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Willie Gant
Willie "The Tiger" Gant (10 May 1899 – March 1974) was an American jazz bandleader and pianist. History Gant began on piano at age 12, and at 13 he began studying under James P. Johnson. He played in local New York clubs and cafes from age 17. Gant recorded some sides in the 1920s, and after the dissolution of his Ramblers devoted himself almost exclusively to solo piano work. He played in New York at places like the Hotel Fairfax and Carutti's from the 1930s into the 1960s. Musical groups Although he appears in a photograph with Lillyn Brown & Her Jazzbo Syncopators in 1921, he wasn't a band member and filled in for an absent piano player for the photo. He formed his own band, the Ramblers, that same year. Over the course of the next six years, Gant's band rivaled Fats Waller in popularity; it also served as early experience for many noted sideman, including Freddie Green, Ward Pinkett, Billy Taylor, Happy Caldwell, and Manzie Johnson. Discography Per the Jazz and Ragti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dixieland
Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band (which shortly thereafter changed the spelling of its name to "Original Dixieland Jazz Band"), fostered awareness of this new style of music. A revival movement for traditional jazz began in the 1940s, formed in reaction to the orchestrated sounds of the swing era and the perceived chaos of the new bebop sounds (referred to as "Chinese music" by Cab Calloway), Led by the Assunto brothers' original Dukes of Dixieland, the movement included elements of the Chicago style that developed during the 1920s, such as the use of a string bass instead of a tuba, and chordal instruments, in addition to the original format of the New Orleans style. That reflected that virtually all of the recorded repertoire of New Orleans musicians was from the perio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Taylor (jazz Bassist)
William Taylor Sr. (April 3, 1906 – September 2, 1986) was an American jazz bassist. He was born Washington, D.C. and died in Fairfax, Virginia. Taylor began playing tuba but later picked up bass alongside it. After moving to New York City in 1924, he played with Elmer Snowden (1925), Willie Gant and Arthur Gibbs (1926), Charlie Johnson (1927–29, 1932–33), Duke Ellington (1928), McKinney's Cotton Pickers (1929–31), Fats Waller (1934), and Fletcher Henderson. He recorded with Jelly Roll Morton on three sessions in 1930. From 1935 to 1940, he again played with Ellington, and it is for this association that he is best remembered; he often played with a second bassist in the orchestra, at times Hayes Alvis or Jimmie Blanton. During that time, he also recorded with Cootie Williams and Johnny Hodges. In the 1940s, he played with Coleman Hawkins (1940), Red Allen (1940–41), Joe Sullivan (1942), Raymond Scott (1942–43), Cootie Williams (1944), Barney Bigard (1944–45), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1974 Deaths
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; following List of Prime Ministers of Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir's resignation in response to high Israeli casualties, she was succeeded by Yitzhak Rabin. In Europe, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus by Turkey, Turkish troops initiated the Cyprus dispute, the Carnation Revolution took place in Portugal, and Chancellor of Germany, Chancellor of West Germany Willy Brandt resigned following an Guillaume affair, espionage scandal surrounding his secretary Günter Guillaume. In sports, the year was primarily dominated by the 1974 FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Cup in West Germany, in which the Germany national football team, German national team won the championshi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1899 Births
Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a customs office in Puerto Alonso, leading to the Brazilian settlers there to declare the Republic of Acre in a revolt against Bolivian authorities. **The first part of the Jakarta Kota–Anyer Kidul railway on the island of Java is opened between Batavia Zuid ( Jakarta Kota) and Tangerang. * January 3 – Hungarian Prime Minister Dezső Bánffy fights an inconclusive duel with his bitter enemy in parliament, Horánszky Nándor. * January 4 – **U.S. President William McKinley's declaration of December 21, 1898, proclaiming a policy of benevolent assimilation of the Philippines as a United States territory, is announced in Manila by the U.S. commander, General Elwell Otis, and angers independence activists who had fought against ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Lavinia Turner
Lavinia Turner ( – after 1937) was an American classic female blues singer. Originally a vaudeville vocalist, Turner recorded 10 songs in 1921 and 1922, making her one of the first female blues singers to be recorded. Details of her life outside the recording studio are minimal. Biography Turner was born in Virginia, to parents from Virginia, around 1888. She was living in New York City, making her living as a performer, by 1920. Her first recordings, almost certainly in March 1921, were of "How Many Times?" and "Can't Get Lovin' Blues", with piano accompaniment, possibly by Willie Gant. It is thought that Clarence Williams played the piano on two of her other recordings. Gus Aiken (trumpet) was also credited on recording sessions with Turner in 1921. Turner was thus one of the first black women to sing blues on recordings, which were made in New York. However, also in 1921, other blues singers, such as Lillyn Brown, Lucille Hegamin, and Daisy Martin, all made records. Si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Josie Miles
