1.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
2.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
3.
Jazz
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Jazz is a music genre that originated amongst African Americans in New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in Blues and Ragtime. Since the 1920s jazz age, jazz has become recognized as a form of musical expression. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms, Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Although the foundation of jazz is deeply rooted within the Black experience of the United States, different cultures have contributed their own experience, intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as one of Americas original art forms. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on different national, regional, and local musical cultures, New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass-band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. In the 1930s, heavily arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz, bebop emerged in the 1940s, shifting jazz from danceable popular music toward a more challenging musicians music which was played at faster tempos and used more chord-based improvisation. Cool jazz developed in the end of the 1940s, introducing calmer, smoother sounds and long, modal jazz developed in the late 1950s, using the mode, or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation. Jazz-rock fusion appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, combining jazz improvisation with rock rhythms, electric instruments. In the early 1980s, a form of jazz fusion called smooth jazz became successful. Other styles and genres abound in the 2000s, such as Latin, the question of the origin of the word jazz has resulted in considerable research, and its history is well documented. It is believed to be related to jasm, a term dating back to 1860 meaning pep. The use of the word in a context was documented as early as 1915 in the Chicago Daily Tribune. Its first documented use in a context in New Orleans was in a November 14,1916 Times-Picayune article about jas bands. In an interview with NPR, musician Eubie Blake offered his recollections of the slang connotations of the term, saying, When Broadway picked it up. That was dirty, and if you knew what it was, the American Dialect Society named it the Word of the Twentieth Century. Jazz has proved to be difficult to define, since it encompasses such a wide range of music spanning a period of over 100 years. Attempts have been made to define jazz from the perspective of other musical traditions, in the opinion of Robert Christgau, most of us would say that inventing meaning while letting loose is the essence and promise of jazz. As Duke Ellington, one of jazzs most famous figures, said, although jazz is considered highly difficult to define, at least in part because it contains so many varied subgenres, improvisation is consistently regarded as being one of its key elements
4.
Decca Records
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Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U. S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis along with American Deccas first president Jack Kapp and later American Decca president Milton Rackmil. In 1937, as a result of anticipating Nazi aggression leading to World War II, Lewis sold American Decca, the British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while the American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre. Both wings are now part of the Universal Music Group, which is owned by Vivendi, the US Decca label was the foundation company that evolved into UMG. The name Decca was coined by Wilfred S. Samuel by merging the word Mecca with the initial D of their logo Dulcet or their trademark Dulcephone, Samuel, a linguist, chose Decca as a brand name as it was easy to pronounce in most languages. The name dates back to a gramophone called the Decca Dulcephone patented in 1914 by musical instrument makers Barnett Samuel. That company was renamed the Decca Gramophone Co. Ltd. Within years, Decca Records Ltd. was the second largest record label in the world, Decca bought the UK branch of Brunswick Records and continued to run it under that name. In the 1950s the American Decca studios were located in the Pythian Temple in New York City, in classical music, Decca had a long way to go from its modest beginnings to catch up with the established HMV and Columbia labels. The pre-war classical repertoire on Decca was not extensive, but was select, heinrich Schlusnus made important pre-war lieder recordings for Decca. John Culshaw, who joined Decca in 1946 in a junior post and he revolutionised recording – of opera, in particular. Hitherto, the practice had been to put microphones in front of the performers, Culshaw was determined to make recordings that would be a theatre of the mind, making the listeners experience at home not second best to being in the opera house, but a wholly different experience. To that end he got the singers to move about in the studio as they would onstage, used sound effects and different acoustics. His skill, coupled with Decca engineering, took Decca into the first flight of recording companies and his pioneering recording of Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen conducted by Georg Solti was a huge artistic and commercial success. In the wake of Deccas lead, artists such as Herbert von Karajan, Joan Sutherland, however, Culshaw was, strictly speaking, not the first to do this. Far from being a mere rendering of the score, the 3-LP album set used sound effects to recreate the production as if the listener were watching a stage performance of the work. Until 1947, American Decca issued British Decca classical music recordings, afterwards, British Decca took over distribution through its new American subsidiary London Records. American Decca actively re-entered the classical music field in 1950 with distribution deals from Deutsche Grammophon, American Decca began issuing its own classical music recordings in 1956 when Israel Horowitz joined Decca to head its classical music operations
5.
Musicraft Records
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Musicraft Records was a record company and label established in 1937 in New York City. Musicrafts catalog encompassed many different musical styles, including music, folk, jazz, Latin, popular vocal. According to the New York Public Library, the first original cast album, composer/musician Walter Gross was an A&R executive and arranger for the label in the late 1940s. International music entrepreneur Peter Fritsch was an executive for Musicraft in the late 1940s before leaving to found Lyrichord Discs, after Musicrafts demise, jazz authority and promoter Albert Marx acquired the labels catalog and reissued many titles on his Discovery Records label. List of record labels Time Magazine story about Musicraft Records, December 9,1940 Musicraft discography
6.
Capitol Records
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Capitol Records, LLC is an American record label which operates as a division of the Capitol Music Group. The label was founded as the first West Coast-based record label in the United States in 1942 by three industry insiders named Johnny Mercer, Buddy DeSylva and Glenn Wallichs, in 1955, the label was acquired by the British music conglomerate EMI as its North American subsidiary. EMI was later acquired by Universal Music Group in 2012 and was merged with the company in 2013, making Capitol Records, Capitol Records circular headquarter building located in Los Angeles is a recognized landmark of California. Mercer first raised the idea of starting a company while golfing with Harold Arlen. By 1941, Mercer was a songwriter and a singer with multiple successful releases. Mercer next suggested the idea to Wallichs while visiting his record store, Wallichs expressed interest in the idea and the pair negotiated an agreement whereby Mercer would run the company and identify their artists, while Wallichs managed the business side. On February 2,1942, Mercer and Wallichs met with DeSylva at a Hollywood restaurant to inquire about the possibility of investment of the company from Paramount Pictures, while DeSylva declined the proposal, he handed the pair a check worth $15,000. On March 27,1942, the three men incorporated as Liberty Records, in May 1942, the application was amended to change the companys name to Capitol Records. On April 6,1942, Mercer supervised Capitols first recording session where Martha Tilton recorded the song Moon Dreams, on May 5, Bobby Sherwood and his orchestra recorded two tracks in the studio. On May 21, Freddie Slack and his orchestra recorded three tracks in the studio, one with the orchestra, one with Ella Mae Morse called Cow-Cow Boogie, on June 4,1942, Capitol opened its first office in a second-floor room south of Sunset Boulevard. On that same day, Wallichs presented the companys first free record to Los Angeles disc jockey Peter Potter, on June 5,1942, Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra recorded four songs at the studio. On June 12, the recorded five more songs in the studio. On June 11, Tex Ritter recorded Jingle Jangle Jingle and Goodbye My Little Cherokee for his first Capitol recording session, and the songs formed Capitols 110th produced record. 133 - Get On Board Little Chillun - July 31,1942 - is a Freddie Slack/Ella Mae Morse/Mellowaires recording that might be the first rock n roll record and she has sometimes been called the first rock n roll singer. A good example is her 1942 recording of song which, with strong gospel, blues, boogie. Bone Walker recorded Mean Old World a pioneering example of the use of electric guitar. The earliest recording artists included co-owner Mercer, Whiteman, Tilton, Morse, Margaret Whiting, Jo Stafford, the Pied Pipers, Johnnie Johnston, Tex Ritter, Capitols first gold single was Morses Cow Cow Boogie in 1942. Capitols first album was Capitol Presents Songs By Johnny Mercer, a three 78-rpm disc set with recordings by Mercer, Stafford and the Pied Pipers, all with Westons Orchestra
7.
Bethlehem Records
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Bethlehem Records was a jazz record company and label founded by Gus Wildi in 1953. Bethlehem is remembered for its releases from the 1950s. Producers included Creed Taylor and Teddy Charles, Bethlehem released the first albums recorded by singers Chris Connor in 1954, Nina Simone in 1958, and singer/actress Julie London. London did not record an album for the label. She recorded four songs that would later be released on the compilation LP Bethlehems Girlfriends in 1955, in 1958, Bethlehem began a distributing deal with King Records. In 1962, it was sold and absorbed by King, after Syd Nathans death in 1968, King was acquired by Starday Records and relaunched as Starday and King Records. It was acquired in 1970 by Lin Broadcasting and in 1972 by Tennessee Recording & Publishing, at that time, Bethlehem was purchased by the Cayre brothers Salsoul Records, who initially intended to release its back catalog for inexpensive 8-track tapes in the 1970s. In 1993, the Bethlehem name was revived as Bethlehem Music Company and it was licensed by the Verse Music Group in 2010. During 2013–2014, Verve and Naxos reissued the 1950s catalogue on LP, CD and this included music by Art Blakey, Chris Connor, Paula Castle, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Nina Simone, Mel Tormé, and Zoot Sims. The BCP1000 Series of 10 inch LP records commenced in September 1954, the BCP Deluxe Series of 12 inch LP records commenced in 1955 and ran until 1960. Early releases consisted of reissues of 10 inch albums from the BCP1000 Series, the 6000 series of 12 inch LP records commenced in 1956 and ran until 1964. List of record labels The Pictorial Discography of 1000 Series Bethlehem Discography
8.
Concord Records
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Concord Records is an American record label based in Beverly Hills, California. The labels artists have won 14 Grammy Awards and 88 Grammy nominations, Concord issues live recordings from festivals and other venues, including a series of piano recitals from Maybeck Recital Hall in Berkeley, California, by many well-known pianists. Concords labels included Concord Picante for Latin jazz and Concord Concerto for classical music, Concord also includes The Jazz Alliance, founded around 1990 to issue programs from Marian McPartlands radio broadcast Piano Jazz. In 1999 Concord Records was purchased by a led by Hal Gaba. Its offices were moved from Concord to Beverly Hills in 2002 and its catalog was increased in 2004 with the purchase of Fantasy Records, which meant acquiring Prestige, Stax and Specialty. The company resulting from the merger came to be known as Concord Music Group and that same year, Concord partnered with Starbucks to release Ray Charless Genius Loves Company, which won eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. On December 19,2005, it was announced that the group had purchased Telarc Records and its subsidiary Heads Up, in 2007, Concord started the Hear Music label in association with Starbucks, signing such artists as Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, and John Mellencamp. Although Starbucks ceased to be a partner an year later, Concord kept Hear active, having a Top 5 album in 2010 with Carole King. In 2008, Village Roadshow Pictures Group and Concord Music Group completed their merger, kenny G signed to Concord in early 2008, Herb Alpert in early 2009. On June 5,2009, Dave Koz signed to Concord, Concord Music Group purchased Rounder Records in 2010. In 2010, it was announced that Paul McCartneys solo and Wings catalogs would be distributed by Concord Music Group. In March 2013, Wood Creek Capital purchased Concord Music Group from Village Entertainment, in December 2015, R. E. M. announced that they would transfer their Warner Bros. Records recordings from 1988 to 2011 to Concord Records. Casey Abrams Shayne Pilpel List of record labels
9.
Artie Shaw
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Artie Shaw was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, and actor. Also an author, Shaw wrote both fiction and non-fiction, widely regarded as one of jazzs finest clarinetists, Shaw led one of the United States most popular big bands in the late 1930s through the early 1940s. Though he had hit records, he was perhaps best known for his 1938 recording of Cole Porters Begin the Beguine. Prior to the release of Beguine, Shaw and his band had languished in relative obscurity for over two years and, after its release, he became a major pop artist within short order. The record eventually became one of the defining recordings. Musically restless, Shaw was also a proponent of what became known much later as Third Stream music. Shaw also recorded with jazz groups drawn from within the ranks of the various big bands he led. He served in the US Navy from 1942 to 1944, and, following his discharge in 1944, Shaw was born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky in New York City, the son of Sarah and Harry Arshawsky, who worked as a dressmaker and photographer. His family was Jewish, his father was from Russia, his mother from Austria, Shaw grew up in New Haven, Connecticut where, according to his autobiography, his natural introversion was deepened by local antisemitism. Shaw bought a saxophone by working in a store, and began learning the saxophone at 13, by 16, he switched to the clarinet. Returning to New York, he became a musician through the early 1930s. In 1929 and 1930, he played with Irving Aaronsons Commanders, where he was exposed to symphonic music, in 1935, Shaw first gained attention with his Interlude in B-flat at a swing concert at the Imperial Theater in New York. During the swing era, his big bands were popular hits like Begin the Beguine, Stardust, Back Bay Shuffle, Moonglow, Rosalie. The show was received, but forced to dissolve in 1937 because his bands sound was not commercial. His incorporation of stringed instruments could be attributed to the influence of classical composer Igor Stravinsky. S. However, after recording Any Old Time, she left the band due to hostility from audiences in the South as well as music company executives who wanted a more mainstream singer. His band became successful, and his playing was eventually recognized as equal to that of Benny Goodman. Longtime Duke Ellington clarinetist Barney Bigard cited Shaw as his favorite clarinet player, in response to Goodmans nickname, the King of Swing, Shaws fans dubbed him the King of the Clarinet
10.
