Crooners & Songbirds's topics - tribe.net

11/13 Matha Tilton

kubbie — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:16:00 GMT

Loch Lamond
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8pOyN3MFGc

A Jive Is Good For You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXxUHTtbeMg&feature=related

The Wedding Cake Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuPjgZqELS0

Who's Yehouti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwla4mQt9ws

Love Turns Winter To Spring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDositueJp8&feature=related

What The Country Needs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztKmRaA2QmQ

Guilty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOV4BDzBBqg

Martha Tilton (November 14, 1915, Corpus Christi, Texas -December 8, 2006, Brentwood, California) was an American popular singer, best-known for her 1939 recording of "And the Angels Sing" with Benny Goodman. She was sometimes introduced as The Liltin' Miss Tilton.

Tilton and her family lived in Texas and Kansas, relocating to Los Angeles when she was seven years old. While attending Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, she was singing on a small radio station when she was heard by an agent who signed her and began booking her with larger stations. She then dropped out of school in the 11th grade to join Hal Grayson's band.

After singing with the quartet, Three Hits and a Miss, she joined the chorus on Benny Goodman's radio show, Camel Caravan. Goodman hired Tilton as a vocalist with his band in 1937. She was with Goodman in 1938, when the band performed the first jazz performance at Carnegie Hall.

Tilton had a major success from 1942 to 1949 as one of the first artists to record for Capitol Records. Among her biggest hits as a solo artist were "I'll Walk Alone," a wartime ballad which rose to #4 on the charts in 1944; "I Should Care" and "A Stranger in Town," which both peaked at #10 in 1945; and three in 1947: "How Are Things in Glocca Morra" from Finian's Rainbow, which climbed to #8; "That's My Desire," which hit #10; and "I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder," which reached #9.

After she left Capitol, Tilton recorded for other labels, including Coral and Tops. Among her later albums was We Sing the Old Songs (1957, Tops), a mix of older songs and recent standards with baritone Curt Massey, who later became well-known as the composer (with Paul Henning) and singer of the theme song for the CBS-TV series Petticoat Junction.

Reviewing the two-CD set, The Liltin' Miss Tilton, (Capitol, 2000), critic Don Heckman wrote:
There are those who would say that Martha Tilton wasn't a jazz singer at all. But swing-era fans won't have any doubts, remembering her for a rocking version of "Loch Lomond" at Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall concert

RADIO

Massey and Tilton starred in Alka-Seltzer Time, a 15-minute radio series broadcast weekdays on both CBS and Mutual. Sponsored by Alka-Seltzer, this show began in 1949 as Curt Massey Time (sometimes advertised as Curt Massey Time with Martha Tilton) with a title change to highlight the sponsor's product by 1952. By 1953, the series was heard simultaneously on Mutual (at noon) and later that same day on CBS (at 5:45pm). Ads described the show as "informal song sessions" by vocalists Massey and Tilton, who was often billed as "The liltin' Martha Tilton." The two Texas-born singers performed with Country Washburne and His Orchestra, featuring Charles LaVere on piano. The series ended November 6, 1953. However, Massey and Tilton continued to appear together during the late 1950s on such shows as Guest Star and Stars for Defense. They also teamed to record an album, We Sing the Old Songs (1957). Tilton and Massey also co-hosted a daily half-hour TV show in Los Angeles for approximately seven years.

FILMS

Her movies include Sunny (1941), Swing Hostess (1944) and Crime, Inc. (1945). Her last film appearance was as the band vocalist in the TV movie Queen of the Stardust Ballroom (1975). Tilton's singing voice was used for other actresses including Barbara Stanwyck, Martha O'Driscoll and Anne Gwynne. She also appeared in several Soundies musical films of the 1940s.

Her sister, Liz Tilton, also seen in Soundies, sang with Ken Baker (mid-1930s), Buddy Rogers, Bob Crosby (1941) and Jan Garber (1942).

And The Angel Sings The Official Marhta Tilton Site
http://www.marthatilton.com/

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 2 replies

11/12 B-Day nod to Neil Young

kubbie — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:57:20 GMT

Not a crooner or songbird but Damn I love him. This is my favorite song.

After The Gold Rush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdvic9cRsFM

and to full fill my total guilty pleasure is the cover of this song by Emmylou Harris. Dolly Parton and Linda Rondstadt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ7j88DQYNg&feature=related

and a nice version by kd lang, this one really tugs at my goosebumps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5BOkYU5wcs&feature=related

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 0 replies

11/12 Jo Stafford

kubbie — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:41:43 GMT

You Belong To Me (BEST VERSION OF THIS SONG EVER!!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H1Imb6jm0U

Jo Stafford (November 12, 1917 – July 16, 2008[1]), born Jo Elizabeth Stafford, was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards whose career spanned the late 1930s through the early 1960s. Stafford is greatly admired for the purity of her voice and was
considered one of the most versatile vocalists of the era. She was also viewed as a pioneer of modern musical parody, having won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 1961 (with husband Paul Weston) for their album Jonathan and Darlene Edwards in Paris.

EARLY YEARS

Stafford was born in Coalinga, California to Grover Cleveland Stafford and Anna York Stafford, a distant cousin of Sergeant Alvin York. Originally, she wanted to become an opera singer and studied voice as a child. However, because of the economic Great Depression, she abandoned that idea and joined her sisters Christine and Pauline in a popular vocal group, "The Stafford Sisters", which performed on Los Angeles radio station KHJ. Jo Stafford was one of only a handful of musicians to have "perfect pitch", the ability to identify a note without having seen the piano key or other instrument play the note.

THE PIED PIPERS

When her sisters married, the group broke up and Stafford joined a new vocal group, The Pied Pipers. This group consisted of eight members: John Huddleston (who was Stafford's husband at the time), Hal Hooper, Chuck Lowry, Bud Hervey, George Tait, Woody Newbury, and Dick Whittinghill, besides Stafford. The group became very popular, working on local radio and movie soundtracks, and caught the attention of two of Tommy Dorsey's arrangers, Axel Stordahl and Paul Weston.

In 1938, Weston persuaded Dorsey to sign The Pied Pipers for his radio show, and they went to New York for a broadcast date. Dorsey liked them enough to sign them for ten weeks, but after the second broadcast the sponsor heard them and disliked them, firing the group. They stayed in New York for three months, but landed only a single job that paid them just $3.60 each, though they did record four sides for RCA Victor Records.

Half the members of the Pied Pipers returned to Los Angeles, but they had a difficult time trying to make a living until they got an offer from Dorsey to join his big band in 1939. This led to success for the whole group, but especially for Stafford, who was also featured in solo performances. The group also backed Frank Sinatra in some of his early recordings.

In 1942, the group had an argument with Dorsey and left, but in 1943 it became one of the first groups signed to Johnny Mercer's new label, Capitol Records. Capitol's music director was the same Paul Weston who had been instrumental in introducing Stafford to Dorsey. Weston and Stafford married in 1952. They went on to have two children, Tim and Amy.

SOLO CAREER

In 1944, Stafford left the Pied Pipers to go solo. Her tenure with the USO, in which she gave countless performances for soldiers stationed overseas, acquired her the nickname "GI Jo."

Beginning in 1944, she hosted the Tuesday and Thursday broadcasts of an NBC musical variety radio program — The Chesterfield Supper Club.

In 1948 Stafford and Gordon MacRae had a million-seller with their version of "Say Something Sweet to Your Sweetheart" and in 1949 repeated their success with "My Happiness".

In 1950, she left Capitol for Columbia Records, then returning to Capitol in 1961. At Columbia, she was the first recording artist to sell twenty-five million records. During her second stint at Capitol, Stafford also recorded for Frank Sinatra's Reprise label. These albums were released between 1961 and 1964, and were mostly retrospective in nature. Stafford left the label when Sinatra sold it to Warner Bros.

In the 1950s, she had a string of popular hits with Frankie Laine, six of which charted; their duet of Hank Williams' "Hey Good Lookin'" making the top ten in 1951. It was also at this time that Stafford scored her best known hits with huge records like "Jambalaya," "Shrimp Boats," "Make Love to Me," and "You Belong to Me". The last song was Stafford's all-time biggest hit, topping the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom (the first song by a female singer to top the UK chart).

COMEDY CAREER

Stafford briefly experimented with comedy under the name "Cinderella G. Stump" with Red Ingle and the Natural Seven. She recorded a mock hillbilly version of Temptation, which she pronounced "Tim-tayshun." True success in the comedy genre, though, would come about almost accidentally.

Throughout the 1950s, Stafford and Paul Weston would entertain guests at parties by putting on a skit in which they assumed the identities Jonathan and Darlene Edwards, a bad lounge act. Stafford, as Darlene, would sing off-key in a high pitched voice; Weston, as Jonathan, played an untuned piano off key and with bizarre rhythms.

Finding that she had time left over following a 1957 recording session, Stafford, as a gag, recorded a track as Darlene Edwards. Those who heard bootlegs of the recording responded positively, and later that year, Stafford and Weston recorded an entire album of songs as Jonathan and Darlene, entitled Jo Stafford and Paul Weston Present: The Original Piano Artistry of Jonathan Edwards, Vocals by Darlene Edwards. As a publicity stunt, Stafford and Weston claimed that the Edwardses were a New Jersey lounge act that they had discovered, and denied any personal connection. The ruse triggered a national sensation as the public tried to identify the brazenly off-key singer and the piano player of dubious ability. (Some guessed Margaret and Harry Truman, Time magazine noted.) Much time would pass before people realized (and Stafford and Weston admitted) that they were in fact the Edwardses. The album was followed up with a "pop standards" album, on which the pair intentionally butchered popular music. The album was a commercial and critical success; it proved to be the first commercially successful musical parody album, laying the groundwork for the careers of later "full time" musical parodists such as Weird Al Yankovic.

