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Life Is Beautiful (Tony Bennett Album)
''Life Is Beautiful'' is an album released by Tony Bennett in 1975. It was named after the song written by Fred Astaire. The album was the first project of Bennett's own Improv label. The album was Bennett's tribute to the American songbook featuring songs of Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin and others. The pianist, Torrie Zito, wrote new arrangements for Bennett's large session orchestra. The album was reissued by Concord with the addition of a separately recorded 13-minute Cole Porter medley. Reception In a review of the album on AllMusic, John Bush believes Bennett "ten intriguing selections for his material...reflecting his 25 years of investigation into the American songbook." He calls Bennett's cover of Duke Ellington's "Reflections" the best track on the album in a "sweetly remembered, world-weary, yet majestic performance". Bush also commends Bennett on the songs "I Used to Be Color Blind" by Irving Berlin and "Experiment" by Cole Porter as "great versions of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Bennett
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth name that are on permanent public display in several institutions. He is the founder of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, New York. Bennett began singing at an early age. He fought in the final stages of World War II as a U.S. Army infantryman in the European Theater. Afterward, he developed his singing technique, signed with Columbia Records and had his first number-one popular song with " Because of You" in 1951. Several tracks such as "Rags to Riches" followed in early 1953. He then refined his approach to encompass jazz singing. He reached an artistic peak in the late 1950s with albums such as ''The Beat of My Heart'' and ''Basie Swings, Bennett Sings''. In 1962, Bennett recorded his signature song, "I Left My ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jay Livingston
Jay Livingston (born Jacob Harold Levison, March 28, 1915 – October 17, 2001) was an American composer best known as half of a song-writing duo with Ray Evans that specialized in songs composed for films. Livingston wrote music and Evans the lyrics. Early life and career Livingston was born in McDonald, Pennsylvania to Jewish parents. He had an older sister, Vera, and a younger brother, Alan W. Livingston, who became an executive with Capitol Records, and later with NBC television. Livingston studied piano with Harry Archer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he organized a dance band and met Evans, a fellow student in the band. Their professional collaboration began in 1937. Livingston and Evans won the Academy Award for Best Original Song three times, in 1948 for the song "Buttons and Bows", written for the movie '' The Paleface''; in 1950 for the song "Mona Lisa", written for the movie '' Captain Carey, U.S.A.''; and in 1956 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Higgins
Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936 – May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop. Biography Higgins was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. Higgins played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958. He then freelanced extensively with hard bop and other post- bop players, including Donald Byrd, Dexter Gordon, Grant Green, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Don Cherry, Paul Horn, Milt Jackson, Jackie McLean, Pat Metheny, Hank Mobley, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, David Murray, Art Pepper, Sonny Rollins, Mal Waldron, and Cedar Walton. He was one of the house drummers for Blue Note Records and played on dozens of Blue Note albums of the 1960s. He also collaborated with composer La Monte Young and guitarist Sandy Bull. In his career, he played on over 700 recordings, including recordings of rock and funk. He appeared as a jazz drummer in the 2001 movie, ''Southlander''. In 1989, Higgins cofounded a cultural cente ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
There'll Be Some Changes Made
"There'll Be Some Changes Made" ("Changes") is a popular song by Benton Overstreet (composer) and Billy Higgins (lyricist). Published in 1921, the song has flourished in several genres, particularly jazz. The song has endured for as many years as a jazz standard. According to the online '' The Jazz Discography'' (an index of jazz-only recordings), "Changes" had been recorded 404 times as of May 2018. The song and its record debut were revolutionary, in that the songwriters ( Overstreet and Higgins, the original copyright publisher, Harry Herbert Pace, the vocalist to first record it (Ethel Waters), the owners of Black Swan (the record label), the opera singer (Elizabeth Greenfield) for whom the label was named, and the musicians on the recording led by Fletcher Henderson, were all African American. The production is identified by historians as a notable part of the Harlem Renaissance. History and popularity milestones 1920s The debut recording with Ethel Waters was recorde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht. With Brecht, he developed productions such as his best-known work, ''The Threepenny Opera'', which included the ballad "Mack the Knife". Weill held the ideal of writing music that served a socially useful purpose,Kurt Weill Cjschuler.net. Retrieved on August 22, 2011. ''''. He also wrote several works for the concert hall and a number of works on Jewish themes. He became a United States citizen on August 27, 1943.