George Shearing
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Sir George Shearing, OBE was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, including the jazz standard Lullaby of Birdland, had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s and he died of heart failure in New York City, at the age of 91. Born in Battersea, London, Shearing was the youngest of nine children and 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 training at Linden Lodge School for the Blind, where he spent four years. Though he was offered scholarships, Shearing opted to perform at a local pub. He joined a band during that time and was influenced by the records of Teddy Wilson. Shearing made his first BBC radio broadcast during this time after befriending Leonard Feather, in 1940, Shearing joined Harry Parrys popular band and contributed to the comeback of Stéphane Grappelli. Shearing won seven consecutive Melody Maker polls during this time, around that time he was also a member of George Evanss Saxes n Sevens band. In 1947, Shearing emigrated to the United States, where his harmonically complex style mixing swing, bop, one of his first performances was at the Hickory House. He performed with the Oscar Pettiford Trio and led a quartet with Buddy DeFranco. Shearing said of this hit that it was as accidental as it could be and he became known for a piano technique known as Shearings voicing, a type of double melody block chord, with an additional fifth part that doubles the melody an octave lower. In 1956, Shearing became a citizen of the United States. He continued to play with his quintet, with augmented players through the years and he created his own label, Sheba, that lasted a few years. Along with dozens of stars of his day, Shearing appeared on ABCs The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom. Earlier, he had appeared on the networks reality show, The Comeback Story. In 1970, he began to phase out his by-now-predictable quintet, later, Shearing played with a trio, as a soloist and increasingly in a duo. Among his collaborations were sets with the Montgomery Brothers, Marian McPartland, torff, Jim Hall, Hank Jones and Kenny Davern. In 1979, Shearing signed with Concord Records, and recorded for the label with Mel Tormé and this collaboration garnered Shearing and Tormé two Grammys, one in 1983 and another in 1984
11.
Jazz standard
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There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be standards changes over time. Songs included in major book publications and jazz reference works offer a rough guide to which songs are considered standards. Not all jazz standards were written by jazz composers, many are originally Tin Pan Alley popular songs, Broadway show tunes or songs from Hollywood musicals – the Great American Songbook. In Europe, jazz standards and fake books may include some traditional folk songs or pieces of ethnic music that have been played with a jazz feel by well known jazz players. A commonly played song can only be considered a jazz standard if it is played among jazz musicians. The jazz standard repertoire has some overlap with blues and pop standards, the most recorded jazz standard was W. C. Handys St. Louis Blues for over 20 years from the 1930s onward, today, the place is held by Body and Soul by Johnny Green. The most recorded standard composed by a musician is Thelonious Monks Round Midnight. From its conception at the change of the century, jazz was music intended for dancing. Edison, Inc. on Blue Amberol in December 1916 and in 1917, the first record with Jass on the label, The Original Dixieland One-Step was issue 18255 by Victor Talking Machine Company in 1917. Originally simply called jazz, the music of jazz bands is today often referred to as Dixieland or New Orleans jazz. Ragtime songs Twelfth Street Rag and Tiger Rag have become popular numbers for jazz artists, as have blues tunes St. Louis Blues, Tin Pan Alley songwriters contributed several songs to the jazz standard repertoire, including Indiana and After Youve Gone. Others, such as Some of These Days and Darktown Strutters Ball, were introduced by vaudeville performers, the most often recorded standards of this period are W. C. Handys St. Louis Blues, Turner Layton and Henry Creamers After Youve Gone and James Hanley, a period known as the Jazz Age started in the United States in the 1920s. Jazz had become popular music in the country, although older generations considered the music immoral, dances such as the Charleston and the Black Bottom were very popular during the period, and jazz bands typically consisted of seven to twelve musicians. Important orchestras in New York were led by Fletcher Henderson, Paul Whiteman, however, Chicagos importance as a center of jazz music started to diminish toward the end of the 1920s in favor of New York. In the early years of jazz, record companies were eager to decide what songs were to be recorded by their artists. Popular numbers in the 1920s were pop hits such as Sweet Georgia Brown, Dinah, the first jazz artist to be given some liberty in choosing his material was Louis Armstrong, whose band helped popularize many of the early standards in the 1920s and 1930s
12.
Composer
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A composer is a person who creates or writes music, which can be vocal music, instrumental music or music which combines both instruments and voices. The core meaning of the term refers to individuals who have contributed to the tradition of Western classical music through creation of works expressed in written musical notation, many composers are also skilled performers, either as singers, instrumentalists, and/or conductors. Examples of composers who are well known for their ability as performers include J. S. Bach, Mozart. In many popular genres, such as rock and country. For a singer or instrumental performer, the process of deciding how to perform music that has previously composed and notated is termed interpretation. Different performers interpretations of the work of music can vary widely, in terms of the tempos that are chosen. Composers and songwriters who present their own music are interpreting, just as much as those who perform the music of others, although a musical composition often has a single author, this is not always the case. A piece of music can also be composed with words, images, or, in the 20th and 21st century, a culture eventually developed whereby faithfulness to the composers written intention came to be highly valued. This musical culture is almost certainly related to the esteem in which the leading classical composers are often held by performers. The movement might be considered a way of creating greater faithfulness to the original in works composed at a time that expected performers to improvise. In Classical music, the composer typically orchestrates her own compositions, in some cases, a pop songwriter may not use notation at all, and instead compose the song in her mind and then play or record it from memory. In jazz and popular music, notable recordings by influential performers are given the weight that written scores play in classical music. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music. In the development of European classical music, the function of composing music initially did not have greater importance than that of performing it. The preservation of individual compositions did not receive attention and musicians generally had no qualms about modifying compositions for performance. In as much as the role of the composer in western art music has seen continued solidification, for instance, in certain contexts the line between composer and performer, sound designer, arranger, producer, and other roles, can be quite blurred. The term composer is often used to refer to composers of music, such as those found in classical, jazz or other forms of art. In popular and folk music, the composer is usually called a songwriter and this is distinct from a 19th-century conception of instrumental composition, where the work was represented solely by a musical score to be interpreted by performers
13.
The Christmas Song
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The Christmas Song is a classic Christmas song written in 1945 by Bob Wells and Mel Tormé. According to Tormé, the song was written during a hot summer. In an effort to cool by thinking cool, the most-performed Christmas song was born. I saw a spiral pad on his piano with four written in pencil. Bob didnt think he was writing a song lyric and he said he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off. Forty minutes later that song was written, I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics. The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the early in 1946. First recording, Recorded at WMCA Radio Studios, New York City, label credit, The King Cole Trio. Not issued until 1989, when it was included on the various-artists compilation Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits Rhino R170637 / R270637, second recording, Recorded at WMCA Radio Studios, New York City, August 19,1946. Label credit, The King Cole Trio with String Choir, issued November 1946 as Capitol 311. Third recording, Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, August 24,1953 and this was the songs first magnetic tape recording. Label credit, The King Cole Trio with String Choir, issued November 1953 as the new Capitol 90036 / F90036. Correct label credit issued on October 18,1954 as Capitol 2955 / F2955, label credit, Nat King Cole with Orchestra Conducted by Nelson Riddle. This recording is available on the 1990 Cole compilation CD Cole, Christmas, & Kids and it was also included, along with both 1946 recordings, on the 1991 Mosaic Records box set The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio. This version is played on the radio during the Christmas season and is nearly identical to the popular 1961 recording. It is easy to tell apart from the 1961 version in that the final notes sounds faster, fourth recording, Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York City, March 30,1961. This rendition, the first recorded in stereo, is played on radio stations during the Christmas season. The instrumental arrangement is identical to the 1953 version, but the vocals are much deeper
14.
The Romance of Helen Trent
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The Romance of Helen Trent was a radio soap opera which aired on CBS from October 30,1933 to June 24,1960 for a total of 7,222 episodes. The show was created by Frank and Anne Hummert, who were among the most prolific producers during the radio soap era, the storyline revolved around a 35-year-old dressmaker who fascinates men as she works her way up to become the chief Hollywood costumer designer. Helen was played by three different actresses, Virginia Clark did the role for 11 years, and Julie Stevens portrayed Helen for 16 years. Stevens, who had finished playing the title role on the radio soap Kitty Foyle, was only 22 when she joined the cast. She continued in the role from 1944 to the cancellation in 1960. Stevens said she saw Helen as being similar to Edith Head, Stevens felt her character was boring and remembered the director allowed the actors to fall around and scream with laughter during rehearsals. We had to keep our sanity, by air time we had gotten it all out of our systems and could be dead serious about the story. During the 7,222 episodes, Helen never married, however, she had a long-running beau, Gil Whitney. An unusual incident occurred during a 1948 broadcast, as documented in Tune in Tomorrow, the memoir by Mary Jane Higby, as Gil attempted to convince Helen of his love for her, Helen again demurred and hesitated. Suddenly, a voice came over the airwaves, saying, Ah, for chrissakes, lay the dame, as crew members tried to locate the voice inside the studio, the man proceeded to give sexually graphic examples of what Gil should do with Helen. In spite of the shock, there were few protests from listeners, list of radio soaps LaGuardia, Robert. The Romance of Helen Trent, a story based on the radio program, begins on page 30 of the July 1940 issue of Radio. American Studies at the University of Virginia, The Romance of Helen Trent John R
15.
Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy
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Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy was a radio adventure series which maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The program originated at WBBM in Chicago on July 31,1933, gale later served as President of the Ad Council. Early popularity led to commissioning of a radio serial broadcast, only the adventures were a product of Gales imagination. There was a real Jack Armstrong, a member of Sam Gales college fraternity, the adventures which captivated listeners each week were entirely fictitious, and led to good-natured ribbing throughout Armstrongs life. Another creation of Sam Gales fertile mind was the iconic Betty Crocker, the radio serial maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. Frequently, Uncle Jim Fairfield would have to visit an exotic part of the world in connection with his business, and he would take Jack Armstrong, many of the adventures provided listeners with the equivalent of a travelogue, providing facts about the lands they were visiting. The show was created by writer Robert Hardy Andrews, throughout its broadcast span, the program offered radio premiums that usually related to the adventures in which Jack and his friends were involved. In the Jack Armstrong movie serial of 1947, ace science whiz Armstrong must free his friend from a fortress after he is kidnapped by a villain who wants his help in building a death ray. That same year the Parents Institute began publishing their Jack Armstrong comic book which had a 13-issue run, leslie N. Daniels, Jr. wrote the Big Little Book, Jack Armstrong and the Ivory Treasure. Daniels tale was based on a 1937 Talbot Mundy radio script which Mundy had first written as his novel The Ivory Trail, bob Schoenke also drew a newspaper comic strip based on the radio series between 1947 and 1949. A short Jack Armstrong animated TV pilot was developed by Hanna-Barbera for a television series. However, when negotiations for rights to the characters collapsed, the series was reworked into what became the animated adventure Jonny Quest. Some of the Jack Armstrong footage survived in the credits for Jonny Quest. Timothy Bottoms portrayed Jack Armstrong in the game, American Hero. Jack Armstrong entered the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989
16.