The couple continued releasing Jonathan and Darlene albums, with their 1961 album, Jonathan and Darlene Edwards in Paris winning that year's Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album (they "tied" with Bob Newhart, as the Grammys decided, in a rare move, to issue two comedy awards that year. Newhart was given an award for "Spoken Word Comedy.") It was the only major award that Stafford ever won.

The couple continued to release Jonathan and Darlene albums for several years, and in 1977 released a final, one-off single, a cover of The Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" backed with "I Am Woman." The same year also saw a brief resurgence in the popularity of Jonathan and Darlene albums when their cover of "Carioca" was featured as the opening and closing theme to The Kentucky Fried Movie.

RETIREMENT

In 1966, Stafford went into semi-retirement, retiring completely from the music business in 1975. Except for the 1977 Jonathan and Darlene Edwards version of "Stayin' Alive," Stafford wouldn't perform again until 1990, at a ceremony honoring Frank Sinatra.

Stafford won a breach-of-contract lawsuit against her former record label in the early 1990s, which won her the rights to all of her old recordings, including the Jonathan and Darlene recordings. Following the lawsuit, Stafford, along with son Tim, reactivated the Corinthian Record label which began life as a religious label the deeply religious Paul Weston had started. With Paul Weston's help, she compiled a pair of Best of Jonathan and Darlene albums, which were released in 1993. In 1996, Paul Weston died of natural causes. Stafford continued to operate Corinthian Records. In 2006, she donated her library and her husband's to the University of Arizona.

She died in Century City, California of congestive heart failure on July 16, 2008 at the age of 90.

Jo at SOLID
www.parabrisas.com/d_staffordj.php

The Paul Weston and Jo Stafford Collection at the University of Arizona
web.cfa.arizona.edu/westonstafford/

Jo at IMDB
www.imdb.com/name/nm0821300/

Youtube clips

We Meet Again from her 1961 TV show opening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAxGxyljXZM&feature=related

Make Love To Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36sGTMgoeJE

Kissin Bug Boogie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmGH7y6Ooro

Jo with Rosemary Clooney, Mel Torme, and Jack Parnell Orchestra from the Jo Stafford Show (there is a brief goat in the clip Lisa)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkzJFyNAjhY&feature=related

A Sunday Kind of Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GN0hpq2jAs&feature=related

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 0 replies

11/11 Belter Spotlight LaVern Baker

kubbie — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:06:23 GMT

LaVern Baker (November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American rhythm and blues singer.

She was born Delores Baker in Chicago, Illinois. She is occasionally referred to as Delores Williams because of an early marriage to Eugene Williams. She was the niece of blues singer Merline Johnson and music legend Memphis Minnie.

She began singing in Chicago clubs around 1946, often billed as "Little Miss Sharecropper", and first recorded under that name in 1949. She changed her name briefly to "Bea Baker" when recording for Okeh Records in 1951, and then became LaVern Baker when singing with Todd Rhodes and his band in 1952.

In 1953 she signed for Atlantic Records as a solo artist, her first release being "Soul on Fire". Her first hit came in early 1955, with the Latin-tempo "Tweedlee Dee" reaching #4 on the R&B chart and #14 on the national US pop charts. Georgia Gibbs scored the bigger hit with her version of "Tweedle Dee", for which Baker unsuccessfully attempted to sue her. LaVern did manage to get in a jab, however. When LaVern was flying to Australia, she took out flight insurance at the airport and sent it to Gibbs with a note: "You need this more than I do because if anything happens to me, you're out of business."

Baker had a succession of hits on the R&B charts over the next couple of years with her backing group The Gliders, including "Bop-Ting-A-Ling" (#3 R&B), "Play It Fair" (#2 R&B), and "Still" (#4 R&B). At the end of 1956 she had another smash hit with "Jim Dandy" (#1 R&B, #17 pop). Further hits followed for Atlantic, including the follow-up "Jim Dandy Got Married" (#7 R&B), "I Cried A Tear" (#2 R&B, #6 pop in 1959), "I Waited Too Long" (#5 R&B, #3 pop, written by Neil Sedaka), "Saved" (#17 R&B, written by Leiber and Stoller), and "See See Rider" (#9 R&B in 1963).

In addition to singing, Baker also did some work with Ed Sullivan and Alan Freed on TV and in films, including Rock, Rock, Rock and Mr. Rock & Roll. In 1964, she recorded a Bessie Smith tribute album, before leaving Atlantic and joining Brunswick Records, where she recorded as a duo with Jackie Wilson.

In the late 1960s, she became seriously ill after a trip to Vietnam to entertain American soldiers. About that same time, a friend recommended that she stay on as the entertainment director at a Marine Corps night club at the Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines, and she remained there for 22 years.

In 1988 she returned to perform at Madison Square Garden for Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary. She then worked on the soundtrack to Dick Tracy and appeared in Black & Blue, a Broadway musical, and released a comeback disc that sold moderately well.

In 1991, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her song "Jim Dandy" was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and was ranked #343 on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

LaVern Baker died from coronary complications in 1997, and was interred in the Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens, New York. She lies in an unmarked grave, but a fundraiser was scheduled by local historians to give LaVern a headstone in April 2008. This was accomplished on May 4, 2008

SONGS

I Cried A Tear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV5m9A388HA

Tweedle Dee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtx3Wd2DH48

Love Me Right In The Morning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDzfp8Nb7A0&feature=related

Substitute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMk30M3k5C8&feature=related

Voodoo Voodoo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn1Adf4cfyE&feature=related

Jim Dandy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aASxYIk-rHw

Shake a Hand with Jackie Wilson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yArGSFFpiK4&feature=related

Humpty Dumpty Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DRboDSTnY8&feature=related

Jim Dandy Got Married
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf3Op7xl030&feature=related

LINKS

LaVern at The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame
http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/lavern-baker

LaVern at VH1
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/baker_lavern/bio.jhtml

Downloads at Artist direct
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/card/0,,400165,00.html

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 0 replies

Happy 81st Patti Page

kubbie — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 23:50:50 GMT

1950 Tennesse Waltz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ek3eCbfqp0
1956 Conquest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dekiuwZhRIU&feature=related

How Much Is That Doggie In The Window
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AkLE4X-bbU&feature=related

Old Cape Cod
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT2ao0rcxoA

Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte (song to images of Charlotte)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5meacPcz14

Clara Ann Fowler (born November 8, 1927), known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music.

She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records to date. Page signed with Mercury Records in 1947, and became their first successful female artist, starting with 1948's "Confess." In 1950, she had her first million-selling single with "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming," and would eventually have 14 additional million-selling singles between 1950 and 1965. Page's signature song, "Tennessee Waltz," recorded in 1950, was one of the biggest-selling singles of the twentieth century, and is also one of the two official state songs of Tennessee. "Tennessee Waltz" spent 13 weeks atop the Billboard magazine's Best-Sellers List in 1950. Page had three additional #1 hit singles between 1950 and 1953, with "All My Love (Bolero)", "I Went to Your Wedding," and "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window."

Unlike most pop music singers, Page blended the styles of country music into many of her most popular songs. With this, many of Page's singles also made the Billboard Country Chart. Towards the '70s, Page shifted her career towards country music, and she began charting on the country charts, up until 1982. Page is one of the few vocalists who have made the country charts in five separate decades. Other singers who have done this include Eddy Arnold and George Jones, both of whom are traditional country music singers.

When Rock & Roll Music became popular in 1955, traditional pop music was becoming less popular. Page was one of the few traditional pop music singers who was able to sustain her success, continuing to have major hits into the mid-'60s with "Old Cape Cod," "Allegheny Moon," "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)," and "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte."

EARLY LIFE

Page was born Clara Ann Fowler on November 8, 1927 in Claremore, Oklahoma (although some sources give Muskogee, Oklahoma). She was born into a large and poor family. Her father worked on the MKT railroad, while her mother and older sisters picked cotton. As she related on television many years later, the family went without electricity, and therefore she could not read after dark. Fowler became a featured singer on a 15-minute radio program on radio station KTUL, Tulsa, Oklahoma at age 18. The program was sponsored by the "Page Milk Company." On the air, Fowler was dubbed "Patti Page," after the Page Milk Company. In 1946, Jack Rael, a saxophone player and band manager, came to Tulsa to do a one-night show. Rael heard Page on the radio and liked her voice. Rael asked her to join the band he managed, the "Jimmy Joy Band." Rael would later become Page's personal manager, after leaving the band.

Page toured with the "Jimmy Joy Band" throughout the country in the mid-1940s. The band eventually ended up in Chicago, Illinois in 1947. In Chicago, Page sang with a small group led by popular orchestra leader, Benny Goodman. This helped Page gain her first recording contract with Mercury Records the same year.Page became Mercury Records' "girl singer."

