Legends of Jazz
The 100 Greatest (in no particular order)
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Composer ("It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got That Swing", "Sophisticated Lady", "Mood Indigo", "Solitude", "In a Mellotone", "Satin Doll"), pianist and conductor, holder of an honorary music degree from Wilberforce University and an LHD from Milton College, Duke Ellington led his own orchestra by 1918, and came to New York in 1923, appearing at the Cotton Club between 1927 and 1932. Making his first European tour in 1933, he followed with his annual Carnegie Hall concerts between 1943 and 1950, and then a Middle East tour (under the auspices of the State Department), including an appearance at the International Fair in Damascus in 1963. His stage scores include "Jump for Joy" and "Beggars Holiday" (Broadway). He made many records.
Joining ASCAP in 1953, his chief musical collaborators included Billy Strayhorn, Irving Mills, Mitchell Parish, Mann Curtis, Barney Bigard, Henry Nemo , Bob Russell, Don George, Lee Gaines , Paul Francis Webster, Edgar De Lange, Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Juan Tizol and his own son, Mercer Ellington. His other popular song and instrumental compositions include "Blind Man's Buff", "Creole Love Call", "Black and Tan Fantasy", "I Let a Song Go Out of my Heart", "Rockin' in Rhythm", "Caravan", "Pyramid", "Creole Rhapsody", "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good", "I'm Beginning to See the Light", "In a Sentimental Mood", "East St. Louis Toodle-oo", "Birmingham Breakdown", "Black Beauty", "Flaming Youth", "Awful Sad", "The Duke Steps Out", "Saturday Night Function", "Old Man Blues", "Ring Dem Bells", "Drop Me Off in Harlem", "Daybreak Express", "Delta Serenade", "Reminiscing in Tempo", "In a Jam", "Clarinet Lament", "Echoes of Harlem", "Dusk on the Desert", "Lost in Meditation", "Blue Reverie", "I've Got to Be a Rug Cutter", "Please Forgive Me", "Chatterbox", "Harmony in Harlem", "If You Were in My Place", "Skronch", "Braggin' in Brass", "Blue Light", "Buffet Flat", "The Gal from Joe's", "Subtle Lament", "Old King Dooji", "Boy Meets Horn", "Stevedore's Serenade", "You Gave Me the Gate and I'm Swinging", "Grievin'", "The Sergeant Was Shy", "Tootin' Through the Roof", "Rumpus in Richmond", "Jack the Bear", "Me and You", "Flaming Sword", "Harlem Air Shaft", "Bojangles", "Portrait of Bert Williams", "Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me" (Concerto for Cootie), "Kind of Moody" (Serenade to Sweden), "Morning Glory", "Blue Goose", "Cotton Tail", "Conga Brava", "Chocolate Shake", "Rocks in My Bed", "San Juan Hill", "Crescendo in Blue", "Diminuendo in Blue", "Dusk", "C Jam Blues", "Main Stem", "I Didn't Know About You", "Just a-Sittin' and a-Rockin'", "Jazz Convulsions", "I'm Just a Lucky So and So", "The Blues", "Come Sunday", "Magenta Haze", "Just Squeeze Me", "Happy-Go-Lucky Local", "Takle Love Easy", "Tomorrow Mountain", "I'm Gonna Go Fishin'", "Money Jungle", "Prelude to a Kiss", "Jump for Joy", "I'm Checking Out, Goom-Bye", "The Mooche", "Warm Valley", "Blue Serge", "I Wish I Was Back in My Baby's Arms", "Lament for a Lost Love", "It Shouldn't Happen to a Dream", "Afro-Bosso", "In the Beginning, God" and "Christmas Surprise".- Music Artist
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Stan Getz was born on 2 February 1927 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a music artist and actor, known for V for Vendetta (2005), Gattaca (1997) and Project Power (2020). He was married to Monica Silfverskiold and Beverly Byrne. He died on 6 June 1991 in Malibu, California, USA.- Music Department
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Charles Christopher Parker Jr. was born on August 29, 1920, in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, to Charles Parker Sr. and his 18-year-old wife Addie. His father ran out on the family when Charlie was just a little boy. When he was 11 his mother bought him an alto saxophone for his birthday. By the time he was 15 Charlie was working as a musician in the flourishing Kansas City jazz scene. He also began drinking heavily and using drugs, which were also a part of the KC jazz scene, as were illegal after-hours gambling casinos.
Charlie became more experienced by playing with various bands, including those of Lawrence Keyes and Harlan Leonard, before joining Jay McShann's band in 1940. The band was widely heard on radio across the country, so Charlie's saxophone playing became well known, even though people didn't know his name, so he became known as the Yardbird, or just The Bird. While still in Kansas City, Charlie reached a breakthrough: tired of playing solo with the same scales, he discovered that if he used a higher interval of the chords from a popular song or melody line, with a pianist or guitarist adding the appropriate new chords, he finally could play the sound he always had been hearing in his head. Essentially turning the melody line inside out, he began experimenting with this new style, which became known as "bebop".
Charlie played with McShann in New York City until 1942, when he left for brief stints with the bands of pianist Earl 'Fatha' Hines and singer Billy Eckstine. The association with the Hines Orchestra was a significant one because of the other musicians, who included trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. By 1945 Charlie was back in New York and leading his own small groups. He got married, but continued to live like a nomad, traveling from place to place and spending almost every other night in a hotel or boarding house. He also became a drug addict, and as his addiction increased so did his appetite, and he began putting on weight.
Charlie took part in the first bebop recording session in 1945. With Gillespie and Miles Davis, he recorded songs like "Billie's Bounce" and "Koko" for Savoy Records. Not long afterward, he recorded such classic songs as "A Night in Tunisia" and "Yardbird Suite" for another small label, Dial Records. In the late 1940s Charlie toured Europe, where he was received like visiting royalty. He made several tours of Cuba, where he began experimenting with large string sections and Afro-Cuban rhythms. After a few years of relative stability, however, Charlie began a downward slide. He got hooked back on drugs again (heroin was his favorite), he began nodding out on bandstands, getting into fistfights and pawning his saxophones for drug money. Aware of the effects of drug use, he chastised younger sax players who emulated his heroin use.
By the early 1950s Charlie's drinking and drug use made him gray and prematurely lined. His self-abuse began to infringe on his musical ability. During this time, Charlie was befriended by a wealthy European baroness who was living in New York, loved his jazz music and helped him out when he needed it. In early 1955, on his way to a gig in Boston, Charlie stopped by her apartment for a visit. Alarmed by his obvious ill health, she had her personal doctor examine him, which revealed that he had stomach ulcers and many other health problems, the result of his years of drinking and drug use. The doctor recommended hospitalization, but the stubborn Charlie refused to consider it. The baroness got him to rest at her place for a few days.
On March 12, 1955, the baroness found Charlie Parker dead, slumped over in an easy chair in front of the TV set in her apartment. He was 34 years old. An autopsy revealed such damage to the inside of his body that the doctor who performed the autopsy thought Charlie was a man at least 50 years old. Charlie Parker's legend grew even larger after his death. Fans scrawled "Bird Lives!" on walls of jazz clubs from New York, to Los Angeles, to Paris, France. To this day, more than 40 years after his death, Bird remains jazz's single most venerated figure.- Actor
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Lester Young was one of the most important saxophone players in jazz. He got a fine and soft tone with his horn, and it became very famous in the late 1930s. He played in the Count Basie orchestra and recorded with Basie his first recordings in 1936. He was a close friend of singer Billie Holiday and recorded many songs with her and Teddy Wilson for Columbia Records. He quit the Basie band in 1940 and started his freelance career.
In 1944 he went into the army and this point in his life was dramatic; racial problems were rife and endemic in the army at that time, and Young wound up getting arrested. After this, he started to drink and his appearances in the stand wasn't as good as the times with Basie and Holiday. Nevertheless, he made fine recordings in the late 1940s on Alladin Records--for example, the famous "D.B Blues" and "Jumpin' with Symphony Sid". He signed a contract with Verve Records in the 1950s. His last recording was on March 4, 1959, in Paris. After this trip to Paris, he arrived on March 14 in New York and died the day after, of a complication of cirrhosis.- Actor
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Tenor saxophonist, occasional pianist and arranger, noted for his improvisational skills and sensitive rhythmic phrasing, especially on ballads. Before he developed his own unique style, Webster was strongly influenced by the legendary Coleman Hawkins. However, he eventually became a stylistic pacesetter himself with the great Duke Ellington orchestra from 1940 to 1943 (and, again, from 1948 to 1949). Famous solos from his tenure with Ellington include the Billy Strayhorn compositions 'Chelsea Bridge' and 'Satin Doll'. In addition to leading the hard-driving solo on Ellington's 'Cotton Tail', Webster also arranged the unison saxophone riffs which imbue the number with a rousing intensity.
Webster began his musical career playing stride piano and fronting a group called 'Rooster Ben and His Little Red Hens'. By 1929, he worked as a piano accompanist in a silent picture theatre in Amarillo, Texas. During the 1930's, he was constantly on the move as a sideman in big name bands led by Blanche Calloway (Cab's sister), Bennie Moten (where he played alongside Count Basie), Andy Kirk, Fletcher Henderson, Benny Carter and Teddy Wilson. At this phase of his career, Webster's robust, unrestrained playing had earned him the sobriquet of "The Brute". Exposure to the techniques of alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges (who became his mentor) and to the universe of Ellington's music in general was later to add nuance and subtlety to his playing. After leaving Duke, Webster alternately led and gigged with small groups (mostly in New York and Chicago), did regular studio work and free-lanced as a soloist. In 1949, he was signed by Norman Granz for the Verve label and made prolific recordings for the next eleven years. Seminal albums from this period include 'Ben Webster with Strings' (1955), 'Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster' (recorded 1957, with Oscar Peterson on piano and Herb Ellis on guitar) and 'The Soul of Ben Webster' (1960). In December 1964, Webster moved to Europe, touring extensively (and to great acclaim) as a solo performer through the Netherlands, Denmark and Great Britain. In 1969, he set up a permanent base in Copenhagen where he lived for the remaining years of his life.- Actor
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Barney Bigard was educated at Straight College, and was a clarinetist in Duke Ellington's orchestra, 1928-1942, and was also with King Oliver, Charlie Elgar, Luis Russell, Freddie Slack, Kid Ory, and the Louis Armstrong All-Star Concert Group, touring worldwide, 1947-1955. He led his own sextet, and toured Europe and Africa for the State Department, 1961-1962. He was awarded the Esquire Jazz (Silver) Award, 1945-46-48. He was a member of the Hot Club of France. Joining ASCAP in 1956, his chief musical collaborator was Duke Ellington. His song compositions include: "Mood Indigo", "Clouds In My Heart", "Rocking In Rhythm", "Minuet In Blues", "Stompy Jones", "Steps Steps Up And Steps Steps Down", "Clarinet Lament", "Saturday Night Function", "Lament For a Lost Love", and "C-Jam Blues".- Music Department
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Composer, lyricist, arranger and pianist Billy Strayhorn's career was inextricably linked to that of the great Duke Ellington. For nearly thirty years, the small, diffident guy with the gold-rimmed spectacles (nicknamed "Sweepea" by band members, after a comic book character) served as Ellington's closest confidante and collaborator. He was also his protégé. In the wake of a performance by the Ellingtonians in Pittsburgh in December 1938, the classically-trained Strayhorn submitted some of his own compositions. He was then interviewed by Duke who took him on as staff arranger despite his apparent lack of experience. With a little coaching from a friend (Bill Esch, who had written arrangements for Ina Ray Hutton), Strayhorn managed to turn out two pieces for alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges ("Savoy Strut" and "Like a Ship in the Night"). Before long, he found himself in charge of almost all of the arrangements for band vocalists, in particular recent arrival Ivie Anderson.
