|
My Funny Valentine (Larry Willis Album)
''My Funny Valentine'' is an album by American jazz pianist Larry Willis recorded in 1988 and originally released on the Japanese Jazz City label before being reissued in the US on Evidence Music in 1998. accessed January 4, 2019 Reception 's Michael G. Nastos said: "the Willis heard on 1988's enjoyable, if conventional, ''My Funny Valentine'' is a more conservative post-bopper/hard bopper ... Willis plays the acoustic piano exclusively on this CD, and standards are a high priority. Nothing cutting-edge occurs, just straight-ahead jazz that's honest, warm and melodic. ... all of which demonstrate how sensitive a ballad player he can be".[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larry Willis
Lawrence Elliott Willis (December 20, 1942 – September 29, 2019) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He performed in a wide range of styles, including jazz fusion, Afro-Cuban jazz, bebop, and avant-garde jazz, avant-garde. Willis was born in New York City. After his first year studying music theory at the Manhattan School of Music he began performing regularly with Jackie McLean. After he graduated he made his first jazz recording, McLean's ''Right Now! (Jackie McLean album), Right Now!'' in January 1965, which featured two of Willis' compositions. His first recording of any type, however, was as a singer with the Music and Arts Chorale Ensemble, performing an opera by Aaron Copland under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. He decided to concentrate on jazz because of the difficulties African-American musicians had in finding work in concert music. Throughout his career he performed with a wide range of musicians, including several years as keyboardist for Blood, Sweat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I'll Be Seeing You (song)
"I'll Be Seeing You" is a popular song about missing a loved one, with music by Sammy Fain and lyrics by Irving Kahal. Published in 1938, it was inserted into the Broadway musical '' Right This Way'', which closed after fifteen performances. The title of the 1944 film '' I'll Be Seeing You'' was taken from this song at the suggestion of the film's producer, Dore Schary. The song is included in the film's soundtrack. Background A resemblance between the main tune's first four lines and a passage within the theme of the last movement of Gustav Mahler's Third Symphony (1896) was pointed out by Deryck Cooke in 1970. Discography *The earliest recording of the song was by Dick Todd in 1940 on the Bluebird label. * The recording by Bing Crosby became a hit in 1944, reaching number one for the week of July 1. * Frank Sinatra's version with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra from 1940 charted in 1944 and peaked at No. 4. A new recording of the song by Frank Sinatra was included in 1961's I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Mraz
George Mraz (born Jiří Mráz; 9 September 1944 – 16 September 2021) was a Czech-born American jazz bassist and alto saxophonist. He was a member of Oscar Peterson's group, and worked with Pepper Adams, Stan Getz, Michel Petrucciani, Stephane Grappelli, Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Raney, Chet Baker, Joe Henderson, John Abercrombie, John Scofield, and Richie Beirach, among others. During the 1970s, he was a member of the New York Jazz Quartet and The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, and in the 1980s a member of Quest. He also appeared with Joe Lovano, Hank Jones and Paul Motian on Lovano's records '' I'm All For You'' and '' Joyous Encounter''. Discography As leader/co-leader * 1977: ''Alone Together'' with Masaru Imada ( Three Blind Mice) * 1992: ''Catching Up'' * 1995: ''Jazz'' with Richie Beirach, Billy Hart, Larry Willis, Rich Perry * 1995: ''My Foolish Heart'' with Richie Beirach, Billy Hart * 1997: ''Bottom Lines'' with Cyrus Chestnut, Al Foster, Rich Perry * 1999 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alto Saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor but larger than the B soprano. It is the most common saxophone and is used in popular music, concert bands, chamber music, solo repertoire, military bands, marching bands, pep bands, and jazz (such as big bands, jazz combos, swing music). The alto saxophone had a prominent role in the development of jazz. Influential jazz musicians who made significant contributions include Don Redman, Jimmy Dorsey, Johnny Hodges, Benny Carter, Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz, Jackie McLean, Phil Woods, Art Pepper, Paul Desmond, and Cannonball Adderley. Although the role of the alto saxophone in classical music has been limited, influential performers include Marcel Mule, Sigurd Raschèr, Jean-Marie Londeix, Eugene Rousseau, and Frederick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett (born October 9, 1960) is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. His primary instruments are alto and soprano saxophone and flute. Since 1985, he has pursued a solo career. Biography Kenny Garrett was born in Detroit, Michigan, on October 9, 1960. His father was a carpenter who played tenor saxophone as a hobby. Garrett's own career as a saxophonist took off when he joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra, under the leadership of Mercer Ellington, in 1978. Garrett also played and recorded with Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, and Woody Shaw before developing his career as a leader. In 1984, Garrett recorded his first album as a bandleader, ''Introducing Kenny Garrett'', on the CrissCross label. In the year, he became the founding member of Out of the Blue which was produced by Blue Note Records. In 1986, Garrett became a member ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. It was invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700. Description The word "piano" is a shortened form of ''pianoforte'', the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from ''clavicembalo col piano e forte'' (key cimbalom with quiet and loud)Pollens (1995, 238) and ''fortepiano''. The Italian musical terms ''piano'' and ''forte'' indicate "soft" and "loud" respectively, in this context referring to the variations in volume (i.e., loudness) produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on the keys: the grea ... [...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] |