1948-1949

Page recorded her first single in 1947 titled "Confess." Page recorded the song at the time of a strike at her record label; therefore, background singers were not available to provide harmony vocals for the song. Instead, Page and the label decided to overdub her vocals on the song, which made it seem as if Page was harmonizing with herself. Mitch Miller, who produced for Mercury Records, was able to overdub Page's voice, due to his well-known use of technology. Thus, Page became the first pop artist to overdub her vocals on a song. This idea would later be used on Page's biggest hit singles in the 1950s. In 1948, "Confess" became a Top 15 hit on Billboard magazine, peaking at #12 on the "Best-Sellers" chart, thus becoming her first major hit on the pop chart. Page followed the single with four more between 1948 and 1949, only one of which was a Top 20 hit, "So in Love" (1949). Page also had a Top 15 hit on the Billboard magazine country chart in 1949 with "Money, Marbles, and Chalk."

In 1950, Page had her first million-selling single with "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming," another song where she overdubbed her vocals. Because she started to overdub her vocals, Page's name would be listed on the Pop charts as a group name. According to one early-'50s chart, Page was titled as "The Patti Page Quartet," among other. Towards the middle of 1950, Page's single, "All My Love (Bolero)" peaked at #1 on Billboard magazine, becoming her first #1 hit,[5] spending five weeks there. That same year, she also had her first Top 10 hit with "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine," as well as the Top 25 single, "Back in Your Own Backyard."

Tennessee Waltz

Towards the end of 1950, Page's version of "Tennessee Waltz" became her second #1 hit, and her most-popular and biggest-selling single. "Tennessee Waltz" was originally recorded by country music band Pee Wee King & His Golden West Cowboys in 1947, becoming a minor hit on the country charts for them that year. It also became a minor country hit for country star Cowboy Copas around the same time. Page was presented the song by her record label, but it was recorded in a jazz version by jazz vocalist Erskine Hawkins. Page liked the song and she eventually recorded and released it as a single.The song spent 13 weeks at #1 between 1950 and 1951. "Tennessee Waltz" also became Page's second single to reach the country chart, becoming her biggest hit there, reaching #2. The song would later become one of the best-selling records of the time, selling seven million copies in the early '50s, which prompted various cover versions of the song to appear on the charts during the year. "Tennessee Waltz" has also represented the biggest commercial success for the overdubbing technique to date. Today, the song has come close to selling fifteen million copies. It also became the last song to sell one million copies of sheet music, due to the increasing popularity of recorded music.

1951-1965

In 1951, Page's released the follow-up single to "Tennessee Waltz" called "Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)," which was a Top 5 hit, and also sold a million copies. The next single, "Mockin' Bird Hill," (a cover of the version by Les Paul and Mary Ford was another major hit that year) was her fourth single that sold a million copies. Page had three additional Top 10 hits on Billboard magazine in 1951, starting with "Mister and Mississippi," which peaked at #8, "And So to Sleep Again", and "Detour," which had previously been recorded and made famous by Foy Willing and Elton Britt. Page's version became the most-popular and would become Page's seventh million-selling single.[13] She also released her first studio album in 1951 titled, Folk Song Favorites, covers of Page's favorite Folk songs. In 1952, Page had a third #1 hit with "I Went to Your Wedding," which spent two months at the top spot. Recorded in a country ballad style, the song was the flip-side of Page's other hit that year, "You Belong to Me." "I Went to Your Wedding" became more successful, and the single became Page's eighth million-selling single in the United States. She had continued success that year, with four additional songs in the Top 10 with "Come What May," "Once In a While," "Why Don't You Believe Me" (the most popular version was recorded by Joni James), and "You Belong to Me" (the most well-known version was recorded by Jo Stafford the same year).

In 1953, a novelty tune, "(How Much Is That) Doggie In the Window" became Page's fourth #1 hit, selling over a million copies, and staying on the best-sellers chart for five months. The song included a dog barking in the recording, which helped make the song popular and one of her best-known and signature songs. The song was written by novelty tune specialist, Bob Merrill. It was originally recorded by Page for a children's album that year. She had a series of Top 20 hits that year. A final single that year reached the Top 5 titled "Changing Partners," which peaked at #3 and stayed on the charts for five months. The song was also recorded in a country melody, like many of Page's hits at the time. Into 1954, Page had further hits, including "Cross Over the Bridge," which also over-dubbed Page's vocals and became a major hit, peaking at #2, nearly reaching the top spot. Other Top 10 hits by Page that year included, "Steam Heat," and "Let Me Go Lover." In 1955 Page had one charting single with "Croce di Oro," due to the increasing popularity of Rock & Roll music. Unlike most traditional pop music singers at the time, Page was able to maintain her success in the late-50s (although not as successful as the early-50s), having three major hits in 1956, including the #2 hit "Allegheny Moon." In 1957 she had other major hits with "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)" (recorded the same year by Patsy Cline) and the Top 5 hit, "Old Cape Cod."

During the 1950s, Page regularly appeared on a series of syndicated television shows and programs, including The Dean Martin Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and The Steve Allen Show. This eventually led to Page acquiring some television specials of her own during the 1950s. Page would later have her own show in 1955 titled The Patti Page Show. However, the show only lasted one season. Page also acted in fims during this time, given a role on the CBS show, Playhouse 90. Page made her film debut in the 60s, with the 1960 film, Elmer Gantry. Page also recorded the theme song for the film, Boys Night Out, in which Page also had a role, playing Joanne McIllenny.

In the early 1960s, Page's success began to decrease, having no major hits up until 1961's "You'll Answer to Me" and "Mom and Dad's Waltz." Page had her last major hit on the Billboard Pop Chart in 1965 with "Hush... Hush Sweet, Charlotte," from the film of the same name starring Bette Davis and Olivia De Havilland.

1966-1982

Before, releasing "Hush... Hush Sweet, Charlotte," Page signed with Columbia Records, where she stayed towards the end of the decade. She released a few studio albums for the Columbia label in the 60s. Up until 1970, her singles began to chart on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. Many of these singles became major hits, peaking in the Top 20, including cover versions of "You Can't Be True, Dear," "Gentle On My Mind" and "Little Green Apples" (the latter being her last pop chart entry). Page, who is a fan of country music has recorded cover versions of many country songs throughout the years. Some of these songs were recorded under Columbia and were released as Adult Contemporary singles, including David Houston's "Almost Persuaded" and Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man." Page left Columbia at the end of the 60s.

In 1970, Page returned to Mercury Records and shifted her career towards country music. In 1973, she returned to working with her former record producer, Shelby Singleton. Under Mercury, Columbia, and Epic in the 70s, Page recorded a series of country singles, beginning with 1970's "I Wish I Had a Mommy Like You," which became a Top 25 hit, followed by "Give Hime Love," with similar success. In 1971, she released a country music studio album, I'd Rather Be Sorry, for Mercury records. In the early 70s, she had additional charted hits; her most successful was in 1973, a duet with country singer Tom T. Hall titled, "Hello, We're Lonely" which was a Top 20 hit, reaching #14 on the Bilboard Country Chart.

Also, in 1973, Page moved back to Columbia Records, recording for Epic Records (a subsidiary). In 1974 and 1975, she released singles for Avoc records again, with country singles "I May Not Be Lovin' You" and "Less Than the Song," both of which were minor country hits. After a five-year hiatus, she recorded for Plantation Records in 1980. In the early 80s, she also performed with major symphony orchestras in Cincinnati, Ohio and Mexico City, Mexico. She had a Top 40 hit with the Plantation label in 1981 titled "No Acres," followed by a series of minor country hits, including her last-charting single, "My Man Friday," which reached #80.

1983-Present

In 1988, Page appeared in New York City to perform at the Ballroom, making it the first time she performed in New York in nearly twenty years. She received positive reviews from music critics. In the 1990s, Page founded her own record label, C.A.F. Records, which released various albums, including a 2003 children's album. In the early 90s, Page moved west to San Diego, California, and continued to perform live shows at venues across the country.

In 1998, Page recorded her first live album. It was performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and titled, Live at Carnegie Hall: The 50th Anniversary Concert. The album won Page a Grammy Award the following year for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance, her first Grammy. In 2000, she released a new album, Brand New Tennessee Waltz, which consisted of new music. Harmony vocals were provided by popular country stars, including Suzy Bogguss, Alison Krauss, Kathy Mattea, and Trisha Yearwood. The album was promoted at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee in 2000. On October 4, 2000, the mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire declared the day "Patti Page Day" in the town. In 2005, she performed a series of engagements at a theatre in Branson, Missouri, starting on September 12.

Until recently, Page was a host of a weekly Sunday program on the "Music of Your Life" radio network. She and Jack White of The White Stripes were interviewed in January 2008, after the White Stripes covered Page's early 50s hit, "Conquest" on their 2007 studio album, Icky Thump. Page and White were put together on the phone during the interview, talking to each other about their views on "Conquest." In 2007, Page was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Now in her 80s, Page continues to tour, performing 50 select concerts a year across the United States and Canada.

STYLE

During the time of Page's greatest popularity (the late 40s and 50s), most of her traditional pop music counterparts included jazz melodies into their songs. Page also incorporated jazz into some of her songs; however on most of her recordings, Page added a country music arrangement.

During the 50s, Mercury Records was controlled by Mitch Miller, who produced most of Page's music. Miller found that the simple-structured melodies and storylines in country music songs could be adapted to the pop music market. Page, who was born in Oklahoma, felt comfortable using this idea. Many of Page's most successful hits featured a country music arrangement, including her signature song, "Tennessee Waltz," as well as "I Went to Your Wedding" and "Changing Partners." Some of these singles charted on the Billboard Country Chart during the 40s, 50s, and early 60s for this reason.

Many other artists were introduced to Page's style and incorporated the same country arrangement into many of their songs, including The Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby, who together had a #1 hit on the country charts in the late 40s with "Pistol Packin' Mama."

