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Kansas City Jazz Orchestra
The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) big band jazz orchestra based in the Kansas City metropolitan area and part of the Kansas City jazz music scene. History The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra was founded by Jim Mair and Gene Hall in Kansas City in May 2003 after being inspired by similar jazz orchestras across the United States, though it was primarily modeled after the Columbus Jazz Orchestra. Jim's wife, Mary Mair, was also integral in getting the orchestra started. Mary Mair took the helm as the first executive director. The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra had their debut performance was in 2003. They began with theme-based concerts and a two-concert subscription season. In the beginning of the orchestra's performing schedule, they regularly drew audiences of up to 1,000 people. "Our vision for the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra is to be on the same cultural plane as the symphony, the ballet, and the Lyric opera," said Mair when elaborating on a strategy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kauffman Center For The Performing Arts
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, USA, at 16th and Broadway, near the Power & Light District, the T-Mobile Center and the Crossroads Arts District. Its construction was a major part of the ongoing redevelopment of downtown Kansas City. The Center was created as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Unlike some other major civic construction projects, no taxpayer funds went into its construction. The City of Kansas City contributed to and operates a parking garage adjacent to the Kauffman Center. It is the performance home to the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Ballet which in the past performed at the Lyric Theatre, eight blocks north of the center. The Kauffman Center houses two unique performance venues: Muriel Kauffman Theatre and Helzberg Hall. According to its website, the Kauffman Center's mission is "to enrich the lives of communities throughout the regio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City on January 16, 1938, is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music." Goodman's bands started the careers of many jazz musicians. During an era of racial segregation, he led one of the first integrated jazz groups, his quartet and quintet. He performed nearly to the end of his life while exploring an interest in classical music. Early years Goodman was the ninth of twelve children born to poor Jewish emigrants from the Russian Empire. His father, David Goodman (1873–1926), came to the United States in 1892 from Warsaw in partitioned Poland and became a tailor. His mother, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Bands
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular. The term "big band" is also used to describe a genre of music, although this was not the only style of music played by big bands. Big bands started as accompaniment for dancing. In contrast to the typical jazz emphasis on improvisation, big bands relied on written compositions and arrangements. They gave a greater role to bandleaders, arrangers, and sections of instruments rather than soloists. Instruments Big bands generally have four sections: trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and a rhythm section of guitar, piano, double bass, and drums. The division in early big bands, from the 1920s to 1930s, was typically two or three trumpets, one or two trombones, three or four saxoph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swinging Hannover
Swinging Hannover, since 2005 enercity swinging hannover, is a jazz festival in Germany that lasts for 2 days every year. History The festival was founded 1967 by Michael Gehrke as the founder of ″Jazz Club Hannover″. The first place where the open-air festival was organized was the ″Opernplatz″. In 1971 the event location of the open-air part of the festival changed to the ″Trammplatz" in front of the New Town Hall in Hannover. The event takes place every morning at Ascension of Jesus. The second part of the festival, the ″Jazzbandball″, is located in the ″Hannover Congress Centrum″ every evening before Ascension of Jesus. There are about seven bands a year playing at the festival. The name of the festival changed 2005 after the ″Jazz Club Hannover e. V.″ initiated a partnership with ″Stadtwerke Hannover″ (local public energy company). The Stadtwerke Hannover are also called as enercity and put that term into the name of the festival. Reception Many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folly Theater
The Standard Theatre, now known as the Folly Theater and also known as the Century Theater and Shubert's Missouri, is a former vaudeville hall in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Built in 1900, it was designed by Kansas City architect Louis S. Curtiss. The theater was associated with the adjoining Edward Hotel (known later as the Hotel Missouri), which was also designed by Curtiss; the hotel was demolished in 1965. History The Standard Theatre opened with 2,400 seats on September 23, 1900, featuring burlesque and vaudeville. It was built by Colonel Edward Butler of St. Louis, Missouri, at a cost of $250,000, for his son to present shows on the Empire vaudeville circuit. In 1901, a fire at the nearby Coates Opera House caused opera and comic opera performances to be moved to the Standard, featuring such performers as Sarah Bernhardt, Richard Mansfield, and Maude Adams. The theater's name changed to the "Century" in 1902. The Century featured acts from the Empire burlesque ci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. Many musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison, plunger trombonist Al Grey, and singers Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, Thelma Carpenter, and Joe Williams. Biography Early life and education William Basie was born to Lillian and Harvey Lee Basie in Red Bank, New Jersey. His father worked as a coachman and caretaker for a wealthy judge. After automobiles replaced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his death in 1987. His bands often played music that was cutting edge and experimental; their recordings received numerous Grammy nominations. Early life and career Herman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 16, 1913. His parents were Otto and Myrtle (Bartoszewicz) Herrmann. His mother was born in Poland. His father had a deep love for show business and this influenced Woody at an early age. As a child he worked as a singer and tap-dancer in vaudeville, then started to play the clarinet and saxophone by age 12. In 1931 he met Charlotte Neste, an aspiring actress; the couple married on September 27, 1936. Woody Herman joined the Tom Gerun band and his first recorded vocals were "Lonesome Me" and "My Heart's at Ease". Herman also performed wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells. Early life Melvin Howard Tormé was born in Chicago, Illinois, to William David Torme, a Jewish immigrant from Poland, and Betty Torme (née Sopkin), a New York City native. He graduated from Hyde Park High School. A child prodigy, he first performed professionally at age four with the Coon-Sanders Orchestra, singing "You're Driving Me Crazy" at Chicago's Blackhawk restaurant. He played drums in the drum-and-bugle corps at Shakespeare Elementary School. From 1933 to 1941, he acted in the radio programs ''The Romance of Helen Trent'' and ''Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy''. He wrote his first song at 13. Three years later his first published song, "Lament to Love", became a hit for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. He is among the List of best-selling music artists, world's best-selling music artists with an estimated 150 million record sales. Born to Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra was greatly influenced by the intimate, easy-listening vocal style of Bing Crosby and began his musical career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. He found success as a solo artist after signing with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "Bobby soxer (music), bobby soxers". Sinatra released his debut album, ''The Voice of Frank Sinatra'', in 1946. When his film career stalled in the early 1950s, Sinatra turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best-known concert ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though Kenton had several pop hits from the early 1940s into the 1960s, his music was always forward-looking. Kenton was also a pioneer in the field of jazz education, creating the Stan Kenton Jazz Camp in 1959 at Indiana University.Sparke, Michael. ''Stan Kenton: This is an Orchestra.'' UNT Press (2010). . Early life Stan Kenton was born on December 15, 1911, in Wichita, Kansas; he had two sisters (Beulah and Erma Mae) born three and eight years after him. His parents, Floyd and Stella Kenton, moved the family to Colorado, and in 1924, to the Greater Los Angeles Area, settling in suburban Bell, California. Kenton attended Bell High School; his high-school yearbook picture has the prophetic notation "Old Man Jazz". Kenton started learning pian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
501(c)(3) Organization
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 501(c) organization, 501(c) nonprofit organizations in the US. 501(c)(3) tax-exemptions apply to entities that are organized and operated exclusively for religion, religious, Charitable organization, charitable, science, scientific, literature, literary or educational purposes, for Public security#Organizations, testing for public safety, to foster national or international amateur sports competition, or for the prevention of Child abuse, cruelty to children or Cruelty to animals, animals. 501(c)(3) exemption applies also for any non-incorporated Community Chest (organization), community chest, fund, Cooperating Associations, cooperating association or foundation organized and operated exclusively for those purposes. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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