Stairway To The Stars (album)
Stairway to the Stars is a 2021 album by Miki Yamanaka released on the independent Outside in Music label. Initially slated to be recorded live at Mezzrow's Jazz Club, it was ultimately recorded at Yamanka's home studio due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Critical reception Track listing :''All compositions by Miki Yamanaka except as indicated'' #"Cheryl" (Charlie Parker) – 07:55 #" My Melancholy Baby" – 06:05 #"Eiderdown" ( Steve Swallow) – 06:57 #"Ask Me Now" (Thelonious Monk) – 07:40 #"Wonder" – 05:53 #"Oatmeal" – 07:30 #"Stairway To The Stars" ( Frank Signorelli, Matt Malneck, Mitchell Parish) – 08:24 #" Tea For Two" ( Irving Caesar, Vincent Youmans) – 07:07 Personnel Source Performance *Orlando le Fleming – Double Bass *Miki Yamanaka – Piano * Mark Turner – Tenor Saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly us ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. But jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisationa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frank Signorelli
Frank Signorelli (May 24, 1901 – December 9, 1975) was an American jazz pianist. Biography Signorelli was born to an Italian Sicilian family in New York City, New York. Signorelli was a founding member of the Original Memphis Five in 1917, then joined the Original Dixieland Jazz Band briefly in 1921. In 1927, he played in Adrian Rollini's New York ensemble, and subsequently worked with Eddie Lang, Bix Beiderbecke, Matty Malneck and Paul Whiteman. In 1935 he was part of Dick Stabile's All-America "Swing" Band. In 1936-38, he played in the revived version of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. He recorded with Phil Napoleon in 1946 and with Miff Mole in 1958. Compositions As a songwriter, Signorelli composed "'I'll Never Be The Same" (initially called "Little Buttercup" by Joe Venuti's Blue Four), "Gypsy", recorded by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, "Caprice Futuristic", "Evening", "Anything", "Bass Ale Blues", "Great White Way Blues", "Park Avenue Fantasy", "Sioux City Sue" ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tenor Saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while the alto is pitched in the key of E), and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F key have a range from A2 to E5 (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. People who play the tenor saxophone are known as "tenor saxophonists", "tenor sax players", or "saxophonists". The tenor saxophone uses a larger mouthpiece, reed and ligature than the alto and soprano saxophones. Visually, it is easily distinguished by the curve in its neck, or its crook, near the mouthpiece. The alto saxophone lacks this and its neck goes straight to the mouthpiece. The tenor saxophone is most recognized for it ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mark Turner (musician)
Mark Turner (born November 10, 1965) is an American jazz saxophonist. Biography Born in Fairborn, Ohio, and raised in the small Southern California town of Palos Verdes Estates, Turner originally intended to become a commercial artist. In elementary school he played the clarinet, followed by the alto and tenor saxophones in high school. He attended California State University, Long Beach in the 1980s (playing in the jazz ensembles) and then transferred to and graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1990 before moving to New York. Turner worked at Tower Records in New York City for an extended period before working full-time as a jazz musician. In early November 2008 Turner injured two fingers on one of his hands with a power saw, but as of late February 2009 he was performing again with the Edward Simon Quartet at the Village Vanguard. He is married to the psychiatrist and anthropologist, Dr. Helena Hansen. Style and influences Turner's sound is reminiscent of tha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Double Bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar in structure to the cello, it has four, although occasionally five, strings. The bass is a standard member of the orchestra's string section, along with violins, viola, and cello, ''The Orchestra: A User's Manual'' , Andrew Hugill with the Philharmonia Orchestra as well as the concert band, and is featured in Double bass concerto, concertos, solo, and chamber music in European classical music, Western classical music.Alfred Planyavsky [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Orlando Le Fleming
Antony Orlando Frank le Fleming (born 7 July 1976) is a jazz musician and English cricketer. Biography Cricket Orlando le Fleming made his county debut for Devon in the 1992 Minor Counties Championship against Cheshire. At the age of 15, he was the second youngest player to turn out for Devon. He was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. From 1992 to 1996, he represented Devon in 24 Minor Counties Championship matches, with his final match coming against Shropshire. He also played two List-A matches for Devon, the first of which came in the 1994 NatWest Trophy against Yorkshire, where le Fleming took 2/42. His second and final List-A game came against Essex in the 1996 NatWest Trophy. In 1995 he played eight Second Eleven Championship matches for the Somerset Second XI. Jazz career After retiring from cricket, Fleming studied music at The Royal Academy of Music and went on to play and tour with UK musicians such as Julian Joseph, Jason Rebello, Tomm ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vincent Youmans
