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Ralph MacDonald
Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian American, Trinbagonian-American percussionist, songwriter, musical arranger, record producer, steelpan virtuoso and philanthropist. His compositions include "Where Is the Love (Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway song), Where Is the Love", a Grammy Award winner for the duet of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway; "Just the Two of Us (Grover Washington Jr. song), Just the Two of Us", recorded by Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr.; and "Mister Magic" recorded by Grover Washington Jr. Career Growing up in Harlem, New York City, New York, United States, under the close mentorship of his Trinbagonian father, Patrick MacDonald (a calypsonian and bandleader originally from Trinidad and Tobago who used the stage name "Macbeth the Great"), MacDonald began showing his musical talent, particularly with the steelpan, and when he was 17 years old started playing pan for the Harry Belafonte show. He ...
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Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), Central Park North on the south. The greater Harlem area encompasses several other neighborhoods and extends west and north to 155th Street, east to the East River, and south to Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard (Manhattan), Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Central Park, and 96th Street (Manhattan), East 96th Street. Originally a Netherlands, Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem's history has been defined by a series of economic boom-and-bust cycles, with significant population shifts accompanying each cycle. Harlem was predominantly occupied by Jewish American, Jewish and Italian American, Italian Americans in the 19th century, but African-American residents began to ...
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Roberta Flack
Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the Billboard Magazine, ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like Makin' Love (Roberta Flack song), Feel Like Makin' Love", "Where Is the Love (Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway song), Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", the latter two duets with Donny Hathaway. Flack is also noted for her influence on the subgenre of contemporary R&B called quiet storm, along with her interpretations of songs by various songwriters, such as Leonard Cohen and members of the Beatles. Flack was the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in two consecutive years: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" won in 15th Annual Grammy Awards, 1973 and "Killing Me Softly with His Song" won in 16th Annual Grammy Awards, 1974. Early life Flack was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, to parents Laro ...
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Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. His breakthrough album '' Calypso'' (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. Belafonte is best known for his recordings of "The Banana Boat Song", with its signature "Day-O" lyric, " Jump in the Line", and " Jamaica Farewell". He has recorded and performed in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. He has also starred in several films, including ''Carmen Jones'' (1954), '' Island in the Sun'' (1957), and ''Odds Against Tomorrow'' (1959). Belafonte considered the actor, singer and activist Paul Robeson a mentor, and was a close confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. As he later recalled, "Paul Robes ...
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Stage Name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individual's birth name. Though uncommon, some performers choose to adopt their stage name as a legal name. Nicknames and maiden names are sometimes used in a person's professional name. Reasons for using a stage name A performer will often take a stage name because their real name is considered unattractive, dull, or unintentionally amusing; projects an undesired image; is difficult to pronounce or spell; or is already being used by another notable individual, including names that are not exactly the same but still too similar. An example of this is pop singer Katy Perry, whose real name is Katheryn "Katy" Hudson, which would have caused confusion with the actress Kate Hudson. Sometimes a performer adopts a name that is unusual or outlandish t ...
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Trinidad And Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Grenada and off the coast of northeastern Venezuela. It shares maritime boundaries with Barbados to the northeast, Grenada to the northwest and Venezuela to the south and west. Trinidad and Tobago is generally considered to be part of the West Indies. The island country's capital is Port of Spain, while its largest and most populous city is San Fernando. The island of Trinidad was inhabited for centuries by Indigenous peoples before becoming a colony in the Spanish Empire, following the arrival of Christopher Columbus, in 1498. Spanish governor José María Chacón surrendered the island to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby in 1797. Trinidad and Tobago were ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens as se ...
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Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music.''Club Date Musicians: Playing the New York Party Circuit''. Bruce A. MacLeod. University of Illinois Press. (1993) Most bandleaders are also performers with their own band, either as singers or as instrumentalists, playing an instrument such as electric guitar, piano, or other instruments. Roles The bandleader must have a variety of musical skills. A bandleader needs to be a music director who chooses the "setlist" (the list of songs that will be played in a show), sets the tempo for each song and starts each song (often by "counting in"), leads the start of new sections of songs (e.g., signalling for the start of a guitar solo or drum solo) and leads the endings of each song. The bandleader is also onstage with the ...
