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The Great American Songbook (Carmen McRae Album)
''The Great American Songbook'' is a 1972 live album by Carmen McRae, accompanied by a jazz quartet including Jimmy Rowles and Joe Pass. McRae was a great fan of Rowles and described him in the liner notes to the album as "the guy every girl singer in her right mind would like to work with". Rowles's humorous country and western song, "The Ballad of Thelonious Monk", is featured on the album. Reception Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Scott Yanow wrote that McRae "...had what was at the time a rare opportunity to record a live, spontaneous, jazz-oriented set. She sounds quite enthusiastic about both her accompaniment and the strong repertoire". Phyl Garland, reviewing the album for ''Ebony'' magazine, wrote that "this is one of the finest heaping portions of McRae in ages...it captures her banter between song all the wit of a mature woman rapping about how to make it in ''any'' situation." Garland described "If the Moon Turns Green" and "I Thought About You" as "masterpieces of d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carmen McRae
Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) was an American jazz singer. She is considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century and is remembered for her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretation of lyrics. Early life and education McRae was born in Harlem, New York City, United States. Her father, Osmond, and mother, Evadne (Gayle) McRae, were immigrants from Jamaica. She began studying piano when she was eight, and the music of jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington filled her home. When she was 17 years old, she met singer Billie Holiday. As a teenager McRae came to the attention of Teddy Wilson and his wife, the composer Irene Kitchings. One of McRae's early songs, "Dream of Life", was, through their influence, recorded in 1939 by Wilson’s long-time collaborator Billie Holiday.Brian Berger"Carmen McRae" HiLobrow, April 8, 2015. McRae considered Holiday to be her primary influence. Early career In her l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, '' Billboard'' magazine named her the second greatest jazz artist of the decade (2000–2009), establishing her as one of the best-selling artists of her time. Krall is the only jazz singer to have had eight albums debuting at the top of the ''Billboard'' Jazz Albums. To date, she has won three Grammy Awards and eight Juno Awards. She has also earned nine gold, three platinum, and seven multi-platinum albums. Early years Krall was born on November 16, 1964, in Nanaimo, British Columbia, the daughter of Adella A. (''née'' Wende), an elementary school teacher, and Stephen James "Jim" Krall, an accountant. Krall's only sibling, Michelle, is a former member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Krall's father played piano at home, and her mother sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?
"What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" is a song with lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman and original music written by Michel Legrand for the 1969 film ''The Happy Ending''. The song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song but lost out to "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head". The same title was used 25 years earlier by Ted Koehler and Burton Lane for their song for the 1944 film Hollywood Canteen. A Ted Weems recording of 1938 also has an identical title. Background Alan Bergman would recall that after Michel Legrand had written eight melodies which were somehow not viable for the film, Marilyn Bergman suggested the opening line "What are you doing the rest of your life?", and Legrand then completed the song's melody based on that phrase. Marilyn Bergman would later comment on the dual meanings of the phrase "What are you doing the rest of your life?" to the film: its title alludes to the marriage proposal Mary Spencer (played by Jean Simmons) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sammy Cahn
Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area. He and his collaborators had a series of hit recordings with Frank Sinatra during the singer's tenure at Capitol Records, but also enjoyed hits with Dean Martin, Doris Day and many others. He played the piano and violin, and won an Oscar four times for his songs, including the popular hit " Three Coins in the Fountain". Among his most enduring songs is "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", cowritten with Jule Styne in 1945. Life and career Cahn was born Samuel Cohen in the Lower East Side of New York City, the only son (he had four sisters) of Abraham and Elka Reiss Cohen, who were Jewish immigrants from Galicia, then ruled by Austria-Hungary. His sisters, Sadye, Pearl, Flor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Weston
Paul Weston (born Paul Wetstein; March 12, 1912 – September 20, 1996) was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor who worked in music and television from the 1930s to the 1970s, pioneering mood music and becoming known as "the Father of Mood Music". His compositions include popular music songs such as "I Should Care", " Day by Day", and "Shrimp Boats". He also wrote classical pieces, including "Crescent City Suite" and religious music, authoring several hymns and masses. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Weston had a keen interest in music from an early age and learned to play the piano. He was educated at Springfield High School, then attended Dartmouth College and Columbia University. At Dartmouth he formed his own band and toured with the college band. He joined Columbia's dance band, The Blue Lions, but was temporarily unable to perform following a rail accident, and did some arrangements while he recovered. He sold his first arrangements to Joe Haymes i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Axel Stordahl