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Maxwell Anderson
James Maxwell Anderson (December 15, 1888 – February 28, 1959) was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist, and lyricist. Background Anderson was born on December 15, 1888, in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, the second of eight children to William Lincoln "Link" Anderson, a Baptist minister, and Charlotte Perrimela ('Premely') Stephenson, both of Scotch-Irish descent. His family initially lived on his maternal grandmother Sheperd's farm in Atlantic, then moved to Andover, Ohio, where his father became a railroad fireman while studying to become a minister. They moved often, to follow their father's ministerial posts, and Maxwell was frequently sick, missing a great deal of school. He used his time sick in bed to read voraciously, and both his parents and Aunt Emma were storytellers, which contributed to Anderson's love of literature. During a visit to his grandmother's house in Atlantic, at age 11, he met the first love of his life, Hallie Loomis, a slightly older girl from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lost In The Stars
''Lost in the Stars'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson and music by Kurt Weill, based on the novel ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' (1948) by Alan Paton. The musical premiered on Broadway in 1949; it was the composer's last work for the stage before he died the following year. Productions ''Lost in the Stars'' opened on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on October 30, 1949, and closed on July 1, 1950, after 281 performances. The production was supervised and directed by Rouben Mamoulian and choreographed by La Verne French. Mamoulian was such a strong influence on the production that Foster Hirsch calls him "the show's third author." Todd Duncan took the role of Stephen; Inez Matthews sang Irina. New York City Opera presented the musical in April 1958. Directed by Jose Quintero, the cast featured Lawrence Winters (Stephen Kumalo) and Lee Charles (Leader). (The conductor of those performances, Julius Rudel, led a 1992 complete recording of the score with the Or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Used To Be Color Blind
"I Used to Be Color Blind" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the 1938 film '' Carefree'', where it was introduced by Fred Astaire. The Astaire recording was very popular in 1938. Notable recordings *Fred Astaire recorded the song again for his album ''The Astaire Story'' (1952) *Tony Bennett - ''Life Is Beautiful'' (1975) *Ella Fitzgerald - ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook'' (1958) *Anita O'Day - ''Pick Yourself Up with Anita O'Day ''Pick Yourself Up with Anita O'Day'' is an album by Anita O'Day that was released in 1957. O'Day sings with the Buddy Bregman orchestra and with Harry "Sweets" Edison. Track listing Personnel * Anita O'Day – vocals * Conte Candoli – trum ...'' (1957) References Songs written by Irving Berlin Fred Astaire songs Ella Fitzgerald songs 1937 songs Mildred Bailey songs {{Pop-standard-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herman Hupfeld
Herman Hupfeld (February 1, 1894June 8, 1951) was an American songwriter whose most notable composition was " As Time Goes By". He wrote both the lyrics and music. Life and career Hupfeld was born in Montclair, New Jersey, the son of Fredericka (Rader), a church organist, and Charles Ludwig Hupfeld. He was sent to study violin in Germany at age 9.Roger D. Kinkle, ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz 1900–1950'' (Arlington House, 1974), Returning to the United States, he graduated from Montclair High School in 1915 and enlisted in the Navy during World War I. When the war ended, he launched a songwriting career. He entertained camps and hospitals during World War II. Hupfeld never wrote a whole Broadway score, but he became known as a composer who could write a song to fit a specific scene within a Broadway show. Besides '' As Time Goes By'', his best-known songs include ''Sing Something Simple'', ''Let's Put Out the Lights (and Go to Sleep)'', ''When Yuba Play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
As Time Goes By (song)
"As Time Goes By" is a jazz song written by Herman Hupfeld in 1931. It became famous when it was featured in the 1942 Warner Bros. film ''Casablanca'', performed by Dooley Wilson as Sam. The song was voted No. 2 on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs special, commemorating the best songs in film (only surpassed by " Over the Rainbow" by Judy Garland). The song has since become the signature tune of Warner Bros. and used as such in the production logos at the beginning of many Warner Bros. films since January 16, 1998 with ''Fallen'' as part of the 75th-anniversary opening montage before the feature presentation trailers for the movie theatre chains and the main on-screen logo since February 12, 1999 with ''Message in a Bottle'', as well as the closing logos to most Warner Bros. Television Studios shows since fall 2003 with ''Two and a Half Men'', and preexisting shows also switching over from a previous theme that had been used since 1994. The song was covered by Jimmy Durante, L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", and "My Funny Valentine". Life and career Hart was born in Harlem, New York City, the elder of two sons, to Jewish immigrant parents, Max M. and Frieda (Isenberg) Hart, of German background. Through his mother, he was a great-grandnephew of the German poet Heinrich Heine. His father, a business promoter, sent Hart and his brother to private schools. (His brother, Teddy Hart, also went into theatre and became a musical comedy star. Teddy Hart's wife, Dorothy Hart, wrote a biography of Lorenz Hart.) Hart received his early education from Columbia Grammar School and entered Columbia College in 1913, before switching to Columbia University School of Journalism, where he attended for two years. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milt Raskin
Milt Raskin (January 27, 1916 – October 16, 1977) was an American swing jazz pianist. Born in Boston, Mass., Raskin played saxophone as a child before switching to piano at age 11. In the 1930s he attended the New England Conservatory of Music. He worked on local Boston-area radio before moving to New York City, where he played with Wingy Manone in 1937 at the Famous Door and Gene Krupa in 1938-39. He then played with Teddy Powell and Alvino Rey before joining Krupa again for a short time, then joined the orchestra of Tommy Dorsey from 1942 to 1944, replacing Joe Bushkin. He moved to Los Angeles in 1944, where he occasionally worked in jazz (including on recordings by Artie Shaw, Billie Holiday, and Georgie Auld), but concentrated on work as a studio musician and musical director. Much of his studio work from the 1940s on was uncredited, and he never led his own jazz recording session. Discography As leader * ''Kapu (Forbidden)'' (Crown, 1959) As sideman * Count Basie, '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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