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Karl Berger
Karl Hans Berger (born March 30, 1935 in Heidelberg, Germany) is a German jazz pianist, composer, and educator. Career Berger played piano in Germany when he was ten and worked in his teens at a club in Heidelberg. He learned modern jazz from visiting American musicians, such as Don Ellis and Leo Wright. During the 1960s, he started playing vibraphone and received a doctoral degree in musicology. He worked as a member of Don Cherry's band in Paris. When the band went to New York City to record ''Symphony for Improvisers'', he recorded his debut album as a leader. With Ornette Coleman and Ingrid Sertso, he founded the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, New York, in 1972, to encourage students to pursue their own ideas about music. Berger considered Coleman his friend and mentor, and like Coleman he was drawn to avant-garde jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation. He has worked with Carla Bley, Dave Holland, Lee Konitz, John McLaughlin, Sam Rivers, Pharoah Sanders, Gunther Sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. But jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Holland
David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years. His extensive discography ranges from solo performances to pieces for big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005. Biography Born in Wolverhampton, England,"Dave Holland." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 27. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2000. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database 2017-04-02 Holland taught himself how to play stringed instruments, beginning at four on the ukulele, then graduating to guitar and later bass guitar. He quit school at the age of 15 to pursue his profession in a pop band, but soon gravitated to jazz. After seeing an issue of '' Down Beat'' where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs featuring Brown backing pianist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sly & Robbie
Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separately in Jamaica as professional musicians. Shakespeare died in December 2021 following kidney surgery. Career 1970s: Beginnings in reggae Sly Dunbar, then drumming for Skin Flesh and Bones, and Robbie Shakespeare, playing bass and guitar with the Aggrovators, discovered they had the same ideas about music in general (both are fans of Motown, Stax Records, the Philly Sound, and country music, in addition to Jamaican record labels Studio One and Treasure Isle), and reggae production in particular. Speaking on his influences, Sly explains “My mentor was the drummer for The Skatalites, Lloyd Knibb. And I used to listen a lot to the drummer for Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Al Jackson Jr., and a lot of Philadelphia. And there are other drum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natalie Merchant
Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American alternative rock singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first seven albums and left it to begin her solo career in 1993. She has since released seven studio albums as a solo artist. Early life Natalie Merchant was born October 26, 1963, in Jamestown, New York, the third of four children of Anthony and Anne Merchant. Her paternal grandfather, who played the accordion, mandolin and guitar, immigrated to the United States from Sicily; his surname was "Mercante" before it was Anglicized. When Merchant was a child, her mother listened to music (primarily Petula Clark but also the Beatles, Al Green, Aretha Franklin) and encouraged her children to study music, but would not allow television after Natalie was 12. "I was taken to the symphony a lot because my mother loved classical music. But I was dragge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buckethead
Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans several genres, including progressive metal, funk, blues, bluegrass, ambient, and avant-garde music. He performs primarily as a solo artist, although he has collaborated with a wide variety of artists such as Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, Iggy Pop, Les Claypool, Serj Tankian, Bill Moseley, Mike Patton, Viggo Mortensen, That 1 Guy, Bassnectar, and Skating Polly. He was also a member of Guns N' Roses from 2000 to 2004. He has recorded 325 studio albums, four special releases, and one EP. He has performed on more than fifty albums by other artists. Buckethead performs wearing a KFC bucket on his head, emblazoned with an orange bumper sticker reading ''FUNERAL'' in block letters, and an expressionless plain white mask inspire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Better Than Ezra
Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and signed with The End Records. The band formed in 1988 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and consists of Kevin Griffin (vocals and guitar), Tom Drummond (bass guitar), Michael Jerome (drums), and James Arthur Payne Jr. (guitar, keyboards). The band has released eight studio albums, most recently 2014's '' All Together Now''. They are best known for their 1993 multi-platinum album '' Deluxe'' and the 1995 single " Good", which reached number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks chart. History Formation and early success Better Than Ezra was formed in 1988 by vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin, lead guitarist Joel Rundell, bassist Tom Drummond, and drummer Cary Bonnecaze. All four members were attending Louisiana State University at the time of Better Than Ezra's formation. Better Than Ezra's first public performance was at Murphy's in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, also in 1988. Though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by performing cover songs at venues in East Village, Manhattan, such as Sin-é, while gradually focusing more on his own material. After rebuffing interest from record labels and Herb Cohen—the manager of his father, singer Tim Buckley— he signed with Columbia, recruited a band, and recorded what would be his only studio album, ''Grace'', in 1994. Over the following three years, the band toured extensively to promote ''Grace'', including concerts in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Australia. In 1996, they stopped touring and made sporadic attempts to record Buckley's second album in New York City with Tom Verlaine as the producer. In 1997, Buckley moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to resume work on the album, to be titled ''My Sweetheart t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, world music, jazz, dub, and ambient styles. According to music critic Chris Brazier, "Laswell's pet concept is 'collision music' which involves bringing together musicians from wildly divergent but complementary spheres and seeing what comes out." The credo of one record label run by Laswell which typifies much of his work is "Nothing Is True, Everything Is Permitted". Although his bands may be credited under the same name and often feature the same roster of musicians, the styles and themes explored on different albums can vary dramatically. Material began as a noisy dance music band, but later albums concentrated on hip hop, jazz, or spoken word readings by William S. Burroughs. Most versions of the band Praxis have included guitar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Globe Unity Orchestra
The Globe Unity Orchestra is a free jazz ensemble. Globe Unity was formed in autumn 1966 with a commission received by Alexander von Schlippenbach from the Berlin Jazz Festival. It had its debut at the Berliner Philharmonie on 3 November combining Gunter Hampel's quartet with Manfred Schoof' s quintet and Peter Brötzmann's trio: Hampel (bcl, fl); Willem Breuker (bs, ss); Schoof (tp) with Gerd Dudek (ts); Alexander von Schlippenbach (p); Buschi Niebergall (b) and Jaki Liebezeit (d) on one side, Brötzmann (saxophones), Peter Kowald (b, tuba), Sven-Åke Johansson (d) on the other. During the next years this core group was completed by other European and American musicians: Johannes Bauer (tb), Anthony Braxton (as, cl), Willem Breuker (ts), Rüdiger Carl (as, ts), Günter Christmann (tb), Gunter Hampel (bcl), Toshinori Kondo (tp), Steve Lacy (ss), Paul Lovens (drums), Paul Lytton (drums), Albert Mangelsdorff (tb), Evan Parker (ss, ts), Michel Pilz (bcl, cl, bars), Ernst-L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clifford Thornton
Clifford Edward Thornton III (September 6, 1936 – November 25, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, trombonist, activist, and educator. He played free jazz and avant-garde jazz in the 1960s and '70s. Career Clifford was born in Philadelphia. The year of his birth has been reported as early as 1934 or as late as 1939. He briefly attended Morgan State University and Temple University. Jazz pianist Jimmy Golden was his uncle, while his cousin, drummer J. C. Moses, had a jazz career that was cut short by failing health. Clifford began piano lessons when he was seven-years-old. Several biographers report that Clifford studied with trumpeter Donald Byrd during 1957, after Byrd had left Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, and also that he worked with 17-year-old tuba player Ray Draper and Webster Young. Following a late 1950s stint in the U.S. Army bands Thornton moved to New York City. Clifford's political and musical motivations are epitomized by his statement: "For a lot of brothers l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City, the son of German parents Elsie (Bernartz) and Arthur E. Schuller, a violinist with the New York Philharmonic. He studied at the Saint Thomas Choir School and became an accomplished French horn player and flute player. At age 15, he was already playing horn professionally with the American Ballet Theatre (1943) followed by an appointment as principal hornist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (1943–45), and then the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York, where he stayed until 1959. During his youth, he attended the Precollege Division at the Manhattan School of Music, later going on to teach at the school. But, already a high school dropout because he wanted to play professionally, Schuller never obtained a degree from any in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of " sheets of sound", Sanders played a prominent role in the development of free jazz and spiritual jazz through his work as a member of John Coltrane's groups in the mid-1960s, and later through his solo work. He released over thirty albums as a leader and collaborated extensively with vocalist Leon Thomas and pianist Alice Coltrane, among many others. Fellow saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world". Sanders' take on “spiritual jazz” was rooted in his inspiration from religious concepts such as Karma and Tawhid, and his rich, meditative performance aesthetic. This style was seen as a continuation of Coltrane's work on albums such as '' A Love Supreme''. As a result, Sanders was considered to have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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