PERSONAL LIFE
Page has been married twice. She married her first husband, Charles O'Curran, a choreographer, in 1956. Together, Page and O'Curran adopted two children: a son, Danny and a daughter, Kathleen. They divorced in 1972. Page married her second husband, Jerry Filiciotto in 1990. Together they run a maple syrup business in New Hampshire. They live at their home in San Diego, California.

Official Patti Page site
http://www.misspattipage.com/

Patti at IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0656303/

Patti Page Products
http://pattipageproducts.com/

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 4 replies

RIP Yma Sumac 1922-2008

kubbie — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:17:51 GMT

Wimoweh with Martin Denny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LUSUel_kck&feature=related

Bo Mambo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhUBJZdL8BY&feature=related

Ataypura
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad_XL_mNNP8&feature=related

La pampa y la puna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8clnnqSs84&feature=related

Tumpa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-C7jZfAQ34

Wiki bio and links to her websites below

Obit from the UK Telegraph

Yma Sumac , who died on Saturday, probably aged 86, was a Peruvian

singer and a phenomenon in the 1950s whose varied, tempestuous career

started when her extraordinary voice, ranging over several octaves,

startled people on the album Voice of Xtabuy.

The album went straight into the bestseller lists and was followed by

Mambo!, arranged by Billy May, and Fuego del Ande (1959), perhaps her

best record. British radio audiences were intrigued and countless

requests flooded in to Children’s Choice, Two-Way Family Favourites and

Housewives’ Choice.

Broadway was fascinated by her appearance in Flahooley (which also

starred the young Barbara Cook) in the spring of 1951.

This strange musical satire starred Ernest Truex and concerned a genie

in a lamp carelessly left behind at a toy factory by an Arabian

princess.

The show gave the extraordinary range of Yma Sumac’s voice a chance to

range from low contralto to A above high C, but it also revealed that

the voice had not been trained.

Her part and the two songs it entailed had been hastily and badly

written.

Yma Sumac claimed to have been born on September 10 1927 (or 1925), at

Ichocán, a mountain town north of Lima, though her personal assistant,

who claimed to have seen her birth certificate, gave her date of birth

as September 13 1922. Her Spanish name was Zoila Augusta Emperatriz

Chavárri del Castillo; her Indian name, which meant “how beautiful”, was

Imma Sumack, which she later altered to Yma Sumac.

for the rest of the obit go here

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3374381/Yma-Sumac.html

Yma Sumac (September 13, 1922 - November 1, 2008) was a noted soprano of

Peruvian origin. In the 1950s, she was one of the most famous proponents

of exotica music, and became an international success based on the

merits of her extreme vocal range, "well over three octaves", which was

commonly claimed to span four and even five octaves at its peak

Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo

Now known as Yma Sumac, Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chavarri del Castillo

was born on September 13, 1922 in Ichocán, Cajamarca, Peru. Other dates

mentioned in her various biographies range from 1921 to 1929. Some

sources claim that she was not born in Ichocán, but in a nearby village

or possibly in Lima, and that her family owned a ranch in Ichocán where

she spent most of her early life. Stories published in the 1950s claimed

that she was an Incan princess directly descended from Atahualpa. A

story claiming that she was actually born Amy Camus (Yma Sumac

backwards) in Brooklyn or Canada was fabricated while she was performing

in New York City in the early 1950s.

Imma Sumack

Del Castillo adopted the stage name of Imma Sumack (also spelled Ymma

Sumack and Ima Sumack) before she left South America to go to the U.S.

The stage name was based on her mother's name which was derived from Ima

Shumaq, Quechua for "how beautiful!" although in interviews she claimed

it meant "beautiful flower" or "beautiful girl".

Imma Sumack first appeared on radio in 1942, and married composer and

bandleader Moisés Vivanco on June 6 the same year. She recorded at least

20 tracks of Peruvian folk songs in Argentina in 1943. These early

recordings for the Odeon label featured Moisés Vivanco's group, Compañía

Peruana de Arte, a group of 46 Indian dancers, singers and musicians. In

1946, Sumack and Vivanco moved to New York City, where they performed as

the Inca Taky Trio, Sumack singing soprano, Vivanco on guitar and her

cousin Cholita Rivero singing contralto and dancing. Sumack bore a son,

Charles, in 1949, and was signed by Capitol Records in 1950, at which

time her stage name became Yma Sumac.

Yma SUmac

During the 1950s, Yma Sumac produced a series of legendary lounge music

recordings featuring Hollywood-style versions of Incan and South

American folk songs, working with the likes of Les Baxter and Billy May.

The combination of her extraordinary voice, exotic looks and stage

personality made her a hit with American audiences. Sumac even appeared

in a Broadway musical, Flahooley, in 1951, as a foreign princess who

brings Aladdin's lamp to an American toy factory to have it repaired.

The show's score was by Sammy Fain and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, but Sumac's

four numbers were the work of Vivanco. Capitol Records, Sumac's label,

recorded the show. Flahooley closed quickly but the recording continues

as a cult classic, in part because it also marked the Broadway debut of

Barbara Cook. During the height of Sumac's popularity, she appeared in

the films Secret of the Incas (1954) and Omar Khayyam (1957). She became

a U.S. citizen on July 22, 1955. In 1959, she popularized Jorge Bravo de

Rueda's classic song "Vírgenes del Sol" on her Fuego del Ande LP.

In 1957, Sumac and Vivanco divorced, their dispute making news in Los

Angeles. They remarried that same year before divorcing again in 1965.

Apparently due to financial difficulties, Yma Sumac and the original

Inca Taky Trio went on a world tour in 1961, which lasted for five

years. They performed in 40 cities in the Soviet Union, and afterwards

all over Europe, Asia and Latin America. Their performance in Bucharest,

Romania was recorded as the album Recital, her only 'live in concert'

record. Yma Sumac spent the rest of the 1960s performing sporadically.

In 1971, she released a rock album, called Miracles, and then returned

to live in Peru. She performed in concert from time to time during the

1970s in Peru and later in New York. In the 1980s, she had a number of

concerts both in the U.S. and abroad including at New York's The

Ballroom in 1987 and several San Francisco shows at the Theatre on the

Square among others. In 1987, she also recorded the song I Wonder from

the Disney film Sleeping Beauty for Stay Awake, an album of songs from

Disney movies, produced by Hal Willner. She sang Ataypura during a March

19, 1987 appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, appearing

alongside actor-comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Murray.

In 1989, she sang once again at The Ballroom in New York. In March 1990,

she played the role of Heidi in Stephen Sondheim's Follies, in Long

Beach, California, her first attempt at serious theater since Flahooley

in 1951. She also gave several concerts in the summer of 1996 in San

Francisco and Hollywood and two more in Montreal, Canada in July 1997 as

part of the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

In 1992, Günther Czernetsky directed a documentary titled Yma Sumac -

Hollywood's Inkaprinzessin (Yma Sumac - Hollywood's Inca Princess). With

the resurgence of lounge music in the late 1990s, Sumac's profile rose

again when the song Ataypura was featured in the Coen Brothers' film The

Big Lebowski. Her song Bo Mambo appeared in a commercial for Kahlua

liquor, and was sampled for the song Hands Up by the Black Eyed Peas.

The song Gopher Mambo was used in the films Ordinary Decent Criminal

Dead Husbands, and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. The songs Goomba

Boomba and Malambo No. 1 appeared in Death to Smoochy.

On May 6, 2006, Sumac flew to Lima, where she was presented the Orden

del Sol award by Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, and the Jorge

Basadre medal by the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.

Yma Sumac died on November 1, 2008 at the age of 86 (although there was

some doubt as to her actual year of birth) at an assisted-living home in

Los Angeles, California. She had been diagnosed with colon cancer in

February the same year.

Yma Sumac.com
http://www.yma-sumac.com/

Yma Sumac Official Site
http://www.sunvirgin.com/

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 3 replies

The Bossa Nova Years

Jeff — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:05:18 GMT

While going through my collection I found a CD collection called The Bossa Nova Years by Stan Getz featuring Astrud Gilberto.
Gave it a spin as I'd never played it. Kinda pricey but Getz/Gilberto and others are available as single CDs for cheap.

In the 60s I thought Astrud along with Walter Wanderley were the greatest.

Further rummaging and up popped The Best of Sergio Mendes and Brasil '65!

The singer on Brasil 65 is Wanda de Sah and she is even better than Astrud!

If you want some primo bossa nova, The Best of Sergio Mendes and Brasil '65 is available on CD for a few bucks from Amazon on the Curb label.

DRG (Capitol) just released a two-fer CD of this album and Softly by Wanda de Sah. About $12 on Amazon.

Are Astrud and Wanda songbirds? Of course.

That's what the glitterati were listening to in the mid 60s.

I recall seeing Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto perform in a corny 1964 flick called Get Yourself a College Girl.

There is such a wealth of music available and due to the greatness of this Tribe....the recession can't touch it because we share...ideas and finds.

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 1 reply

I"ve Missed You Guys!

Jeff — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:06:50 GMT

It has been a long uphill battle since my stroke (7/07) so this old war horse is on medical retirement.
Fortunately I can walk, talk and don't need Depends..LOL
BUT it is boring sitting around. FINALLY got a new computer that doesn't crash like the stock market.

Hope my buddies Sean, Confetta, Paula and all you guys are still around.

So..what are you all spending your allowances on?

What is everyone listening to these days?

