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Jack Kapp
Jack Kapp (born Jacob Kaplitzky; June 15, 1901 – March 25, 1949) was a record company executive with Brunswick Records who founded the American Decca Records in 1934 along with British Decca founder Edward Lewis and later American Decca head Milton Rackmil. He oversaw Bing Crosby's rise to success as a recording artist in the early 1930s, and, four decades later, Crosby still gave appreciation to Kapp for diversifying his song catalogue into various styles and genres, saying, "I thought he was crazy, but I just did what he told me." Kapp could not read or sing music, but to his talent he stressed the credo, "Where's the melody?" Biography He was born in Chicago, Illinois to a Jewish family of immigrants from Russia. His father, Myer Kaplitzky, was a distributor for Columbia Records in 1905 and the founder of the Imperial Talking Machine Shop in Chicago. Kapp worked at the store after high school, and was known for having memorized the catalog numbers of every record in the inve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state, State , subdivision_type2 = List of counties in Illinois, Counties , subdivision_name1 = Illinois , subdivision_name2 = Cook County, Illinois, Cook and DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage , established_title = Settled , established_date = , established_title2 = Municipal corporation, Incorporated (city) , established_date2 = , founder = Jean Baptiste Point du Sable , government_type = Mayor–council government, Mayor–council , governing_body = Chicago City Council , leader_title = Mayor of Chicago, Mayor , leader_name = Lori Lightfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cow Cow Davenport
Charles Edward "Cow Cow" Davenport (April 23, 1894 – December 3, 1955) was an American boogie-woogie and piano blues player as well as a vaudeville entertainer. He also played the organ and sang. Davenport, who also made recordings under the pseudonyms of Bat The Humming Bird, George Hamilton and The Georgia Grinder, is a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Career He was born in Anniston, Alabama, Anniston, Alabama, United States, one of eight children. Davenport started to play the piano at age 12. His father objected strongly to his musical aspirations and sent him to a theological seminary, where he was expelled for playing ragtime. Davenport's career began in the 1920s when he joined the K.G. Barkoot Traveling Carnival. His initial profile came as accompanist to List of blues musicians, blues musicians Dora Carr and Ivy Smith. Davenport and Carr performed as a vaudeville act as "Davenport & Co", and he performed with Smith as the "Chicago Steppers".Olderen, Martin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her notable recordings include "Dinah", " Stormy Weather", " Taking a Chance on Love", " Heat Wave", " Supper Time", "Am I Blue?", "Cabin in the Sky", " I'm Coming Virginia", and her version of " His Eye Is on the Sparrow". Waters was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award, the first African American to star on her own television show, and the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Early life Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on October 31, 1896 (some sources incorrectly state her birth year as 1900) as a result of the rape of her teenaged African-American mother, Louise Anderson (1881–1962), by 17 year old John Wesley (or Wesley John) Waters (1878–1901), a pianist and family ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmie Lunceford
James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era. Early life Lunceford was born on a farm in the Evergreen community, west of the Tombigbee River, near Fulton, Mississippi, United States. The farm was owned by his father, James. His mother was Idella ("Ida") Shumpert of Oklahoma City, an organist of "more than average ability". Seven months after James Melvin was born, the family moved to Oklahoma City. The family next moved to Denver where Lunceford attended high school and studied music under Wilberforce J. Whiteman, father of Paul Whiteman, whose band was soon to acquire a national reputation. As a child in Denver, he learned several instruments. After high school, Lunceford continued his studies at Fisk University. In 1922, he played alto saxophone in a local band led by the violinist George Morrison which included Andy Kirk, another musician destined for fame as a bandleader. Career In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Tatum
Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraordinary. Many pianists attempted to copy him; others questioned their own skills after encountering him, and some even switched instruments in response. In addition to being acclaimed for his virtuoso technique, Tatum extended the vocabulary and boundaries of jazz piano far beyond his initial stride influences, and established new ground in jazz through innovative use of reharmonization, voicing, and bitonality. Tatum grew up in Toledo, Ohio, where he began playing piano professionally and had his own radio program, rebroadcast nationwide, while still in his teens. He left Toledo in 1932 and had residencies as a solo pianist at clubs in major urban centers including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In that decade, he settled into a pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chick Webb
William Henry "Chick" Webb (February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939) was an American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader. Early life Webb was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to William H. and Marie Webb. The year of his birth is disputed. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' and Allmusic indicate 1905, and this seems to be supported by census information. Other publications claim other years. During Webb's lifetime, a December 1937 ''DownBeat'' magazine article, "The Rise of a Crippled Genius", stated he was born in 1909, which is the year that appears on his grave marker. In 1939, ''The New York Times'' stated that Webb was born in 1907, the year also suggested in ''Rhythm on Record'' by Hilton Schleman. Webb was one of four children; the other three were sisters (Bessie, Mabel, and Ethel). His sister Mabel married Wilbur Porter around 1928. When an infant, Webb fell down some stairsteps in his family's home, crushing several vertebrae and requiring surgery, from which he ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorsey Brothers
