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W. C. Handy Music Festival
The W. C. Handy Music Festival is held annually in Florence, Alabama, sponsored by the Music Preservation Society, Inc., in honor of Florence native W. C. Handy, the "Father of the Blues." The non-profit Music Preservation Society was formed in 1982, with the mission to preserve, present, and promote the musical heritage of Northwest Alabama. With the help and encouragement of musician and Sheffield native, Willie Ruff, the organization presented the first W.C. Handy Music Festival. That first festival was a long weekend of music, featuring Dizzy Gillespie as the headliner artist. Over the next two decades, the annual celebration has evolved into a ten-day Festival including over 250 events with music at locations throughout northwest Alabama. The Handy Festival has garnered praise and accolades and has become a major music festival in the Southeast. The Handy Festival has been selected as a Top Ten Event in Alabama; a three time Cultural Olympiad Designee by Atlanta Committee for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Florence, Alabama
Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner. It is situated along the Tennessee River and is home to the University of North Alabama, the oldest college in the state. Florence is the largest and principal city of the Florence-Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Statistical Area commonly known as "The Shoals" (which also includes the cities of Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia in Colbert County). Florence is considered northwestern Alabama's primary economic hub. Annual tourism events include the W. C. Handy Music Festival in the summer and the Renaissance Faire in the fall. Landmarks in Florence include the 20th-century Rosenbaum House, the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home located in Alabama. The Florence Indian Mound, constructed by indigenous people between 100 BCE and 400 BCE in the Woodland period, is the largest surviving earthen mound in the state and is 43 feet high. It is listed on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willie Ruff
Willie Henry Ruff Jr. (born September 1, 1931) is an American jazz musician, specializing in the French horn and double bass, and a music scholar and educator, primarily as a Yale professor from 1971 to 2017. Personal life He was born in Sheffield, Alabama. Ruff attended the Yale School of Music as an undergraduate (Bachelor of Music, 1953) and graduate student ( Master of Music, 1954). Professional career Performing Ruff played in the Mitchell-Ruff Duo with pianist Dwike Mitchell for over 50 years. Mitchell and Ruff first met in 1947, when they were teenaged servicemen stationed at the former Lockbourne Air Force Base in Ohio; Mitchell recruited Ruff to play bass with his unit band for an Air Force radio program. Mitchell and Ruff later played in Lionel Hampton's band but left in 1955 to form their own group. Together as the Mitchell-Ruff Duo, they played as "second act" to artists such as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Dizzy Gillespie. From 1955 to 2011, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic and rhythmic complexity previously unheard in jazz. His combination of musicianship, showmanship, and wit made him a leading popularizer of the new music called bebop. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, scat singing, bent horn, pouched cheeks, and light-hearted personality provided one of bebop's most prominent symbols. In the 1940s, Gillespie, with Charlie Parker, became a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He taught and influenced many other musicians, including trumpeters Miles Davis, Jon Faddis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Morgan, Chuck Mangione, and balladeer Johnny Hartman. He pioneered Afro-Cuban jazz and won several Grammy Awards. Scott Yanow wrote, "Dizzy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mundell Lowe
James Mundell Lowe (April 21, 1922 – December 2, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist who worked often in radio, television, and film, and as a session musician. He produced film and TV scores in the 1970s, such as the ''Billy Jack'' soundtrack and music for '' Starsky and Hutch'', and worked with André Previn's Trio in the 1990s. Career The son of a Baptist minister, Lowe grew up on a farm in Shady Grove, Mississippi, near Laurel. He started playing guitar when he was eight years old, with his father and sister acting as his first teachers. When he was thirteen, he began running away from home to play in bands. Occasionally his father would find him, bring him home, and warn him about the dangers of whiskey. At sixteen, Lowe worked in Nashville on the ''Grand Ole Opry'' radio program. He was a member of the Jan Savitt orchestra before serving in the military during World War II. At basic training, he became friends with John Hammond, who organized weekend jam sessions. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lloyd Wells
Lloyd Wells is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Music career He grew up in Laurel, Mississippi, the home town of jazz guitarist, Mundell Lowe. He did his first professional work playing for square dances while still attending high school. He attended the University of Southern Mississippi, graduating with a degree in Music Education. With encouragement from Lowe, Wells spent the years 1964–73 in New York as a working guitarist. He moved to Nashville in 1974 and for seventeen years accompanied Tennessee Ernie Ford. He also worked with Brenda Lee and Porter Wagoner. For twenty-three years, he was music director of Opryland USA Opryland USA (later called Opryland Themepark and colloquially "Opryland") was a theme park in suburban Nashville, Tennessee. It operated seasonally (generally March to October) from 1972 to 1997, and for a special Christmas-themed engagement eve ..., where he wrote over five thousand arrangements. References Further reading * "Mund ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Goodwin (jazz Drummer)
F. Bill Goodwin (born Los Angeles, California, January 8, 1942) is an American jazz drummer. Career Goodwin began his professional career at the age of seventeen with saxophonist Charles Lloyd. During the 1960s, he worked with Mike Melvoin, Art Pepper, Paul Horn, Frank Rosolino, Bud Shank, George Shearing, and Gabor Szabo. Joining the performing ensemble of vibraphonist Gary Burton brought him to the East Coast in 1969. After three years with Burton, Goodwin settled in the Pocono Mountains and worked in hotels and resorts. In 1974, he became a founding member of the Phil Woods Quartet. He worked with Woods for forty years as a drummer and record producer, winning three Grammy Awards. He has performed with Bill Evans, Lee Konitz Dexter Gordon, Jim Hall, Bobby Hutcherson, June Christy, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Mose Allison, and The Manhattan Transfer. He has been a featured performer at the W. C. Handy Music Festival for many years, serving as a member of the W. C. Hand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny O'Neal