Axel Stordahl (August 8, 1913 – August 30, 1963) was an American arranger who was active from the late 1930s through the 1950s. He is perhaps best known for his work with Frank Sinatra in the 1940s at Columbia Records. With his sophisticated orchestrations, Stordahl is credited with helping to bring pop arranging into the modern age. Early years Stordahl was born in Staten Island, New York, United States, to Norwegian immigrant parents. He began his career as a trumpeter in jazz bands that played around Long Island and the Catskills during the late 1920s and early 1930s. He also began arranging around this time, and in 1933 he joined Bert Bloch's orchestra in both capacities. Over the next couple of years, Stordahl sang on the side in a vocal trio dubbed the Three Esquires. Big bands In 1936, he joined Tommy Dorsey's new orchestra and soon became the band's main arranger. The same year appeared their first big hit, "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You". The tune quickly beca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Day By Day (1945 Song)
"Day by Day" is a popular song with music by Axel Stordahl and Paul Weston and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. 1946 recordings Chart versions in 1946 were by Frank Sinatra (recorded on August 22, 1945, and released in January 1946); Jo Stafford; Les Brown & His Orchestra (''Day By Day / Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief '', Columbia, 1946) - vocal: Doris Day.; and Bing Crosby with Mel Tormé and His Mel-Tones. Other recorded versions * The Four Freshmen, (Single, Capitol, 1955) - with orchestra conducted by Dick Reynolds, * Kimiko Kasai, (''Satain Dall'', CBS/Sony, 1972) - with Gil Evans Orchestra * Trudy Desmond (''Tailor Made'', 1991) * Grady Tate (''TNT - Grady Tate Sings'', 1991) * Stevie Holland (''More Than Words Can Say'', 2006) * Ernestine Anderson Ernestine Anderson (November 11, 1928 – March 10, 2016) was an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than six decades, she recorded over 30 albums. She was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She sang at Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Coates (songwriter)
Paul V. Coates (March 10, 1921 – November 16, 1968) was an American print and television journalist. He was known for his popular daily newspaper column and as the host of the syndicated tabloid-style television series ''Confidential File Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a promise usually executed through confidentiality agreements that limits the access or places restrictions on certain types of information. Legal confidentiality By law, lawyers are often required ...'', developed by Coates and Irvin Kershner (1923–2010). Coates suffered a massive stroke in 1966 which left the right side of his body paralyzed and his speech severely impaired. Initially given a 50% chance of survival, Coates made a recovery in less than a year, regaining his speech and returning to work in April, 1967. However, he died a year later. References External links * 1921 births 1968 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernie Hanighen
Bernard D. Hanighen (April 27, 1908 in Omaha, Nebraska – October 19, 1976 in New York City, New York) Attended Hackley School (Tarrytown, New York) - Class of 1926, also attended Harvard University - Class of 1930. He was an American songwriter and record producer best known for " When a Woman Loves a Man" and writing lyrics to the jazz composition " 'Round Midnight" which was composed by jazz musician Thelonious Monk. Hanighen also worked with Clarence Williams and Johnny Mercer. Songwriting career Hanighen composed lyrics for the 1946 Broadway musical ''Lute Song'', which starred Mary Martin and Yul Brynner, and which featured music by Raymond Scott. Bernie Hanighen and Cootie Williams collaborated to transform Thelonious Monk's bop masterpiece "'Round Midnight", creating what became a standard in the vocal canon thanks to performances by Mel Tormé, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson, Chris Connor, and Julie London. Producing Billie Holiday From ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, Porter defied his grandfather's wishes for him to practice law and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn to musical theatre. After a slow start, he began to achieve success in the 1920s, and by the 1930s he was one of the major songwriters for the Broadway musical stage. Unlike many successful Broadway composers, Porter wrote the lyrics as well as the music for his songs. After a serious horseback riding accident in 1937, Porter was left disabled and in constant pain, but he continued to work. His shows of the early 1940s did not contain the lasting hits of his best work of the 1920s and 1930s, but in 1948 he made a triumphant comeback with his most successful musical, ''Kiss Me, Kate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
At Long Last Love (song)
"At Long Last Love" is a popular song written by Cole Porter, for his 1938 musical '' You Never Know'', where it was introduced by Clifton Webb. Other recordings * Nancy Wilson, ''Gentle Is My Love ''Gentle Is My Love'' is a 1965 studio album by Nancy Wilson. It spent 24 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Top 200, peaking at No. 17, and reached No. 7 on the Hot R&B LPs chart. The album contains a mixture of standards from the Great American Song ...'', 1965 References {{authority control Songs written by Cole Porter Frank Sinatra songs Lena Horne songs Ella Fitzgerald songs 1938 songs Songs from Cole Porter musicals ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallichs. He is best known as a Tin Pan Alley lyricist, but he also composed music, and was a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as songs written by others from the mid-1930s through the mid-1950s. Mercer's songs were among the most successful hits of the time, including " Moon River", " Days of Wine and Roses", " Autumn Leaves", and "Hooray for Hollywood". He wrote the lyrics to more than 1,500 songs, including compositions for movies and Broadway shows. He received nineteen Oscar nominations, and won four Best Original Song Oscars. Early life Mercer was born in Savannah, Georgia, where one of his first jobs, aged 10, was sweeping floors at the original 1919 location of Leopold's Ice Cream. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
