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SuperJazz Big Band
The Magic City Jazz Orchestra (MCJO) is an American jazz ensemble which was founded in 1999 as a spin-off of the SuperJazz Big Band (formerly UAB SuperJazz) by Birmingham, Alabama jazz pianist and vocalist Ray Reach. The mission of the group is to "...perform and record big band jazz music written by well known but under-recorded jazz artists." (From the Mission Statement of the MCJO bylaws.) History The SuperJazz Big Band (formerly UAB SuperJazz) was founded in the 1970s by several Birmingham, Alabama musicians who were interested in big band jazz, including Charles Ard, Mallory Pierce, Sonny Harris, Bernie Bell, and Dr. Everett Lawler. Initially, the band met and rehearsed at Boutwell Recording Studio in Birmingham. Later, the founding members of SuperJazz decided to affiliate with the newly formed Music Department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and subsequently became the first performing musical ensemble connected with UAB. After a 20-plus year associat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Panion
Henry Panion, III is an American composer, arranger, conductor, educator, and Professor in the Department of Music at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Panion has produced, arranged and conducted for a number of noted artists, such as Stevie Wonder, The Winans, Chet Atkins, Ellis Marsalis, Jr. with thSuperJazz Big Band Eugenia Zukerman, Aretha Franklin, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Chaka Khan, the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, and American Idol winners Carrie Underwood and Ruben Studdard. Panion founded thUAB Recording Studio where award-winning recordings by such groups as thUAB Gospel Choirand thUAB Jazz Ensemblehave been produced. Panion received the Civic and Cultural Advancement Award from the Congressional Black Caucus Sept. 25, 2009 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.source Selected discography * Stevie Wonder. ''"Natural Wonder"'' (1995) Arranged and conducted by Henry Panion. * Ellis Marsalis and the SuperJazz Big Band. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Reach
Raymond Everett Reach, Jr. (born August 3, 1948) is an American pianist, vocalist, guitarist, composer, arranger, music producer, and educator, named by AL.com as one of "30 Alabamians who changed jazz history." He serves as President and CEO of Ray Reach Music and Magic City Music Productions. Reach has performed and recorded in various genres, including pop, R&B, Motown/soul, gospel, rock, classic rock, country (contemporary and traditional), contemporary Christian, classical, and jazz music, but is perhaps best known for his work in jazz, combining jazz piano stylings with Sinatra-style vocals. He resides in Birmingham, Alabama. Career Reach is a member of several active performing and recording groups, including the Magic City Jazz Orchestra (of which he is the founding director), the Ray Reach Orchestra, the Night Flight Big Band, and Cleveland Eaton and the Alabama Allstars. He leads his own group, Ray Reach and Friends, and is a former member of the SuperJazz Big Ban ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny O'Neal
Johnny O'Neal (born October 10, 1956 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American neo-bop jazz pianist and vocalist. His playing ranges from the technically virtuosic to the tenderest of ballad interpretations. Though unique in style, he is influenced by many jazz elders, including Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum. He has led many recording dates with musicians such as Russell Malone and many others. He was a 1997 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Life and career In 1974, O'Neal moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he worked as a full-time musician. In Birmingham he worked with local jazz musicians, such as Jerry Grundhofer, Dave Amaral, Cleveland Eaton, and Ray Reach. He moved to New York City to perform with Clark Terry in 1981, and also landed a regular job at the Blue Note, accompanying such musicians as Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Nancy Wilson, Joe Pass and Kenny Burrell. He was a member of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers for two years from 1982 to 1983 and made his C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neil McLean (saxophonist)
Neil McLean is an American saxophonist now residing in Tyler, Texas. As a member of the Henry Kimbrell Group, Ray Reach and Friends, the SuperJazz Big Band and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra, he worked with numerous notable performers, including Dionne Warwick, Ella Fitzgerald, Ernie Watts, Lou Marini, Ellis Marsalis and many others. For many years, while residing in Birmingham, Alabama, Neil established himself as one of the premier saxophonists in the Southeast. His arrangements for the SuperJazz Big Band are among the finest performed by that venerable ensemble. McLean was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1983. Selected discography * Ray Reach and Friends. ''"Especially For You"'' (1994). Jazz quartet. Available at CDBaby.com. * Ellis Marsalis and the SuperJazz Big Band. ''"UAB SuperJazz, featuring Ellis Marsalis"'' (2001) (Co-produced by Ray Reach and Henry Panion), recorded at the Alys Stephens Center. * Lou Marini and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra. ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saturday Night Live Band
The Saturday Night Live Band (referred to in the closing credits as The Live Band) is the house band of the NBC television program '' Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Role on ''Saturday Night Live'' The band consists of mostly jazz, R&B, and some rock musicians and features a strong horn section. They normally play the opening theme music (after the cold opening), musical pieces in between commercial breaks, and the closing theme music "Closing Theme (Waltz in A)," written by founding member Howard Shore. Often, the band will provide the music to a sketch when necessary. Band leaders and musical directors Musician and future Academy Award winning film composer Howard Shore was the original musical director and bandleader from 1975 until 1980. Singer and songwriter Kenny Vance (who appeared previously as a musical guest on the May 21, 1977 episode) became the musical director for the show's sixth season (1980–81). Original band member and trombonist Tom Malone took o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Williams (trumpeter)