Johnny O'Neal (born October 10, 1956 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American neo-bop jazz pianist and vocalist. His playing ranges from the technically virtuosic to the tenderest of ballad interpretations. Though unique in style, he is influenced by many jazz elders, including Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum. He has led many recording dates with musicians such as Russell Malone and many others. He was a 1997 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Life and career In 1974, O'Neal moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he worked as a full-time musician. In Birmingham he worked with local jazz musicians, such as Jerry Grundhofer, Dave Amaral, Cleveland Eaton, and Ray Reach. He moved to New York City to perform with Clark Terry in 1981, and also landed a regular job at the Blue Note, accompanying such musicians as Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Brown, Nancy Wilson, Joe Pass and Kenny Burrell. He was a member of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers for two years from 1982 to 1983 and made his Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuck Redd
Chuck Redd (born September 10, 1958) is an American jazz drummer and vibraphonist. Career Redd began touring and recording when he joined the Charlie Byrd Trio at the age of 21. He also joined The Great Guitars (Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd, and Herb Ellis). To his credit are 25 European tours and six tours of Japan with the Barney Kessel Trio, Ken Peplowski, Terry Gibbs and Conte Candoli.Feather, Leonard and Gitler, Ira (1999''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 550. Oxford University Pressat Google Books. Retrieved 1 May 2013. Redd was the featured vibraphonist with the Mel Tormé All-Star Jazz Quintet from 1991 until 1996. While appearing in New York with Tormé, Ira Gitler of ''Jazz Times'' wrote: "Redd's vibes were equally notable for vigor and melodiousness." Redd's career highlights include a concert with the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet in Africa for the Namibian Independence Celebration, a recital at the White House with the Barney Kessel Trio, concerts at Carnegie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ken Watters
Ken Watters is an American jazz trumpeter residing in Huntsville, Alabama. He is the brother of noted jazz trombonist, Harry Watters. Ken has performed and/or recorded with Frank Sinatra, Tabou Combo Jason Isbell, Marc Anthony, Wyclef Jean, Natalie Colebr> Mingus Big Band, Ray_Reach, Billy Ray Cyrus, Chris Potter Cee-Lo, Brad Mehldau, the Vanguard Orchestra, and a host of other luminaries of the music world. He attended the University of North Texas, where he participated in the famed Lab Band program and studied trumpet with internationally renowned teacher Leonard Candelaria. Later, Ken pursued further trumpet studies at Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where he also studied with Lew Soloff, Joe Lovano, Jack Walrath and Wynton Marsalis. Ken's most recent CD release was by his own Haitian-Caribbean influenced jazz septet, RIYEL. The group's self-titled debut CD was released internationally on [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Reach
Raymond Everett Reach, Jr. (born August 3, 1948) is an American pianist, vocalist, guitarist, composer, arranger, music producer, and educator, named by AL.com as one of "30 Alabamians who changed jazz history." He serves as President and CEO of Ray Reach Music and Magic City Music Productions. Reach has performed and recorded in various genres, including pop, R&B, Motown/soul, gospel, rock, classic rock, country (contemporary and traditional), contemporary Christian, classical, and jazz music, but is perhaps best known for his work in jazz, combining jazz piano stylings with Sinatra-style vocals. He resides in Birmingham, Alabama. Career Reach is a member of several active performing and recording groups, including the Magic City Jazz Orchestra (of which he is the founding director), the Ray Reach Orchestra, the Night Flight Big Band, and Cleveland Eaton and the Alabama Allstars. He leads his own group, Ray Reach and Friends, and is a former member of the SuperJazz Big Band ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alabama Jazz Hall Of Fame
The Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame (AJHF) was founded in 1978, and opened a museum on September 18, 1993, with a mission "to foster, encourage, educate, and cultivate a general appreciation of the medium of jazz music as a legitimate, original and distinctive art form indigenous to America. Its mission is also to preserve a continued and sustained program of illuminating the contribution of the State of Alabama through its citizens, environment, demographics and lore, and perpetuating the heritage of jazz music." It is located in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The AJHoF Museum The museum is located in Birmingham's historic Carver Theatre, which is part of the Birmingham Civil Rights District, along with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, 16th Street Baptist Church and Kelly Ingram Park. The museum contains more than of exhibits. The Jazz Hall of Fame also sponsors jazz performances around the city and brings jazz to many local students with school visits from musicians. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of North Alabama
The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama. It is the state's oldest public university. Occupying a campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Tuscumbia, Sheffield and Muscle Shoals. The four cities compose a metropolitan area with a combined population of 140,000 people. The University of North Alabama was founded as LaGrange College in 1830. It was reestablished in 1872 as the first state-supported teachers college south of the Ohio River. A year later, it became one of the nation's first coeducational colleges. History LaGrange College opened on January 11, 1830, in a mountain hamlet a few miles south of Leighton in northeast Colbert County, Alabama. LaGrange means "The Barn" in French. Twenty-one local college trustees were listed in Acts of Alabama, Eleventh Annual Session. The town of LaGrange and its college were sacked and burned by Union troops in 1863. But by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