Vincent Millie Youmans (September 27, 1898 – April 5, 1946) was an American Broadway composer and producer. A leading Broadway composer of his day, Youmans collaborated with virtually all the greatest lyricists on Broadway: Ira Gershwin, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Irving Caesar, Anne Caldwell, Leo Robin, Howard Dietz, Clifford Grey, Billy Rose, Edward Eliscu, Edward Heyman, Harold Adamson, Buddy DeSylva and Gus Kahn. Youmans' early songs are remarkable for their economy of melodic material: two-, three- or four-note phrases are constantly repeated and varied by subtle harmonic or rhythmic changes. In later years, however, he turned to longer musical sentences and more rhapsodic melodic lines. Youmans published fewer than 100 songs, but 18 of these were considered standards by ASCAP, a remarkably high percentage. Biography Youmans was born in New York City, United States, into a prosperous family of hat makers. When he was two, his father moved the family to upp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Irving Caesar
Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser, July 4, 1895 – December 18, 1996) was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for numerous song standards, including " Swanee", "Sometimes I'm Happy", "Crazy Rhythm", and " Tea for Two", one of the most frequently recorded tunes ever written. In 1972, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Biography Caesar, the son of Morris Keiser, a Romanian Jew, was born in New York City, United States. His older brother Arthur Caesar was a successful Hollywood screenwriter. The Caesar brothers spent their childhood and teen years in Yorkville, the same Manhattan neighborhood where the Marx Brothers were raised. Caesar knew the Marx Brothers during his childhood. He was educated at Chappaqua Mountain Institute in Chappaqua, New York. In his career, Caesar collaborated with a wide variety of composers and songwriters, including Rudolf Friml, George Gershwin, Sigmund Romberg, Victor Herbert, Ted Koehler and Ray Hender ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tea For Two (song)
"Tea for Two" is a 1924 song composed by Vincent Youmans, with lyrics by Irving Caesar. It was introduced in May 1924 by Phyllis Cleveland and John Barker during the Chicago pre-Broadway run of the musical ''No, No, Nanette''. When the show finally hit Broadway on September 16, 1925, Nanette was played by Louise Groody, and her duet with Barker of "Tea for Two" was a hit. The song went on to become the biggest success of Youmans' career. Background Youmans had written the basic melody idea of "Tea for Two" while he was in the navy during World War I, and he used it later on as an introductory passage for a song called "Who's Who with You?" While in Chicago, Youmans developed the idea into "a song that the hero could sing to the heroine" for the musical ''No, No, Nanette''. He soon after played his composition for Irving Caesar and insisted he write the lyrics then and there. Caesar quickly jotted down a mock-up lyric, fully intending to revise it later on. Youmans, though, loved ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mitchell Parish
Mitchell Parish (born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky; July 10, 1900 – March 31, 1993) was an American lyricist, notably as a writer of songs for stage and screen. Biography Parish was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania, Russian Empire in July 1900 His family emigrated to the United States, arriving on February 3, 1901, aboard the '' SS Dresden'' when he was less than a year old. They settled first in Louisiana where his paternal grandmother had relatives, but later moved to New York City, where he grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and received his education in the public schools. He attended Columbia University and N.Y.U. and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He eventually abandoned the notion of practicing law to become a songwriter. He served his apprenticeship as a writer of special material for vaudeville acts, and later established himself as a writer of songs for stage, screen and numerous musical revues. By the late 1920s, Parish was a well-regarded Tin Pan Alley ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stairway To The Stars
"Stairway to the Stars" is a popular song composed by Matty Malneck and Frank Signorelli, with lyrics by Mitchell Parish. It was based on a theme from Malneck and Signorelli's 1934 instrumental piece, "Park Avenue Fantasy." Hit recordings in 1939 were by Glenn Miller, Kay Kyser, Jimmy Dorsey and by Al Donohue. Notable recordings * Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, vocals by Ray Eberle (May 9, 1939) * Ella Fitzgerald and her Famous Orchestra (June 29, 1939) * The Ink Spots – 1939 NBC radio Broadcast (July 12, 1939) * Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra, vocals by Bob Eberly (1939) * Kay Kyser and his Orchestra, vocals by Harry Babbitt (1939) * Al Donahue and his Orchestra, vocals by Paula Kelly (1939) * Carmen Cavallaro – Decca (1947) * Dinah Washington with Chubby Jackson's Orchestra (1947) * Buddy DeFranco quartet – New York (1953) * Benny Goodman – An Album of Swing Classics (1955) * Bud Powell – ''Piano Interpretations by Bud Powell'' (1956) * Sarah Vaughan – ''At Mist ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Miki Yamanaka
Miki Yamanaka () (born 1990) is a Japanese jazz musician currently living in New York City. Miki Yamanaka lived in Kyoto until she was 10, when she moved to Kobe. She became interested in jazz while playing in her junior high school big band. She moved to New York in 2012 and took a compositional residency at the Kennedy Center in 2015. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she recorded the album Stairway to the Stars in her living room with Mark Turner and Orlando le Fleming. For her first gig after the pandemic, Yamanaka wore a kimono outfit to honor her mother; since then she has dressed in one every time she plays. Discography *Miki (2018, Cellar Live) *Human Dust Suite (2020, Outside In Music) *Stairway to the Stars "Stairway to the Stars" is a popular song composed by Matty Malneck and Frank Signorelli, with lyrics by Mitchell Parish. It was based on a theme from Malneck and Signorelli's 1934 instrumental piece, "Park Avenue Fantasy." Hit recordings in 19 ... (20 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |