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Sunrise In Different Dimensions
''Sunrise in Different Dimensions'' is a 1980 live jazz album by the Sun Ra Arkestra documenting a concert at the Gasthof Morhen in Willisau, Switzerland from February 24, 1980 which was released on the Hathut Records, hat Hut label. The album intermingles a variety of Sun Ra originals with covers of jazz standards. Critical response Critical response to the album has been largely positive, with some dissent. In a 1983 review of the album, ''The Boston Globe'' described it as a "tour de force", "one of Sun Ra's best." Scott Yanow in his Allmusic review characterized it as "one of the better examples of [Sun Ra's] late-period band." Ajay Heble, author of ''Landing on the Wrong Note: Jazz, Dissonance, and Critical Practice'', indicates that the album "''does'' seem to me to do justice to the energy of Ra's performances." The album is featured in the 2000 book ''The Essential Jazz Records: Modernism to Postmodernism'', where contributor Eric Thacker indicates that it is the cover song ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sun Ra
Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific output, and theatrical performances. For much of his career, Ra led "The Arkestra", an ensemble with an ever-changing name and flexible line-up. Born and raised in Alabama, Blount became involved in the Chicago jazz scene during the late 1940s. He soon abandoned his birth name, taking the name Le Sony'r Ra, shortened to Sun Ra (after Ra, the Egyptian god of the Sun). Claiming to be an alien from Saturn on a mission to preach peace, he developed a mythical persona and an idiosyncratic credo that made him a pioneer of Afrofuturism. Throughout his life he denied ties to his prior identity saying, "Any name that I use other than Ra is a pseudonym." His widely eclectic and avant-garde music echoed the entire history of jazz, from ragtime and ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley Crouch
Stanley Lawrence Crouch (December 14, 1945 – September 16, 2020) was an American poet, music and cultural critic, syndicated columnist, novelist, and biographer. He was known for his jazz criticism and his 2000 novel ''Don't the Moon Look Lonesome?'' Biography Stanley Lawrence Crouch was born in Los Angeles, the son of James and Emma Bea (Ford) Crouch. He was raised by his mother. In Ken Burns' 2005 television documentary ''Unforgivable Blackness'', Crouch said that his father was a "criminal" and that he once met the boxer Jack Johnson. As a child he was a voracious reader, having read the complete works of Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and many of the other classics of American literature by the time he finished high school. His mother told him of the experiences of her youth in east Texas and the black culture of the southern midwest, including the Kansas City jazz scene. He became an enthusiast for jazz in both the aesthetic and historical senses ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Take The "A" Train
"Take the 'A' Train" is a jazz standard by Billy Strayhorn that was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra. History The use of the Strayhorn composition as the signature tune was made necessary by a ruling in 1940 by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). When ASCAP raised its licensing fees for broadcast use, many ASCAP members, including Ellington, could no longer play their compositions over radio, as most music was played live on radio at the time. Ellington turned to Billy Strayhorn and son Mercer Ellington, who were registered with ASCAP's competitor BMI, to "write a whole new book for the band," Mercer recalled. "'A' Train" was one of many tunes written by Strayhorn, and was picked to replace "Sepia Panorama" as the band's signature song. Mercer recalled that he found the composition in a trash can after Strayhorn discarded a draft of it because it sounded too much like a Fletcher Henderson arrangement. The song was first recorded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limehouse Blues (song)
"Limehouse Blues" is a popular British song written by the London-based duo of Douglas Furber (lyrics) and Philip Braham (music). Evoking the Limehouse district, which pre-World War II was considered the Chinatown of London – with Chinese references heard in both the lyrics and the melody – the song premiered in the 1921 West End revue ''A to Z'' being sung by Teddie Gerard in a wordless melodramatic number featuring Gerard as a hostess in a Limehouse dance-hall fronting a brothel. A piano rendition was recorded for Ampico piano rolls by Ferde Grofé in June, 1922, as well as a Recording for the HMV label by the Queen's Dance Orchestra (with a young Jack Hylton on piano). Gertrude Lawrence, recruited to replace an ailing Beatrice Lillie in ''A to Z'', was reassigned the "Limehouse Blues" number which Lawrence encored when she made her 1924 Broadway debut in ''André Charlot's Revue''. Lawrence's Broadway performance of the "Limehouse Blues" number proved to be a "showstoppe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Half Nelson (Davis)
''Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet'' is a studio album by the Miles Davis quintet recorded in 1956 and released circa January 1960. Two sessions on May 11, 1956, and October 26 in the same year resulted in four albums—this one, '' Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet'', ''Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet'' and ''Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet''. Track 2 is a composition written for Davis by Eddie Vinson (see ''Blue Haze'' for more details). "Trane's Blues" (also known as "Vierd Blues", a tongue-in-cheek reference to Blue Note founder Francis Wolff's heavily accented verdict on it), also credited to Davis, is in fact a John Coltrane composition (originally titled "John Paul Jones", and from an earlier session led by bassist Paul Chambers; before the closing statement of theme, Coltrane and Davis play a bit of Charlie Parker's "The Hymn"). Background As his star rose in 1955, Davis formed a new quintet, featuring saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Red Garland, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lady Bird (composition)
