Rob Mounsey
Rob Mounsey (born December 2, 1952) is an American musician, composer, and arranger. Music career Mounsey was born in Berea, Ohio, and grew up in Seattle, Washington, spending a few years each in Findlay and Granville, Ohio. At the age of 17, he was awarded a 1970 BMI Student Composer Award for his orchestral work ''Ilium, New York, Is Divided into Three Parts''. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston from 1971 to 1975. In 1976, he moved to New York City to become a studio musician, arranger, and producer for a wide range of well-known artists, including Aaron Neville, Aztec Camera, Brian Wilson, Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, Chromeo, Brett Eldredge, Diana Krall, Diana Ross, Donald Fagen, Eric Clapton, James Taylor, Karen Carpenter, Madonna, Michael Franks, Natalie Cole, Paul Simon, Rihanna, Steely Dan, and others. He performed on keyboards in 1981 for Simon and Garfunkel's Concert in the Park. In 1985, he played keyboards in a New-York-based group called ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Berea, Ohio
Berea ( ) is a city in Cuyahoga County in the U.S. state of Ohio and is a western suburb of Cleveland. The population was 19,093 at the 2010 census. Berea is home to Baldwin Wallace University, as well as the training facility for the Cleveland Browns and the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds. Also near Berea is the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. History Berea was established in 1836. The first European settlers were originally from Connecticut. Berea fell within Connecticut's Western Reserve and was surveyed and divided into townships and ranges by Gideon Granger, who served as Postmaster General under President Thomas Jefferson. Abram Hickox, a Revolutionary War veteran, bought the first plot in what is today Middleburg Heights and in 1808 traveled west from Connecticut to his new purchase. Dissuaded by the swampy and heavily forested land he decided to settle in Cleveland. He became successful as Cleveland's first full-time blacksmith. His plot of land was sold to his ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Studio Musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a tour. Session musicians are usually not permanent or official members of a musical ensemble or band. They work behind the scenes and rarely achieve individual fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders. However, top session musicians are well known within the music industry, and some have become publicly recognized, such as the Wrecking Crew, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and The Funk Brothers who worked with Motown Records. Many session musicians specialize in playing common rhythm section instruments such as guitar, piano, bass, or drums. Others are specialists, and play brass, woodwinds, and strings. Many session musicians play multiple instruments, which lets them play in a wider range of musical situations, genres and s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Franks (musician)
Michael Franks (born September 18, 1944) is an American singer and songwriter, considered a leader of the quiet storm movement. He has recorded with a variety of well-known artists, such as Patti Austin, Art Garfunkel, Brenda Russell, Claus Ogerman, Joe Sample, and David Sanborn. His songs have been recorded by Gordon Haskell, Shirley Bassey, The Carpenters, Kurt Elling, Diana Krall, Patti LaBelle, Lyle Lovett, The Manhattan Transfer, Leo Sidran, Veronica Nunn, Carmen McRae, Ringo Starr and Natalie Cole. Biography Franks grew up in southern California with his father Thurman, his mother Vera, and two younger sisters. Although no one in his family was a musician, his parents loved swing music, and his early influences included Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Johnny Mercer. At age 14 Franks bought his first guitar, a Japanese Marco Polo for $29.95 with six private lessons included; those lessons were the only music education that he received. At ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, and visual presentation. She has pushed the boundaries of artistic expression in mainstream music, while continuing to maintain control over every aspect of her career. Her works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both controversy and critical acclaim. A prominent cultural figure crossing both the 20th and 21st centuries, Madonna remains one of the most "well-documented figures of the modern age", with a broad amount of scholarly reviews and literature works on her, as well as an academic mini subdiscipline devoted to her named Madonna studies. At 20 years old, Madonna moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer, who formed half of the sibling duo the Carpenters alongside her older brother Richard. With a distinctive three-octave contralto range, she was praised by her peers for her vocal skills. Carpenter's struggle with and eventual death of heart failure related to her years-long struggle with anorexia would later raise awareness of eating disorders and body dysmorphia and their possible causes. Carpenter was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and moved to Downey, California in 1963 with her family. She began to study the drums in high school and joined the Long Beach State choir after graduating. After several years of touring and recording, the Carpenters were signed to A&M Records in 1969, achieving enormous commercial and critical success throughout the 1970s. Initially, Carpenter was the band's full-time drummer, but she gradually took the role of frontwoman as her drumming was reduced to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of the " 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibsons "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". He was also named number five in ''Time'' magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009. After playing in a number of different local bands, Clapton joined the Yardbirds in 1963, replacing founding guitarist Top Topham. Dissatisfied with the change of the Yardbirds sound from blues rock to a more radio-friendly pop rock sound, Clapton left in 1965 to play with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. On leaving Mayall in 1966, after one album, he formed the power trio Cream with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce, in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and "arty, blues-based psychedelic pop". After Cre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Diana Ross
Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. They remain the best-charting female group in history, with a total of twelve number-one hit singles on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, including " Where Did Our Love Go", " Baby Love", " Come See About Me", and " Love Child". Following departure from the Supremes in 1970, Ross embarked on a successful solo career in music, film, television and on stage. Her eponymous debut solo album featured the U.S. number-one hit " Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and music anthem " Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)". It was followed with her second solo album, '' Everything Is Everything'' (1970), which spawned her first UK number-one single " I'm Still Waiting". She continued her successful solo career by mounting elaborate record-se ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, ''Billboard'' magazine named her the second greatest jazz artist of the decade (2000–2009), establishing her as one of the best-selling artists of her time. Krall is the only jazz singer to have had eight albums debuting at the top of the ''Billboard'' Jazz Albums. To date, she has won three Grammy Awards and eight Juno Awards. She has also earned nine gold, three platinum, and seven multi-platinum albums. Early years Krall was born on November 16, 1964, in Nanaimo, British Columbia, the daughter of Adella A. (''née'' Wende), an elementary school teacher, and Stephen James "Jim" Krall, an accountant. Krall's only sibling, Michelle, is a former member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Krall's father played piano at home, and her mother sang i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brett Eldredge
Brett Ryan Eldredge (born March 23, 1986) is an American country music singer, songwriter and record producer, signed to Warner Music Group Nashville. Eldredge has had five No. 1 singles on the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay chart, three of which came from his debut studio album, ''Bring You Back'': " Don't Ya", " Beat of the Music", and " Mean to Me". Early life Eldredge was born on March 23, 1986, in Paris, Illinois, the son of Robin Beth (née Vonderlage) and Christopher "Chris" Eldredge. He has an older brother, Brice. He studied at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois. His cousin, Terry Eldredge, is a former member of the Grascals. Career Eldredge co-wrote the track "I Think I've Had Enough" for Gary Allan, who recorded it for his eighth studio album, ''Get Off on the Pain''. By late 2010 he had signed to Atlantic Records and released his debut single, " Raymond" on September 27, 2010. It debuted at number 52 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart dated f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chaka Khan
Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Queen of Funk", Khan was the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with " I Feel for You" in 1984. Khan has won ten Grammy Awards and has sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide. With Rufus, she achieved four gold singles, four gold albums, and two platinum albums. In the course of her solo career, Khan achieved three gold singles, three gold albums, and one platinum album with '' I Feel for You''. She has collaborated with Steve Winwood, Ry Cooder, Robert Palmer, Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Guru, Chicago, De La Soul, Mary J. Blige, among others. In December 2016, ''Billboard'' magazine ranked her as the 65th most successful dance artist of all time. She was ranked at No. 17 in VH1's original list of th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, memoirist, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Top 40 U.S. hits include " Anticipation" (No. 13), " The Right Thing to Do" (No. 17), " Haven't Got Time for the Pain" (No. 14), " You Belong to Me" (No. 6), " Coming Around Again" (No. 18), and her four Gold-certified singles " You're So Vain" (No. 1), " Mockingbird" (No. 5, a duet with James Taylor), " Nobody Does It Better" (No. 2) from the 1977 James Bond film '' The Spy Who Loved Me'', and " Jesse" (No. 11). She has authored two memoirs and five children's books. In 1963, Simon began performing with her sister Lucy Simon as the Simon Sisters. The duo released three albums, beginning with '' Meet the Simon Sisters'', which featured the song " Winkin', Blinkin' and Nod". Based on the poem by Eugene Field and put to music by Lucy, the song became a minor hit and reached No. 73 on the ''Billboard'' H ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop music, pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and mastery of recording techniques, he is widely acknowledged as one of the most innovative and significant songwriters of the 20th century. His best-known work is distinguished for its high production values, complex harmony, harmonies and orchestrations, vocal harmony, layered vocals, and introspective or ingenuous themes. Wilson is also known for his formerly high-ranged singing and for his lifelong struggles with Mental disorder, mental illness. Raised in Hawthorne, California, Wilson's formative influences included George Gershwin, the Four Freshmen, Phil Spector, and Burt Bacharach. In 1961, he began his professional career as a member of the Beach Boys, serving as the band's songwriter, producer, co-le ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |