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Varetta Dillard
Varetta Mamie Dillard (February 3, 1933 – October 4, 1993) was an American rhythm and blues singer in the 1950s whose biggest hit was "Mercy, Mr. Percy". Life and career She was born in Harlem, New York, and spent much of her childhood in hospital due to a congenital bone condition. By her mid-teens, her condition had stabilised, though she remained unable to walk without crutches or other assistance. She met Carl Feaster of doo-wop group The Chords (American band), The Chords, who encouraged her to enter talent contests as a singer, and in 1951 she won two consecutive competitions at the Apollo Theater. She was signed by Savoy Records, and had her first recording session with the company in September 1951. Although her early singles were commercially unsuccessful, she was invited by Alan Freed to perform at what later became recognised as the first major rock and roll concert: the Moondog Coronation Ball held in Cleveland, Ohio on March 21, 1952. Because of concerns over crowd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harlem, New York
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), Central Park North on the south. The greater Harlem area encompasses several other neighborhoods and extends west and north to 155th Street, east to the East River, and south to Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard (Manhattan), Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Central Park, and 96th Street (Manhattan), East 96th Street. Originally a Netherlands, Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem's history has been defined by a series of economic boom-and-bust cycles, with significant population shifts accompanying each cycle. Harlem was predominantly occupied by Jewish American, Jewish and Italian American, Italian Americans in the 19th century, but African-American residents began to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. maritime border with Canada, northeast of Cincinnati, northeast of Columbus, and approximately west of Pennsylvania. The largest city on Lake Erie and one of the major cities of the Great Lakes region, Cleveland ranks as the 54th-largest city in the U.S. with a 2020 population of 372,624. The city anchors both the Greater Cleveland metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton combined statistical area (CSA). The CSA is the most populous in Ohio and the 17th largest in the country, with a population of 3.63 million in 2020, while the MSA ranks as 34th largest at 2.09 million. Cleveland was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River by General Moses Cleaveland, after whom the city was named ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baritone Sax
The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contrabass and subcontrabass saxophones are relatively uncommon. Like all saxophones, it is a single-reed instrument. It is commonly used in concert bands, chamber music, military bands, big bands, and jazz combos. It can also be found in other ensembles such as rock bands and marching bands. Modern baritone saxophones are pitched in E. History The baritone saxophone was created in 1846 by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax as one of a family of 14 instruments. Sax believed these instruments would provide a useful tonal link between the woodwinds and brasses. The family was divided into two groups of seven saxophones each, from the soprano to the contrabass. Though a design for an F baritone saxophone is included in the C and F family ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haywood Henry
Frank Haywood Henry (January 10, 1913 – September 15, 1994) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist. In 1978 he was induced into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Career Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Henry began on clarinet before choosing baritone saxophone as his primary instrument. He continued to play clarinet throughout his career. While he was a student at Alabama State Teachers College, he played with the Bama State Collegians in 1930 and became a member four years later. The Collegians became the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra when Hawkins led it. Henry was a member of the orchestra from 1934 through the 1950s. Following his period with Hawkins, Henry worked with Tiny Grimes, Julian Dash (1951), and the Fletcher Henderson Reunion Band (1957–58), and occasionally substituted for Harry Carney in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He played on over 1,000 rock and roll records in the 1950s and 1960s, many of them anonymously and often with Mickey Baker. In the 1960s, he pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenor Sax
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while the alto is pitched in the key of E), and written as a transposing instrument in the treble clef, sounding an octave and a major second lower than the written pitch. Modern tenor saxophones which have a high F key have a range from A2 to E5 (concert) and are therefore pitched one octave below the soprano saxophone. People who play the tenor saxophone are known as "tenor saxophonists", "tenor sax players", or "saxophonists". The tenor saxophone uses a larger mouthpiece, reed and ligature than the alto and soprano saxophones. Visually, it is easily distinguished by the curve in its neck, or its crook, near the mouthpiece. The alto saxophone lacks this and its neck goes straight to the mouthpiece. The tenor saxophone is most recognized for it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Kelly (musician)
