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Soft Winds (album)
''Soft Winds'' (subtitled ''The Swinging Harp of Dorothy Ashby'') is an album by jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby recorded in 1961 and released on the Jazzland label. accessed May 13, 2013 The album takes its name from Goodman's 1940 standard "" which features as the first track. Reception Users on have awarded the album an average of 3 stars.Allmusic Review[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorothy Ashby
Dorothy Jeanne Thompson (August 6, 1932 – April 13, 1986), better known as Dorothy Ashby, was an American jazz harpist, singer and composer. Hailed as one of the most "unjustly under loved jazz greats of the 1950s" and the "most accomplished modern jazz harpist," Ashby established the harp as an improvising jazz instrument, beyond earlier use as a novelty or background orchestral instrument, proving the harp could play bebop as adeptly as the instruments commonly associated with jazz, such as the saxophone or piano. Ashby had to overcome many obstacles during the pursuit of her career. As an African American female musician in a male dominated industry, she was at a disadvantage. In a 1983 interview with W. Royal Stokes for his book ''Living the Jazz Life,'' she remarked of her career, "It's been maybe a triple burden in that not a lot of women are becoming known as jazz players. There is also the connection with black women. The audiences I was trying to reach were not inte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht. With Brecht, he developed productions such as his best-known work, ''The Threepenny Opera'', which included the ballad "Mack the Knife". Weill held the ideal of writing music that served a socially useful purpose,Kurt Weill Cjschuler.net. Retrieved on August 22, 2011. ''''. He also wrote several works for the concert hall and a number of works on Jewish themes. He became a United States citizen on August 27, 1943.
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Terry Pollard
Terry Pollard (August 15, 1931 – December 16, 2009) was an American jazz pianist and vibraphonist active in the Detroit jazz scene of the 1940s and 1950s. She has been described as a "major player who was inexplicably overlooked." Pollard began her career by collaborating with other Detroit musicians, such as Billy Mitchell (and Elvin Jones, in the house band at the Blue Bird Inn),Björn, Lars Olof (2001) ''Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920-60'', p. 126. University of Michigan Press At Google Books. Retrieved 9 July 2013. Johnny Hill, and the Emmitt Slay Trio. She was discovered by |
Harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or concerts. Its most common form is triangular in shape and made of wood. Some have multiple rows of strings and pedal attachments. Ancient depictions of harps were recorded in Current-day Iraq (Mesopotamia), Iran (Persia), and Egypt, and later in India and China. By medieval times harps had spread across Europe. Harps were found across the Americas where it was a popular folk tradition in some areas. Distinct designs also emerged from the African continent. Harps have symbolic political traditions and are often used in logos, including in Ireland. History Harps have been known since antiquity in Asia, Africa, and Europe, dating back at least as early as 3000 BCE. The instrument had great popularity in Europe during the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moe Jaffe
Moe Jaffe (October 23, 1901 – December 2, 1972) was a songwriter and bandleader who composed more than 250 songs. He is best known for six: "Collegiate" (which was played by Chico Marx in the movie ''Horse Feathers''), "The Gypsy in My Soul", " If I Had My Life to Live Over", "If You Are But a Dream", " Bell Bottom Trousers", and "I'm My Own Grandpa". First success Jaffe was born into a Jewish family in Vilna in the Russian Empire (now Vilnius, Lithuania). Shortly after his birth, the family emigrated to America and settled in Keyport, New Jersey. After graduating from Keyport High School, Jaffe worked his way through the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School (class of '23) and the University of Pennsylvania Law School (class of '26) by playing piano and leading a campus dance band, Jaffe's Collegians. It was the band's theme song, "Collegiate", that turned him toward Tin Pan Alley. Written by Jaffe and fellow student Nat Bonx, "Collegiate" was well known on the campus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clay Boland
Clay Boland was a dentist and composer of popular songs. He was born October 25, 1903, in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, United States. He studied dentistry at the University of Philadelphia. In 1924, he won a university competition for a prom song with a composition entitled ''Dreary Weather''. He then composed music for the university's Mask and Wig Club, collaborating especially with lyricist Moe Jaffe in writing the songs for many of their shows. He also performed as a pianist with leading big bands of the era and was noted for his skills as an arranger. He subsequently practised as a dentist in Ardmore, Pennsylvania but continued to compose and participate as a partner in the music publishing business. During World War II, he served as a lieutenant commander in the US Navy's Dental Corps, and was called up again for active duty in 1950 at the time of the Korean War. In later life, he lived in Elizabeth, New Jersey and died on July 23, 1963, aged 59, in the Naval Hospital of St. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gypsy In My Soul