Strayhorn won the Down Beat Poll as best arranger (1945-48). He composed some of the most enduring and sophisticated numbers for the Ellington orchestra, including their theme song "Take the 'A' Train" and the superbly swinging "Johnny Come Lately". He also wrote beautifully structured and harmonious ballads: "Chelsea Bridge", "Daydream", "Lotus Blossom", "Passion Flower", "After All", "Something to Live For" (sung by 'Jean Eldridge'), among many others. One of his earlier pieces, "Lush Life" (written in 1938), was initially sung by Strayhorn himself and withheld from publication for several years. It was destined to become a hit for Nat 'King' Cole in 1949. Numerous other numbers were written and orchestrated jointly by Duke and Strayhorn. Ellington regarded Strayhorn affectionately as his 'right arm, left arm, the eyes in the back of his head'. For his part, Strayhorn declared in a 1962 interview: "the fact we're both looking for a certain character, a certain way of presenting a composition, makes us write to the whole, toward the same feeling" (The Duke Ellington Reader, 1993, p. 498).
Their work on the moody and mellow film score for Anatomy of a Murder (1959) is often regarded as one of their finest collaborative efforts. Strayhorn also played an instrumental role in writing the idiomatic and evocative soundtrack for Paris Blues (1961), a film in which music and scenery rather overshadow the mechanics of the screenplay. Strayhorn was a regular visitor to Paris where he often worked with local musicians, recording an introspective album (the only one in which he is featured as a soloist under his own name), 'The Peaceful Side', for United Artists in 1961.
In private life, Strayhorn was committed to social and charitable causes. He was a former president of Copasetics, a Harlem-based fraternal organization of entertainers. He was a strong supporter of the civil rights movement and a personal friend of Martin Luther King. Though openly gay, Strayhorn maintained a particularly intimate relationship with singer and actress Lena Horne. Since his death from esophageal cancer in 1967, Strayhorn's profound influence on jazz has been reevaluated with the publication of two seminal biographies in 1996 and 2002 and a 2007 TV documentary entitled "Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life".- Composer
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Co-leader of the famed Sauter-Finegan Orchestra (1952-1958), composer, arranger and conductor, he was educated at Columbia University and Juilliard, and studied under Stefan Wolpe, Bernard Wagenaar, and Louis Gruenberg. He joined the Archie Bleyer Orchestra in 1932, and arranged for Red Norvo, Mildred Bailey (1925-1939), Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, The Benny Goodman Orchestra (1940-1945) and Ray McKinley. He arranged for film, television, Broadway musicals and records. He joined ASCAP in 1952, and his popular-music compositions include "Superman"; "Benny Rides Again"; "The Man With the Flaccid Air"; "I'm Late, I'm Late"; "Night Rider"; "A Summer Afternoon"; and "All The Cats Join In". His other musical works include "Concerto for Jazz Band and Symphony Orchestra", and "Focus".- Actor
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Artie Shaw played ukulele at ten and began as an alto saxophonist at the age of twelve. While still in his teens he formed his first band, the Bellevue Ramblers which performed at local gigs. He took up the clarinet in 1926 and spent several years honing his talent playing for various local bands in Florida and Ohio, often doubling up as an arranger and tenor sax player. He arrived in New York in 1929, participated in numerous recording sessions and quickly established a reputation for technical excellence on his chosen instrument. In his 1952 autobiographical book "The Trouble with Cinderella" he described himself as a mediocre talent who improved himself through countless hours of rehearsal. That self-critique notwithstanding, Shaw was a consummate perfectionist, almost to the point of obsession. He was unconventional, highly literate and often difficult to deal with. He hated 'annoying fans', eschewed fame for its own sake, avoided publicity whenever possible and rarely did encores. He was also a gifted musician, able to draw a richer, cleaner sound out of his instrument than any other contemporary clarinet player. Artie himself recalled "I didn't play clarinet. I played music".
Shaw formed his first band in 1936 (featuring a string quartet) but was unhappy with the result, disbanded and the following year set up a full-size conventional swing orchestra (three trumpets, two trombones, four saxes, four rhythm). He had his first million selling success for Bluebird Records with a Jerry Gray arrangement of the Cole Porter song "Begin the Beguine" which quickly became a swing standard and established the band as one of the best in the business. On October 26 1938, the Shaw orchestra opened at the Blue Room of the Hotel Lincoln on New York's Eighth Avenue, complete with a coast-to-coast radio hook up. More hits followed with "Yesterdays", "Out of Nowhere", "Nightmare" (his theme), "Softly As in A Morning Sunrise" and "Any Old Time" (famous for a magnificent vocal by Billie Holiday). Artie himself acquired the sobriquet "King of the Clarinet" as opposed to his perennial rival Benny Goodman who was known as "the King of Swing" (incidentally, this 'rivalry' was entirely orchestrated by publicists -- there was never any genuine ill-will between the two). Shaw later recalled "We weren't playing dance music. Our music was for listening primarily......If we had wanted to play just dance music, I could have saved myself an awful lot of money on some of the sidemen I paid". Those sidemen over the years included jazz greats like drummer Buddy Rich (whom Artie referred to as the band's 'spark plug'), Georgie Auld, Johnny Best, Ray Conniff and Billy Butterfield . Shaw also consistently hired top notch singers, foremost among them Helen Forrest, Kitty Kallen, Peg La Centra and Bea Wain. Sadly, Billie Holiday's tenure with the band was short-lived. Issues with racial discrimination came to a head at various New York concert venues and on radio broadcasts, forcing her to quit.
Nothing if not mercurial, Shaw folded the band at the peak of its popularity and left suddenly for self-imposed exile in Mexico. He stayed only a couple of months, gigging with local musicians and collecting traditional songs. Back in the U.S. in January 1940, he began work on the musical Second Chorus (1940). The film was a rare failure for its star Fred Astaire and Shaw also recalled it as the worst movie he ever made. On the positive side, he cut two hugely successful recordings of songs he had unearthed in Mexico: "Frenesi" and "Adios, Mariquita Linda". His new band now included a string section and a sextet nucleus which would become known as "Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five". This incarnation, too, only lasted a few months as did the one which succeeded it. Fed up with celebrity, Artie enlisted in the U.S. Navy in April 1942 and eventually assembled the Rangers, a 17-piece orchestra which toured the Pacific theatre from Pearl Harbour to Guadalcanal. The band performed in jungles and aircraft hangars, surviving seventeen bombing attacks from Japanese aircraft while en route from island to island. In November 1943, Shaw was medically discharged and later hospitalised with a severe case of nervous depression. His wartime band was taken over by saxophonist Sam Donahue. It retained its popularity with service personnel and recorded many successful V-discs. Meanwhile, Shaw recuperated in Hollywood and eventually put together another 17-piece outfit which featured Barney Kessel on guitar, Dodo Marmarosa on piano and arrangements by Ray Conniff. Among the big selling hits for this group were "S'Wonderful" and "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive". After switching his record affiliation to Musicraft, Shaw added more strings and woodwinds. He recorded several excellent Cole Porter tracks with Mel Tormé and his vocal group, the Mel-Tones. Again, the venture merely lasted a year. For Artie Shaw "the personal price was too great. I wanted to do other things. And I just didn't have the temperament to stay on the scene too long". His final throw of the dice was the creation of a band playing bop-style jazz in 1949. It failed to find much of an audience and Shaw decided to call it a day. By the mid-50s, he had forsaken the instrument which made him famous and turned to writing. He even authored a novel about three failed marriages, titled "I Love You. I Hate You. Drop Dead". He may have had certain insights, since his unsettled private life seemed to mirror his career: married eight times, his wives have included actresses Ava Gardner, Lana Turner and Evelyn Keyes.
Shaw came out of retirement on rare occasions, notably at a London concert in June 1992 in which some of his music was performed by Bob Wilber.- Music Department
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Django Reinhardt was born on 23 January 1910 in Liberchies, Wallonia, Belgium. He was a composer and actor, known for The Matrix (1999), Gattaca (1997) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003). He was married to Sophie Ziegler. He died on 16 May 1953 in Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne, France.- Actor
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The King of Swing! Famed clarinetist, composer ("Stompin' at the Savoy") and conductor, educated at the Lewis Institute in Chicago and a student of Schillinger and Schoepp. He was a clarinetist with the orchestras of Bix Beiderbecke, Jules Herbuveaux, Arnold Johnson and Ben Pollack, and also played in Broadway theater orchestras. He began to lead his own orchestras in 1934 at the Billy Rose Music Hall, then conducted the orchestra on the weekly radio program "Let's Dance" in 1934-1935, and played at numerous hotels, colleges and theaters. Expanding his musical efforts, he performed in chamber music concerts, later touring throughout the US, Europe, the Far East, South America and the USSR and made many recordings. Joining ASCAP in 1945, his chief musical collaborators included Count Basie, Harry James, Mitchell Parish, Andy Razaf, Edgar M. Sampson, Chick Webb, and Teddy Wilson. Some of his other popular songs and instrumental compositions include "Lullaby in Rhythm," "Don't Be That Way," "Seven Come Eleven," "Flying Home," "Two O'Clock Jump," "Air Mail Special," "Dizzy Spells," "If Dreams Come True," "Georgia Jubilee," "Four Once More," and "The Kingdom of Swing".- Music Department
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Composer ("'Batman' Theme), conductor, arrager and trumpeter, educated in high school and through private music study. He was a trumpeter and arranger with dance orchestras including those of Harry James, Woody Herman, and Charlie Spivak between 1941 and 1951. He was a staff arranger and arranger for the "Arthur Godfrey Show" and the "Kate Smith Show" over ABC, and also formed his own orchestra, playing theatres, hotels, clubs and colleges, and made many recordings. Joining ASCAP in 1953, his oher popular song and instrumental compositions include "Coral Reef", "Cute", "Plymouth Rock", "Buttercup", "Two for the Blues", "Oh What a Night for Love", "Cherry Point", "The Kid from Red Bank", "Repetition", "Splanky", "Sunday Morning", "Hot Pink", "Little Pony", "Lake Placid", "Why Not?", "Blowin' Up a Storm", "I'm Shoutin' Again", "Eee Dee", "Jump for Johnny", "The Long Night", "The Good Earth", "Wildroot", "Late Date", "It's Always Nice to Be With You", "I Must Know", and "Girl Talk".- Actor
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Noted for his bravura performances, Charles James Shavers is remembered as one of the most talented and energetic trumpet virtuosos of the big band era. He had music in his blood. His father was an accomplished master of the instrument, as was his older brother. The legendary Fats Navarro (1923-1950) was another relation, albeit a distant one. Charlie began on banjo and piano before being persuaded to switch to trumpet. He first gigged with minor bands in New York and Philadelphia after which followed stints with Tiny Bradshaw (1936), and, briefly, Lucky Millinder (1937). In November 1937, he joined the Sextet of John Kirby at the Onyx Club as arranger and trumpeter. At the time, this organisation was known as 'The Biggest Little Band in the Land', including among its lineup top musicians like Buster Bailey, Billy Kyle and Russell Procope. Shavers stayed for seven years during the heyday of the John Kirby Sextet, composing the jazz standard "Undecided" (which later became a hit for Ella Fitzgerald) and "Pastel Blue" (later reincarnated as "Why Begin Again", following the addition of lyrics).