The Dorsey Brothers were an American studio dance band, led by Tommy Dorsey, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. They started recording in 1928 for OKeh Records. History The Dorsey Brothers recorded songs for the dime store labels (Banner Records, Banner, Cameo Records, Cameo, Domino Records (1924), Domino, Jewel, Oriole, Perfect Records, Perfect). A handful of sides during their Brunswick Records, Brunswick period were issued by Vocalion Records, Vocalion. They signed to Decca Records, Decca in 1934, formed a touring band, with Tommy as front man, and a rather unusual lineup of one trumpet, three trombones, three saxes and four rhythm. The band performed live mainly in the New England area, with acrimony between the brothers steadily building up, until a definitive falling out between Tommy and Jimmy over the tempo of "I'll Never Say Never Again Again" in May 1935, after which Tommy walked off the stage. Glenn Miller composed four songs for the Dorsey Brothers when he was a member in 1934 a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isham Jones
Isham Edgar Jones (January 31, 1894 – October 19, 1956) was an American bandleader, saxophonist, bassist and songwriter. Career Jones was born in Coalton, Ohio, United States, to a musical and mining family. His father, Richard Isham Jones (1865–1945), was a violinist. The family moved to Saginaw, Michigan, where Jones grew up and started his first ensemble for church concerts. In 1911 one of Jones's earliest compositions "On the Alamo" was published by Tell Taylor Inc. ( Taylor had formed a publishing company the year before when his song "Down by the Old Mill Stream" became a hit.) In 1915 Jones moved to Chicago, Illinois. He performed at the Green Mill Gardens, then began playing at Fred Mann's Rainbo Gardens. Chicago remained his home until 1932, when he settled in New York City. He also toured England with his orchestra in 1925. In 1917, he composed the tune "We're In The Army Now" (also known as " You're In the Army Now") when the United States entered World War ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ted Lewis (musician)
Theodore Leopold Friedman (June 6, 1890 – August 25, 1971), known as Ted Lewis, was an American entertainer, bandleader, singer, and musician. He fronted a band and touring stage show that presented a combination of jazz, comedy, and nostalgia that was a hit with the American public before and after World War II. He was known by the moniker "Mr. Entertainment" or Ted "Is Everybody Happy?" Lewis. He died of lung failure in August 1971. Early life Born in Circleville, Ohio, Lewis was one of the first Northern musicians to start imitating the New Orleans jazz musicians who came up to New York in the teens. He first recorded in 1917 with Earl Fuller's Jazz Band, who were attempting to copy the sound of the city's newest sensation, the Original Dixieland Jass Band. At the time, Lewis did not seem to be able to do much on the clarinet other than trill. (Promoting one recording the Victor catalog stated: "The sounds as of a dog in his dying anguish are from Ted Lewis' clarinet" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mildred Bailey
Mildred Bailey (born Mildred Rinker; February 27, 1907 – December 12, 1951) was a Native American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as "The Queen of Swing", "The Rockin' Chair Lady" and "Mrs. Swing". She recorded the songs " For Sentimental Reasons", "It's So Peaceful in the Country", "Doin' The Uptown Lowdown", " Trust in Me", " Where Are You?", " I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart", " Small Fry", " Please Be Kind", " Darn That Dream", " Rockin' Chair", "Blame It on My Last Affair", and "Says My Heart". She had three records that reached number one on the popular charts. She grew up on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Idaho, where her mother was an enrolled member. The family moved to Spokane, Washington when she was 13. Her younger brothers also became musicians. Her brother, Al Rinker, started to perform as a singer with Bing Crosby in Spokane and became a member of The Rhythm Boys. As adults, Charles Rinker was a lyricist, and Miles Rinker was a clarinet and saxophone ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boswell Sisters
The Boswell Sisters were an American close harmony singing trio of the jazz and swing eras, consisting of three sisters: Martha Boswell (June 9, 1905 – July 2, 1958), Connie Boswell (later spelled "Connee", December 3, 1907 – October 11, 1976), and Helvetia "Vet" Boswell (May 20, 1911 – November 12, 1988). Hailing from uptown New Orleans, the group blended intricate harmonies and song arrangements featuring effects such as scat, instrumental imitation, ‘Boswellese’ gibberish, tempo and meter changes, major/minor juxtaposition, key changes, and incorporation of sections from other songs. They attained national prominence in the United States in the 1930s during the twilight of the Jazz Age and the onset of the Great Depression. After the trio split in 1936, Connie continued as a solo vocalist in radio, film, and later television for an additional quarter century. The trio's "unique singing style and ground-breaking arrangements fused 'blackness' and 'whiteness' in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mills Brothers
The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies and garnered at least three dozen gold records. The Mills Brothers were the first African-American artists to have their own show on national network radio (on CBS in 1930); they made appearances in film; and were the first to have a No. 1 hit on the ''Billboard'' singles chart, with "Paper Doll" in 1943. They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998. Early years The Mills Brothers were born into a family of nine in Piqua, Ohio, United States. The quartet consisted of Donald (lead tenor vocals, April 29, 1915 – November 13, 1999), Herbert (tenor vocals, April 2, 1912 – April 12, 1989), Harry (baritone vocals, August 9, 1913 – June 28, 1982), and John Jr. (guitar, double bass, vocals; October 19, 1910 – January 23, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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