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Smalls Paradise
Smalls Paradise (often called Small's Paradise and Smalls' Paradise, and not to be confused with Smalls Jazz Club), was a nightclub in Harlem, New York City. Located in the basement of 2294 Seventh Avenue at 134th Street, it opened in 1925 and was owned by Ed Smalls ''(né'' Edwin Alexander Smalls; 1882–1976). At the time of the Harlem Renaissance, Smalls Paradise was the only one of the well-known Harlem night clubs to be owned by an African-American and integrated. Other major Harlem night clubs admitted only white patrons unless the person was an African-American celebrity. The entertainment at Smalls Paradise was not limited to the stage; waiters danced the Charleston or roller-skated as they delivered orders to customers. Waiters were also known to vocalize during the club's floor shows. Unlike most of the Harlem clubs which closed between 3 and 4am, Smalls was open all night, offering a breakfast dance which featured a full floor show beginning at 6am. After 23 year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seventh Avenue (Manhattan)
Seventh Avenue – co-named Fashion Avenue in the Garment District, Manhattan, Garment District and known as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard north of Central Park – is a thoroughfare on the West Side of the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is southbound below Central Park and a two-way street north of the park. Seventh Avenue originates in the West Village, Manhattan, West Village at Clarkson Street, where Varick Street becomes Seventh Avenue South (which becomes Seventh Avenue proper after the road crosses Greenwich Avenue and 11th Street (Manhattan), West 11th Street). It is interrupted by Central Park from 59th Street (Manhattan), 59th to 110th Street (Manhattan), 110th Street. Artisans' Gate is the 59th Street exit from Central Park to Seventh Avenue. North of Warriors' Gate at the north end of the Park, the avenue carries traffic in both directions through Harlem, where it is called Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. Addresse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Johnson (bandleader)
Charlie "Fess" Johnson (November 21, 1891, Philadelphia – December 13, 1959, New York City) was an American jazz bandleader and pianist. Johnson led an ensemble called the Paradise Ten, who played at Smalls Paradise from 1925–1935, and recorded five times between 1925 and 1929. Though Johnson was a capable pianist, he rarely soloed on his recordings. The Paradise Ten ensemble included trumpeters Jabbo Smith, Leonard Davis, Sidney DeParis, and Thomas Morris, trombonists Charlie Irvis and Jimmy Harrison, alto saxophonists Benny Carter and Edgar Sampson, and tenor saxophonist Benny Waters Benjamin Waters (January 23, 1902, Brighton, Baltimore, Maryland – August 11, 1998, Columbia, Maryland) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. known in part for the longevity of his career. He began on organ, then switched to cl .... Johnson led the ensemble until 1938; following this he freelanced in various ensembles until he retired owing to health problems in the 1950 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddy Rich
Bernard "Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He discovered his affinity for jazz music at a young age and began drumming at the age of two. He began playing jazz in 1937, working with acts such as Bunny Berigan, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, and Harry James. From 1942 to 1944, Rich served in the U.S. Marines. From 1945 to 1948, he led the Buddy Rich Orchestra. In 1966, he recorded a big-band style arrangement of songs from ''West Side Story''. He found lasting success in 1966 with the formation of the Buddy Rich Big Band, also billed as the Buddy Rich Band and The Big Band Machine. Rich was known for his virtuoso technique, power, and speed. He was an advocate of the traditional grip, though he occasionally used matched grip when playing the toms. Despite h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombone playing. His theme song was "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You". His technical skill on the trombone gave him renown among other musicians. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey. After Dorsey broke with his brother in the mid-1930s, he led an extremely successful band from the late 1930s into the 1950s. He is best remembered for standards such as "Opus No. 1, Opus One", "Song of India (song), Song of India", "Marie", "On Treasure Island", and his biggest hit single, "I'll Never Smile Again". Early life Born in Mahanoy Plane, Pennsylvania, Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. was the second of four children born to Thomas Francis Dorsey Sr., a bandleader, and Theresa (née Langton) Dorsey. He and Jimmy, his older brother by slightly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glenn Miller
Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Army Air Forces, US Army Air Forces. Glenn Miller Orchestra, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was one of the most popular and successful bands of the 20th century and the big band era. His military group, the Major Glenn Miller Army Air Forces Orchestra, was also popular and successful. Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was the best-selling recording band from 1939 to 1942. It did not have a string section, but did have a slap bass in the rhythm section. It was also a touring band that played multiple radio broadcasts nearly every day. Their best-selling records include Miller's iconic theme song"Moonlight Serenade"and the first gold record ever made, "Chattanooga Choo Choo". The following tunes are also on that best-seller list: "In the Moo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hot Feet Club