In 1944, Charlie left Kirby and worked for a spell as a session musician with Raymond Scott's orchestra at CBS. In February 1945, he was hired by Tommy Dorsey as regular trumpet soloist, remaining on and off for the next eleven years (he was, actually, the first African-American musician to work in Dorsey's band). Charlie affectionately nicknamed his boss 'the wonderful tyrant'. During the 1950's and 60's, Charlie played in, led or co-led smaller groups, recorded with Nat 'King' Cole and Buddy Rich and toured with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic. He performed extensively in Europe (for the final time in 1970), as well touring Japan, Hong Kong, Canada and South America. Adept at all genres of mainstream jazz (but very much averse to 'free jazz'), he made a number of successful records as a solo artist. His own personal favorite among his albums was "Shavers, Gershwin And Strings", released in June 1955 by Bethlehem Records with arrangements by Sy Oliver. A popular personality with audiences and fellow musicians alike, Charlie died of throat cancer in July 1971 at the untimely age of 50.- Actor
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George Shearing was born on 13 August 1919 in Battersea, London, England, UK. He was an actor and composer, known for Bedtime Stories (2008), Green Book (2018) and The Muppets (2011). He was married to Eleanor Geffert and Beatrice Bayes. He died on 14 February 2011 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
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Lionel Hampton is an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader.
Hampton was born in Louisville, Kentucky and was raised by his grandmother. In the 1920s, he took xylophone lessons and began playing drums and later flute and percussion at Holy Rosary Academy near Chicago. Lionel Hampton mastered percussion instruments at school, then switched to timpani and marimba in a youth military orchestra.
Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones. In 1992, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1996.- Music Department
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The famed composer ("One O'Clock Jump", "Two O'Clock Jump", "Jumpin' at the Woodside"), pianist, songwriter and bandleader began as an accompanist to vaudeville acts. He joined the Bennie Moten orchestra in Kansas City, later organizing his own orchestra and performing on radio. In 1936 he came to New York, appearing in hotels, night clubs, theatres and jazz festivals. He toured the US, and also, in 1954, Europe. He was elected to the Down Beat Magazine's Hall of Fame in 1958, and has made many records. Joining ASCAP in 1943, his chief musical collaborators included Mack David, Jerry Livingston, James Rushing, Andy Gibson, Eddie Durham, and Lester Young. His songs and instrumentals also include "Good Morning Blues"; "Every Tub"; "John's Idea"; "Basie Boogie"; "Blue and Sentimental"; "Gone With the Wind"; "I Ain't Mad at You"; "Futile Frustration"; "Good Bait"; "Don't You Miss Your Baby?"; "Miss Thing" "Riff Interlude"; "Panassie Stomp: "Shorty George"; "Out the Window"; "Hollywood Jump: "Nobody Knows"; "Swinging at the Daisy Chain"; and "I Left My Baby".- Actor
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One of the most accomplished and influential drummers of the swing era, Jonathan 'Papa Jo' Jones was schooled in Alabama, becoming proficient at playing piano, trumpet and saxophone by the age of ten. Leaving home, he worked as a singer and tap dancer in travelling medicine shows and in vaudeville, eventually taking up drums. During his late teens, he played jazz in territory bands, including Walter Page's 'Blue Devils', Harold Jones' Brownskin Syncopators (1931) and Lloyd Hunter's Serenaders (to 1933). Jones settled in Kansas City by 1934 and became acquainted with Bill Basie, who had not yet changed his moniker to Count Basie. Jones was soon employed as a drummer in Basie's band, on and off until the autumn of 1936, when he became a permanent fixture. Along with Page and Basie, he became an integral part of what was often referred to as the 'All-American Rhythm Section'. An innovative musician, he changed traditional perspectives by favoring the use of brushes and by making the hi hat cymbal, rather than the bass drum, the dominant time keeping instrument at his disposal.
Jones remained with Basie until February 1948, a tenure only interrupted by a period of military service between 1944 and 1946. His subsequent free-lance work included nationwide and European tours with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic', as well as stints with smaller swing/bop combos led by Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt and Joe Bushkin. During the 1950's and 60's, Jones recorded with Billie Holiday, Art Tatum, Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Teddy Wilson, and many others. He also regularly performed on the New York club scene, occasionally fronting his own trio. A very literate, articulate individual, Jones had a well-earned reputation for outspokenness and volatility, especially in regard to musicians whom he believed had been elevated without sufficient artistic merit.- Music Department
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Born in New York, raised in Philadelphia, Mulligan was the foremost baritone sax player of his generation, as well as an acclaimed composer and arranger, and one of the founders of the post-WWII "West Coast" school of jazz. In addition to his three marriages, Mulligan was the long-term lover of actress Judy Holliday, an affair which began in 1958 and ended with her death. When she became terminally ill in the 1960s, he put his own career on hold to nurse her until the end.- Music Artist
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Miles Davis, famous jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader, was born 26 May 1926 in Alton, Illinois. He moved to New York in 1944 and studied at Juilliard. He left school and entered the jazz society of New York, meeting such famous musicians as Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Charles Mingus. His record debut came in 1946. Miles soon became a major figure of jazz. He changed the directions of jazz several times, recording albums such as "Birth Of The Cool" (1949) which started the cool-jazz era, "Milestones" (1953), "Kind Of Blue" (1959) which was the beginning of modal jazz, orchestral jazz masterpieces such as "Porgy And Bess" (1958) and "Sketches Of Spain" (1961), "In A Silent Way" (1968) and "Bitches Brew" (1969) - the first jazz/rock fusion albums. He collaborated with famous jazz players such as: Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Philly Joe Jones, Joe Zawinul, Paul Chambers, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Keith Jarrett and others. He retired from music in 1975 due to hip problems as well as his problems with drug addiction. He recovered and returned to music in 1980, collaborating with producer Marcus Miller and recording new, intriguing albums such as electronic-driven Tutu or Amandla, as well as Spanish-flavored music for Siesta (1987). Miles Davis is now arguably one of the greatest and most important jazz musicians of all time.- Actor
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Dexter Gordon was considered one of the greatest jazz saxophonists ever, During his heyday, namely `45-`80, he played tenor sax with many of the all-time jazz greats, including Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, Billy Eckstine and many others. In the 60s, he left his vices behind and created some wonderful music. He played in Europe extensively where he was very popular and lived there for the most part during the 60s and the early to mid 70s. Around 1977, he returned to America and made some well-received records. Round Midnight was his only feature role, playing a character not unlike himself, for which he was nominated for an Oscar. He has influenced subsequent generations of musicians with his artful approach to jazz. His feel and subtle nuances are sorely missed in the world of jazz.- Music Artist
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Louis Armstrong grew up poor in a single-parent household. He was 13 when he celebrated the New Year by running out on the street and firing a pistol that belonged to the current man in his mother's life. At the Colored Waifs Home for Boys, he learned to play the bugle and the clarinet and joined the home's brass band. They played at socials, picnics and funerals for a small fee. At 18 he got a job in the Kid Ory Band in New Orleans. Four years later, in 1922, he went to Chicago, where he played second coronet in the Creole Jazz Band. He made his first recordings with that band in 1923. In 1929 Armstrong appeared on Broadway in "Hot Chocolates", in which he introduced Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin', his first popular song hit. He made a tour of Europe in 1932. During a command performance for King George V, he forgot he had been told that performers were not to refer to members of the royal family while playing for them. Just before picking up his trumpet for a really hot number, he announced: "This one's for you, Rex."- Soundtrack
Eddie Condon was born on 16 November 1905 in Goodland, Indiana, USA. He was married to Phyllis Smith. He died on 4 July 1973 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
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Bill Evans was born on August 16, 1929 in Plainfield, New Jersey. His father was of Welsh descent, his mother was of Russian Orthodox background. His mother was an amateur pianist and gave Evans his first piano lessons at home as well as at her church. At the age of 6 he started classical piano training and later added flute and violin. At 12 he was able to fill in for his elder brother in Buddy Valentino's Jazz band. During the end of WWII and after the war, Evans played piano gigs in New York clubs. He graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University as a pianist in 1950, and later went to the Mannes College of Music, where he studied composition.
Bill Evans was hired by Miles Davis in 1958, as the only white musician in the all-star Miles Davis Sextet. It was a mutually beneficial collaboration and their album "Kind of Blue" is now one of the most referred to in Jazz. Their creative work is documented in The Miles Davis Story (2001). In 1959 Evans started his own trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian which became one of the most acclaimed trios. Four albums recorded by that trio in 1959-61 are Jazz classics. Evans' innovative "Conversations with myself" won him his first Grammy award in 1963. He recorded several albums with trios, of which a nice trio gig at the 1968 Montreux Jazz Festival with Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJohnette won a Grammy. His lyrical piano solo album "Alone" won him another Grammy in 1968.
Bill Evans' legacy includes over a hundred recorded albums and concert performances. In his improvisations Evans shines as a brilliant inventor, as well as remarkable timekeeper and polyrhythmic player. On records he plays with authoritative presence, marked with refined nuances and accentuations. His mastery of impressionistic voicings comes with supreme clarity and with definitive phrasing in many of his deliciously intertwined counterpoint lines. Evans makes the right balance in various settings; solo, in a duo, in a trio, in a small ensemble, and with a big band. His original style stands on the solid foundation of classical heritage from Sergei Rachmaninoff, Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, to Erik Satie, Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky, as he ingeniously included tiny bits of themes from these and other composers in his own improvisations.
Bill Evans' influence on modern music is growing as more musicians absorb his original ideas and study his music scores. The leading classical musicians, like Jean-Yves Thibaudet include compositions and arrangements by Bill Evans in their repertoire. Evans's inventive harmonization of all-so-familiar songs makes them sound fresh and tasty. His two recordings with Tony Bennett in 1975-77 are among the finest achievements of artistic interplay between singer and pianist, where two partners are improvising and stimulating each other's creativity and imagination. Musicians who played and recorded with Bill Evans often recognized him as the one who made the difference. His last trio recordings with the young Joe LaBarbera and Marc Johnson revealed even more of his unending creative and improvisational freedom.
He suffered from a drug addiction since his stint with the Miles Davis sextet in 1950s. He also suffered from hepatitis and had a perforated ulcer of the stomach. He died on September 15, 1980 in New York. Bill Evans is now considered one of the most influential pianists in the history of Jazz.- Actor
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One of the all-time great jazz tenor saxophonists, born Lawrence Freeman in Chicago on April 13th 1906. He was an early alumnus of the Austin High School Gang (which evolved into the Chicagoans and then became Husk O'Hare's Wolverines). The nucleus of these groups included at various times such illustrious personnel as the cornettist Jimmy McPartland, pianist Joe Sullivan, clarinettist Benny Goodman, guitarist/banjoist Eddie Condon, drummers Gene Krupa and George Wettling, plus the short-lived clarinet and alto sax player Frank Teschemacher. These men essentially represented what became known as the high energy, free-wheeling 'Chicago-style' of jazz.
Having switched from C Melody to tenor sax by 1925, Freeman went on to a prolific and varied career which encompassed being the front man of several recording groups, to plying his trade as a saxophonist on the transatlantic cruise ship Ile de France, followed by stints in Paris (with his close friend, the drummer Davey Tough) and New York (with cornettist Red Nichols). Adopting what has been described as 'expressionistic swing' (a derivation of the Chicago style of music), Freeman worked with many of the famous big bands of the 1930's, including those of Gene Kardos (1933), Ray Noble (1935-36) and Tommy Dorsey (1936 to 1938: noted for his solos on famous tracks like 'Maple Leaf Rag', 'After You've Gone' and 'Beale Street Blues'), the Casa Loma Orchestra and Eddie Condon's group, with which he recorded his own composition 'The Eel'. Despite a lack of formal training, Freeman maintained a reputation for high-spirited, skillful and fluent playing, often creating his own rhythm by prodigious use of unison riffs. He was said to have been an influence on the great Lester Young.
