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My Shining Hour
"My Shining Hour" is a song composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer for the film '' The Sky's the Limit'' (1943). In the film, the song is sung by Fred Astaire and Sally Sweetland, who dubbed it for actress Joan Leslie. The orchestra was led by Freddie Slack. "My Shining Hour" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song but lost to "You'll Never Know". The film was released on July 13, 1943. The song became a hit the following year by Glen Gray's Casa Loma Orchestra with Eugenie Baird as vocalist, reaching No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' "Best Selling Retail Records" chart. The song's title may have been a reference to Winston Churchill's speech to British citizens during World War II: "if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, this was their finest hour." In the 1944 film ''Youth Runs Wild'' an instrumental version of the song plays during a scene with Kent Smith and Glen Vernon. The song was also used in the film ''Ra ...
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Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'' (lyrics by Yip Harburg), including " Over the Rainbow", Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the Great American Songbook. "Over the Rainbow" was voted the 20th century's No. 1 song by the RIAA and the NEA. Life and career Arlen was born in Buffalo, New York, the child of a Jewish cantor. His twin brother died the next day. He learned to play the piano as a youth, and formed a band as a young man. He achieved some local success as a pianist and singer before moving to New York City in his early twenties, where he worked as an accompanist in vaudeville and changed his name to Harold Arlen. Between 1926 and about 1934, Arlen appeared occasionally as a band vocalist on records by The Buffalodians, Red Nichols, Joe ...
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Skinnay Ennis
Edgar Clyde "Skinnay" Ennis Jr. (August 13, 1907 – June 3, 1963) was an American jazz and pop music bandleader and singer. Early years The son of Mr. and Mrs. E.C. Ennis, he was born Edgar Clyde Ennis Jr. in Salisbury, North Carolina, United States, and had a brother, James W. Ennis. He met Hal Kemp while attending the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. The two were members of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity there. Orchestras An obituary reported about Ennis and his orchestra, "His band had performed in every major dance palace in the nation." Ennis joined Kemp's orchestra as a drummer and vocalist in the late 1920s, playing with him through 1938, including one tour of Europe in 1930. In 1938, Ennis put together his own band, which became a popular ensemble in Hollywood films. "Got a Date With an Angel" was his theme song. During this time Gil Evans was one of his arrangers. Toward the end of the 1950s Ennis's career had faded, and he worked mostly in hotels in the Lo ...
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June Christy
June Christy (born Shirley Luster; November 20, 1925June 21, 1990) was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a solo career from 1954 and is best known for her debut album ''Something Cool''. After her death, she was hailed as "one of the finest and most neglected singers of her time." Biography Early life Shirley Luster was born in Springfield, Illinois, United States. She moved with her parents Steve and Marie (née Crain) Luster to Decatur, Illinois, when she was three years old. She began to sing with the Decatur-based Bill Oetzel Orchestra at thirteen. While attending Decatur High School she appeared with Oetzel and his society band, the Ben Bradley Band, and Bill Madden's Band. After high school she moved to Chicago, changed her name to Sharon Leslie, and sang with a group led by Boyd Raeburn. Later she joined Benny Strong's band. In 1944, St ...
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It Amazes Me
''It Amazes Me'' is Liza Minnelli's second solo studio album, released on May 10, 1965, by Capitol Records. It contained her interpretations of eleven pop standards. After Liza Minnelli's first album for Capitol Records was released in September 1964, she kept busy with a tour (The Fantasticks with Elliott Gould), television appearances, and even co-starred alongside her mother Judy Garland in a series of concerts in London (''Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli Live at the London Palladium''). The record label wanted to capitalize on the exposure and record a new album that would achieve the success of its predecessor. Recording sessions began in December 1964 and concluded in January 1965. The singer worked with the same team that helped her produce and create ''Liza! Liza!'' at Capitol Studios in New York, located at 151 West 46th Street. A bigger budget was also spent for a larger orchestra, with Peter Matz again responsible for the orchestral treatment given to the project. On Ap ...
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Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy (Grammy Legend Award), Oscar, and Tony ( EGOT). Minnelli is a Knight of the French Legion of Honour. Daughter of actress and singer Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli, Minnelli was born in Los Angeles, spent part of her childhood in Scarsdale, New York, and moved to New York City in 1961 where she began her career as a musical theatre actress, nightclub performer, and traditional pop music artist. She made her professional stage debut in the 1963 Off-Broadway revival of ''Best Foot Forward (musical), Best Foot Forward''Scott Schechter (2004): ''The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook'', pp. 12–13. and received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for starring in ''Flora the Red Menace'' in 1965, which marked the start of her lifelo ...