There have been so many new releases..esp of Patti Page 78s on CD from the Sepia and Acrobat labels!!!

I've gotten addicted to late 40s Japanese C&S. Gotta love Tokyo Boogie Woogie, Tokyo Shoeshine Boy and the like.
The music that poured forth from loud speakers during Post War Japan and the tunes used in the ancient Kurosawa flicks as background music in the nightclubs takes you right back to Tokyo circa 1947:)

Listening to C&S has kept me alive!

I sincerely hope you are all doing well and send you my love.

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 10 replies

Silly Topic:Coffee

kubbie — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 06:41:07 GMT

The 40 Cups of Coffee vid in the Ella Mae Morse spotlight put The Java Jive in my head. So I tried to think of other Coffee themed songs. Here are a few.

Java Jive - The King Sisters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y38AGJoGkd0&feature=related

40 Cups of Coffee - Ella Mae Morse (sorry for the repeat)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMcdzc1TkO4

Black Coffee - Nana Mouskouri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOHAdZUjLd8

Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee - Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkoigJNfVAM

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 1 reply

Random Spotlight - Ella Mae Morse

kubbie — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 06:22:45 GMT

The post in the last few days made me realize how long its been since I moderated here. Jeffs mention of Boogie Woogie brought to mind Ella Mae Morse who I enjoy listening to and is just plain fun.

Cow Cow Boogie with the Freddie Slack Orchestra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syVLIgzLfTw

Mr Five by Five
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nEOeWxlxT0

40 Cups of Coffee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMcdzc1TkO4

The Blacksmith Blues with Nelson Riddle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD_6bDfaSPw&feature=related

Mr Raven, Nevermore with Kirby Grant & The Meltones from the movie Ghost

Catchers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6Rr76kfy9c

Okie Boogie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xutwl2vGQ_U&feature=related

Rock Me All Night Long
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGuDWDIgrdQ&feature=related

Pig Foot Pete
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouJau7cBr48&feature=related

Ella Mae Morse (September 12, 1924 – October 16, 1999[1]), was an

American popular singer. One of the most talented and overlooked

vocalists of the 1940s, Morse blended jazz, country, pop, and R&B; at

times she came remarkably close to what would be known as rock and roll.

Morse was born in Mansfield, Texas. She was hired by Jimmy Dorsey when

she was 14 years old. Dorsey believed she was 19, and when he was

informed by the school board that he was now responsible for her care,

he fired her. In 1942, at the age of 17, she joined Freddie Slack's

band, with whom in the same year she recorded "Cow Cow Boogie," Capitol

Records' first gold single. "Mr. Five by Five" was also recorded by

Morse with Slack and they had a hit recording with the song in 1942

(Capitol 115). She also originated the wartime hit "Milkman, Keep Those

Bottles Quiet," which was later popularized by Nancy Walker in the film,

Broadway Rhythm.

In 1943, Morse began to record solo. She reached #1 in the R&B chart

with "Shoo-Shoo Baby" in the December for two weeks. In the same year

she had a cameo appearance in the film Reveille with Beverly. She sang

in a wide variety of styles, and she had hits on both the U.S. pop and

rhythm and blues charts. However, she never received the popularity of a

major star.

The song "Love Me or Leave Me" as recorded by Morse was released by

Capitol Records as catalog number 1922, with the flip side "Blacksmith

Blues".

In 1946, "House of Blue Lights" by Freddie Slack and Morse, saw them as

the first white artists to perform what is now seen as R&B. Her biggest

solo success was "Blacksmith Blues" (1952). The same year her version of

"Down the Road a Piece" appeared on Capitol with Slack again on piano

accompaniment. Morse also recorded a version of "Oakie Boogie" for

Capitol which reached #23 in 1952. Her version was one of the first

songs arranged by Nelson Riddle. Morse ceased recording in 1957 but

continued performing until 1987.

Morse had six children from two marriages.

Her music career was profiled in Nick Tosches' 1984 book, The Unsung

Heroes of Rock 'N' Roll: The Birth of Rock in the Wild Years Before

Elvis. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1724 Vine Street.

It is sometimes erroneously reported that Morse recorded with Bill Haley

& His Comets in the 1950s. This is not true, although she did record

versions of songs also recorded by Haley such as "Razzle-Dazzle" and

"Forty Cups of Coffee".

In 1999 Morse died of respiratory failure in Bullhead City, Arizona,

aged 75.

a Fanpage for Ella Mae Mores
http://www.prescottlink.com/morse/ella.html

Page at Fuller Up-The Dead Musicians Directory
http://elvispelvis.com/ellamaemorse.htm

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 0 replies

Happy birthday Dinah Washington

Mad — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:51:24 GMT

let's hear it. i've been playing her a lot all week, and am amazed at the breadth of her work. some of it is pretty schmaltzy, but most of it is deep deep deep, and she's certainly got a hell of a repetoire. i've particularly enjoyed stardust and blue skies.

i have a pretty funny cd too: it's a 2 disc set from when she got a stamp, so the cover is the very 29 cent stamp itself. this one has lots of her more novelty numbers, such as t.v. is the thing this year, and ends with her telling a long joke on stage about a talking dog.

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 3 replies

Monday Interview with Chris Cortez at KCSM Jazz 91!

floragreen — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 01:04:57 GMT

Hello Everyone!
I am very excited to report that on Monday, the 29th of September at 1:00pm I will be interviewed by Chris Cortez on KCSM Jazz 91.1! With me will be the fab guitarist John Nichols and we will be talking about the release of Vicki Burns Quartet "Live At Anna's Jazz Island!" Please tune in on your radio dial or live on the web at:

http://kcsm.org/jazz91/listen.php

In other exciting news, my new CD has had it's first review by John Gilbert of ejazz.com! He has wonderful things to say and if you go to the website soon you will catch it on the front page for awhile (scroll down). Here are some highlights!

From ejazz.com:

"Vicki Burns does indeed 'burn' on this recording. The stars were aligned
just right when she was blessed with a singing voice that was made for
the jazz idiom.

"Billies Bounce" This number gets off the ground and into orbit with
Burns and Adam Blankman scatting in unison. Burns, in scatting the
changes takes no prisoners. Everybody has a helping (as Pres would say)
on the four bar exchanges with Miss Burns leading the way with superb
ideation. This tune is the highlight of the album. The tempo is as fast
as a knife fight in a phone booth with Burns emerging as the winner.

"Honeysuckle Rose" / "Scrapple From The Apple" Now hear this, Burns is
in top form with her smokier than a speakeasy, leave no meat on the bone
interpretation of 'Honeysuckle Rose' followed by a hipper than hip
'Scrapple' that Bird himself would approve of."

John Gilbert gives Vicki Burns Quartet "live at Anna's Jazz Island" 5 stars!

http://www.ejazznews.com/

As I always I treasure your friendship and support!

With a song in my heart,
Vicki Burns

http://www.myspace.com/vickiburnsjazz

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 0 replies

What Standards just send you

kubbie — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 09:07:54 GMT

The Great American Songbook of standards has been gone over with a fine tooth comb by everyone and their brother.

What songs from that book do you never tire of? A song thats just been covered and done by anyone who has held a microphone.

A few of mine

Its Only A Papermoon
Nice Work If You Can Get It
My Funny Valentine
Miss Otis Regrets
Heart and Soul

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 13 replies

August 15th Jazz Pianist Oscar Peterson

kubbie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:11:55 GMT

Cubano Chant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rn6AEVXpeo

Noreens Nocturne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mJ8lHRVWY0&feature=related

Oscar with Ella Fitzgerald "'Round Midnight" and "Airmail Special" 1961
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixDPVp-5Ly8

From the Oscar Peterson TV Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHr6ZZxb3G4

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, CC, CQ, O.Ont. (15 August 1925 – 23 December 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist, vocalist and composer cultural icon. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends, and was a member of jazz royalty. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career. He is considered to have been one of the greatest pianists of all time, who played thousands of live concerts to audiences worldwide in a career lasting more than 65 years.

BIOGRAPHY

Peterson grew up in the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy, Montreal. It was in this predominantly black neighbourhood that he found himself surrounded by the jazz culture that flourished in the early 20th century. At the age of five, Peterson began honing his skills with the trumpet and piano. However, by the age of seven, after a bout of tuberculosis, he directed all his attention to the piano. His father, Daniel Peterson, an amateur trumpeter and pianist, was one of his first music teachers, and his sister, Daisy, taught young Oscar the classical piano. Young Oscar was persistent at practising scales and classical etudes daily, and thanks to such arduous practice he developed his astonishing virtuosity.

As a child, Peterson also studied with Hungarian-born pianist Paul de Marky, a student of Istvan Thomán who was himself a pupil of Franz Liszt, so his training was predominantly based on classical piano. Meanwhile he was captivated by the traditional jazz and learned several ragtimes and especially the boogie-woogie. At that time Peterson was called "the Brown Bomber of the Boogie-Woogie."

At age nine Peterson played piano with control that impressed professional musicians. For many years his piano studies included four to six hours of practice daily. Only in his later years did he decrease his daily practice to just one or two hours. In 1940, at age fourteen, Peterson won the national music competition organized by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. After that victory, he dropped out of school and became a professional pianist working for a weekly radio show, and playing at hotels and music halls.