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Calypsonian
A calypsonian,Definition of CALYPSO
merriam-webster.com originally known as a '''', is a musician from the anglophone Caribbean who sings songs of the calypso genre. Calypsos are musical renditions having their origins in the West African tradition. Originally called "Kaiso" in , these song ...
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Trinbagonian
Trinidadians and Tobagonians, colloquially known as Trinis or Trinbagonians, are the people who are identified with the country of Trinidad and Tobago. The country is home to people of many different national, ethnic and religious origins. As a result, Trinidadians do not equate their nationality with race and ethnicity, but with citizenship, identification with the islands as whole, or either Trinidad or Tobago specifically. Although citizens make up the majority of Trinidadians, there is a substantial number of Trinidadian expatriates, dual citizens and descendants living worldwide, chiefly elsewhere in the Anglosphere. Population The total population of Trinidad and Tobago was 1,328,019 according to the 2011 census,
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New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the List of United States cities by population density, most densely populated major city in the United States, and is more than twice as populous as second-place Los Angeles. New York City lies at the southern tip of New York (state), New York State, and constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous Megacity, megacities, and over 58 million people live within of the city. New York City is a global city, global Culture of New ...
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Kurtis Blow-Ralph MacDonald - Basketball-(It's) The Game (Side B) (12-inch)
Kurtis may refer to: People *Bill Kurtis, American television journalist *Frank Kurtis (1908–1987), American car-builder and founder of Kurtis Kraft *Mesut Kurtis, Macedonian Islamic singer of Turkish descent *Kurtis Conner, American comedian and YouTuber *Kurtis Rowe, New Zealand Rugby League player Fictional characters *Kurtis Trent from the ''Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness'' game * Kurtis, a recurring character in the ''Disgaea: Hour of Darkness'' and ''Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories'' games *Kurtis Stryker from the ''Mortal Kombat'' series of video games See also *Curtis (other) Curtis or Curtiss is a given name and surname. Curtis or Curtiss may also refer to: Places United States * Curtis, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Curtis, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Curtis, Florida, an unincorporated com ... (includes Curtiss) * Kurti (other) {{disambig, surname ...
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Mister Magic
''Mister Magic'' is the fourth album by jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr., released in February 1975. The album topped both the soul and jazz albums chart and peaked at number ten on the pop chart. Critical reception Reviewing for ''The Village Voice'' in 1975, Robert Christgau found the album "functional" and satisfactory for a commercially successful jazz album: "Washington plays a warm tenor in the pop jazz tradition of Gene Ammons, but the rhythm section percolates danceably, and the result is sexy background music only superficially marred by Bob James's strings." In a retrospective review for Allmusic, Scott Yanow gave the album five out of five stars and said that it is "one of Grover Washington Jr.'s best-loved recordings and considered a classic of r&bish jazz." He found Washington to be in "particularly creative form" and called James' arrangements "colorful if somewhat commercial". Track listing Personnel * Grover Washington Jr. – alto saxophone, so ...
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Grover Washington Jr
Grover Washington Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre. He wrote some of his material and later became an arranger and producer. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Washington made some of the genre's most memorable hits, including "Mister Magic", "Reed Seed", "Black Frost", "Winelight", "Inner City Blues", "Let it Flow (For 'Dr. J')" and "The Best is Yet to Come". In addition, he performed very frequently with other artists, including Bill Withers on "Just the Two of Us", Patti LaBelle on "The Best Is Yet to Come" and Phyllis Hyman on "A Sacred Kind of Love". He is also remembered for his take on the Dave Brubeck classic "Take Five", and for his 1996 version of "Soulful Strut". Early life Washington was born in Buffalo, New York, United States, on December 12, 1943. His mother was a church chorist ...
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