Freeman briefly led his own band, the Summa Cum Laude Orchestra from April 1939 to July 1940, even participating in a short-lived musical revue, "Swinging that Dream". During wartime military service, he fronted an army band based at Ft. George, Maryland, and subsequently in the Aleutians. For the remainder of his career, Freeman worked as a sideman or as leader of smaller combos, including at the Gaffer Club in Chicago (which he part-owned), a trio with residency at the Copacabana Hotel in Rio de Janeiro (1947), and, another, at the Metropole Café in New York (1954). He toured Europe in 1967 with the musical "Jazz from a swinging Era'. From 1969 to 1971, he made concert appearances and copious recordings with an association known as The World's Greatest Jazz Band. A self-described Anglophile, Freeman spent most of the 1970's living in London, but eventually returned to Chicago in 1980. Among his extensive free-lance recordings are sessions with Jess Stacy, Lee Wiley, Jack Teagarden, Wingy Manone and Teddy Wilson. Freeman's best-known compositions include 'After Awhile', 'The Eel', 'Craz-e-ology' and 'Tillie's Downtown Now'.- Composer
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Dave Brubeck was born on 6 December 1920 in Concord, California, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Inland Empire (2006), Baby Driver (2017) and Constantine (2005). He was married to Iola Brubeck. He died on 5 December 2012 in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA.- Actor
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Coleman Hawkins was called "The father of the tenor sax". He was a pioneer in this instrument, starting his career with the blues singer Mamie Smith in 1921. In 1923 he played with Fletcher Henderson until 1934. In this orchestra he was a partner of Louis Armstrong in 1924. In the mid-thirties he went to Europe and played with many musicians, for example Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli and Benny Carter. In 1939 he returned to the USA and made a classic recording of "Body and Soul". The next year he formed his own big band. He was in activity until his death in 1969, in these last years he played with a small group with the trumpet player Roy Eldridge.- Clifford Brown was born on 30 October 1930 in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. He was married to LaRue Anderson. He died on 26 June 1956 in Pennsylvania, USA.
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Dudley Moore, the gifted comedian who had at least three distinct career phases that brought him great acclaim and success, actually started out as a musical prodigy as a child. Moore -- born in Dagenham, Essex, England to working class parents in 1935 -- won a music scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, to study the organ. At university, he also studied composition and became a classically trained pianist, though his forte on the piano for public performance was jazz. After graduating from Magdalen College in 1958, Moore was offered a position as organist at King's College, Cambridge, but turned it down in order to go to London and pursue a music and acting career. Fellow Oxonian Alan Bennett (Exter Colelge, B.A., Medieval History, 1957) had already recommended him to John Bassett, who was putting together a satirical comedy revue called "Beyond the Fringe". "Beyond the Fringe" was to be Moore's first brush with fame, along with co-stars Bennett, future theatrical director Jonathan Miller (now Sir Jonathan, who studied Medicine at Cambridge and was a physician), and Peter Cook, who was destined to become Moore's comic partner during the 1960s and '70s.
It was Miller who had recommended Cook for "Beyond the Fringe", in much the same way that Bennett had bird-dogged Moore. Cook, who had studied modern languages at Cambridge, had been part of the famous Cambridge theatrical, the Footlights revue in 1959, had subsequently gone to London to star in a West End revue for Kenneth Williams, "Pieces of Eight". This old-fashioned review was such a success there was a sequel, "One Over the Eight". He was advised by his agent not to star in the Fringe with the three others as he was a professional, whereas they were amateurs. Ironically, the great success of "Beyond the Fringe", which was a new kind of satirical comedy, would doom the very old-fashioned reviews that Cook had just tasted success in. "Beyond the Fringe" not only won great acclaim in the UK, but it was a hit in the U.S.. The four won a special Tony Award in 1963 for their Broadway production of "Beyond the Fringe" and there was a television program made of the revue in 1964.
Moore and Cook were offered the TV show Not Only... But Also (1965) by the BBC in 1965. Peter Cook was on as a guest. Their pairing was so successful, it enjoyed a second season in 1966 and a third in 1970. They were particularly funny as the working-class characters "Pete" and "Dud". The duo then broke into the movies, including The Wrong Box (1966) and Bedazzled (1967). In 1974, the duo won their second Tony Award for their show "Good Night", which was the stage version of their TV series "Not Only... But Also".
In the mid- to late 1970s, they issued three comic albums in the guise of the characters "Derek" and "Clive" (Moore and Cook, respectively), two lavatory attendants that many viewed as reincarnations of their earlier TV characters "Pete" and "Dud". The albums, ad-libbed in a recording studio while the two drank vast quantities of alcohol, were noted at the time for their obscenity. Their typical routine was a stream-of-consciousness fugue by Cook, interspersed with interjections by Moore. With their obscenity-laden, free-formed riffs, Derke and Clive presaged the more free-wheeling shock comedy of the 1980s and '90s.
They subsequently split up as Moore could no longer tolerate Cook's alcoholism. Under the influence, Cook would become abusive towards Moore, whose acting career was undergoing a renaissance in the late '70s while his career has stalled. Ironically, it was playing an alcoholic that brought Moore to the summit of his success as an actor.
After marrying American actress Tuesday Weld in 1975, Moore moved to the U.S. and began a second career as a solo screen comedian, stealing the show from Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn as the horny conductor in the movie comedy, Foul Play (1978). When George Segal dropped out of the movie 10 (1979), director Blake Edwards cast Moore in the lead role as the composer undergoing a mid-life crisis. It was a huge hit, but was surpassed by his Oscar-nominated turn as the dipsomaniac billionaire in Arthur (1981). In the early 1980s, Moore was a top box office attraction. In 1983, the National Alliance of Theater Owners named him the Top Box Office Star-Male of the Year.
His career began petering out after he turned down the lead in Splash (1983), a role that helped establish Tom Hanks as a top movie comedian and position him for his transition into movie drama and super-stardom. As Hanks star waxed, Moore's star waned, and by 1985 he was reduced to playing an elf in Santa Claus: The Movie (1985), one of the all time turkeys. Even a second turn as "Arthur" in Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988) couldn't revive his box office, the dependent clause of the title all too well describing his career. His TV series Dudley (1993) was a bust, and the 1990s proved a wasteland for the once-honored and prosperous comedian.
Moore was deeply affected by the January 1995 death of Peter Cook by a gastrointestinal hemorrhage at the age of 57. Moore organized a two-day memorial to Cook in Los Angeles that was held in November 1995. Less than four years later, in September 1999, Moore announced that he was afflicted with progressive supra-nuclear palsy, a disease for which there is no treatment.
Dudley Moore was invested as a Commander of the Order of The British Empire (one step below knighthood) in June 2001. Moore personally attended the ceremony at Buckingham Palace to accept his CBE from Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales (later King Charles III), despite being unable to speak and being wheelchair-bound. He died in Watchung, New Jersey on March 27, 2002, a month shy of his 67th birthday, from the pneumonia related to progressive supra-nuclear palsy.
Dudley Moore was married four times, to actresses Suzy Kendall, Tuesday Weld, Brogan Lane and Nicole Rothschild, and had two sons, one with Tuesday Weld and one with Nicole Rothschild.- Music Artist
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George Benson was born on 22 March 1943 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for Michael (1996), Hit and Run (2012) and All That Jazz (1979). He has been married to Johnnie Lee since 1962. They have six children.- Actor
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Accomplished percussionist (bongos, congas, timbales, cencerro), vibraphonist and pianist, one of the first commercially successful artists to fuse jazz with Latin music. The son of vaudevillians, Tjader (pronounced 'Chayder') began his career on the West Coast as a four year old solo tap dancer, nicknamed 'Mr. Talent' by his proud parents. Having graduated from San Francisco State College, he arrived on the music scene as a Dixieland drummer until he got his big break by way of joining the Dave Brubeck Trio in 1949. In 1951, following a brief spell with Alvino Rey and having added vibes to his repertoire, he went on to become a member of the acclaimed George Shearing Quintet. His year with Shearing exposed Tjader to Latin music (especially mambo) and to top-flight musicians in the genre like Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo. He became determined to have his own Cuban-sounding band akin to those of Tito Puente and Machito.
In 1954, Tjader formed his Modern Mambo Quintet, recruiting Santamaria and Bobo, plus the pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi with whom he had earlier recorded 'Vibratharp', his first album for the Fantasy label. Switching to Verve in 1961, Tjader's popularity and reputation spread quickly and eventually attracted performers like Donald Byrd, Lalo Schifrin and Kenny Burrell to his organisation. His biggest single hit was the track "Soul Sauce" (1964) from his album of the same name, recorded on the East Coast in November 1964. The song was a reworking of the original Dizzy Gillespie composition "Guarachi Guaro". Among later noteworthy hits were "Cubano Chant" and "Tumbao". During his most prolific period from the late 50's to the mid-70's, Tjader recorded with many renowned artists, including Stan Getz (1958), Eddie Palmieri (the much acclaimed albums El Sonido Nuevo, 1966; and Bamboleate, 1967) and Charlie Byrd (1974). In 1980, Tjader wound up recording with a sextet for Concord Picante (a subsidiary of the Concord label) and won a Grammy Award for 'La Onda Va Bien'. One of his many excellent contributions, "Shoshana" (1984) was released posthumously. For many years a pacesetter for small Latin jazz combos, Tjader was instrumental in popularising the genre and is acknowledged to have influenced a generation of later stars, including Carlos Santana.- Music Department
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Composer ("I'm Beginning to See the Light"), saxophonist and songwriter who was educated in area public schools and then joined dance orchestras as a saxophonist. By 1927, he had joined the Duke Ellington band. He has made many recordings. Joining ASCAP in 1945, his other popular-song and instrumental compositions include "Shady Side", "What's It All About?", "Mood to be Wooed", "The Hodge Podge", "Jepp's Blues", "Jitterbug's Lullaby", "Wanderlust", "Wonder of You", "Harmony in Harlem", "It Shouldn't Happen to a Dream", "Crosstown", "Squatty Roo", and others.- Actor
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Roy Eldridge was born on 30 January 1911 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and manager, known for Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Raging Bull (1980) and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). He was married to Viola Lee Fong. He died on 26 February 1989 in Valley Stream, Long Island, New York, USA.- Music Department
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Shelly Manne was born on 11 June 1920 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Touch of Evil (1958), Porgy and Bess (1959) and One from the Heart (1981). He was married to Florence Butterfield. He died on 26 September 1984 in Sun Valley, California, USA.- Music Department
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A saxophonist, Art Pepper played briefly with Gus Arnheim but most often played with black groups in downtown Los Angeles. It was during the late 1940s and early 1950s that he became addicted to heroin, and during the 1960s he served a few jail sentences. Pepper's wife wrote his biography, entitled "Straight Life."- Music Department
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Sonny Rollins was born on 7 September 1930 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for Project Power (2020), Metro (1997) and The French Dispatch (2021).- Music Department
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Oscar Peterson, the famous jazz musician, started his recording career in the mid 40s with records for RCA. As member of the group "Jazz at the Philharmonic" he started touring in the 50s and continued until late in the 60s. During this time he made also numerous recordings for various labels. He has recorded with the great jazz legends such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker.- Composer
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Herbie Mann was born on 16 April 1930 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was a composer, known for Gerzek Saban (1980), Castaway (1986) and My Best Friend's Birthday (1987). He was married to Susan Janeal Arison, Jan Cloonts and Ruth Shore. He died on 1 July 2003 in Pecos, New Mexico, USA.- Composer
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Yusef Lateef was born on 9 October 1920 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. He was a composer, known for Selma (2014), Lenny Cooke (2013) and Constellation (2005). He was married to Tahira Simpson, Ayesha, Saeed Lateef and Sadie. He died on 23 December 2013 in Shutesbury, Massachusetts, USA.- Music Department
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Johnny Mercer started his career as singer and songwriter for Paul Whiteman. He started writing songs for Hollywood in 1935, where he also had a few small parts in musicals. Among his famous songs is the inoffical anthem of Hollywood, "Hooray For Hollywood" that he wrote for the movie "Hollywood Hotel". He also had radio programs and made records, some with Bing Crosby.- Actor
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Harry James was born in a rundown hotel next to the city jail in Albany, Georgia. His mother and father were members of a circus - she as a trapeze artist and he a band leader - with the Mighty Haag Circus. At seven, they settled in Beaumont, Texas where Harry learned to play drums. By twelve, he was playing trumpet in the Christy Brothers Circus band. In 1936 James joined Ben Pollack's band, soon leaving to lead the brass section of Benny Goodman's band. He even once applied to Lawrence Welk's band but was turned down because they said he played too loud and it was not Welk's style. After three years with Goodman, he wanted to leave, and with Goodman's backing, he formed the Music Makers. In 1943 he married pinup queen Betty Grable, his second of four wives. He had earlier married and divorced Louise Tobin, a singer. Grable kept appearing in movies and Harry kept playing while they raised horses. He made his debut in Philadelphia at the Ben Franklin Hotel and soon was a nationwide favorite of dance lovers and jazz addicts, rocking the rafters at the Hollywood Paladium, Chicago's famous College Inn at the Hotel Sherman, Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook in Cedar Cove, NJ, and then onto New York City. It was the Lincoln Hotel in NYC that the Music Makers called home, but James also starred at the Paramount Theater in the spring of 1943, with thousands of teenagers flocking to see him. His version of You Made Me Love You was a big hit and a favorite of many through the war years. James was a great discoverer of talent, finding Frank Sinatra working as a waiter in a New Jersey restaurant and giving him a job singing in his band. Dick Haymes, Kitty Kallen, Connie Haines and Helen Forrest can all thank James for giving them their first real break. In 1963 his band was featured at Disneyland, still known as the Music Makers. He played his last gig at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on June 26, 1983, just a few days before dying of lymphatic cancer.- Charlie Christian was born on 29 July 1916 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He died on 2 March 1942 in New York City, New York, USA.
