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Twisted (Annie Ross Song)
"Twisted" is a 1952 vocalese song with lyrics by Annie Ross, set to a tenor saxophone solo of the same name by Wardell Gray that was recorded in 1949. It has been covered by Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell, and many others. Background "Twisted" is a whimsical account of the protagonist's insanity that satirises psychoanalysis. In 1952, Ross met Prestige Records owner Bob Weinstock, who asked her to write lyrics to a jazz solo, in a similar way to King Pleasure, a practice that would later be known as vocalese. The next day, she presented him with "Twisted", a treatment of saxophonist Wardell Gray's 1949 composition of the same name, a classic example of the genre. She later said of the inspiration for the song: The song, first released in 1952 and later collected on the album ''King Pleasure Sings/Annie Ross Sings'', was an underground hit, and resulted in her winning '' DownBeat''s New Star award. Ross released a second version with the vocalese trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wardell Gray
Wardell Gray (February 13, 1921 – May 25, 1955) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who straddled the swing and bebop periods. Biography Early years Gray was born in Oklahoma City, the youngest of four children. He spent his early childhood years in Oklahoma, before he and his family moved to DetroitJoop Visser, "Dexter Gordon: Settin' the Pace", Proper Records, p23 in 1929. In early 1935, Gray began attending Northeastern High School, then transferred to Cass Technical High School, noted for having Donald Byrd, Lucky Thompson and Al McKibbon as alumni. He left in 1936, before graduating. Advised by his brother-in-law Junior Warren, as a teenager he started on the clarinet, but after hearing Lester Young on record with Count Basie, he was inspired to switch to tenor saxophone. Gray's first musical job was in Isaac Goodwin's small band, a part-time outfit that played local dances. When auditioning for another job, he was heard by Dorothy Patton, a young pianist who wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Court And Spark
''Court and Spark'' is the sixth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Released in January 1974, it infuses the folk rock style of her previous albums with jazz elements. It was an immediate commercial and critical success—and remains her most successful album. It reached No. 2 in the United States and No. 1 in Canada and eventually received a double platinum certification by the RIAA, the highest of Mitchell's career. It also reached the Top 20 in the UK and was voted the best album of the year for 1974 in ''The Village Voice'' Pazz & Jop Critics Poll. In 2020, it was ranked at number 110 in ''Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Background Mitchell did not release a new album in 1973, the first year she had not done so in her professional career. Her previous offering, ''For the Roses'', was released in November 1972 to critical and commercial success, and Mitchell decided to spend the whole of the next year writing and recording a new album t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New Journeymen
The Journeymen were an American folk music trio in the early 1960s, comprising John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, and Dick Weissman. Formation and career John Phillips and Scott McKenzie (born Philip Blondheim) were childhood friends and had sung together in various groups, including the Abstracts and the Smoothies, during the 1950s. By early 1961, they were singing in clubs in Greenwich Village, New York City, alongside singer, songwriter and banjo player Dick Weissman. As a trio, The Journeymen began performing together in Gerdes Folk City nightclub, and soon won a five-month residency there. Their manager, Frank Werber, who also managed the Kingston Trio, won them a contract with Capitol Records, and they soon recorded their first self-titled LP, comprising traditional songs and two written by Phillips. Phillips turned down Werber's suggestion that he join the Kingston Trio after Dave Guard left, and continued to work with McKenzie and Weissman. The group's virtuosity in sing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Never Never Land (Jane Monheit Album)
''Never Never Land'' is the debut album by jazz singer Jane Monheit, recorded when she was 22 years old. At AllMusic, critic David Adler wrote that her voice on this album was "as close to flawless as a human can get". She was accompanied by jazz musicians Bucky Pizzarelli, Ron Carter, Hank Crawford, and Kenny Barron. The album includes cover versions of the standards " More Than You Know", " My Foolish Heart", and " Twisted". Track listing Personnel * Jane Monheit – vocals, vocal arrangement * Hank Crawford – alto saxophone * David "Fathead" Newman – flute, tenor saxophone * Kenny Barron – piano * Bucky Pizzarelli – guitar * Ron Carter – bass * Lewis Nash – drums Production * Joel Dorn – producer * Carl Griffin – executive producer * Tom Shick – engineer, mixing * Todd Parker – assistant engineer * Gene Paul – mastering, mixing * David Berkman David Berkman (born December 28, 1958) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger and educator. Backgrou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jane Monheit
Jane Monheit (born November 3, 1977"Jane Monheit." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 33. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2001. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2017-05-07.) is an American jazz and pop singer. Early life Monheit was born and raised in Oakdale, New York, on Long Island. Her father played banjo and guitar. Her mother sang and played music for her by singers who could also be her teachers, beginning with Ella Fitzgerald. At an early age Monheit was drawn to jazz and Broadway musicals. She began singing professionally while attending Connetquot High School in Bohemia, New York. She attended the Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts. At the Manhattan School of Music she studied voice under Peter Eldridge; she graduated in 1999. She was runner-up to Teri Thornton in the 1998 vocal competition at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, in Washington, DC. Career When she was 22, she released her first album, ''Never Never Land'' ( N-Coded, 2000). Like Fitzgerald, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surprise (Crystal Waters Album)