The Hot Feet Club was a popular nightclub in New York City that operated from 1928 until 1933, approximately. The mob-controlled speakeasy attracted "some of the best crowds" of the day, such as boxing champion Gene Tunney and Mayor Jimmy Walker. Like some other clubs, it was racially segregated, with mostly white audiences coming to see mostly black performers. It opened at 11 p.m. but didn't really get going until later. Some performances were broadcast from 1:00 to 1:30 a.m. At different times, bands led by Otto Hardwick and Elmer Snowden were featured. Some of the greatest singers and musicians of the time performed at the club, including Alberta Hunter, pianist and composer Fats Waller, and jazz drummer Chick Webb. With a well-to-do clientele, the performers were well paid, sometimes making $10-15 or as much as $30 in tips per night, equivalent to a week's salary at the time. The relatively small club was located in a storefront at 142 West Houston Street, on the north si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elmer Snowden
Elmer Chester Snowden (October 9, 1900 – May 14, 1973) was an American banjo player of the jazz age. He also played guitar and, in the early stages of his career, all the reed instruments. He contributed greatly to jazz in its early days as both a player and a bandleader, and launched the careers of many top musicians. Biography Elmer Snowden was born in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, to Gertude Snowden, and had a brother, James. His mother worked as a laundress, but by the time of the 1917 World War I draft registration, a month before his 17th birthday, he was already listing his occupation as "musician," while living with his mother, and the 1920 Federal Census lists him still living at home, employed as a "musician in a dance hall." Snowden was the original leader of the Washingtonians, a group he brought to New York City from the capital in 1923. Unable to gain a booking, Snowden sent for Duke Ellington, who was with the group when it recorded three test sides for V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent states, Berlin is surrounded by the State of Brandenburg and contiguous with Potsdam, Brandenburg's capital. Berlin's urban area, which has a population of around 4.5 million, is the second most populous urban area in Germany after the Ruhr. The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has around 6.2 million inhabitants and is Germany's third-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr and Rhine-Main regions. Berlin straddles the banks of the Spree, which flows into the Havel (a tributary of the Elbe) in the western borough of Spandau. Among the city's main topographical features are the many lakes in the western and southeastern boroughs formed by the Spree, Havel and Dahme, the largest of which is Lake Müggelsee. Due to its l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chocolate Kiddies
The ''Chocolate Kiddies'' is a three-act Broadway-styled revue that, in its inaugural production – from May to September 1925 – toured Berlin, Hamburg, Stockholm, and Copenhagen. The show never actually performed on Broadway, but was conceived, assembled, and rehearsed there. ''Chocolate Kiddies'' commissioned new works, but was also an amalgamation and adaptation of several leading African American acts in New York, specifically Harlem, intended to showcase exemplary jazz and African American artistry of the Harlem Renaissance. Early jazz was uniquely American; and, while New Orleans enjoys popularity for being its birthplace, the jazz emerging from Harlem during the Renaissance had, on its own merits, captured international intrigue. History The impetus for producing the ''Chocolate Kiddies'' was partly a culmination or outgrowth of (i) the success of a Harlem (and Atlantic City) jazz band led by Sam Wooding (1895–1985) and a floor show, initially developed for the 1923 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Wooding
Samuel David Wooding (17 June 1895 – 1 August 1985) was an American jazz pianist, arranger and bandleader living and performing in Europe and the United States. Career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, between 1921 and 1923 Wooding was a member of Johnny Dunn's Original Jazz Hounds, one of several Dunn-led line-ups that recorded in New York around that time for the Columbia label. Wooding led several big bands in the United States and abroad. 1925 European tour Wooding and his band had developed a floor show for the 1923 opening of the Nest Club, and in 1925, while performing at Smalls Paradise, a Russian-American impresario booked Wooding and his band – as "the Chocolate Kiddies" – as well as his revue performers for a European tour, performing in Berlin, Hamburg, Stockholm, and Copenhagen. The cast of ''Chocolate Kiddies'' included singer Adelaide Hall, The Three Eddies, singer Lottie Gee, Rufus Greenlee and Thaddeus Drayton, Bobbie and Babe G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic temperament hampered his career, and not until the late 1940s did he earn wide acclaim. Bechet spent much of his later life in France. Biography Early life Bechet was born in New Orleans in 1897 to a middle-class Creole of color family. Bechet's father Omar was both a shoemaker and a flute player, and all four of his brothers were musicians as well. His older brother, Leonard Victor Bechet, was a full-time dentist and a part-time trombonist and bandleader. Bechet learned and mastered several musical instruments that were kept around the house (he began on the cornet), mostly by teaching himself; he decided to specialize in the clarinet (which he played almost exclusively until about 1919). At the age of six, he started to perform w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sidney De Paris
Sidney De Paris (May 30, 1905 – September 13, 1967) was an American jazz trumpeter. His brother was Wilbur de Paris. He was a member of Charlie Johnson's Paradise Ten (1926–1931), worked with Don Redman (1932–1936 and 1939), followed by periods with Zutty Singleton (1939–1941), Benny Carter (1940–41), and Art Hodes (1941). De Paris recorded with Jelly Roll Morton (1939) and Sidney Bechet (1940), and was part of the Panassie sessions in 1938. From 1947, and throughout the 1950s, he performed almost exclusively with his brother, Wilbur. He suffered from ill health in the latter years of his life, before he died in September 1967, at the age of 62. Partial discography * "I've Found A New Baby" b/w "Black And Blue" - Commodore Records 78 rpm 552 (1940s) - as De Paris Brothers Orchestra featuring Wilbur de Paris, with Edmond Hall, Clyde Hart, Billy Taylor and Specs Powell * ''Deparis Dixie'' (Blue Note, 1944) * ''Jamming in Jazz'' (Blue Note, 1944) * ''Sidney Deparis' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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