|
John Tropea
John Tropea (pronounced 'tro-pay'; born January 7, 1946) is an American guitarist. Career Tropea began guitar studies at the age of 12. His musical education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jazz guitar, harmony, musical composition, and big band arranging. After arriving in Boston, Tropea began playing jazz and R&B with local bands, including The Three Degrees. He was influenced by Wes Montgomery, Johnny Smith, Luiz Bonfá, Pat Martino, and George Benson. Among his mentors were Hammond B3 organ players Jack McDuff and Jimmy Smith. After Berklee, Tropea recorded and toured with Eumir Deodato. Moving to New York City in 1967, he became one of the most sought after session players. In 1974, he played on Van Morrison's " Bulbs" and "Cul de Sac" included on the album ''Veedon Fleece'' and issued as the single. Tropea wrote and produced three critically acclaimed solo albums for TK Records. His first solo album ''Tropea'', was released in 1975, follow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pop Music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular and includes many disparate styles. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. ''Rock'' and ''pop'' music remained roughly synonymous until the late 1960s, after which ''pop'' became associated with music that was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible. Although much of the music that appears on record charts is considered to be pop music, the genre is distinguished from chart music. Identifying factors usually include repeated choruses and hooks, short to medium-length songs written in a basic format (often the verse-chorus structure), and rhythms or tempos that can be easily danced to. Much pop music also borrows elements from other styles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Smith (musician)
James Oscar Smith (December 8, 1925 – February 8, 2005) was an American jazz musician whose albums often appeared on ''Billboard'' magazine charts. He helped popularize the Hammond B-3 organ, creating a link between jazz and 1960s soul music. In 2005, Smith was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor that America bestows upon jazz musicians. Early years There is confusion about Smith's birth year, with sources citing either 1925 or 1928. Born James Oscar Smith in Norristown, Pennsylvania, he joined his father doing a song-and-dance routine in clubs at the age of six. He began teaching himself to play the piano. When he was nine, Smith won a Philadelphia radio talent contest as a boogie-woogie pianist. After a period in the U.S. Navy, he began furthering his musical education in 1948, with a year at Royal Hamilton College of Music, then the Leo Ornstein School of Music in Philadelphia in 1949. He began exploring the Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Spinozza
David Spinozza is an American guitarist and producer. He worked with former Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon during the 1970s, and had a long collaboration with singer-songwriter James Taylor, producing Taylor's album ''Walking Man''. Career Spinozza worked with McCartney during sessions for McCartney's ''Ram'' album during 1971. When the chance came to work with Lennon two years later, as Yoko Ono prepared her ''Feeling the Space'' album and Lennon his ''Mind Games'', Spinozza discovered that Lennon was not aware he had previously worked with McCartney, and was afraid he would be fired if Lennon found out, given their recent feuding in the media. When Lennon did learn of it, his only comment was that McCartney "knows how to pick good people." Exact same story is related about Hugh McCracken. David sessioned on Tim Weisberg's 1972 ''Hurtwood Edge'' and Cashman & West's 1974 ''Lifesong''. Spinozza contributed to Ono's album '' A Story'', recorded during 1974 (b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Sanborn
David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school. One of the most commercially successful American saxophonists to earn prominence since the 1980s, Sanborn is described by critic Scott Yannow as "the most influential saxophonist on pop, R&B, and crossover players of the past 20 years." He is often identified with radio-friendly smooth jazz, but he has expressed a disinclination for the genre and his association with it. Early life Sanborn was born in Tampa, Florida, and grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri. He suffered from polio for eight years in his youth. He began playing saxophone on a physician's advice to strengthen his weakened chest muscles and improve his breathing, instead of studying piano. Alto saxophonis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Jackson (musician)
Anthony Jackson (June 23, 1952) is an American bassist. Described as "one of the masters of the instrument", he has performed as a session musician and live artist. He is also credited with the development of the modern extended-range bass, six-string bass, which he refers to as a contrabass guitar. Biography Jackson played piano before starting guitar in his teens. When he turned to bass guitar, he was inspired by James Jamerson and Jack Casady. Jackson worked as a session musician, in the Billy Paul band, and with Philadelphia International Records. Paul’s 1972 hit "Me and Mrs. Jones" was Jackson’s first No. 1 record. His performance on "For the Love of Money" by The O'Jays helped move the song to No. 9 on the pop chart and No. 3 on the R&B chart in 1974. Jackson is a student of Jerry Fisher, Lawrence Lucie, and Pat Martino. He has performed live in more than 30 countries and has recorded in more than 3000 sessions on more than 500 albums. In 2016 Jackson had to miss som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Grolnick