"The Gypsy in My Soul" is a popular song written for the 50th anniversary of the University of Pennsylvania Mask and Wig show in 1937 by two Penn graduates, Clay Boland and Moe Jaffe. Boland wrote the music and Jaffe the lyrics. Although both men had long since graduated, it had become the practice at the time for professionals, rather than students, to compose songs for the show. Although the song did not become a big hit at the time it was written, it has become a classic over the decades, particularly in the jazz repertoire, as it has been recorded by over 100 artists. Recorded versions * Louis Armstrong * Mildred Bailey with Red Norvo's Orchestra recorded on December 19, 1945 and released on Crown 104 * Shirley Bassey - ''The Bewitching Miss Bassey'' (1959) * Charlie Byrd - instrumental * June Christy * Rosemary Clooney - '' At Long Last (with the Count Basie Orchestra)'' (1998) * Perry Como - for his album '' Saturday Night with Mr. C'' (1958) * Bing Crosby recorded the so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erroll Garner
Erroll Louis Garner (June 15, 1921 – January 2, 1977) was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His instrumental ballad "Misty", his best-known composition, has become a jazz standard. It was first recorded in 1956 with Mitch Miller and his orchestra, and played a prominent part in the motion picture ''Play Misty for Me''. Scott Yanow of Allmusic calls him "one of the most distinctive of all pianists" and a "brilliant virtuoso." He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6363 Hollywood Blvd. His live album ''Concert by the Sea'' first released in 1955, sold over 1 million copies by 1958, and Yanow's opinion on the album is that it "made such a strong impression that Garner was considered immortal from then on." Life and career Garner was born, along with twin brother Ernest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 15, 1921, the youngest of six children. He attended George Westinghouse High School (as did fellow pianists Billy Stra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Misty (song)
"Misty" is a jazz standard written in 1954 by pianist Erroll Garner. He composed it as an instrumental in the traditional 32-bar format, and recorded it for the album '' Contrasts''. Lyrics were added later by Johnny Burke. It appeared on Johnny Mathis' 1959 album '' Heavenly'', and this recording reached number 12 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart later that year. It has since become the signature song of Mathis. The song has been recorded by many other artists, including versions by Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan. Recordings by both Mathis and Garner have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was ranked number 174 in the list of the Songs of the Century compiled by Recording Industry Association of America and National Endowment for the Arts. Composition Erroll Garner was inspired to write "Misty" on a flight from San Francisco to Chicago which passed through a thunderstorm: as the plane descended into O'Hare, Garner looked through t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Raksin
David Raksin (August 4, 1912 – August 9, 2004) was an American composer who was noted for his work in film and television. With more than 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit, he became known as the "Grandfather of Film Music." Biography David Raksin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, to Jewish parents (of Russian heritage). His father was an orchestra conductor. Raksin played professionally in dance bands while attending Central High School of Philadelphia. He went on to study composition with Harl McDonald at the University of Pennsylvania, and later with Isadore Freed in New York and Arnold Schoenberg in Los Angeles. In New York, Raksin worked as an arranger for Harms/Chappell. One of his earliest film assignments was as assistant to Charlie Chaplin in the composition of the score to '' Modern Times'' (1936). He is perhaps best remembered for his score for the film '' Laura'' (1944). The theme music for the film, " Laura", with the ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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. Wallichs. He is best known as a Tin Pan Alley lyricist, but he also composed music, and was a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as songs written by others from the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s. Mercer's songs were among the most successful hits of the time, including " Moon River", " Days of Wine and Roses", " Autumn Leaves", and "Hooray for Hollywood". He wrote the lyrics to more than 1,500 songs, including compositions for movies and Broadway shows. He received nineteen Oscar nominations, and won four Best Original Song Oscars. Early life Mercer was born in Savannah, Georgia, where one of his first jobs, aged 10, was sweeping floors at the original 1919 location of Leopold's Ice Cream. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laura (1945 Song)
"Laura" is a 1945 popular song. The music, composed by David Raksin for the 1944 movie '' Laura,'' which starred Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews, is heard frequently in the movie. The film's director, Otto Preminger, had originally wanted to use Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" as the theme, but Raksin was not convinced that it was suitable. Angered, Preminger gave Raksin one weekend to compose an alternative melody. Raksin later said, and maintained for the rest of his days, that when, over that weekend, his wife sent him a "Dear John" letter, the haunting theme seemed to write itself. The lyrics were written by Johnny Mercer after the film made the tune popular, so he had to title the song "Laura". According to Mercer, he had not yet seen the movie when he wrote the lyrics but was aware that it was a romantic, somewhat haunting story. :''Laura is the face in the misty light, footsteps that you hear down the hall'' :''The laugh that floats on the summer night that you can never ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
