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Magic City Jazz Orchestra
The Magic City Jazz Orchestra (MCJO) is an American jazz ensemble which was founded in 1999 as a spin-off of the SuperJazz Big Band (formerly UAB SuperJazz) by Birmingham, Alabama jazz pianist and vocalist Ray Reach. The mission of the group is to "...perform and record big band jazz music written by well known but under-recorded jazz artists." (From the Mission Statement of the MCJO bylaws.) History The SuperJazz Big Band (formerly UAB SuperJazz) was founded in the 1970s by several Birmingham, Alabama musicians who were interested in big band jazz, including Charles Ard, Mallory Pierce, Sonny Harris, Bernie Bell, and Dr. Everett Lawler. Initially, the band met and rehearsed at Boutwell Recording Studio in Birmingham. Later, the founding members of SuperJazz decided to affiliate with the newly formed Music Department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and subsequently became the first performing musical ensemble connected with UAB. After a 20-plus year associat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Reach And The SuperJazz Big Band
Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (graph theory), an infinite sequence of vertices such that each vertex appears at most once in the sequence and each two consecutive vertices in the sequence are the two endpoints of an edge in the graph * Ray (optics), an idealized narrow beam of light * Ray (quantum theory), an equivalence class of state-vectors representing the same state Arts and entertainment Music * The Rays, an American musical group active in the 1950s * Ray (musician), stage name of Japanese singer Reika Nakayama (born 1990) * Ray J, stage name of singer William Ray Norwood, Jr. (born 1981) * ''Ray'' (Bump of Chicken album) * ''Ray'' (Frazier Chorus album) * ''Ray'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) * ''Rays'' (Michael Nesmith album) (former Monkee) * ''Ray'' (soundtrack) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alys Stephens Center
The Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center (ASC) is a performing arts facility located on the campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham ( UAB). It hosts over 250,000 people for more than 300 diverse events annually. The ASC is the center for entertainment and arts education in Birmingham and Central Alabama. The facility houses four performance venues, including the 1,330-seat Jemison Concert Hall, the 350-seat Sirote Theatre, the intimate 170-seat Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall, and the black-box Odess Theatre. The ASC hosts a wide variety of events each year, in every field of artistic endeavor, from classical music, to jazz, to theatre and visual arts. Jazz programming offered by the ASC has included Diane Schuur, Branford Marsalis, the Count Basie Orchestra, and the UAB SuperJazz Big Band. Classical concerts have included Itzhak Perlman and major European orchestras. The ASC is the official home of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. The ASC often colla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saturday Night Live Band
The Saturday Night Live Band (referred to in the closing credits as The Live Band) is the house band of the NBC television program ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Role on ''Saturday Night Live'' The band consists of mostly jazz, R&B, and some rock musicians and features a strong horn section. They normally play the opening theme music (after the cold opening), musical pieces in between commercial breaks, and the closing theme music "Closing Theme (Waltz in A)," written by founding member Howard Shore. Often, the band will provide the music to a sketch when necessary. Band leaders and musical directors Musician and future Academy Award winning film composer Howard Shore was the original musical director and bandleader from 1975 until 1980. Singer and songwriter Kenny Vance (who appeared previously as a musical guest on the May 21, 1977 episode) became the musical director for the show's sixth season (1980–81). Original band member and trombonist Tom Malone took over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Williams (trumpeter)
Mike Williams is an American jazz and big band trumpeter residing in Lapeer, Michigan. He is most noted as the lead trumpeter for the Count Basie Orchestra, an esteemed chair which he held without interruption for more than 21 years. Mike can be heard on numerous Count Basie Orchestra recordings (some of them Grammy Award winners), including the recent ''"Basie Is Back"'' (recorded live in Japan) and the Grammy nominated ''" Ray Sings, Basie Swings,"'' on which he was a featured soloist. As a member of the Basie Band, he has performed in all 50 states and 40 countries with such notable names as Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, George Benson, Tony Bennett and Diane Schuur. Mike is a native of Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended the University of North Texas College of Music, where he studied with noted trumpeter Don Jacoby, and was a member of the famous One O'Clock Lab Band. In addition to touring and recording with Count Bas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Count Basie Orchestra
The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936. Despite a brief disbandment at the beginning of the 1950s, the band survived long past the Big Band era itself and the death of Basie in 1984. It continues under the direction of trumpeter Scotty Barnhart. Originally including such musicians as Buck Clayton and Lester Young in the line-up, the band in the 1950s and 1960s made use of the work of such arrangers as Neal Hefti and featured musicians such as Thad Jones and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Its recordings of this era included collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. History Early years Count Basie arrived in Kansas City, Missouri in 1927, playing on the Theater Owners Bookers Association (TOBA) circuit. After playing with Walter Page's Blue Devils, in 1929 he joined rival band leader Bennie Moten's band. Upon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album ''The In Crowd (Ramsey Lewis album), The In Crowd'' earned Lewis critical praise and the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance. His best known singles include "The 'In' Crowd (song), The In Crowd", "Wade in the Water", and "Sun Goddess (song), Sun Goddess". Until 2009, he was the host of the ''Ramsey Lewis Morning Show'' on the Chicago radio station WNUA. Lewis was also active in musical education in Chicago. He founded the Ramsey Lewis Foundation, established the Ravinia's Jazz Mentor Program, and served on the board of trustees for the Merit School of Music and The Chicago High School for the Arts. Life and career Ramsey Lewis was born on May 27, 1935, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleveland Eaton
Cleveland Josephus Eaton II (August 31, 1939July 5, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist, producer, arranger, composer, publisher, and head of his own record company in Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. His most famous accomplishments were playing with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and the Count Basie Orchestra. His 1975 recording ''Plenty Good Eaton'' is considered a classic in the funk music genre. He was inducted into both the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Biography Eaton began studying music at the age of five, and by the time he was fifteen, he had mastered the piano, trumpet, and saxophone. He began playing bass when a teacher allowed him to take one home, spending nearly every waking hour learning the instrument. This led him to become what many called one of the best and most versatile jazz bassists in the business. Eaton came from a music-loving family, including an elder sister who studied at both Fisk University and the Jui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Originally dedicated to recording traditional jazz and small group swing, the label began to switch its attention to modern jazz around 1947. From there, Blue Note grew to become one of the most prolific, influential and respected jazz labels of the mid-20th century, noted for its role in facilitating the development of hard bop, post-bop and avant-garde jazz, as well as for its iconic modernism, modernist art direction. History Historically, Blue Note has principally been associated with the "hard bop" style of jazz (mixing bebop with other forms of music including soul music, soul, blues, rhythm and blues and gospel music, gospel), but also recorded essential albums in the avant-garde and Free Jazz, free styles of jazz. Horace Silver, Jimm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Belden
James Robert Belden (October 31, 1956 – May 20, 2015) was an American saxophonist, arranger, composer, bandleader, and producer. As a composer he may be best known for his Grammy Award winning orchestral jazz recording, ''Black Dahlia'' (2001). As producer, he was mostly associated with the remastering of recordings by trumpeter Miles Davis for Columbia Records. Biography Belden, born in Evanston, Illinois, grew up in the Charleston, South Carolina suburb of Goose Creek. He briefly attended the University of South Carolina where he met composer Jay Knowles who introduced him to the music of Gil Evans. He then studied saxophone and composition at the University of North Texas before joining the Woody Herman band. He recorded his first album ''Treasure Island'' in 1990. This was followed by a series of adventurous albums featuring jazz-tinged arrangements of contemporary pop songs culminating with ''Black Dahlia'' in 2001. In 2008, he arranged and produced ''Miles from Indi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Wheat
Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;United States *Gary (Tampa), Florida * Gary, Maryland *Gary, Minnesota *Gary, South Dakota *Gary, West Virginia *Gary – New Duluth, a neighborhood in Duluth, Minnesota *Gary Air Force Base, San Marcos, Texas * Gary City, Texas Ships * USS ''Gary'' (DE-61), a destroyer escort launched in 1943 * USS ''Gary'' (CL-147), scheduled to be a light cruiser, but canceled prior to construction in 1945 * USS ''Gary'' (FFG-51), a frigate, commissioned in 1984 * USS ''Thomas J. Gary'' (DE-326), a destroyer escort commissioned in 1943 People and fictional characters * Gary (surname), including a list of people with the name *Gary (rapper), South Korean rapper and entertainer * Gary (Argentine singer), Argentine singer of cuarteto songs Other uses *'' Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lou's Blues
''Lou's Blues'' is a big band jazz album by saxophonist Lou Marini and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra (MCJO) recorded at Bates Brothers Recording in Hueytown, Alabama (near Birmingham, Alabama). This CD was the first recording as a leader by Marini. Lou Marini is best known as a member of several noted bands, including Blood, Sweat and Tears, Steely Dan, the Woody Herman Orchestra, the Buddy Rich Band, The Maureen McGovern Band, the James Taylor Band, the Saturday Night Live Band, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder and the Blues Brothers Band. Production duties for the album were shared by Lou Marini and Birmingham, Alabama based jazz musician Ray Reach. All of the arrangements on this CD were written by Lou Marini, and all the compositions are his, except for "Mr. Clean," which was composed by Weldon Irvine. Some of the charts on this album have become enduring favorites of the Lab Bands at the University of North Texas. Liner notes for the CD were written by Grammy Award winning s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Reach And Lou Marini In New York
Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (graph theory), an infinite sequence of vertices such that each vertex appears at most once in the sequence and each two consecutive vertices in the sequence are the two endpoints of an edge in the graph * Ray (optics), an idealized narrow beam of light * Ray (quantum theory), an equivalence class of state-vectors representing the same state Arts and entertainment Music * The Rays, an American musical group active in the 1950s * Ray (musician), stage name of Japanese singer Reika Nakayama (born 1990) * Ray J, stage name of singer William Ray Norwood, Jr. (born 1981) * ''Ray'' (Bump of Chicken album) * ''Ray'' (Frazier Chorus album) * ''Ray'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) * ''Rays'' (Michael Nesmith album) (former Monkee) * ''Ray'' (soundtrack) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