INFLUENCES

Some of the artists who influenced Peterson's musicianship during the early years were Teddy Wilson, Nat "King" Cole, James P. Johnson and Art Tatum, to whom many have tried to compare Peterson in later years. One of his first exposures to Tatum's musical talents came early in his teen years when his father played Art Tatum's Tiger Rag for him, and Peterson was so intimidated by what he heard that he became disillusioned about his own playing. In his own words, "Tatum scared me to death" and Peterson was "never cocky again" about his mastery at the piano.Tatum was a model for Peterson's musicianship during the 1940s and 1950s. Tatum and Peterson eventually became good friends, although Peterson was always shy about being compared with Tatum and rarely played the piano in Tatum's presence.

Peterson has also credited his sister Daisy Sweeney — a noted piano teacher in Montreal who also taught several other noted Canadian jazz musicians — with being an important teacher and influence on his career. Under his sister's tutelage, Peterson expanded into classical piano training and broadened his range while mastering the core classical pianism from rigorous scales to such staples of every pianist's repertoire as preludes and fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Building on Art Tatum's pianism and aesthetics, Peterson also absorbed Tatum's musical influences, notably from piano concertos by Sergei Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff's harmonizations, as well as direct quotations from his second piano concerto, are thrown here and there in many recordings by Peterson, including his work with the most familiar formulation of the Oscar Peterson Trio, with bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Herb Ellis. During the 1960s and 1970s Peterson made numerous trio recordings highlighting his piano performances that reveal more of his eclectic style that absorbed influences from various genres of jazz, popular and classical music.

Oscar Peterson's influence among jazz musicians is profound. Musicians who name Oscar Peterson as a major influence are countless. Among them are Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander, Detroit pianist / vocalist Johnny O'Neal and Birmingham pianist / vocalist Ray Reach.

NORMAN GRANZ

An important step in his career was joining impresario Norman Granz's labels (especially Verve) and Granz's "Jazz at the Philharmonic" project. Granz discovered Peterson in a peculiar manner. As the impresario was being taken to the Montreal airport by cab, the radio was playing a live broadcast of Peterson at a local night club. Granz was so smitten by what he heard that he ordered the driver to take him to the club so that he could meet the pianist. In 1949, Granz introduced Peterson at a Carnegie Hall Jazz at the Philharmonic show in New York.

So was born a lasting relationship and Granz remained Peterson's manager for most of his career. One poignant illustration: in the last two years of his life, Peterson doted on a boxer dog that he named "Smedley," Peterson's nickname for Granz. On the day of Peterson's death, Smedley lay on the bed with him and would not leave.

This was more than a managerial relationship; Peterson praised Granz for standing up for him and other black jazz musicians in the segregationist south of the 1950s and 1960s. For example, in the Canadian Broadcasting Company's two-part documentary video Music in the Key of Oscar, Peterson tells how Granz stood up to a gun-toting southern policeman who wanted to stop the trio from using "white-only" taxis. The entire documentary is a fascinating account of Peterson's life from his Montreal childhood, to his career, to his family relations and includes interviews with Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones and Ella Fitzgerald. Its narrative ends in 1993, just before Peterson's debilitating stroke.

In the course of his career, Peterson developed a reputation as a technically brilliant and melodically inventive jazz pianist and became a regular on Canadian radio from the 1940s. His name was already recognized in the United States. However, his 1949 debut at Carnegie Hall, New York City, arranged by Norman Granz, was uncredited; owing to union restrictions, his appearance could not be billed.

Through Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic he was able to play with the major jazz artists of the time. Some of his musical associates included Ray Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Milt Jackson, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel, Ed Thigpen, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Louis Armstrong, Stéphane Grappelli, Ella Fitzgerald, Clark Terry, Joe Pass, Anita O'Day, Fred Astaire, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, and Stan Getz.

DUETS

Peterson made numerous duo performances and recordings with bassists Ray Brown, Sam Jones, and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, guitarists Joe Pass, Irving Ashby, Herb Ellis, and Barney Kessel, pianists Count Basie, Herbie Hancock, Bennie Green, and Keith Emerson, trumpeters Clark Terry and Louis Armstrong, and many other important jazz players. His 1950s duo recordings with bassist Ray Brown mark the formation of one of the longest lasting partnerships in the history of jazz. Peterson's 1970's duo with guitarist Joe Pass has been considered one of the highest standards in the genre.

According to pianist/educator Mark Eisenman, some of Peterson's best playing was as an understated accompanist to singer Ella Fitzgerald and trumpeter Roy Eldridge.

OSCAR PETERSON TRIO

Peterson redefined the jazz trio by bringing musicianship of all three members to the highest level. The definitive trio with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis was, in his own words "the most stimulating" and productive setting for public performances as well as in studio recordings. In the early 1950s, Peterson began performing with Ray Brown and Charlie Smith as the Oscar Peterson Trio. Shortly afterward the drummer Smith was replaced by guitarist Irving Ashby, formerly of the Nat King Cole Trio. Ashby, who was a swing guitarist, was soon replaced by Barney Kessel.[16] Kessel tired of touring after a year, and was succeeded by Herb Ellis. As Ellis was white, Peterson's trios were racially integrated, a controversial move at the time that was fraught with difficulties with segregationist whites and blacks.

"Oscar Peterson Trio at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival" is widely regarded as the landmark album in Peterson's career, and one of the most influential trios in jazz. Their last recording, "On The Town with the Oscar Peterson Trio", recorded live at the Town Tavern in Toronto, captured a remarkable degree of emotional as well as musical understanding between three players. All three musicians were equal contributors involved in a highly sophisticated improvisational interplay. When Herb Ellis left the group in 1958, Peterson and Brown believed they could not adequately replace Ellis. Ellis was replaced by drummer Ed Thigpen in 1959. Brown and Thigpen worked with Peterson on his famous albums Night Train and the successful Canadiana Suite. The two guys in 1965 left and were replaced by Sam Jones and Bobby Durham. The trio had performed together until 1970. The albums that they had done were a bunch of pop songs like The Beatles' Yesterday and Eleanor Rigby. In the fall of 1970, Peterson's trio were successful in their album Tristeza on Piano which was a eulogy of the recently deceased Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, the Monterey Pop Festival stars. This record was released on CD in 1999, went out of print, and then came back remastered in 2005 as an anniversary edition. Selections from this trio's work have been incidentally used for Japanese anime and other live action films. Jones and Durham left in 1970.

In the 1970s Peterson formed another landmark trio with virtuoso guitarist Joe Pass and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass. This trio emulated the success of the 1950's trio with Brown and Ellis, gave acclaimed performances at numerous festivals, and made best-selling recordings, most notably the 1978 double album recorded live in Paris. In 1974 Oscar added British drummer, Martin Drew, and this quartet toured and recorded extensively worldwide.

QUARTET

A quartet was a less permanent setting for Peterson, after the trio or duo, as it was hard to find equally powerful musicians available for a tightly knit arrangement with him. After the loss of Ellis his next trio eventually turned into a quartet after he added a drummer — first Gene Gammage for a brief time, then Ed Thigpen. In this group Peterson became the dominant soloist. Later members of the group were Louis Hayes, Bobby Durham, Ray Price, Sam Jones, George Mraz and Martin Drew.

Peterson often formed a quartet by adding a fourth player to his existing trios. He was open to experimental collaborations with jazz stars, such as saxophonist Ben Webster, trumpeter Clark Terry, and vibraphonist Milt Jackson among others. In 1961, the Peterson trio with Jackson recorded a highly praised album, Very Tall.

FURTHER CAREER COMPOSER AND TEACHER

From the late 1950s, when Peterson gained worldwide recognition as one of the leading pianists in jazz, he played in a variety of settings: solo, duo, trio, quartet, small bands, and big bands. However, his solo piano recitals, as well as his solo piano recordings were rare, until he chose to make a series of solo albums titled "Exclusively for my friends." These solo piano sessions, made for the Musik Produktion Schwarzwald (MPS) label, were Peterson's response to the emergence of such stars as Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner.

Some cognoscenti assert that Peterson's best recordings were made for MPS in the late 1960s and early 1970s. For some years subsequently he recorded for Granz's Pablo Records after the label was founded in 1973.[citation needed] In the 1990s and 2000s he recorded several albums accompanied by a combo for Telarc.

In the 1980s he played successfully in a duo with pianist Herbie Hancock. In the late 1980s and 1990s, after the stroke, Peterson made performances and recordings with his protégé Benny Green.

Peterson wrote pieces for piano, for trio, for quartet and for big band. He also wrote several songs, and made recordings as a singer. Probably his best-known compositions are "Canadiana Suite" and "Hymn to Freedom," the latter composed in the 1960s and inspired by the U.S. civil rights movement.

Peterson taught piano and improvisation in Canada, mainly in Toronto. With associates, he started and headed the Advanced School of Contemporary Music in Toronto for five years during the 1960s, but it closed because concert touring called him and his associates away, and it did not have government funding. Later, he mentored the York University jazz program and was the Chancellor of the entire university for several years in the early 1990s. He also published his original jazz piano etudes for practice. However, he asked his students to study the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Well Tempered Clavier, the Goldberg Variations, and the The Art of Fugue, considering these piano pieces essential for every serious pianist. Pianists Benny Green and Oliver Jones were among his students.

STROKE AND LATER YEARS

Peterson had arthritis since his youth, and in later years could hardly button his shirt. Never slender, his weight increased to 125 kg (275 pounds), hindering his mobility. He had hip replacement surgery in the early 1990s.[20] Although the surgery was successful, his mobility still was not good. Somewhat later, in 1993, Peterson suffered a serious stroke that weakened his left side and sidelined him for two years. Also in 1993 incoming Prime Minister and longtime Peterson fan and friend Jean Chrétien offered Peterson the position of Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, but according to Chrétien he declined, citing the health problems from his recent stroke.