Don Grolnick (September 23, 1947 – June 1, 1996) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and record producer. He was a member of the groups Steps Ahead and Dreams, both with Michael Brecker, and played often with the Brecker Brothers. As a session musician, he recorded with John Scofield, Billy Cobham, Roberta Flack, Harry Chapin, Dave Holland, Bette Midler, Marcus Miller, Bob Mintzer, Linda Ronstadt, David Sanborn, Carly Simon, J. D. Souther, Steely Dan, and James Taylor. Career Grolnick was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Levittown, New York. He began his musical life on accordion but later switched to piano. His interest in jazz began as a child when his father took him to a Count Basie concert, and soon after they also saw Erroll Garner perform at Carnegie Hall. He attended Tufts University with a major in philosophy. After he left Tufts, he formed the jazz-rock band Fire & Ice with Ken Melville on guitar and Stuart Schulman, his friend since childhood, on bass guitar. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Gadd
Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1984. Gadd's performances on Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" and "Late in the Evening" and Steely Dan's "Aja (song), Aja" are examples of his style. He has worked with other popular musicians from many genres including Simon & Garfunkel, Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Harry Chapin, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Raitt, Grover Washington Jr., Michael Brecker, Chick Corea, Lee Ritenour, Paul Desmond, Kate Bush, Chet Baker, Al Di Meola, Chuck Mangione, Kenny Loggins, Eric Clapton, Pino Daniele, Michel Petrucciani, and Toshiki Kadomatsu. Early life Gadd grew up in Irondequoit, New York. He started playing the drums at a very early age. At age 11, he entered the Mickey Mouse National Talent Round Up contest and was one of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Randy Brecker
Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on November 27, 1945, in the Philadelphia suburb of Cheltenham to a musical family. His father Bob (Bobby) was a lawyer who played jazz piano and his mother Sylvia was a portrait artist. Randy described his father as "a semipro jazz pianist and trumpet fanatic. In school when I was eight, they only offered trumpet or clarinet. I chose trumpet from hearing Diz, Miles, Clifford, and Chet Baker at home. My brother (Michael Brecker) didn't want to play the same instrument as I did, so three years later he chose the clarinet!" Randy's father, Bob, was also a songwriter and singer who loved to listen to recordings of the great jazz trumpet players such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Clifford Brown. He took Randy and his younger brother Mich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of Music in 2004, and was inducted into the ''DownBeat'' Jazz Hall of Fame in 2007. Biography Early life and career Michael Brecker was born in Philadelphia and raised in Cheltenham Township, a local suburb. He was raised in a Jewish—and artistic—family: his father, Bob (Bobby), was a lawyer who played jazz piano and his mother, Sylvia, was a portrait artist. Michael Brecker was exposed to jazz at an early age by his father. He grew up as part of the generation of jazz musicians who saw rock music not as the enemy but as a viable musical option. Brecker began studying clarinet at age 6, then moved to alto saxophone in eighth grade, settling on the tenor saxophone as his primary instrument in his sophomore year. He graduated from Chelte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warren Bernhardt
Warren Bernhardt (November 13, 1938 – August 19, 2022)''WBGO'', (Newark, NJ)"Warren Bernhardt, pianist with Steps Ahead, Steely Dan and other bands, dies at 83" August 24, 2022. Retrieved on August 24, 2022. was an American pianist in jazz, pop and classical music. Early life Bernhardt was born in Wausau, Wisconsin. His father was a pianist, leading him to have early childhood exposure to piano, and he learned some rudiments of keyboarding from his friends. At five his parents moved to New York City, where he began studying seriously under varied instructors. After the death of his father in 1952 he suffered a period of depression and quit music for a time then studied chemistry and physics at the University of Chicago. In that city he was exposed to blues and jazz, which influenced the rest of his career. Career From 1961 to 1964 he worked in Paul Winter's sextet, which led to his return to New York. Once in New York, he worked with George Benson, Gerry Mulligan, Jeremy Steig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TK Records
TK Records was an American independent record label founded by record distributor Henry Stone and Steve Alaimo in 1972. and based in Hialeah, Florida. The record label went bankrupt in 1981. "TK" was inspired by the initials of sound engineer Terry Kane, who built a recording studio in the attic of Stone's office in Hialeah. TK Records is closely associated with the early rise of disco music, having in 1974 been the label that released the second bona fide disco song (after The Hues Corporation's " Rock The Boat") to reach No. 1 on the pop music charts, namely "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae. A little more than a year after McCrae's hit, the record label struck gold with KC & The Sunshine Band, releasing five singles that reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100: including "Get Down Tonight", "That's the Way (I Like It)", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", and " Please Don't Go". The KC & The Sunshine Band single "Keep It Comin' Love" reached N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Veedon Fleece
''Veedon Fleece'' is the eighth studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison, released on 5 October 1974. Morrison recorded the album shortly after his divorce from wife Janet (Planet) Rigsbee. With his broken marriage in the past, Morrison visited Ireland on holiday for new inspiration, arriving on 20 October 1973 (with his fiancée at the time, Carol Guida). While there he wrote, in less than three weeks, the songs included on the album (except " Bulbs", "Country Fair" and "Come Here My Love"). It has been compared to ''Astral Weeks'' (1968) with the same "stream of consciousness" lyrics but musically it is more Celtic, acoustic and heavily influenced by Morrison's Irish trip. It has been called a genuinely underground album that he seemed to disown quickly after recording and has been referred to as Morrison's "forgotten masterpiece". Background During the summer months of 1973, Morrison had embarked on a three-month tour with his eleven-piece band, the Cale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