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Gene married Ethel McGuire in 1934. She was the switchboard operator at the Dixie Hotel where Gene was living while he was working in the pit band of "Girl Crazy." They were divorced in 1942 and remarried in 1946. Ethel died in 1955. Gene then married Patty Bowler in 1959 and they adopted two children, Mary Grace and Michael, who Gene nicknamed "BG." They were divorced in 1968.- Actor
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Art Blakey was born on 11 October 1919 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for I Called Him Morgan (2016), Revolutionary Road (2008) and Pawn Sacrifice (2014). He was married to Anne Arnold, Atsuko Nakamura, Diana Bates and Clarice Stewart. He died on 16 October 1990 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
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Ahmad Jamal was born on 2 July 1930 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for The Bridges of Madison County (1995), The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020) and Jazz Scene at the Ronnie Scott Club (1969). He was married to Laura Hess-Hey, Sharifah Frazier and Amema. He died on 16 April 2023 in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts, USA.- Music Department
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Bud Shank was born on 27 May 1926 in Dayton, Ohio, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Porgy and Bess (1959), Hot Rod Rumble (1957) and War Hunt (1962). He was married to Linda Shank and Nephru Malouf. He died on 2 April 2009 in Tucson, Arizona, USA.- Actor
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Art Farmer was born on 21 August 1928 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Carol (2015), The Executioner (1975) and The Subterraneans (1960). He died on 4 October 1999 in New York City, New York, USA.- Music Department
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Herbie Hancock is an American actor that was born. Herbert Jeffery Hancock, on April 12, 1940, Chicago, IL. He is best known as a piano player, jazz star, and a composer. He has won many Grammy Awards and has performed with many famous musicians beginning with Miles Davis in the 1960s. He achieved fame with the Mtv generation in the 1980s with his instrumental hit, "Rock it". He and his wife Gigi, have been married since 1968. Later in life, Herbie returned to fame by acting in movies such as. Hitters, Round Midnight, and "Valerarian, World of a Thousand Cities" (2017).- Music Department
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Puerto Rican valve trombonist, arranger and composer, musically educated by his uncle Manuel. Tizol moved to the U.S. in 1920 and first met Duke Ellington while playing trombone in the pit of the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C.. After spells with Bobby Lee's Cottonpickers and the White Brothers Band, Tizol joined Ellington in 1929 and stayed with him until 1944. Though an excellent ensemble player, Tizol declared himself more comfortable with 'legit' music ("I don't feel the pop tunes, but I feel La Gioconda and La Boheme") and rarely, if ever, improvised. However, he was chiefly responsible for introducing a strong Latin influence to Ellington's band, composing such famous standards as 'Caravan', 'Perdido', 'Bakiff', 'Conga Brava', 'Luna de Cuba' and 'Zanzibar'. From 1944 to 1951, Tizol worked as a trombonist with the Harry James Orchestra, having set up permanent residence on South Hobart Boulevard in Los Angeles. He eventually returned to Ellington for another two years. Until his retirement in 1961 he confined himself to occasional studio recordings, notably with Nelson Riddle and Nat 'King' Cole.- Soundtrack
Milt Jackson was born on 1 January 1923 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He was married to Sandy. He died on 9 October 1999 in New York City, New York, USA.- Music Department
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Kenny Clarke was born on 9 January 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Elevator to the Gallows (1958), The Cable Guy (1996) and On the Road (2012). He died on 26 January 1985 in Paris, France.- Composer
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John Lewis was born on 3 May 1920 in LaGrange, Illinois, USA. He was a composer, known for Brotherhood of Death (1976), Bird (1988) and Cut Throat City (2020). He was married to Mirjana Vrbanic. He died on 29 March 2001 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
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Swinging, mostly self-taught stride pianist of the big band era, initially trained on drums. The son of a railroad engineer and well-grounded in jazz from early childhood, Stacy began his professional career in the early 1920's. He first played on Mississippi and Missouri riverboats with local bands (often playing the cumbersome steam calliope), such as Peg Meyer's Original Melody Kings and groups led by Harvey Berry (S.S. Majestic) and Tony Catalano (S.S. Capitol). By 1926, he had made his way to Chicago, first joining Joe Kayser's band at the Arcadia Ballroom. Over the next nine years, Stacy was steadily employed with various orchestras, performing at night clubs and speakeasies, at least some of which were operated by gangsters like Al Capone. Noteworthy engagements included bands led by trumpet player Paul Mares (at Harry's Bar), Maurie Stein (at the Paramount Club) and Earl 'Fatha' Hines , for whom he often worked as a relief pianist and who strongly influenced his own style of playing. He also made a number of recordings with guitarist Eddie Condon and of compositions for piano by the legendary Bix Beiderbecke. Stacy's big break came about, when the producer John Hammond Jr (1910-1987) put his name forward to Benny Goodman. Signed on, he remained with Goodman for four years and took part in the seminal concert at Carnegie Hall, playing an improvised piano solo - subtly prompted by Goodman himself -- in the middle of the show-stopping number "Sing, Sing, Sing". His reputation was thus made.
Stacy was reputed to be mild-mannered, of sensitive disposition, so it came to no surprise when, in 1939, he left the volatile Goodman for Bob Crosby's Bobcats, declaring "I never want to play with Benny Goodman's band again" and "...it was too much of a strain. You just never knew where you were with Benny and I feel terribly relieved that it's all over" (p.218, George Simon "The Big Bands"). Nevertheless, after three years with Crosby, Stacy returned to Goodman, until the latter temporarily disbanded his orchestra in March 1944. This was followed by brief stints with Horace Heidt and Tommy Dorsey. In 1945, Stacy formed his own big band as a backing group for his then-wife, the jazz singer Lee Wiley, recording several sides for RCA and Commodore. Both marriage and band turned out to be short-lived. As the big band era came to an end, Stacy drifted towards the edges of the music scene. By the late 1940's, he was performing as a soloist in such West Coast bars and clubs as the Brown Derby, the Hangover and the Ile de France. After 1963, somewhat disillusioned, he gave up full-time music altogether, instead selling cosmetics and delivering mail for the Max Factor company. He was eventually tempted out of retirement for the 1974 Newport Jazz Festival, at which time he was 'rediscovered' by a new and appreciative audience.- American jazz musician, nicknamed 'the Lamb', born Edgar Melvin Sampson. A childhood prodigy, Sampson was already an accomplished violinist by the age of six. After leading his own high school band he moved on to become a sideman with New York-based orchestras in the 1920's, alternating on violin and alto sax. This included a season with Duke Ellington at the Kentucky Club and another with the lesser-known Arthur Gibbs outfit at the Savoy Ballroom. Between 1931 and 1932, Sampson worked with Fletcher Henderson's organisation before joining the drummer Chick Webb (1934-36). It was during this time, that he first began composing a number of rhythmic standards which essentially define the term 'swing'. From July 1936, Sampson concentrated on free-lance arranging for some of the biggest names in the business, including Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson and Red Norvo. In November 1939, he took over the reigns as musical director of Ella Fitzgerald's band, following the untimely demise of Chick Webb. He resumed playing (mostly on tenor or baritone sax) during the late 40's, briefly fronted his own orchestra (1949-51), subsequently leading smaller groups. Sampson also continued to write arrangements, notably for Latin leaders Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez. A severe illness, which necessitated the amputation of a leg, brought an end to his career in the late 1960's.
Among Edgar Sampson's catalogue of top hits are "Stompin' at the Savoy" (1934), "If Dreams Come True" (1934), "Dark Rapture" (1938), "Lullaby in Rhythm" (1938), "Blue Lou" (1933) and Benny Goodman's theme "Don't Be That Way" (1934). - Composer
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Jazz legend Mundell Lowe learned to play guitar from the age of six, growing up in and around Laurel, Mississippi, the son of a Baptist minister. He helped his father hoe cotton on his farm but had no aspirations to work on the land. Aged ten, he acquired his first six-string guitar and became hooked on jazz. Having listening to Charlie Christian, he knew at once which style to emulate. Three years later, he absconded from home and headed for New Orleans where he frequented the Bourbon Street jazz clubs.
Although his father eventually caught up with him, Lowe ran away again -- this time to Nashville where he briefly joined the Pee Wee King band. In 1940, he graduated from school, had a stint with the orchestra of Jan Savitt and was in 1943 drafted for military service, posted at a camp near New Orleans. There, he had the good fortune to meet the resident entertainment officer, John Hammond Jr. Though assigned to Fort McPherson near Atlanta and posted to the Engineering Corps, Lowe's acquaintance with Hammond proved beneficial after his demobilization. In 1945, Hammond helped Lowe get a job with the Ray McKinley Orchestra (leader of the post-war Glenn Miller band). After that, Lowe worked in small combos, recording sessions and club dates with most of the big names of the genre, including Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Ben Webster and Red Norvo.
Between 1948 and 1965, Lowe was engaged as guitarist/arranger by the NBC Orchestra in New York and also acted as musical director on TV's Today Show. In 1965, he relocated to Los Angeles where the head of Screen Gems, Jackie Cooper, offered him work as conductor/composer of music for television. Lowe also subsequently branched out into music education. During the succeeding decades he was active as a teacher of film composition at the Grove School of Music in Studio City and at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles. In 1983, he formed a small group called TransitWest which performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival and included among its personnel bass player Monty Budwig and flutist Sam Most. Mundell Lowe was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame and received a Lifetime Achievement prize at the San Diego Music Awards in 2008.- Composer
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Composer, conductor and guitarist, whose style was influenced by the great Charlie Christian. Kenny was born in Detroit as one of four brothers (all musicians). From 1952 to 1953, he studied classical guitar and then attended Wayne University three years later, earning his Bachelor of Music degree. In 1955, he replaced Herb Ellis in Oscar Peterson's trio, and, in 1957, played guitar with Benny Goodman and His Orchestra. Under the Blue Note label, he later recorded alongside John Coltrane and pianist Tommy Flanagan. In the 60s, he recorded for Blue Note and Verve and released a seminal album, entitled 'Midnight Blue'. He appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival. Joining ASCAP in 1959, he composed the instrumentals "Sugar Hill" and "Kenny's Blues". Excellent showcases for his work are the tracks "Chitlins Con Carne" and "Birk's Works".- Actor
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Miller already played clarinet in street bands while in his teens, as well as performing gigs in New Orleans at the Silver Slipper and Halfway House. By the age of seventeen, he moved to New York to record with a band led by Julie Wintz. By 1930, he had taken up tenor saxophone and got his first big break, when he was hired to perform with the orchestra of Ben Pollack. After that group disbanded in 1934, Miller went on to become one of the co-founders of the Bobcats co-operative, led by Bob Crosby. His authoritative solos, equally effective on ballads as on up-tempo numbers (plus occasional compositions, such as the hit song "Slow Mood") contributed enormously to the commercial and critical success of this band.