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Our Shining Hour
''Our Shining Hour'' is a 1965 studio album by Sammy Davis Jr., accompanied by the Count Basie Orchestra, arranged by Quincy Jones. In 1973, MGM Records released ''Sammy Davis Jr. and Count Basie'' with an identical track listing created using alternate takes from the ''Our Shining Hour'' recording sessions in 1964 with newly recorded vocals. Track listing # "My Shining Hour" ( Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 2:10 # "Teach Me Tonight" (Sammy Cahn, Gene de Paul) – 3:05 # "Work Song" (Nat Adderley, Oscar Brown Jr.) – 2:12 # "Why Try to Change Me Now?" ( Cy Coleman, Joseph Allan McCarthy) – 3:24 # "Blues for Mr. Charlie" (Bobby Sharp) – 3:43 # " April in Paris" (Vernon Duke, Yip Harburg) – 2:45 # "New York City Blues" (Quincy Jones, Peggy Lee) – 2:51 # "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You" ( James Cavanaugh, Russ Morgan, Larry Stock) – 2:58 # " She's a Woman (W-O-M-A-N)" (Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller) – 2:21 # "The Girl from Ipanema" (Vinícius de Moraes, ...
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Sammy Davis Jr
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which toured nationally, and his film career began in 1933. After military service, Davis returned to the trio and became an overnight sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciro's (in West Hollywood) after the 1951 Academy Awards. With the trio, he became a recording artist. In 1954, at the age of 29, he lost his left eye in a car accident. Several years later, he converted to Judaism, finding commonalities between the oppression experienced by African-American and Jewish communities.Sammy Davis Jr. Biography
Biography.com. Retrieved June 6, 2013.< ...
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Hollywood – My Way
''Hollywood – My Way'' is a studio album by Nancy Wilson issued in July 1963 on Capitol Records. The album rose to No. 11 on the Billboard 200 chart. Track listing # "My Shining Hour" (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallich ...) – 1:58 # "Days of Wine and Roses (song), Days of Wine and Roses" (Henry Mancini, Mercer) – 3:27 # "Moon River" (Mancini, Mercer) – 2:07 # "Secret Love (1953 song), Secret Love" (Sammy Fain, Paul Francis Webster) – 3:04 # "Dearly Beloved" (Jerome Kern, Mercer) – 2:13 # "I'll Never Stop Loving You (1955 song), I'll Never Stop Loving You" (Nicholas Brodszky, Sammy Cahn) – 2:39 # "When Did You Leave Heaven" (Walter Bullock, Richard A. Whiting) – 2:55 # "Almost in Your Arms (Love Song from ''Houseboat'')" (Ray ...
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Nancy Wilson (jazz Singer)
Nancy Sue Wilson (February 20, 1937 – December 13, 2018) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned over five decades, from the mid-1950s until her retirement in the early 2010s. She was especially notable for her single "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" and her version of the standard "Guess Who I Saw Today". Wilson recorded more than 70 albums and won three Grammy Awards for her work. During her performing career, Wilson was labeled a singer of blues, jazz, R&B, pop, and soul; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer". The title she preferred, however, was "song stylist". She received many nicknames including "Sweet Nancy", "The Baby", "Fancy Miss Nancy" and "The Girl With the Honey-Coated Voice". Early life Nancy Wilson was born on February 20, 1937 in Chillicothe, Ohio, to Olden Wilson, an iron foundry worker, and Lillian Ryan. Wilson attended Burnside Heights Elementary School and developed her singing skills by participating in church choirs. S ...
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Coltrane Jazz
''Coltrane Jazz'' is the sixth studio album by jazz musician John Coltrane. It was released in early 1961 on Atlantic Records. Most of the album features Coltrane playing with his former Miles Davis bandmates, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb during two sessions in November and December, 1959. The exception is the track "Village Blues", which was recorded October 21, 1960. "Village Blues" comes from the first recording session featuring Coltrane playing with pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones, who toured and recorded with Coltrane as part of his celebrated " classic quartet" from 1960 to 1965. Background In 1959, Miles Davis' business manager Harold Lovett negotiated a contract for Coltrane with Atlantic, the terms including a $7000 annual guarantee. After having recorded most of ''Giant Steps'' in May of that year, Coltrane started having bridge problems, and did not return to a recording studio for six months. When he returned to the ...
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John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ..., bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raised in North Carolina, Coltrane moved to Philadelphia after graduating high school, where he studied music. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of Modal jazz, modes and was one of the players at the forefront of free jazz. He led at least fifty recording sessions and appeared on many albums by other musicians, including trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk. Over the course of his career, Coltrane's music t ...
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Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Harold Arlen Songbook
''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book'' is a 1961 (see 1961 in music) album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a studio orchestra conducted and arranged by Billy May. This album marked the only time that Fitzgerald worked with May. The Harold Arlen ''Song Book'' is the sixth album in Fitzgerald's series of recordings of songs written by the pantheon of Broadway composers who formed the body of work now considered the ''Great American Songbook''. The cover art is a drawing by Henri Matisse. Track listing For the 2-LP set originally released on the Verve label in 1961: Verve MG V-4046-2 Side One: # " Blues in the Night" (Johnny Mercer) – 7:14 # "Let's Fall in Love" (Ted Koehler) – 4:05 # " Stormy Weather" (Koehler) – 5:17 # " Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" (Koehler) – 2:26 # "My Shining Hour" (Mercer) – 4:02 # " Hooray for Love" (Leo Robin) – 2:45 Side Two: # "This Time the Dream's on Me" (Mercer) – 4:39 # "That Old Black Magi ...
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