''Surprise'' is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Crystal Waters released on June 25, 1991 by Mercury Records. It includes the hit singles "Makin' Happy", "Surprise" and the top ten hit "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)", which peaked at number 8 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. Although the album stalled at number 197 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, it performed better in both the club/dance and urban music markets, peaking at number 65 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It also peaked at number 23 on the Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ... chart. Track listing Chart positions Album Singles References {{Authority control 1991 debut albums Crystal Waters albums Mercury Records albums ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crystal Waters
Crystal Waters (born November 19, 1961) is an American house and dance music singer and songwriter, best known for her 1990s dance hits " Gypsy Woman", " 100% Pure Love", and 2007's " Destination Calabria" with Alex Gaudino. All three of her studio albums produced a Top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In December 2016, '' Billboard'' magazine ranked her as one of the most successful dance artists of all time. Her accolades include six ASCAP Songwriter awards, three American Music Award nominations, an MTV Video Music Award nod, four ''Billboard'' Music Awards and twelve No. 1 ''Billboard'' Dance Chart hits. Her hit song "Gypsy Woman” has been sampled hundreds of times. Though her music sales have yet to be re-certified, Waters has sold over 7 million records worldwide. Life and career Early life Born in Deptford Township, New Jersey, Waters is the daughter of Junior Waters, a famed jazz musician, and his wife Betty. Her great-aunt, Ethel Waters, was one of the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marlena Shaw Live At Montreux
''Marlena Shaw Live at Montreux'' (also released as ''Marlena Shaw Live: Cookin' with Blue Note at Montreux'') is a live album by American vocalist Marlena Shaw recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1973 and released on the Blue Note label.Blue Note Records discography accessed January 24, 2011 Shaw's introduction to the track "Woman of the Ghetto" was sampled for St. Germain's album '''' (2000), Blue Boy's " [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marlena Shaw
Marlena Shaw (born Marlina Burgess, September 22, 1942) is an American jazz, blues and soul music, soul singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and is still singing today. Her music has often been sampled in Hip hop music, hip hop music, and used in television commercials. Early life Marlena Shaw was born in New Rochelle, New York. She was first introduced to music by her uncle Jimmy Burgess, a jazz trumpet player. In an interview with ''The New York Times'', she told the reporter: "He [Jimmy Burgess] introduced me to good music through records – Dizzy Gillespie, Dizzy [Gillespie], Miles Davis, Miles [Davis], a lot of Gospel music, gospel things, and Al Hibbler, who really knows how to phrase a song." In 1952, Burgess brought her on stage at the Apollo Theatre, Apollo Theater in Harlem to sing with his band. Shaw's mother did not want Marlena to go on tour with her uncle at such a young age. Shaw enrolled in the New York State Teachers College in Potsdam (now known a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bette Midler (album)
''Bette Midler'' is the second studio album by American singer Bette Midler, released in 1973 on the Atlantic Records label. Produced by Arif Mardin and Barry Manilow, ''Bette Midler'' includes Midler's interpretations of Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark", Berthold Brecht and Kurt Weill's "Surabaya Johnny", Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" and Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" as well as a Phil Spector medley. ''Bette Midler'' reached No. 6 on the US albums chart and was later awarded a Gold Disc by the RIAA. The album was released on CD for the first time in 1989. A remastered version of the album was released by Atlantic Records/Warner Music in 1995. Track listing Personnel * Bette Midler – lead vocals * Barry Manilow – piano, percussion, backing vocals, musical arranger, musical conductor * Ken Ascher – keyboards * Pat Rebillot – keyboards * Don Grolnick – keyboards * David Spinozza – guitars * Cornell Dupree – guitars * Frank Vento – guitars * H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rah!
''Rah'' is a 1962 studio album by Mark Murphy, arranged by Ernie Wilkins. This was Murphy's first Riverside Records album, and he is supported by an orchestra including Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, Urbie Green, Ernie Royal, Clark Terry and Jimmy Cobb. Reception ''Down Beat'' magazine critic John A. Tynan reviewed the album for the April 12, 1962 issue and stated: "Murphy should thank his lucky stars for, among other things such as his talent, Ernie Wilkins. Wilkins has written a set of arrangements for the young jazz singer that should turn Frank Sinatra green with envy. Much of the album's success is due to the arranger's pen. The Allmusic review by Eugene Chadbourne awarded the album four stars and said that ''Rah'' "has worn well over the years...On tracks such as "Green Dolphin Street," he dives into the rhythm with the relaxed calm of an expert. And when the result can be the harebrained complexity of "Twisted" or the funky timing of " Doodlin'," the wisdom of letting the ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Murphy (singer)
Mark Howe Murphy (March 14, 1932 – October 22, 2015) was an American jazz singer based at various times in New York City, Los Angeles, London, and San Francisco. He recorded 51 albums under his own name during his lifetime and was principally known for his innovative vocal improvisations. He was the recipient of the 1996, 1997, 2000, and 2001 ''Down Beat'' magazine readers' jazz poll for Best Male Vocalist and was also nominated five times for the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Jazz Performance.Jones, Peter. ''This is Hip: The Life of Mark Murphy'' (Equinox Publishing, 2018) He wrote lyrics to the jazz tunes " Stolen Moments" and "Red Clay". Early life Born in Syracuse, New York, in 1932, Murphy was raised in a musical family, his parents having met when his father was appointed director of the local Methodist Church choir. He grew up in the nearby small town of Fulton, New York, where his grandmother and then his aunt were the church organists. Opera was also a presence in the M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