Upon the break-up of the Bobcats in 1942, Miller briefly led his own orchestra on the West Coast, followed by a stint in the U.S. Army (until August 1944). He then fronted another band, which featured ex-Bobcat alumni Nick Fatool on drums and Nappy Lamare on guitar, with arrangements provided by former Pollack sideman Matty Malneck. Though short-lived (until 1946), the band made some excellent recordings, including one of Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays" (Miller performing the lead solo) and the group's theme song "Love's Got Me in a Lazy Mood". Afterwards, Miller spent ten years as a Hollywood studio musician, appearing in Pete Kelly's Blues (1955) and performing as a soloist on the soundtracks of You Were Meant for Me (1948), No Way Out (1950) and Panic in the Streets (1950).
From the 1960's, Eddie Miller appeared in jazz festivals and Bob Crosby-reunions, toured Japan (1964) and the U.K. (1967) and worked with orchestras led by former Bobcats Yank Lawson and Bob Haggart. A stroke in 1988 forced him to retire from the music scene and he died three years later in Van Nuys, California, at the age of 79.- Music Department
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Wilber's career as a musician, composer, arranger and jazz educator spanned an impressive 75 years. His fascination with jazz began at the age of three after listening to a recording of Duke Ellington's 'Mood Indigo'. Learning clarinet as a child, he then became adept at the soprano saxophone while studying under Sidney Bechet. In 1945, at the age of 17, Wilber set up a revivalist jazz combo, the Wildcats. This trio later expanded into a full orchestra and played night clubs in Boston and New York for several years. Though he was primarily an exponent of traditional jazz, Wilber went on to explore other forms of the genre while honing his expertise under the tutelage of the progressive pianist Lennie Tristano and the saxophonist Lee Konitz. Having returned from military service (1952-54), he subsequently incorporated modern concepts into his second organisation, The Six. The band recorded an album which was released in 1954 by Norman Granz. Their credo (according to the magazine Down Beat) was "to play without regard to restrictions of schools or styles."
During the remainder of the decade, Wilber gigged and recorded with Eddie Condon, Jack Teagarden and Bobby Hackett and twice toured with Benny Goodman. By the late 60s, having added the alto sax to his repertoire, he became a founding member of the World's Greatest Jazz Band (a famous 'super group' which specialised in both Dixieland and mainstream jazz and included such outstanding jazzmen as Yank Lawson,Bud Freeman and Billy Butterfield). Wilber stayed for six years before moving on to establish, respectively, the Soprano Summit quintet with Kenny Davern in 1975 and the Bechet Legacy in 1981 (recording extensively under his own record label, Bodeswell). He formed and led an orchestra for the 50th anniversary of Benny Goodman's legendary concert at Carnegie Hall and the following year organized and performed a Royal Ellington concert for the Queen. As arranger, he effectively recreated Ellington's music for the motion picture The Cotton Club (1984), winning a Grammy Award in 1986. In 2003, Wilber conducted the all-French Tuxedo Big Band in Toulouse, France, playing previously unrecorded Fletcher Henderson arrangements for Benny Goodman. Released by Arbors Records, the resulting album featured many superb tracks (with Wilber performing the clarinet solos), including "Blue Interlude", "I'm Coming Virginia", "All The Things You Are", "Some Of These Days" and "Benny's Bugle".
Maintaining a high profile in jazz education, Wilber served on the board of the New York Repertory Orchestra and was the inaugural musical director of the Smithsonian Jazz Repertory Ensemble. His co-authored autobiography, "Music was not enough", appeared in 1987.- Music Department
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Drummer, composer, author and conductor. He performed with the orchestras of Ted Fiorito, Benny Goodman, the Dorsey brothers, Harry James, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie. He toured with Jazz At the Philharmonic, and later organized his own band and did a concert tour with his wife Pearl Bailey. In 1965 he rejoined the Ellington orchestra. He has made many records. Joining ASCAP in 1956, he composed "Hawk Talks", Skin Deep", "You Gotta Dance", and "Ting-a-Ling".- Actor
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Harry Carney was born on 1 April 1910 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Two Lovers (2008), Oscar (1991) and The Cotton Club (1984). He was married to Dorothy. He died on 8 October 1974 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
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Ray Nance was born on 10 December 1913 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Timex All-Star Jazz Show (1957), Jam Session (1942) and Adventures in Jazz (1949). He died on 28 January 1976 in New York City, New York, USA.- Music Department
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Cootie Williams was born on 24 June 1910 in Mobile, Alabama, USA. He was an actor, known for The Omega Man (1971), The Score (2001) and The French Dispatch (2021). He died on 14 September 1985 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
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Rex Stewart was born on 22 February 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Rendezvous in July (1949), Guard Duty Doggy (2021) and Jam Session (1942). He died on 7 September 1967 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Music Department
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Prolific trombonist, conductor, songwriter and composer. He was a trombonist in the orchestras of Benny Goodman, Bob Strong, Gene Krupa, Tommy Reynolds, Jan Savitt, Frankie Carle, and Woody Herman, and led his own band in which he also soloed. Urbie Green has made many records with his orchestra as well. Joining ASCAP in 1963, his instrumental compositions include "Sentimental Blues" and "The Poor Soul".- Music Department
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Zoot Sims was born on 29 October 1925 in Inglewood, California, USA. He is known for Rushmore (1998), Malcolm & Marie (2021) and She's Funny That Way (2014). He was married to Louise. He died on 23 March 1985 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
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Legendary clarinetist, composer ("At the Woodchoppers' Ball"), singer and bandleader (the Thundering Herd(s) ), educated at Marquette University. He was a clarinetist in the orchestras of Joey Lichter, Harry Sosnik, Gus Arnheim, and Indiana Jones, then formed his own orchestra, appearing in hotels, theatres and ballrooms. He toured Europe in 1954, Europe, and Latin America in 1958 (under the auspices of the US State Department), and made many records. Joining ASCAP in 1945, his chief musical collaborators included Chubby Jackson and Ralph Burns, and his other popular-song and instrumental compositions include "Apple Honey", "Goosey Gander", "Northwest Passage", "River Bed Blues", "Blues on Parade", "Blowin' Up a Storm", "Music by the Moon", "Early Autumn", "A Kiss Goodnight", "Your Father's Moustache", "Wild Root", "I Remember Duke", and "Misty Morning".- Actor
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Claude Thornhill was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on August 10 1909. He started playing the piano from the age of ten. His mother, a choir director and church organist, encouraged him to pursue a musical career. Her ambition was for him to become a concert pianist. However, a close friendship with the clarinettist Danny Polo soon steered young Claude away from classical music, towards jazz. After a season on the 'S.S. George Washington' with Heavy Elder's Riverboat Orchestra and another year with the 'Kentucky Colonels', Thornhill embarked on a musical education at the Cincinnati Conservatory and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, studying not only piano, but harmony, counterpoint and arranging. Following a two-year stint with Austin Wylie's band in the Cleveland area, Thornhill settled in New York in early 1931. During the first half of the decade, he worked steadily for more than a few name orchestras, including those of Hal Kemp, Paul Whiteman, Donald Voorhees, Jacques Renard, Freddy Martin, Ray Noble and Benny Goodman.
Beginning in 1936, Thornhill enjoyed a somewhat lengthier spell with Andre Kostelanetz, further honing his skills as an arranger. His first bona fide success arrived a year later, courtesy of an arrangement of "Loch Lomond", which became a hit recording for a 25-year old vocalist named Maxine Sullivan. As her musical director, he also supervised her first recording dates for Okeh and Vocalion. By the late 1930's, Thornhill had moved to the West Coast as a free-lance arranger. He also helped Skinnay Ennis set up a band and served as musical director on the Bob Hope Show.
With forty of his own arrangements in hand (and encouragement from his close friend Glenn Miller), he finally took the step of assembling a big band in 1940. After several setbacks on the West Coast (including a fire which burned down one of the venues), Thornhill finally opened at the prestigious Glen Island Casino the following March. Some of the more prominent musicians who formed part of this group, were trumpeters Conrad Gozzo and Rusty Diedrick, clarinettist Irving Fazola, trombonist Tasso Harris and the excellent arranger Gil Evans. With its French horns and emphasized sustained chords, unison clarinets (there were six in the band!) and Thornhill's own delicate piano solos, the band sounded unlike any other. While rarely a true swinging outfit like Goodman's or Shaw's, the band excelled at lush, melodic ballads, such as "Sleepy Serenade", Thornhill's own composition (his theme song), "Snowfall", and arrangements of classic pieces, like "Träumerei".
Unfortunately, due to World War II and the draft, this first incarnation of the Claude Thornhill Orchestra was short-lived. Claude himself enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1942. He first served in Artie Shaw's navy band, 'The Rangers', before devoting more time to organising special musical events. In the process, he worked closely with some of the top brass, including Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and Admiral William F. Halsey. Thornhill then led a service orchestra in Hawaii until the end of the war. In 1946, he assembled another big band, which included a swinging drummer named Billy Exiner, the vocalist Fran Warren (whose biggest hit with the band was "A Sunday Kind of Love"), and, on some recording dates, emerging stars Lee Konitz and Gerry Mulligan. The main creative impetus came from Gil Evans, whose classic arrangements (such as, "Buster's Last Stand", "Donna Lee", "Anthropology" and "Yardbird Suite") are regarded by many as having presaged the birth of the 'Cool' movement (Evans, of course, went on to collaborate with Miles Davis on the seminal albums "Miles Ahead" and "Sketches of Spain"). However, Thornhill, like everyone else in the business, was eventually affected by the overall financial downturn, which made it less and less profitable to operate big bands. By the 1950's -- and suffering from health problems -- he had disbanded the orchestra and gone into semi-retirement. He re-emerged to briefly serve as musical director for Tony Bennett in 1957, thereafter confining his bandleading activities to a sextet. On July 1 1965, he died suddenly of a double heart attack at his home in Caldwell, New Jersey. A compilation of seventeen of the best arrangements by Thornhill and Evans (covering the period 1937-47) was compiled in an album entitled "Tapestries" , released by Charly Records in 1987.- Actor
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Outstanding lead trumpeter who received financial help from his friend Glenn Miller to start up his first band in 1940. Miller also furnished Spivak's publicity tag line: "The Man who plays the sweetest Trumpet in the World". Charlie had already had a very prolific career as a band sideman, having started as a teenager with Paul Specht's orchestra, later working with Tommy Dorsey, Bob Crosby and Charley Teagarden, among others. It took him several months to adjust to his new role as a bandleader, confronting a break-up and re-forming of the outfit prior to his first big gig at the at the Glen Island Casino. Star comedian Sid Caesar was featured as a saxophonist in this orchestra and the arrangements were by ex-bandleader Sonny Burke. Nelson Riddle played trombone and Charlie show-cased himself on trumpet using his specially designed mute.
