, it had been the policy of both company president Goddard Lieberson and producer Mitch Miller at Columbia to discourage their roster of popular singers from planning full albums, the LP reserved for serious work such as classical music or original cast recordings. This policy changed with the success of popular music albums on other labels, and to give the return of Ellington to the fold exposure beyond the jazz au ...
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Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There", "This Ole House", and " Sway". She also had success as a jazz vocalist. Clooney's career languished in the 1960s, partly because of problems related to depression and drug addiction, but revived in 1977, when her '' White Christmas'' co-star Bing Crosby asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She continued recording until her death in 2002. Early life Rosemary Clooney was born in Maysville, Kentucky, the daughter of Marie Frances (née Guilfoyle) and Andrew Joseph Clooney. She was one of five children. Her father was of Irish and German descent, and her mother was of English and Irish ancestry. She was raised Catholic. When Clooney was 15, her mother a ...
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Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the Graphophone#Commercialization, American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Laboratory and Bureau#Commercialization of phonograph patents, Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records. From 1961 to 1991, its recordings were released outside North America under the name CBS Records International, CBS Records to avoid confusion with EMI's Columbia Graphophone Company. Columbia is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels, alongside former longtime rival RCA Records, as well as Arista Records and Epic Records. Artists who have recorded for Columbia include AC/DC, Adele, Aerosmith, Julie And ...
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Changes Two
''Changes Two'' is an album by Charles Mingus. It was recorded on 27, 28, and 30 December 1974 at Atlantic Studios in New York City—the same sessions which resulted in Mingus's album ''Changes One (Mingus), Changes One''. Atlantic Records initially released the record; In 1993, it was issued on CD by Rhino Records. The brief version of "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love" features vocals by Jackie Paris. Track listing All compositions by Charles Mingus except where noted. # "Free Cell Block F, 'Tis Nazi U.S.A." – 6:56 # "Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Silk Blue" – 17:32 # "Black Bats and Poles" (Jack Walrath) – 6:22 # "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love" – 4:15 # "For Harry Carney" (Sy Johnson) – 7:59 Personnel * Charles Mingus – acoustic bass * Jack Walrath – trumpet * George Adams (musician), George Adams – tenor saxophone * Don Pullen – piano * Dannie Richmond – drums * Marcus Belgrave – trumpet ("Duke Ellington's Sound of Love") * Jackie Paris â ...
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Sy Johnson
Sivert Bertil Johnson Jr. (April 15, 1930 – July 26, 2022) was an American jazz composer, arranger and pianist who worked with Charles Mingus in the 1960s and 1970s. He also worked with the Lee Konitz Nonet, among others. His work with Mingus is his best-known. Life and career Johnson was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on April 15, 1930. He first performed with Charles Mingus in 1960 at the Showplace, a jazz club on West 4th St., in the band that included Booker Ervin on tenor, Ted Curson on trumpet, Dannie Richmond on drums, and Mingus on bass, and on his first night with Mingus, Eric Dolphy performed on alto, bass clarinet and flute. Johnson agreed to sit in with the band for two weeks, with the understanding that he would then be put on the payroll; at the end of the two weeks, he came into work and found himself replaced by Yusef Lateef, the multi-instrumentalist. " ingusmade as though he was going to walk right by me," Johnson later recalled, "and then he said to me, 'If ...
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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 ...
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Hamiet Bluiett
Hamiet Bluiett (; September 16, 1940 – October 4, 2018) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. His primary instrument was the baritone saxophone, and he was considered one of the finest players of this instrument. A member of the World Saxophone Quartet, he also played (and recorded with) the bass saxophone, E-flat alto clarinet, E-flat contra-alto clarinet, and wooden flute. Biography Bluiett was born just north of East St. Louis in Brooklyn, Illinois (also known as Lovejoy), a predominantly African-American village that had been founded as a free black refuge community in the 1830s, and which later became America's first majority-black town. As a child, he studied piano, trumpet, and clarinet, but was attracted most strongly to the baritone saxophone from the age of ten. He began his musical career by playing the clarinet for barrelhouse dances in Brooklyn, Illinois, before joining the Navy band in 1961. He attended Southern Illinois University Carbondal ...
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Circular Breathing
Circular breathing is a technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without interruption. It is accomplished by breathing through the nose while simultaneously pushing air through the mouth using air stored in the cheeks. History The technique was developed independently by several cultures and is used for many traditional wind instruments. In the 13th century, Mongolian metalsmiths who specialized in gold and silver used circular breathing techniques for crafting various decorative and ornamental items. In crafting such items, craftsmen were required to blow continuously to the flame through a pipe with a needle-like hole to make the hard metal melt or soften. From that necessity, craftsmen mastered a circular cycle of breathing by simultaneously inhaling through their noses while they blew without any pauses. The introduction of the circular breathing technique in the art of ancient windplayers was a productive invention in its performi ...
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