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American composers of the 20th century, and his compositions had a significant influence on popular music. Rodgers is known for his songwriting partnerships, first with lyricist Lorenz Hart and then with Oscar Hammerstein II. With Hart he wrote musicals throughout the 1920s and 1930s, including ''Pal Joey (musical), Pal Joey'', ''A Connecticut Yankee (musical), A Connecticut Yankee'', ''On Your Toes'' and ''Babes in Arms.'' With Hammerstein he wrote musicals through the 1940s and 1950s, such as ''Oklahoma!'', ''Flower Drum Song'', ''Carousel (musical), Carousel'', ''South Pacific (musical), South Pacific'', ''The King and I'', and ''The Sound of Music''. His collaborations with Hammerstein, in particular, are celebrated for brin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
My Funny Valentine
"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart coming of age musical ''Babes in Arms'' in which it was introduced by teenaged star Mitzi Green. The song became a popular jazz standard, appearing on over 1300 albums performed by over 600 artists. One of them was Chet Baker, for whom it became his signature song. In 2015, it was announced that the Gerry Mulligan quartet featuring Chet Baker's version of the song was inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry for the song's "cultural, artistic and/or historical significance to American society and the nation’s audio legacy". Mulligan also recorded the song with his Concert Jazz Band in 1960. History ''Babes in Arms'' opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway, in New York City on April 14, 1937 and ran for 289 performances. In the original play, a character named Billie Smith (played by Mitzi Green) sings the song to Valentine "Val" LaMar (played by Ray Heatherton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John La Touche (lyricist)
John Treville Latouche (La Touche) (November 13, 1914, Baltimore, Maryland – August 7, 1956, Calais, Vermont) was a lyricist and bookwriter in American musical theater. Biography John Treville Latouche was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His family moved to Richmond, Virginia, when he was four months old. There he attended school, before going north to Columbia University. He became involved in music and theater, writing for the Varsity Show and joining the Philolexian Society. He did not graduate. In 1937 Latouche contributed two songs in the revue '' Pins and Needles''. For the show ''Sing For Your Supper'' (1939), he wrote the lyrics for "Ballad for Uncle Sam", later retitled "Ballad for Americans", with music by Earl Robinson. It was featured at both the 1940 Republican Convention and the convention of the American Communist Party, and was extremely popular in 1940s America. This 13-minute cantata to American democracy was written for a soloist and as well a full orches ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerome Moross
Jerome Moross (August 1, 1913July 25, 1983) was an American composer best known for his music for film and television. He also composed works for symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, soloists and musical theater, as well as orchestrating scores for other composers. Biography He was born in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, in 1913 to Jewish parents: Mollie (Greenberg) Moross, born in New York, and Samuel Moross, born in Russia. He became a talented piano player and composed music for the theater. During his early years, Moross met and became lifelong friends with Bernard Herrmann. In 1931, he met Aaron Copland and joined his Young Composers Group, whose members also included Herrmann. Copland supported his work and Herrmann provided him an introduction to the entertainment media, beginning with the composition of music cues for radio shows in 1935. In the 1940s he began to work in Hollywood, California, where he would compose the music scores for sixteen films from 1948 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irving Kahal
Irving Kahal (March 5, 1903, Houtzdale, Pennsylvania – February 7, 1942, New York City) was a popular American song lyricist active in the 1920s and 1930s. He is best remembered for his collaborations with composer Sammy Fain which started in 1926 when Kahal was working in vaudeville sketches written by Gus Edwards. Their collaboration lasted 16 years, until Kahal's death in 1942. Among many fine songs, the stand-out was "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me" on which Pierre Norman lent a hand, which was sung by Maurice Chevalier in the film ''The Big Pond'' (1930) effectively becoming his signature tune, and featured by Frank Sinatra on his magisterial album ''Songs For Swingin' Lovers''. The Fain/Kahal catalogue also includes "Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella" (1928) with Francis Wheeler, " Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine" (1929) with Willie Raskin, "By a Waterfall" (1930), "When I Take My Sugar to Tea" (1931) with Pierre Norman, "I Can Dream, Can't I?" (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