Over the next few years, Spivak was booked into some of the top spots including the Hollywood Palladium, Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook and the Café Rouge of the Hotel Pennsylvania. In late 1941, the great (but sadly short-lived) drummer Davey Tough joined the band and June Hutton fronted a vocal quartet known as the Stardusters. With the addition of trumpeter Les Elgart and ex-Lunceford saxophonist Willie Smith, the Spivak Orchestra developed into one of the smoothest and most popular outfits in the country, even being featured with Betty Grable in the movie Pin Up Girl (1944). The band's first recordings (for Okeh) were arranged by Nelson Riddle.
In the 1950's, Spivak and his wife, former Gene Krupa vocalist Irene Daye, settled in Florida. He continued to front a big band until the early 60's when he reduced to a 7-piece dance combo which enjoyed frequent engagements in Las Vegas. His very last musical tenure was in Greenville, South Carolina.- Actor
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Red Norvo was born on 31 March 1908 in Beardstown, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Touch of Evil (1958), Hands of a Stranger (1962) and Screaming Mimi (1958). He was married to Mildred Bailey and Eve Rogers. He died on 6 April 1999 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Music Department
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Legendary composer ("Down South Camp Meeting"), pianist, conductor, accompanist and arranger, educated at Atlanta University. He came to New York in 1920, was pianist with the W.C. Handy orchestra, and then joined Black Swan Records. He toured as accompanist to Ethel Waters, and led his own band in night clubs and theaters and made many records. His arranging duties included the orchestras of Isham Jones, the Dorsey Brothers, and Benny Goodman. He joined the Goodman band as pianist in 1939 and re-formed the orchestra in 1944, then began arranging in 1946. He composed the stage score for "The Jazz Train" (Bop City, New York), and also led the orchestra, and later his own sextet (from 1950). Joining ASCAP in 1948, his other popular-song and instrumental compositions include "Stampede", "It's Wearing Me Down", "No, Baby, No", "Wrapping It Up'', and "Bumble Bee Stomp".- Actor
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Composer ("Whistle Stop"), pianist and author, educated at City College of New York. He was a dance-band pianist in the orchestras of George Hall and Benny Goodman, and harpsichordist in Artie Shaw's Gramercy Five in 1940 and 1941. In 1947 he formed his first group, and was the music director of the First Army on Governors Island in New York, also composing music for and performing in recruiting shows in 1950. Since 1954 he was on the NBC staff. Joining ASCAP in 1956, his other popular-song and instrumental compositions include "A Gliss to Remember" and "Looky Here, Here's Me!".- Music Department
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Largely self-taught tenor saxophonist and clarinettist Irving 'Babe' Russin was a prolific free-lance recording artist of the 1930's and 40's, noted for his improvisational skills. He also worked on and off with many of the top bands of the era, beginning with the California Ramblers in 1926, followed by spells with Smith Ballew (1926-27), Ben Pollack (1930), Red Nichols (1930-32) and Russ Columbo (1932-33). During the swing era, he alternated stints as a session player with working for Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey and Benny Goodman, as well as fronting his own organisation in the early 40's, with residencies in New York and Miami. Russin performed the famous solo on the classic Glenn Miller tune ' A String of Pearls'. He served with the U.S. Army between 1944 and 1946 and subsequently performed in the AFRS Orchestra before moving to Hollywood as a studio musician. He later appeared at jazz festivals and toured Europe during the 1970's.- Music Department
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Born Eugene Edward Young, he grew up in a musical family and originally played the zither. He switched to trumpet while in his early teens playing with the family band (his older brother Granville was also a trumpeter). After various stints with bands in Atlanta, Georgia, while at the same time finishing high school, Young was 'spotted' by Gerald Wilson and got a gig with the prestigious Jimmie Lunceford big band. He served his apprenticeship with that orchestra for three years (1939-1942) and quickly established a reputation as an accomplished and very swinging lead trumpeter.
One of the great sidemen of the Big Band Era, Young played for many of the great bands of the day at one time or another, most notably with Count Basie (1942,1943,1945-47,1957-62) and Lionel Hampton (1943,1944). He also led his own orchestra in his home town of Dayton, Ohio, for ten years and in the early 1960's began working in television studios (NBC) in New York. Young was also a founding member of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra from 1966 (touring Europe in 1969) and equally integral to high-profile groups like the Clarke-Boland Big Band and the Capp-Pierce Juggernaut. Famous for his high notes and recognised as a master of the plunger mute, Young achieved additional popular acclaim through his lengthy stint as lead trumpeter in Doc Severinsen's band on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962). A dedicated, rather self-effacing musician to the very end (he only recorded three albums under his own name), he still performed with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra at the venerable age of 91 ! In 2008, he was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award.- Actor
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Kai Winding was born on 18 May 1922 in Århus, Denmark. He was an actor, known for The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1964), A Man Called Adam (1966) and Bandstand (1958). He was married to Ezshwan. He died on 6 May 1983 in Yonkers, New York, USA.- Music Department
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Thelonious Monk was born on 10 October 1917 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for The Omega Man (1971), La La Land (2016) and Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995). He was married to Nellie Monk. He died on 17 February 1982 in Englewood, New Jersey, USA.- Actor
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Art Tatum was born on 13 October 1909 in Toledo, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for The Great Debaters (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and They All Laughed (1981). He was married to Geraldine Williamson and Ruby Arnold. He died on 5 November 1956 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Music Department
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John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie, along with Charlie Parker, ushered in the era of Be-Bop in the American jazz tradition. He was born in Cheraw, South Carolina, and was the youngest of nine children. He began playing piano at the age of four and received a music scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. Most noted for his trademark "swollen cheeks", Gillespie admitted to copying the style of trumpeter Roy Eldridge early in his career. He replaced Eldridge in the 'Teddy Hill' Band after Eldridge's departure. He eventually began experimenting and creating his own style which would eventually come to the attention of Mario Bauza , the Godfather of Afro-Cuban jazz who was then a member of the Cab Calloway Orchestra. Though Calloway disliked Gillespie's style, calling it "Chinese music", he hired him to his band in 1939. Gillespie was later fired after two years when he cut a portion of Calloway's buttocks with a knife after Calloway accused him of throwing spitballs (the two men later became lifelong friends and often retold this story with great relish until both of their deaths). Although noted for his on- and off-stage clowning, Gillespie endured as one of the founding fathers of the Afro-Cuban &/or Latin Jazz tradition. Influenced by Mario Bauza, known as Gillespie's musical father, he was able to fuse Afro-American jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms to form a burgeoning CuBop sound. Always a musical ambassador, he toured Africa, the Middle East and Latin America under the sponsorship of the US State Department. Quite often he returned, not only with fresh musical ideas, but with musicians who would eventually go on to achieve world renown. Among his proteges and collaborators are 'Chano Pozo', the great Afro-Cuban percussionist; Danilo Pérez, a master pianist and composer originally from Panama; Arturo Sandoval, trumpeter, composer and music educator originally from Cuba; Mongo Santamaria, an Afro-Cuban conguero, bonguero and composer; David Sanchez, saxophonist and composer; Chucho Valdés, an Afro-Cuban virtuoso pianist and composer; and Bobby Sanabria, a Bronx, NY-born Nuyorican percussionist, composer, educator, bandleader and expert in the Afro-Cuban musical tradition. Indeed, many Latin jazz classics such as "Manteca", "A Night in Tunisia" and "Guachi Guaro [Soul Sauce]" were composed by Gillespie and his musical collaborators. With a strong sense of pride in his Afro-American heritage, he left a legacy of musical excellence that embraced and fused all musical forms, but particularly those forms with roots deep in Africa such as the music of Cuba, other Latin American countries and the Caribbean. Additionally, he left a legacy of goodwill and good humor that infused jazz musicians and fans throughout the world with a genuine sense of jazz's ability to transcend national and ethnic boundaries--for this reason, Gillespie was and is an international treasure.- Music Department
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Thomas Waller was born in 1904. He was one of the most important pianist in the history of jazz. He studied piano with James P. Johnson, one of the masters of the stride piano in the 1920s. Fats began recording his first piano solos in 1923. He worked in the revue "Hot Chocolates" in the late 1920s as a composer. Along with Duke Ellington, he is one of the most prolific composers in jazz. His best songs are, "Ain't Misbehavin' ", "Honeysuckle Rose", "Black and Blue", "Blue Turned Grey Over You" and "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now". He formed his own group in 1934, Fats Waller and his Rhythm, and recorded many records for RCA Victor. Two of his most notable film appearances were in Stormy Weather (1943) and King of Burlesque (1936). He died in 1943 on a train during a trip to California. He was just 39 years old.- Composer
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Max Roach was born on 10 January 1924 in Newland, North Carolina, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Shining Girls (2022), Go, Go Second Time Virgin (1969) and Black Sun (1964). He was married to Janus Adams, Abbey Lincoln and Mildred. He died on 15 August 2007 in New York City, New York, USA.- Music Department
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Internationally renowned innovative jazz musician, born in Chicago to Jewish immigrant parents of Austrian and Russian descent. Konitz began playing clarinet from the age of eleven, later switching to tenor and alto saxophone. First coming to prominence with the swing bands of Jerry Wald (1945-47) and Claude Thornhill (1948), he also gigged with Miles Davis and -- at the same time -- studied and recorded with his mentor Lennie Tristano. Very much an individualist, Konitz (unlike other contemporary saxophonists) remained largely uninfluenced by Charlie Parker, instead developing his distinctively own style and adjusting to new concepts. He worked as a featured soloist with Stan Kenton's orchestra between 1952 and 1954, his increasingly thicker sound necessitated by the sheer volume put out by the band. One of the drummers later commented, Kenton "had us blowing so loud we couldn't believe it."
Subsequently embracing (and helping to popularise) the cool jazz movement, Konitz joined Miles Davis and Gerry Mulligan in recording the seminal Birth of the Cool album. In later years, he led his own bands (including a nine-piece orchestra in the 70s), recorded several acclaimed improvisational albums with Warne Marsh and devoted much of his time to teaching jazz in clinics and workshops. Konitz continued to perform well into his 90s, despite having undergone serious heart surgery. In 1992, he won the annual Danish Jazzpar Prize, and, as late as 2002, was awarded the DownBeat Critics Award for altoist of the year.- Composer
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Charles Mingus is an American jazz double bassist, pianist, composer and bandleader.
A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and composers in history, with a career spanning three decades and collaborations with other jazz legends such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Dannie Richmond, and Herbie Hancock.