After the stroke, Peterson recuperated for about two years. He gradually regained mobility and some control of his left hand. However, his virtuosity was never restored to the original level, and his playing after his stroke relied principally on his right hand. In 1995 he returned to public performances on a limited basis, and also made several live and studio recordings for Telarc. In 1997 he received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement and an International Jazz Hall of Fame Award, another indication that Peterson continued to be regarded as one of the greatest jazz musicians ever to play. Canadian politician, friend, and amateur pianist Bob Rae contends that "a one-handed Oscar was better than just about anyone with two hands".

In 2003, Peterson recorded the DVD A Night in Vienna for Verve, with Niels Pedersen, Ulf Wakenius and Martin Drew. He continued to tour the U.S. and Europe, though maximally one month a year, with a couple of days' rest between concerts to recover his strength. His accompanists consisted of Ulf Wakenius (guitar), David Young (bass), and Alvin Queen (drums), all leaders of their own groups.

Peterson's health declined rapidly in 2007. He had to cancel his performance at the 2007 Toronto Jazz Festival and his attendance at a June 8, 2007 Carnegie Hall all-star performance in his honour, owing to illness. On 23 December 2007, Peterson died of renal failure at his home in Mississauga, Ontario.He left seven children, his fourth wife Kelly, and their daughter, Celine (born 1991).

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Begone Dull Care is an abstract film presentation of Oscar's music, released in 1949.

His work earned him seven Grammy awards over the years and he was elected to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1978. He also belongs to the Juno Awards Hall of Fame and the Canadian Jazz and Blues Hall of Fame.

Peterson received the Roy Thomson Award (1987), a Toronto Arts Award for lifetime achievement (1991), the Governor General's Performing Arts Award (1992), the Glenn Gould Prize (1993), the award of the International Society for Performing Artists (1995), the Loyola Medal of Concordia University (1997), the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1997), the Praemium Imperiale World Art Award (1999), the UNESCO Music Prize (2000), and the Toronto Musicians' Association Musician of the Year award (2001).

In 1999, Concordia University in Montreal renamed their Loyola-campus concert hall Oscar Peterson Concert Hall in his honour.

In 2005, Peterson celebrated his 80th birthday at the HMV flagship store in Toronto, where a crowd of about 200 gathered to celebrate with him. Diana Krall sang happy birthday to him and also performed a vocal version of one of Peterson's songs "When Summer Comes". The lyrics for this version were written by Elvis Costello, Krall's husband. Canada Post unveiled a commemorative postage stamp in his honour. The event was covered by a live radio broadcast by Toronto jazz station, JAZZ.FM.

Peterson received the BBC-Radio Lifetime Achievement Award, London, England.

"Technique is something you use to make your ideas listenable," he once told jazz writer Len Lyons. "You learn to play the instrument so you have a musical vocabulary, and you practice to get your technique to the point you need to express yourself, depending on how heavy your ideas are."

"Some may criticize Peterson for not advancing, for finding his niche and staying with it for an entire career, but while he may not be the most revolutionary artist in jazz, [the documentary] Music in the Key of Oscar demonstrates that breaking down barriers can be accomplished in more ways than one." "He was a crystallizer, rather than an innovator."

""His hands could do things few piano players can do," said pianist Bill King who studied with Peterson at his music school. Because Peterson was a big man — six feet three inches — he could stretch his hands over a keyboard in a way few musicians can match.

Ray Charles, in Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues - Piano Blues (2003), said "Oscar Peterson is a mother fucking piano player!"

"Miles Davis once commented, 'Nearly everything Peterson plays, he plays with the same degree of force. He leaves no holes for the rhythm section.' But this merely describes the difference between the two players; Davis did not have Peterson's powerful technique, and found a different kind of expression."

RECOGNITION IN CANADA

While Peterson was recognized as a great jazz pianist throughout the world, he was noted in Canada as also being a leading personage and public figure. This can be seen in the acclaim and awards he received, especially in the last twenty or so years of his life.

He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1972, and promoted to Companion, its highest rank, in 1984. He was also a member of the Order of Ontario, a Chevalier of the National Order of Quebec and an officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.

From 1991 to 1994, Peterson was chancellor of York University in Toronto. The chancellor is the titular head of the university. Weeks after his death, the Province of Ontario announced a C$4 million scholarship for the "Oscar Peterson Chair" for Jazz Performance at York University with an additional C$1 million to be awarded annually in music scholarships to underprivileged York students in tribute to Peterson.

Peterson's niece, television journalist Sylvia Sweeney, produced an award-winning documentary film, In the Key of Oscar, about Peterson in 1992.

Unlike almost any other jazz musician, Oscar Peterson was networked with Canadian elites in the later years of his life. For example, former Ontario premier Bob Rae recalled that in 2007, he, Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry, and former Ontario premier Bill Davis celebrated McMurtry's retirement with Peterson, his wife, and their wives.

Peterson received honorary doctorates from many Canadian universities: Carleton University, Queen's University, Concordia University, McMaster University, Mount Allison University, the University of Victoria, the University of Western Ontario, York University, the University of Toronto, and the Université Laval, as well as from Northwestern University in the United States.

In 2004, the City of Toronto named the courtyard of the Toronto-Dominion Centre "Oscar Peterson Square".

In 2005, the Peel District School Board in suburban Toronto opened the Oscar Peterson school in Mississauga, Ontario, two miles from his home. Peterson said, "This is a most unexpected and moving tribute."[30] He visited the school several times and donated electronic musical equipment to it. Soon after Peterson's death, the University of Toronto Mississauga opened a major student residence in March 2008 as "Oscar Peterson Hall".

Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien wanted to appoint Peterson to the titular post of Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario in 1993, but Peterson felt that his health could not stand up to the many ceremonial duties that this position would require. "He was the most famous Canadian in the world," said Chrétien. Chrétien also said that Nelson Mandela glowed when meeting Peterson. "It was very emotional. They were both moved to meet each other. These were two men with humble beginnings who rose to very illustrious levels."

A major memorial concert, held on January 12, 2008, filled the 2500-seat Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. People had queued for more than three hours to get in. Canadian Governor General Michaëlle Jean reported at the concert that "thousands" more could not get in. Among the performers were Grégory Charles, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Phil Nimmons and singers Audrey Morris and Nancy Wilson. The "Oscar Peterson" quartet played key pieces; they are Monty Alexander, Jeff Hamilton, Ulf Wakenius and Dave Young. All toured with Peterson during his late "one-handed" period" except Alexander. Andrew Craig and the Nathaniel Dett Chorale, with opera soprano Measha Brueggergosman closed the show, singing an excerpt from Peterson's "Hymn to Freedom". The show was made available for download.

A movement was begun on Facebook to rename the Lionel-Groulx Metro station, a transfer station between Montreal's Green Line and Orange Line, in honour of Oscar Peterson. The Montreal Transit Corporation, however, has refused to end its moratorium on renaming Metro stations and the city's policy on landmark tributes are to await at least a year since a public figure's deatH.

LINKS

Oscar's Official Site
http://oscarpeterson.com/news/

Oscar at CBC Digital audio and visual
http://archives.cbc.ca/arts_entertainment/music/topics/391/

Oscar on Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland, hour long
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17622315

Oscar at The Jazz Discography Project
http://www.jazzdisco.org/oscar-peterson/

Virtual Exhibition at The Library & Archives of Canada
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/oscarpeterson/index-e.html

YOUTUBE Clips

1977 You Look Good To Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKKpoCy0a5Y&feature=related

Oscar and COunt Basie "Slow Blues"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3drqJ1bUmEA&feature=related

Oscar Nat and Coleman Hawkins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ayQq5AQxF0&feature=related

1958 A Girl in Gallico
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=337hbXJD9vk&feature=related

1961 live in Italy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wacjJiKqfjo&feature=related

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August 13th Spotlight Pianist George Shearing

kubbie — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:39:05 GMT

Swedish Pastry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxmIvXm6uIU

I'll Be Around
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny_YxhWMBIE&feature=related

Sir George Shearing OBE (b. August 13, 1919) is a British jazz pianist who, during the 1950s, "had one of the most popular jazz combos on the planet" who sold "tons of records for MGM and Capitol in his heyday." He has written over 300 compositions and has had multiple albums on the Billboard magazine charts throughout the '50s, '60s, '80s and '90s.

Shearing was born on August 13, 1919 in Battersea, South London, England and was the youngest of nine children. He was born blind to working class parents: his father delivered coal and his mother cleaned trains in the evening. He started to learn piano at the age of three and began formal training at Linden Lodge School for the Blind, where he spent four years. Though offered several scholarships, Shearing opted to perform at local pub, the Mason's Arms in Lambeth, for "25 bob a week" playing piano and accordion. He even joined an all-blind band during that time and was influenced by the albums of Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller. He made his first BBC radio appearance during this time after befriending Leonard Feather, whom he started recording with in 1937. In 1940 , Shearing joined Harry Parry's popular band and contributed to the comeback of Stéphane Grappelli. Shearing also won seven consecutive Melody Maker polls during this time. Around that time he was also a member of George Evans' Saxes 'n' Sevens band.

