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Swingin' Easy
''Swingin' Easy'' is a 1957 studio album by the American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan. On the second chorus of " All of Me" Vaughan bops in "a quite extraordinary fashion, covering more than two octaves" (from the sleeve notes). " Pennies from Heaven" is taken slower than is usual and Vaughan creates a brand new melody the second time around, a kind of descant improvising on the original tune. Eight of the tracks, recorded on April 2, 1954, with John Malachi on piano and Joe Benjamin on bass, were originally released that year on a 10-inch LP entitled ''Images''. Critical reception The initial ''Billboard'' review from November 1957 said the album was a "commentary on Miss Vaughan's high level of professionalism and ease in jazz environment. Relaxed quality is keynote here as the singer makes the difficult sound easy." The ''Billboard'' review highlighted "Words Can't Describe", which noted that it was given an "especially cogent reading". Mentioning “Shulie a Bop”, “Lover M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine Grammy Awards. She was given an NEA Jazz Masters Award in 1989. Critic Scott Yanow wrote that she had "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century". Early life Vaughan was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Asbury "Jake" Vaughan, a carpenter by trade who played guitar and piano, and Ada Vaughan, a laundress who sang in the church choir, migrants from Virginia. The Vaughans lived in a house on Brunswick Street in Newark for Vaughan's entire childhood. Jake was deeply religious. The family was active in New Mount Zion Baptist Church at 186 Thomas Street. Vaughan began piano lessons at the age of seven, sang in the church choir, and played piano for rehearsals and services. She developed an early love for popular music on records and the radio. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard (magazine)
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music industry. Its music charts include the Hot 100, the 200, and the Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in different genres of music. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows. ''Billboard'' was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs, and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. ''Billboard'' began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox, phonograph, and radio became commonplace. Many topics it covered were spun-off int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Tennyson
William "Bill" J. Tennyson Jr. (1923–1959) was a notable American jazz musician. Career A Louisiana Creole, Tennyson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and his father was born in Donaldsonville, Louisiana. After his mother died when Tennyson was aged three, he and his two younger siblings moved to live with their grandmother, Mathilda, who had formerly owned a sugar cane plantation near the Bayous of Louisiana. "Bill" was a major part of Jazz and the Harlem Renaissance period. He attended a university in Louisiana at age 13, was a self-taught musician and, aged 16, was one of the first of color to attend the world-renowned Juilliard School of Music. He was an ASCAP member from 1950. During the latter part of his career, he partnered with Fay Tishman to found what would have been one of the few black music publishing companies (Tishman went on to become president of ASCAP's New York branch). In addition he wrote and composed for artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Sar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seymour Simons
Seymour Simons (January 14, 1896 – February 12, 1949) was an American pianist, composer, orchestra leader, and radio producer. Biography Simons born in Detroit, Michigan, was originally trained in engineering and went to work as a research engineer at a Detroit motor plant, but the First World War intervened and he spent it in aeronautical research Simons returned to Detroit after service in World War I and built a reputation as a pianist and songwriter, providing material for stage stars Nora Bayes and Elsie Janis. In 1919, he wrote "Just Like a Gypsy" with Bayes, who, in addition to being a popular entertainer, was already a songwriter best known for " Shine on Harvest Moon", written with her performer/husband Jack Norworth in 1910. "Just Like a Gypsy" was recorded in 1941 by Maxine Sullivan and in 1946 by Peggy Lee. A collaboration in 1926 with Richard A. Whiting produced “Hello, Baby,” recorded by Ruth Etting, and the popular “Breezin’ Along With the Breez ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerald Marks
Gerald Marks (October 13, 1900 – January 27, 1997) was an American composer from Saginaw, Michigan. He was best known for the song " All of Me" which he co-wrote with Seymour Simons and has been recorded about 2,000 times. He also wrote the songs "That's What I Want for Christmas" for the film ''Stowaway'' starring Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ..., and "Is It True What They Say About Dixie" recorded by Al Jolson and Rudy Vallee. The success of his song " All of Me" led him to become a member of ASCAP, and he remained active in the organization for decades, serving on its board of directors from 1970 to 1981. Gerald Marks was married to Edna Berger, a successful newspaper woman and labor organizer. She preceded him in death. References * Dav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Van Heusen
James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Life and career Born in Syracuse, New York, Van Heusen began writing music while at high school. He renamed himself at age 16, after the shirt makers Phillips-Van Heusen, to use as his on-air name during local shows. His close friends called him "Chet".Coppula, C. (2014). ''Jimmy Van Heusen: Swinging on a Star''. Nashville: Twin Creek Books. Jimmy was raised Methodist. Studying at Cazenovia Seminary and Syracuse University, he became friends with Jerry Arlen, the younger brother of Harold Arlen. With the elder Arlen's help, Van Heusen wrote songs for the Cotton Club revue, including "Harlem Hospitality". He then became a staff pianist for some of the Tin Pan Alley publishers, and wrote "It's the Dreamer in Me" (1938) with lyrics by Jimmy Dorsey. C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonny Burke