"Lady Bird" is a sixteen-bar jazz standard by Tadd Dameron. This "celebrated" composition, "one of the most performed in modern jazz", was written around 1939, and released in 1948. Featuring, "a suave, mellow theme,"Giddins, Gary (2004). ''Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century'', p.468. . it is the origin of the Tadd Dameron turnaround (in C: CM7 E7 AM7 D7 CM7).Coker, et al (1982). ''Patterns for Jazz: A Theory Text for Jazz Composition and Improvisation'', p.118. . An example of Dameron's interest in keys and/or roots related by thirds, the piece is in binary form ( AABC) and features, through the use of ii-V turnarounds, movement toward three keys other than the tonic; E, A, and G. The first three four-measure phrases end with secondary ii-V's, while the last ends instead with the Tadd Dameron turnaround resolving to the tonic. : IM7 , IM7 , ii7/III , V7/III , IM7 , IM7 , ii7/VI , V7/VI , VIM7 , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
'Round Midnight (song)
"Round Midnight" (sometimes titled "Round About Midnight") is a 1943 composition by American jazz pianist Thelonious Monk that quickly became a jazz standard and has been recorded by a wide variety of artists. A version recorded by Monk's quintet was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1993. It is one of the most recorded jazz standards composed by a jazz musician. Composition and Monk's first recording It is thought that Monk composed the song sometime in 1940 or 1941. However, Monk's longtime manager Harry Colomby claims the pianist may have written an early version around 1936 (at the age of 19). The song was copyrighted September 24, 1943 in C minor under the title "I Need You So", with lyrics by a friend of Monk's named Thelma Murray. The first recording was made by Cootie Williams on August 22, 1944, after the pianist Bud Powell persuaded Williams to record the tune. Monk first recorded the song on November 21, 1947. It later appeared on the Blue Note album '' Genius of Mod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City on January 16, 1938, is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music." Goodman's bands started the careers of many jazz musicians. During an era of racial segregation, he led one of the first integrated jazz groups, his quartet and quintet. He performed nearly to the end of his life while exploring an interest in classical music. Early years Goodman was the ninth of twelve children born to poor Jewish emigrants from the Russian Empire. His father, David Goodman (1873–1926), came to the United States in 1892 from Warsaw in partitioned Poland and became a tailor. His mother, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swing Music
Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement. The danceable swing style of big bands and bandleaders such as Benny Goodman was the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1946, known as the swing era. The verb "to swing" is also used as a term of praise for playing that has a strong groove or drive. Musicians of the swing era include Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Harry James, Lionel Hampton, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and Django Reinhardt. Overview Swing has its roots in 1920s dance music ensembles, which began using new styles of written arrangements, incorporating rhythmic innovations pioneered by Louis Armstrong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horace Henderson
Horace W. Henderson (November 22, 1904 – August 29, 1988), the younger brother of Fletcher Henderson, was an American jazz pianist, organist, arranger, and bandleader. Henderson was born in Cuthbert, Georgia, United States. While later attending Wilberforce University he formed a band called the Collegians, which included Benny Carter and Rex Stewart. This band was later known as the Horace Henderson Orchestra and then as the Dixie Stompers. Henderson left it to work with Sammy Stewart, then in 1928 organized a new band called the Collegians. Don Redman took over this band in 1931; Henderson continued to work as the band's pianist and arranger before leaving to work for his brother. Fletcher Henderson's book contained about as many of Horace's arrangements as of Fletcher's. Although Horace worked continually, led bands, arranged, recorded, and composed into the 1980s, and although he is considered by many the more talented and skillful of the Henderson brothers, Fletcher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular. The term "big band" is also used to describe a genre of music, although this was not the only style of music played by big bands. Big bands started as accompaniment for dancing. In contrast to the typical jazz emphasis on improvisation, big bands relied on written compositions and arrangements. They gave a greater role to bandleaders, arrangers, and sections of instruments rather than soloists. Instruments Big bands generally have four sections: trumpets, trombones, saxophones, and a rhythm section of guitar, piano, double bass, and drums. The division in early big bands, from the 1920s to 1930s, was typically two or three trumpets, one or two trombones, three or four saxo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year."About Penguin – company history" , Penguin Books. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), Woolworths and other stores for Sixpence (British coin), sixpence, bringing high-quality fiction and non-fiction to the mass market. Its success showed that large audiences existed for serious books. It also affected modern British popular culture significantly through its books concerning politics, the arts, and science. Penguin Books is now an imprint (trade name), imprint of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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