In 1947, Shearing moved to the United States, where he began to play in a harmonically complex style that mixed swing, bop and modern classical influences. One of his first gigs in the States was at the Hickory House. He performed with the Oscar Pettiford Trio and led a quartet with Buddy DeFranco, which led to recording problems since Shearing was with MGM and DeFranco was with Capitol Records. In 1949, he formed the first "George Shearing Quintet", a band with Marjorie Hyams (vibraphone), Chuck Wayne (guitar), John Levy (bass) and Denzil Best (drums) and recorded for Discovery, Savoy and MGM, including the immensely popular single, September in the Rain (MGM), which sold over 900,000 copies. Shearing himself would write of this hit that it was "as accidental as it could be."

In 1956, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He continued to play with his quintet, with augmented players through the years, and recorded with Capitol until 1969. He created his own label, Sheba, that lasted a few years. Starting in 1970, Shearing began to "phase out his by-now-predictable quintet" and disbanded the group finally in 1978. One of his more notable albums during this period of time (1976) done in collaboration with bassist Andy Simpkins and drummer Rusty Jones (musician), is The Reunion, With George Shearing (Verve), which featured Stéphane Grappelli, the musician he had debuted with as a sideman many years before. Later, Shearing played with a trio, as a solo and increasingly in duo. Among his collaborations have been sets with the Montgomery Brothers, Marian McPartland, Brian Q. Torff, Jim Hall, Hank Jones and Kenny Davern. In 1979, Shearing signed with Concord Records, in particular working with Mel Tormé. This collaboration garnered Shearing and Tormé two Grammys, one in 1982 and then another in the following year.

Over the years, Shearing has also collaborated with singers including Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Ernestine Anderson, Dakota Staton, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson and, most notably, Mel Tormé, with whom he performed frequently in the late 80s and early 90s at festivals, on radio and for recordings.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Shearing performed and recorded extensively in a duo format with the extraordinary Canadian bassist Neil Swainson.

Recently, Shearing collaborated with the John Pizzarelli Trio to create the album The Rare Delight of You, which garnered extremely good reviews. The album cover, featuring Pizzarelli and Shearing posing in front of a solid blue background, was designed to resemble the cover of Nat King Cole Sings, George Shearing Plays, a legendary jazz recording with which it shares some similarities in style.

Shearing's interest in classical music resulted in some performances with concert orchestras in the 1950s and 1960s, and his solos frequently draw upon the music of Debussy and, particularly, Erik Satie for inspiration. Shearing also made a recording with the classical French horn player Barry Tuckwell.

He became known for a piano technique known as Shearing voicing, a type of double melody block chord, with an additional fifth part that doubles the melody an octave lower.

A performance of Shearing's at Birdland is vividly described in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road (part 2, chapter 4).

RECOGNITIONS

Performed for US Presidents
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan

Performed at Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

Mentioned in Jack Kerouac's 1957 novel On the Road

In 1975, received honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In 1978, received the Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans.

Grammys:
1982 - An Evening With George Shearing And Mel Tormé
1983

In 1993, received the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement.

In 1994, received honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Hamilton College in New York State.

In 1996, was included in the Queens Birthday Honours List and was invested by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his “service to music and Anglo-US relations."

In 1998, received the first American Music Award by the National Arts Club, New York, New York.

In 2003, received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from BBC Jazz Awards.

In 2007, was knighted for services to Music.

LINKS

George Shearing.net
http://www.georgeshearing.net/

NPR Jazz Profile
http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/shearing.html

Shearing Downloads at Rhapsody
http://www.rhapsody.com/georgeshearing

George at Space Age Pop
http://www.spaceagepop.com/shearing.htm

YOUTUBE Clips

Conception
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KQCtE2t1kM&feature=related

Move
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4tG7929O3I&feature=related

Shadow of Your Smile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzgtOQG_xHY&feature=related

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August 6th Spotlight Abbey Lincoln

kubbie — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:55:25 GMT

Abbey Lincoln - Spread the Word from the movie The GIrl Cant Help It 1956

Max Roach featuring Abbey Lincoln 1960's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTGUkQQkttg&feature=related

Throw It Away (80's or 90's)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2OO3vuk3r4&feature=related

Abbey Lincoln (born Anna Marie Wooldridge on August 6, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois) is a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress, who is widely respected for her writing skills. She is one of many singers influenced by Billie Holiday. She has had a very long and productive career. She continues to perform and can often be found at the Blue Note in New York City.

With Ivan Dixon, she co-starred in Nothing But a Man (1964), an independent film written and directed by Michael Roemer. She also co-starred with Sidney Poitier and Beau Bridges in 1968's For Love of Ivy. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for For the Love of Ivy in 1969.

She sang on the famous We Insist! - Freedom Now Suite (1960) by jazz musician Max Roach and was married to him from 1962 to 1970.

Abbey Lincoln also appears in the 1956 film The Girl Can't Help It.

Discography

Abbey Lincoln's Affair: A Story of a Girl in Love - 1956 - Capitol
That's Him - 1957 - Riverside
It's Magic - 1958 - Riverside
Abbey Is Blue - 1959 - Riverside
Straight Ahead - 1961 - Candid
People in Me - 1973 - Polygram
Painted Lady - Blue Marge 1003 (1980)
Golden Lady - 1980 - Inner City
Talking to the Sun - 1983 - Enja
Abbey Sings Billie, Vol. 1 & 2 - 1987 - Enja
The World Is Falling Down - 1990 - Verve
You Gotta Pay the Band - 1991 - Verve
Devil's Got Your Tongue - 1992 - Verve
When There is Love - 1992 - Verve
A Turtle's Dream - 1994 - Verve
Painted Lady (with Archie Shepp) - 1995 - Itm [Tko Magnum]
Who Used to Dance - 1996 - Verve
Wholly Earth - 1999 - Emarcy
Over the Years - 2000 - Verve
It's Me - 2003 - Verve
Abbey Sings Abbey - 2007 - Verve

LINKS

More in depth bio at Verve Records
http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/abbeylincoln

NPR's Jazz Profile on Abbey
http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/lincoln.html

BBC Jazz Profile
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/profiles/abbey_lincoln.shtml

Abbey at IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0511085/

YOUTUBE CLIPS

First Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D08cYFYr4E

And Its Supposed To Be Called Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aG6bGPsu3k&feature=related

And Its Supposed To Be Called Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aG6bGPsu3k&feature=related

posted in Crooners & Songbirds - 0 replies

Vicki Burns Sings in August and More News!

floragreen — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:36:51 GMT

Hello Everyone!
I hope you are all having a delightful summer. I have
been really busy gearing up for my live recording
release in October and am really excited to finally
share it with all of you.

Special thanks to Lou Judson for his recording
artistry and to j from reapandsow who gave me the idea
of making this a digital release. I may do a limited
run of CDs sometime in the future, but really want to
encourage all of you to download everything! It just
makes more sense ecologically and economically these
days!

I also urge all of you to check out reapandsow's
fantastic website and see the incredible variety of
musicians and musical offerings there!!

http://www.reapandsow.com/

New CD in the works!

In other recording news, I have been busy in the
studio with the amazing Cesar Cancino on piano and
arranging, Fred Randolph on bass and Bob Blankenship
on drums. So far we have recorded three beautiful
songs, "The Very Thought of You", "Love Me or Leave
Me" and "Easy Living" This will be a very romantic
recording (with some sweet, kinky twists!) and I can't
wait until I can share it with you :) We are hoping
for a release date sometime early next year(2009).

Cesar has been amusing me with hilarious tales of
being on the road with Joan Baez...

Little Saigon!

I will be returning to this delightful gem of a venue
on* this Friday, August 8th. Please join me for the
finest Vietnamese cuisine and some sweet, hot jazz by
the Vicki Burns Duo with the John Nichols
on guitar!

The Music is from 5-9:00pm with no cover but believe
me you will want to make dinner reservations, the food
is simply fantastic! Here is a recent review:

http://www.judysbook.com/members/bellagreen/posts/2006/12/496132/

Jordan's at the Claremont Hotel!

I will be returning with my trio of excellent
musicians on Sunday, August 10th!

With me will be the fantastic line up of
David Udolf on piano, John Nichols on bass and Pete
Riso on drums!

Please join us for dinner and dancing from
6:00-10:00pm.

Reservations recommended!
The food and staff are absolutely superb!

For more info please visit their website:

http://www.bay-area-reservations.com/claremont/

**** Please Hold the Date, Friday October 10th at
Anna's
Jazz Island!****

Digital CD release party of "Vicki Burns Quartet Live
at Anna's Jazz Island!"

Please join me as I celebrate my live recording
project
with the same stellar trio that recorded with me in
February of 2007 and this past May!!: John
Nichols on guitar, Sam Bevan on bass and Smith Dobson
V on drums!!

Anna's is fast becoming one of the very best places to
hear live and local jazz in the Bay Area. She serves
up tasty food and cocktails at this intimate venue
that is devoted entirely to the wonderful musicians
that perform there and to you the audience!

Music starts at 8:00pm and there is a $10 cover.

http://www.annasjazzisland.com/calendar.html

Zingari Ristorante

I will be returning to this lovely lounge located in
the heart of Union Square. Join me for two
Fridays, August 15th and 29th with the legendary Bliss
Rodriguez on piano!

Zingari Ristorante has delicious Italian Cuisine
and a warm, charming atmosphere. Music is from
8:00pm-Midnight.

Hope to see you there!!

Zingari Ristorante is located inside the Donatello
Hotel located at the corner of Post and Mason.

Please call 415-885-8850 for reservations.

www.zingari.com

As always, I treasure your friendship and value your
support!

All The Best,
Vicki Burns

http://www.myspace.com/vickiburnsjazz

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