Joseph Francis "Sonny" Burke (March 22, 1914 – May 31, 1980) was an American musical arranger, composer, Big Band leader and producer. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University, where he had formed and led the jazz big band known as the Duke Ambassadors. Background During the 1930s and 1940s, Burke was a big band arranger in New York City, worked with Sam Donahue's band, and during the 1940s and 1950s worked as an arranger for the Charlie Spivak and Jimmy Dorsey bands, among others. In 1955, he wrote, along with Peggy Lee, the songs to Disney's '' Lady and the Tramp''. He also wrote songs with John Elliot for Disney's '' Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom'', which won the 1953 Oscar for Best Short Subject (Cartoons).Cotter, Bill, ''The Wonderful World of Disney Television: A Complete History'', p. 549, Hyperion, 1997. He wrote the music for number of popular songs, including " Black Coffee" and "Midnight Sun", co-written with jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. The song's l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polka Dots And Moonbeams
"Polka Dots and Moonbeams" is a popular song with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke, published in 1940. It was Frank Sinatra's first hit recorded with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The song is one of the top 100 most-frequently recorded jazz standards with arrangements by Gil Evans and others and notable recordings by Bill Evans, Chet Baker, Blue Mitchell,Dave Gregg. "Off the record" (music review column), ''Joplin Globe'' (Joplin, MO), May 21, 1967, ''Showtime'' magazine section, page 9: ''"... Blue can play with tenderness without slopping over into mawkish sentimentality. Just listen to his treatment of the gorgeous ballad, 'Polka Dots and Moonbeams.' " ''. Wes Montgomery, Sarah Vaughan (for the 1957 album ''Swingin' Easy''), Bud Powell, Lester Young, Gerry Mulligan, Lou Donaldson, Dexter Gordon and many others [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abe Lyman
Abe Lyman (August 4, 1897 – October 23, 1957) was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including '' Your Hit Parade''. His name at birth was Abraham Simon. He and his brother, Mike, changed their last name to Lyman because they both thought it sounded better. Abe learned to play the drums when he was young, and at the age of 14 he had a job as a drummer in a Chicago café. Around 1919, he was regularly playing music with two other notable future big band leaders, Henry Halstead and Gus Arnheim, in California. In Los Angeles Mike Lyman opened the Sunset, a night club popular with such film stars as Mary Pickford, Norma Talmadge, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. When Abe's nine-piece band first played at the Sunset, it was a success, but the club closed after celebrities signed contracts stating they were not to be seen at clubs. For an engagement at the Coco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973) was an American lyricist and Hollywood film producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 for '' An American in Paris'' and in 1958 for '' Gigi''. Both films were musicals. In addition, he produced and was also a co-lyricist for the now-iconic film ''Singin' in the Rain''. Early life Freed was born to a Jewish family in Charleston, South Carolina, and wrote poetry while a high schooler at Phillips Exeter Academy. After graduating in 1914, he began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago. After meeting Minnie Marx, he sang as part of the act of her sons, the Marx Brothers, on the vaudeville circuit, and also wrote material for the brothers. He soon began to write songs, and was eventually hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. For years, he wrote lyrics for numerous films, many set to music by Nacio Herb Brown. Career In 1939, after working (uncredited) in the role of associate producer on ''The Wizar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gus Arnheim
Gus Arnheim (September 4, 1897 – January 19, 1955) was an American pianist and an early popular band leader. He is noted for writing several songs with his first hit being "I Cried for You" from 1923. He was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s. He also had a few small acting roles. Career Arnheim was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. In 1919, three men who all would become famous band leaders played together at the Sunset Inn in Santa Monica, California. Arnheim played piano, Abe Lyman played the drums, and Henry Halstead played violin. Arnheim grew up in Chicago and at one point was accompanist to vaudevillian Sophie Tucker. When Lyman organized a full dance orchestra, Arnheim came along as pianist, leaving to start his own group in 1927. Arnheim's orchestra made at least three film short subjects for Warner Brothers' Vitaphone Corporation in 1928–29. Arnheim first recorded for OKeh in 1928–1929, when he signed with Victor in 1929 and stayed through 1933 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Cried For You
"I Cried for You" is a pop and jazz standard with music written by Gus Arnheim and Abe Lyman, with lyrics by Arthur Freed. It was introduced by Abe Lyman and His Orchestra in 1923. The recording by Benny Krueger and His Orchestra the same year peaked at number 2 for two weeks and remained in the charts for ten weeks at large. Also in 1923 another interpretation of the song by the Columbians reached number 14 for one week. 15 years later in 1938 two new recordings peaked both number 13 in the ''Billboard'' charts, Bunny Berigan and His Orchestra with Kathleen Lane on vocals and an interpretation by Bing Crosby (a minor hit for him). Glen Gray and his Casa Loma Orchestra followed the next year, peaking at number 6, and in 1942 Harry James' recording was the last to get into the ''Billboard'' charts, peaking at number 19. ''I Cried for You'' was also featured in several films including the musical short ''Alladin from Manhattan'' (1936) (starring Ruth Etting), '' The Women'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