Mike Williams is an American jazz and big band trumpeter residing in Lapeer, Michigan. He is most noted as the lead trumpeter for the Count Basie Orchestra, an esteemed chair which he held without interruption for more than 21 years. Mike can be heard on numerous Count Basie Orchestra recordings (some of them Grammy Award winners), including the recent ''"Basie Is Back"'' (recorded live in Japan) and the Grammy nominated ''" Ray Sings, Basie Swings,"'' on which he was a featured soloist. As a member of the Basie Band, he has performed in all 50 states and 40 countries with such notable names as Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, George Benson, Tony Bennett and Diane Schuur. Mike is a native of Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended the University of North Texas College of Music, where he studied with noted trumpeter Don Jacoby, and was a member of the famous One O'Clock Lab Band. In addition to touring and recording with Count Bas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Count Basie Orchestra
The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936. Despite a brief disbandment at the beginning of the 1950s, the band survived long past the Big Band era itself and the death of Basie in 1984. It continues under the direction of trumpeter Scotty Barnhart. Originally including such musicians as Buck Clayton and Lester Young in the line-up, the band in the 1950s and 1960s made use of the work of such arrangers as Neal Hefti and featured musicians such as Thad Jones and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. Its recordings of this era included collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. History Early years Count Basie arrived in Kansas City, Missouri in 1927, playing on the Theater Owners Bookers Association (TOBA) circuit. After playing with Walter Page's Blue Devils, in 1929 he joined rival band leader Bennie Moten's band. Up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album '' The In Crowd'' earned Lewis critical praise and the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance. His best known singles include " The In Crowd", "Wade in the Water", and " Sun Goddess". Until 2009, he was the host of the ''Ramsey Lewis Morning Show'' on the Chicago radio station WNUA. Lewis was also active in musical education in Chicago. He founded the Ramsey Lewis Foundation, established the Ravinia's Jazz Mentor Program, and served on the board of trustees for the Merit School of Music and The Chicago High School for the Arts. Life and career Ramsey Lewis was born on May 27, 1935, in Chicago to Ramsey Lewis Sr. and Pauline Lewis. He began taking piano lessons at the age of four. As a young man, Lewis played with a number of local e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleveland Eaton
Cleveland Josephus Eaton II (August 31, 1939July 5, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist, producer, arranger, composer, publisher, and head of his own record company in Fairfield, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. His most famous accomplishments were playing with the Ramsey Lewis Trio and the Count Basie Orchestra. His 1975 recording ''Plenty Good Eaton'' is considered a classic in the funk music genre. He was inducted into both the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Biography Eaton began studying music at the age of five, and by the time he was fifteen, he had mastered the piano, trumpet, and saxophone. He began playing bass when a teacher allowed him to take one home, spending nearly every waking hour learning the instrument. This led him to become what many called one of the best and most versatile jazz bassists in the business. Eaton came from a music-loving family, including an elder sister who studied at both Fisk University and the Juilliar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue notes of jazz and the blues. Originally dedicated to recording traditional jazz and small group swing, the label began to switch its attention to modern jazz around 1947. From there, Blue Note grew to become one of the most prolific, influential and respected jazz labels of the mid-20th century, noted for its role in facilitating the development of hard bop, post-bop and avant-garde jazz, as well as for its iconic modernist art direction. History Historically, Blue Note has principally been associated with the " hard bop" style of jazz (mixing bebop with other forms of music including soul, blues, rhythm and blues and gospel), but also recorded essential albums in the avant-garde and free styles of jazz. Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Belden
James Robert Belden (October 31, 1956 – May 20, 2015) was an American saxophonist, arranger, composer, bandleader, and producer. As a composer he may be best known for his Grammy Award winning orchestral jazz recording, ''Black Dahlia'' (2001). As producer, he was mostly associated with the remastering of recordings by trumpeter Miles Davis for Columbia Records. Biography Belden, born in Evanston, Illinois, grew up in the Charleston, South Carolina suburb of Goose Creek. He briefly attended the University of South Carolina where he met composer Jay Knowles who introduced him to the music of Gil Evans. He then studied saxophone and composition at the University of North Texas before joining the Woody Herman band. He recorded his first album ''Treasure Island'' in 1990. This was followed by a series of adventurous albums featuring jazz-tinged arrangements of contemporary pop songs culminating with ''Black Dahlia'' in 2001. In 2008, he arranged and produced '' Miles from I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Wheat
Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;United States *Gary (Tampa), Florida * Gary, Maryland *Gary, Minnesota *Gary, South Dakota *Gary, West Virginia *Gary – New Duluth, a neighborhood in Duluth, Minnesota *Gary Air Force Base, San Marcos, Texas * Gary City, Texas Ships * USS ''Gary'' (DE-61), a destroyer escort launched in 1943 * USS ''Gary'' (CL-147), scheduled to be a light cruiser, but canceled prior to construction in 1945 * USS ''Gary'' (FFG-51), a frigate, commissioned in 1984 * USS ''Thomas J. Gary'' (DE-326), a destroyer escort commissioned in 1943 People and fictional characters * Gary (surname), including a list of people with the name *Gary (rapper), South Korean rapper and entertainer * Gary (Argentine singer), Argentine singer of cuarteto songs Other uses *'' Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