Mingus' compositions continue to be played by contemporary musicians ranging from the repertory bands Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty, and Mingus Orchestra, to the high school students who play the charts and compete in the Charles Mingus High School Competition.- Music Department
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Gil Evans was born on 13 May 1912 in Toronto, Canada. He was a composer, known for The Salton Sea (2002), Absolute Beginners (1986) and The Color of Money (1986). He was married to Anita Powell and Lilian Grace. He died on 20 March 1988 in Cuernavaca, Mexico.- Music Artist
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Bud Powell was born on 27 September 1924 in New York City, New York, USA. He was a music artist and actor, known for 'Round Midnight (1986), Lenny (1974) and King of California (2007). He was married to Audrey Hill and Altevia 'Buttercup' Edwards. He died on 31 July 1966 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
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Jack Teagarden played trombone with a relaxed style and a unique technique that still inspires awe even today. He was also a great jazz singer, charming and warm, with influences from the African American blues singers he listened to while growing up in Texas. Born on Aug. 29, 1905, Teagarden learned trombone by the age of 10. While still in his teens, he was touring with such groups as Peck Kelly's Bad Boys. He recorded with his own small groups and played notably as a sideman with Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Red Nichols and Eddie Condon. He performed in the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in the 1930s, then performed with his own band. From 1947 to 1951 he toured with the Louis Armstrong's "All-Stars", and Louis Armstrong considered him to be his equal. After leaving Armstrong in 1951, Teagarden worked with his own small band for the most of his career. After years of hard touring and drinking, he died of a heart attack in New Orleans in 1964.- Soundtrack
Chick Webb was born on 10 February 1905 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He was married to Sallye. He died on 16 June 1939 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.- Actor
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Multiple award-winning (Esquire Gold Award, Silver Award, Downbeat Poll, Metronome Poll, more) jazz pianist who went on to play with the groups of Louis Armstrong, Benny Carter, Jimmie Noone, and Willie Bryant. In 1935, he went on tour with Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa as the Benny Goodman Trio, which made jazz history. Teddy Wilson became one of the best-known pianists in the world of jazz, with a quiet, neat and lightly-swinging style.- Music Department
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Bix Beiderbecke was the first talented white jazz cornet player. He also played the piano, but he had more success playing the cornet with a very personal style. His first recordings were with "The Wolverines" in 1924. After this he played in the Charlie Straight orchestra in 1925, with Jean Goldkette in 1926-27 and in the middle of that year he signed a contract with the famous Paul Whiteman. He stayed with Whiteman until 1929, with many interruptions. His alcohol abuse was dramatic during this time and was the main cause of his premature death. Bix was also a notable composer. His compositions like "In a Mist" and "In the Dark" are very advanced for the time. His more famous recordings were with his little orchestra, "Bix and his Gang", in 1927. He recorded great solos with his friend 'Frankie Trambauer' like "Singin' the Blues" and "I'm Coming, Virginia". With Whiteman he recorded many great solos like "Lonely Melody", "Dardanella", "Sweet Sue" and "Oh Miss Hannah" - this last song with Bing Crosby on vocals. His final recording was in 1930. He played a lovely rendition of "I'll be Friend with Pleasure".- Composer
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Sidney Bechet was born on 14 May 1897 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for JFK (1991), Midnight in Paris (2011) and Chocolat (2000). He was married to Elisabeth Ziegler, Marie-Louise Crawford and Norma Hale. He died on 14 May 1959 in Garches, Hauts-de-Seine, France.- Music Department
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Wynton Marsalis is widely recognized as the pre-eminent jazz artist of our time. He is hailed not only as a performer on the trumpet, but also as a music educator and a promoter of the history and culture of jazz. Marsalis is also an established artist in performing trumpet in works of classical music, and he is a leader in civic matters.
Wynton Marsalis was born into a musical family in the city of New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. Marsalis's father was a pianist and music teacher. Some of Wynton's brothers have become notable musicians in their own right, specifically Branford Marsalis on saxophone, Delfeayo Marsalis on trombone, and Jason Marsalis on drums. Wynton was a precocious student of music in his youth. He eventually attended the Juilliard School. Later he joined the band of the renowned jazz artist Art Blakey.
Marsalis spent ten years touring continuously with his band. He has virtually single-handedly revived the public's interest in jazz, which to many had become a lost art form. In addition to performing, Marsalis also focuses strongly on education by giving lectures and workshops to students on musicianship.
Wynton Marsalis created the PBS TV series Marsalis on Music (1995), as well as the National Public Radio 26-week series "Making the Music" in that same year. Marsalis played a major role in developing Ken Burns's TV mini-series Jazz (2001). These efforts played a significant role in helping to bring jazz forward in the public's mind.
Marsalis has been criticized by some for discounting the value of jazz forms that have emerged after 1965. Marsalis has countered by stating that attempts at a musical fusion of jazz with other pop forms yields a mixture of sounds that are simply not true jazz.
Wynton Marsalis has made major efforts to help revive and restore his home city of New Orleans following the disaster of hurricane Katrina, including organizing the benefit concert "Higher Ground" at Lincoln Center in New York City. Marsalis has promoted human rights for the people of Burma and their imprisoned leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Secretary-General of the United Nations has declared Marsalis to be a U.N. Messenger of Peace.
Marsalis has won numerous awards including nine Grammys, two of them for his recordings of classical works for trumpet by Haydn, Mozart and Handel. He is the first jazz artist to win a Pulitzer Prize, given for composing his oratorio "Blood on the Fields". Wynton Marsalis now serves as the Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall in New York City.- Music Department
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Chet Baker started his career in the late forties. He became famous with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet in 1952. His solo in "My funny valentine" is a classic of the west coast jazz in the fifties. When Mulligan was arrested in 1953, Chet led the group until 1955, when he went to Europe. He also sang on many records. In Europe he recorded with many musicians in different countries. His career was interrupted many times for personal problems with drugs and he was arrested many times for his addiction. In 1974 he come back to music after three years in obscurity, playing in a concert in Carnegie Hall with his old friend, Gerry Mulligan. After this he started a "new career", but his problems with drugs were continuous. His death today is a mystery, one possibility is suicide but another says he was killed by trafficants in Amsterdam, Holland.- Music Department
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Stan Kenton is regarded in the history of jazz as one of the pioneers of progressive jazz, with his orchestra and arranger Pete Rugolo. He started leading his own bands in the late 1930s and become famous in the mid-'40s with songs like "Painted Rhytmm", "Intermission Riff" and "Eager Beaver". He was leading his band until his death in 1979. In the 1970s he started his own record company, Creative Sounds, after finishing his contract with Capitol Records in the late 1960s.- Music Department
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Already a band leader in his native land by his early teenage years, trumpeter Ferguson played in the bands of Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey and Charlie Barnet in the 40s. His breakthrough into public consciousness came in 1950 when he joined Stan Kenton, electrifying audiences with his high-note playing. Unlike many other high-note trumpeters, Ferguson proved that it was possible to actually play music up there rather than simply make noises. However, it is possible that not all his fans appreciated the skills he was demonstrating. After leaving Kenton in 1953, Ferguson worked at Paramount studios in Los Angeles before turning to band leading, sometimes with a big band, at other times with a small group. Skillful use of arrangements often allowed the Ferguson bands to create an impression of size; the 12-piece band he led at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival had all the power and impact of many groups twice its size. In the late 60s, Ferguson moved to the UK, where he formed a big band with which he toured extensively. In the USA again during the 70s, he moved into jazz-rock and reached a new audience who found the music and the flamboyance with which it was presented extremely attractive. During the 80s, Ferguson formed the funk band "High Voltage" before returning to jazz with the big band-orientated "Big Bop Nouveau". Ferguson also plays several other brass instruments with considerable skill, but it is as a trumpeter that he has made his greatest impact. His technical expertise on the instrument has made him a model for many of the up-and-coming young musicians.- Composer
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Don Burrows was born on 8 August 1928 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He was a composer and actor, known for Fluteman (1982), Two Thousand Weeks (1969) and Death of a Soldier (1986). He died on 12 March 2020 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.- Actor
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James Morrison was born on 11 November 1962 in Boorowa, New South Wales, Australia. He is an actor and writer, known for Abominable (2006), Hey Dad..! (1987) and Santo, Sam and Ed's Cup Fever! (2010).- Actor
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Clarinetist, bandleader, arranger, conductor and composer, educated at the Mastbaum School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also studied with Meyer Levin and Ross Wyre. At fourteen, he won a Major Bowes competition and a Tommy Dorsey swing contest as a jazz clarinetist. With his brother Lawrence and also Elliot Lawrence, he formed a teenage band which was featured on radio. For sixteen years, he toured in dance bands, and led his own sextet, big band, and quartet. He would later go on to assume the leadership of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Joining ASCAP in 1960, his popular-song and instrumental compositions include "Warm Evening", "Strings Have Strung", and "Really Swell".- Composer
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American keyboardist, a child prodigy from the age of six. Ramsay studied classical music at the Chicago College of Music and De Paul University with the intention of becoming a concert pianist. By the age of sixteen, he had abandoned those plans to join the Clefs, a seven-piece jazz band. From the nucleus of this group Ramsay formed the Ramsey Lewis Trio in 1956, having recruited both drummer Isaac 'Redd' Holt and bassist Eldee Young. Their first hit was 'Something You Got' in 1964, but a far greater success lay ahead the following year with a Grammy Award winning instrumental release of Dobie Gray's 'The In-Crowd'. This went to Nr. 5 in the U.S. charts and 'Hang on Sloopy' in 1965 reached Nr. 11. The trio then split up, but Ramsay reorganized by signing on drummer Maurice White (later famously of Earth Wind & Fire) and bassist Cleveland Eaton. They enjoyed further popular success with the Afro-American spiritual-inspired 'Wade in the Water' and the Grammy-winning 'Hold it Right There'. White left the group in 1971 but went on to produce Lewis's classic jazz album Sun Goddess, released by Columbia Records in 1974. Although he later experimented with other rhythms and genres, Lewis was unable to recapture his earlier commercial successes. In the 80s, he accompanied vocalist Nancy Wilson, and, during the following decade, hosted jazz programs on radio. From 1995 to 1999, he was a member of the Urban Knights, a jazz collective whose alumni included Grover Washington Jr. and Omar Hakim.- Actor
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Buddy Rich was born on 30 September 1917 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Whiplash (2014), Motherless Brooklyn (2019) and Ship Ahoy (1942). He was married to Marie Allison. He died on 2 April 1987 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Music Department
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Clark Terry was born on 14 December 1920 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for On the Rocks (2020), Criminal (2004) and The Hot Rock (1972). He was married to Gwen Terry, Pauline Reddon and Mayola Robinson. He died on 21 February 2015 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, USA.- Music Department
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Composer ("Misty") and pianist, the younger brother of Linton S. Garner. He was a professional pianist at age seven over KDKA radio in Pittsburgh. After his high school education, he entertained in high schools and theatres in New York and California, and was featured with the Slam Stewart Trio. Later, he formed his own trio, and appeared at the Paris Jazz Festival in 1948. He has made many records. Erroll Garner was the first jazz artist presented by impresario Sol Hurok, and he was among the first to give concerts in the outdoor circuits, and the first musician to present a concert-in-the-round in summer concert tents. His tours included a number of European visits, concerts, television appearances, and live venues including the Seattle World's Fair. Joining ASCAP in 1955, he collaborated musically with Edward Heyman and Johnny Burke. His other popular-song and instrumental compositions include "Dreamy", "Solitaire", "Blues Garni", "Trio", "Turquoise", "Other Voices", "No More Shadows", "Passing Through", "Dreamstreet", "Theme from 'A New Kind of Love'", "Paris Mist", "Play, Play, Play" (awarded the Prix du Disque in Paris) and "Erroll's Bounce".- Music Artist
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John Coltrane was born on 23 September 1926 in Hamlet, North Carolina, USA. He was a music artist and composer, known for Adrift (2018), Vanilla Sky (2001) and Zodiac (2007). He was married to Alice Macleod and Juanita Grubbs. He died on 17 July 1967 in Huntington, Long Island, New York, USA.- Music Department
- Actor
Clarinettist and alto saxophonist Mahlon Clark performed with the bands of Lawrence Welk, Ray McKinley and Will Bradley during the big band era. He had a background in vaudeville before becoming a musician at the age of sixteen. Based on Santa Catalina island during World War II, he entertaining troops on furlough as part of a merchant marine band. In 1945, Clark married McKinley vocalist Imogene Lynn. After the war, he performed on a number of motion picture soundtracks while under contract to Paramount as a member of the resident studio orchestra.
Clark was most famous for playing the clarinet solo of 'Baby Elephant Walk' (composed by Henry Mancini featured in the John Wayne movie Hatari! (1962). In the 1960s he became a busy session musician accompanying stars such as Ella Fitzgerald, Madonna and Linda Ronstadt. A close friend of arranger/bandleader Nelson Riddle, he can also be heard on many recordings by Frank Sinatra made for the Capitol label. Clark's second wife was singer Kathy Lennon of Lennon Sisters fame.