Josie Miles (c. 1900 – c. 1953–65) was an American vaudeville and blues singer. She was one of the classic female blues singers popular in the 1920s. Miles was born in Summerville, South Carolina. Harris, Sheldon (1994). ''Blues Who's Who'' (rev. ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. p. 374. . By the early 1920s she was working in New York City, where she appeared in Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle's musical comedy ''Shuffle Along''. In 1922, Miles made her first recordings for the Black Swan Company. She later recorded for the Gennett, Ajax, Edison, and Banner Records labels. In 1923 she toured the African-American theatre circuit with the Black Swan Troubadours, and performed in New York City in James P. Johnson's revue ''Runnin' Wild'' at the Colonial Theatre. In that same year she also performed on WDT radio in New York City. The blues writer Steve Tracy described Miles as having "a light but forceful delivery that was not low-down but was nevertheless convincing." Her last reco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manzie Johnson
Isham "Manzie" Johnson (August 19, 1906 – April 9, 1971) was an American jazz drummer. Johnson was raised in New York City, and played in Harlem in the 1920s with Fats Waller, James P. Johnson, and other stride pianists, before going on to work with Willie Gant (1926), June Clark, Elmer Snowden (ca. 1927), and Joe Steele. He recorded with Jelly Roll Morton (1928), James P. Johnson, and Horace Henderson (1930) before joining Don Redman's orchestra, where he played from 1931 to 1937, appearing in the film ''Don Redman and his Orchestra'' (1934). Johnson then spent time as a freelance musician, recording with Red Allen, Benny Morton,Brown, T. Dennis; Barry Kernfeld"Johnson, Keg."''Grove Music Online''. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 November 2022. Willie Bryant, Lil Armstrong, Mezz Mezzrow, Redman and James P. Johnson again, Ovie Alston, and Fletcher Henderson. He served in the military during World War II, then played part-time with Sidney Bechet (ca. 1951), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Happy Caldwell
Albert W. "Happy" Caldwell (sometimes incorrectly spelled Cauldwell) (July 25, 1903 in Chicago – December 29, 1978 in New York City) was an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. Caldwell began on clarinet at age 16, playing in the Eighth Illinois Regimental Band and soon after in an United States Army, Army band. He studied to be a pharmacist but eventually gave up his medicinal studies for jazz. He worked with Bernie Young early in the 1920s in Chicago, where he recorded for the first time in 1923. Around this time he also began doubling on tenor saxophone. In the middle of the 1920s he played with Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds, Bobby Brown (jazz musician), Bobby Brown's Syncopaters, Elmer Snowden, Billy Fowler, Thomas Morris (musician), Thomas Morris, Willie Gant, and Cliff Jackson (musician), Cliff Jackson. In 1929, he recorded with Louis Armstrong. In the 1930s, Caldwell played with Vernon Andrade, Tiny Bradshaw, and Louis Metcalfe, and led his own band, the Hap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ward Pinkett
William Ward Pinkett, Jr. (April 29, 1906 – March 15, 1937) was an American jazz trumpeter and scat vocalist during the Harlem Renaissance. A respected sideman recognized as a "hot" trumpet and with a versatile ear, he played and recorded with some of the greatest jazzmen of the era, including King Oliver, Jimmy Johnson, Chick Webb and Jelly Roll Morton. His career was cut short by alcoholism. Early life Born into a musical family, Pinkett was the eldest of four children born to William Ward Pinckett and Mary Louise ''nee'' Carr of Newport News, Virginia. His father, a prosperous tailor and land owner, was an amateur cornet player who formed the Newport News Brass Band around 1900, playing for social clubs and funerals in the area. His mother played piano, often accompanying his father in the home, and his sister, Loretta Gillis (1913-1998), played saxophone in several local jazz bands. Encouraged by his father, he started learning cornet at an early age and began playing t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major form of musical expression in traditional and popular music. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, complex chords, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in European harmony and African rhythmic rituals. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to different styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. But jazz did not begin as a single musical tradition in New Orleans or elsewhere. In the 1930s, arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz (a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freddie Green
Frederick William Green (March 31, 1911 – March 1, 1987) was an American swing jazz guitarist who played rhythm guitar with the Count Basie Orchestra for almost fifty years. Early life and education Green was born in Charleston, South Carolina on March 31, 1911. He was exposed to music from an early age, and learned the banjo before picking up the guitar in his early teenage years. A friend of his father by the name of Sam Walker taught a young Freddie to read music, and keenly encouraged him to keep up his guitar playing. Walker gave Freddie what was perhaps his first gig, playing with a local community group of which Walker was an organizer. Another member of the group was William "Cat" Anderson, who went on to become an established trumpeter, working with notable figures such as Duke Ellington. Career It was around this time that Green's parents died, and he moved to New York City to live with his aunt and continue his education. The move opened up a new musical world ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