George Kelly (July 31, 1915 – May 24, 1998) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and arranger born in Miami, Florida. Panama Francis was a sideman in Kelly's band in the 1930s; Kelly played in Francis's Savoy Sultans band in the 1970s, and had played in Al Cooper's band of the same name in the 1940s. Additionally, Kelly led his own bands and worked with other jazz artists such as Tiny Grimes, Rex Stewart and Cozy Cole. "Kelly had a strong tenor tone that looked back towards the swing era while he was clearly aware of later developments." Discography As leader/co-leader *''Stealing Apples'' (Dharma) *''Slide Kelly Slide/In the Mood'' (1976, Jazz Session) *''George Kelly in Cimiez'' (1979, Black & Blue) *''Fine and Dandy'' (1982, Barron) *''Cotton Club'' (1983) *''George Kelly Plays Don Redman'' (1984, Stash) *''Groove Move'' (1994, Jazzpoint) As sideman With Rex Stewart *''Rendezvous with Rex ''Rendezvous with Rex'' is an album by cornetist Rex Stewart which was recorded i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wynonie Harris
Wynonie Harris (August 24, 1915 – June 14, 1969) was an American blues shouter and rhythm-and-blues singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. He had fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952. Harris is attributed by many music scholars to be one of the founding fathers of rock and roll. His "Good Rocking Tonight" is mentioned at least as a precursor to rock and roll. His dirty blues repertoire included "Lolly Pop Mama" (1948), "I Like My Baby's Pudding" (1950), "Sittin on It All the Time" (1950), " Keep On Churnin' (Till the Butter Comes)" (1952), and "Wasn't That Good" (1953). Biography Early life and family Harris's mother, Mallie Hood Anderson, was fifteen and unmarried at the time of his birth. His paternity is uncertain. His wife, Olive E. Goodlow, and daughter, Patricia Vest, said that his father was a Native American named Blue Jay. Wynonie had no father figure in his family until 1920, when his mother married Luther Harris, fifteen years her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larry Darnell
Larry Darnell (born Leo Edward Donald, Jr.; December 17, 1928, Columbus, Ohio – July 3, 1983, Columbus) was a successful American singer, who was instrumental in the formation of the New Orleans style of R&B in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Biography As an eleven-year-old Darnell achieved local fame as a gospel singer, and left home at 15 years of age to work as a dancer with a burlesque road show, the Brownskin Models. In New Orleans he gained steady employment as a singer at the Dew Drop Inn. In 1949, he was signed up by Fred Mendelsohn for the Regal label in New Jersey. His first two recordings, "I'll Get Along Somehow" and "For You My Love", both hit the R&B charts in November 1949, with "For You My Love", written by Paul Gayten, staying at the number 1 spot for eight weeks. The follow-ups "I Love My Baby" and Louis Prima's "Oh Babe!" were also hits, and Darnell's powerful and passionate voice contributed to the development of a trend in popular music soon marketed n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
H-Bomb Ferguson
Robert Percell Ferguson (May 9, 1929 – November 26, 2006), who performed as H-Bomb Ferguson, was an American jump blues singer. He was an early pioneer of the rock and roll style of the mid-1950s, featuring driving rhythm, intensely shouted vocals, honking tenor saxophone solos, and outlandish personal appearance. Ferguson sang and played piano in a flamboyant style, wearing colorful wigs. Early life Born in Torest, Charleston County, South Carolina, Ferguson was the eleventh of twelve children. His father was a Baptist preacher who paid for his piano lessons on condition he learned sacred melodies. Ferguson had other ideas, recalling "After church was over, while the people was all standing outside talking, me and my friends would run back inside and I'd play the blues on the piano." Career At the age of 19, Ferguson was on the road with Joe Liggins and the Honeydrippers. They moved to New York, where Ferguson branched off on his own, getting a gig at the nightclub Baby Gran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Five Keys
The Five Keys were an American rhythm and blues vocal group who were instrumental in shaping this genre in the 1950s. They were formed with the original name of Sentimental Four in Newport News, Virginia, US, in the late 1940s, and initially consisted of two sets of brothers - Rudy West and Bernie West, and Ripley Ingram and Raphael Ingram. Raphael Ingram left in 1949 and Maryland Pierce (March 25, 1932–July 22, 2021) and Thomas 'Dickie' Threatt became members in his place. At this juncture the name of the group was changed to The Five Keys. They were signed to Aladdin Records in 1951, and in 1952 Rudy West left to join the United States Army, and he was replaced by Ulysses K. Hicks. When Hicks died of a heart attack in Boston in 1955, Rudy West returned to the group. In 1954 Dickie Smith left and was replaced with Ramon Loper. At this point the Five Keys were signed to Capitol Records, and their popularity increased, although more instrumentation was used. The group was inducte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oran "Hot Lips" Page
Oran Thaddeus "Hot Lips" Page (January 27, 1908 – November 5, 1954) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. He was known as a scorching soloist and powerful vocalist. Page was a member of Walter Page's Blue Devils, Artie Shaw's Orchestra and Count Basie's Orchestra, and he worked with Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Ida Cox.Thedeadrockstarsclub.com Retrieved April 30, 2019. He was one of the five musicians booked for the opening night at Birdland with in 1949. Life and career Oran Thadeus Page was born in |
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as CDs replaced LPs as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he researched using metadata to create a music guide. In 1990, in Big Rapids, Michigan, he founded ''All Music Guide' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