Harry James
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Harry Haag James was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a period in 1947. He was also an actor in a number of pictures that usually featured his bands in some way. Harry James was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of Myrtle Maybelle, an acrobat and horseback rider, and Everett Robert James, a bandleader in a traveling circus, the Mighty Haag Circus. By the age of 10 he was taking lessons from his father. Each day, James was given one page to learn from the Arbans book and was not allowed to any other pastime until he had learned that particular page. In 1931, his family settled in Beaumont, Texas and it was here, at 15 years of age, that James began playing in local dance bands. James played regularly with Herman Waldmans band, and at one performance was noticed by nationally popular Ben Pollack, in 1935 he joined Pollacks band, but at the start of 1937 left to join Benny Goodmans orchestra, where he stayed through 1938. He was nicknamed The Hawk early in his career for his ability to sight-read, a common joke was that if a fly landed on his written music, Harry James would play it. His low range had an associated with the cornet and even the flugelhorn. With financial backing from Goodman, in January 1939 James debuted his own big band in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and this big band became known as Harry James and His Music Makers. His hit You Made Me Love You was in the Top 10 during the week of December 7,1941 and he and his band were featured in three films, Private Buckaroo, Two Girls and a Sailor and Springtime in the Rockies. He toured with the band into the 1980s, and to day the Harry James Orchestra still exists. His was the first name band to employ vocalist Frank Sinatra, in 1939, James signed Sinatra to a one-year contract, of which Sinatra worked seven months before leaving to sing for Tommy Dorsey He wanted to change Sinatras name to Frankie Satin but Sinatra refused. His later band included drummer Buddy Rich and his featured vocalist was Helen Forrest. Johnny MacAfee was featured on the sax and vocals and Corky Corcoran was a youthful sax prodigy and his orchestra succeeded Glenn Millers on a program sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes in 1942, when Miller disbanded his orchestra to enter the Army. In 1945, James and his orchestra had a replacement program for Danny Kayes program on CBS. He also led the orchestra for Call for Music, which was broadcast on CBS February 13,1948 - April 16,1948 and he played trumpet in the 1950 film Young Man with a Horn, dubbing Kirk Douglas
17.
Chico Marx
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Leonard Marx, known professionally as Chico Marx, was an American comedian, musician, bandleader, actor and film star. He was a member of the Marx Brothers and his persona in the act was that of a charming, dim-witted albeit crafty con artist, seemingly of rural Italian origin, who wore shabby clothes and sported a curly-haired wig and Tyrolean hat. In virtually every film that includes the trio of the Marx Brothers, Chico is seen working with Harpo Marx. Leonard was the oldest of the Marx Brothers to live past early childhood, in addition to his work as a performer, he played an important role in the management and development of the act in its early years. He was born on March 22,1887 in Manhattan, New York City, billing himself as Chico, he used an Italian persona for his onstage character, stereotyped ethnic characters were common with vaudevillians. His non-Italian-ness was specifically referred to three times on film, in Duck Soup, when Chico impersonates Groucho but retains his accent, Margaret Dumont asks what happened to his voice. Chico replies, Well, maybe sometime I go to Italy, to which Dumont replies, Your dialect is perfect. Fiorello, Well, I wouldnt know about that, Im a stranger here myself. Quentin Quayle, Can you talk Indian. Joe Panello, I was born in Indianapolis, hammer asks him if he knew what an auction was, in which he responds I come from Italy on the Atlantic Auction. He originally started playing only his right hand and fake playing with his left. Chico eventually acquired a better teacher and learned to play the piano correctly, as a young boy, he gained jobs playing piano to earn money for the Marx family. Sometimes Chico even worked playing in two places at the same time and he would acquire the first job with his piano-playing skills, work for a few nights, and then substitute Harpo on one of the jobs. In the brothers last film, Love Happy, Chico plays a piano, Lyons plays some ornate riffs on the violin, Chico comments, Look-a, Mister Lyons, I know you wanna make a good impression, but please dont-a play better than me. In a record album about the Marx Brothers, narrator Gary Owens stated that although Chicos technique was limited, the opposite was true of Harpo, who reportedly could play only two tunes on the piano, which typically thwarted Chicos scam and resulted in both brothers being fired. Groucho Marx once said that Chico never practiced the pieces he played, instead, before performances he soaked his fingers in hot water. He was known for shooting the keys of the piano and he played passages with his thumb up and index finger straight, like a gun, as part of the act. Chico became the manager of the Marx Brothers after their mother, Minnie. As manager, he cut a deal to get the brothers a percentage of a films gross receipts—the first of its kind in Hollywood, for a while in the 1930s and 1940s, Chico led a big band. Singer Mel Tormé began his career singing with the Chico Marx Orchestra
18.
Frank Sinatra
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Francis Albert Sinatra was an American singer, actor, and producer who was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. He is one of the music artists of all time. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants, Sinatra began his career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James. Sinatra found success as a solo artist after he signed with Columbia Records in 1943 and he released his debut album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, in 1946. Sinatras professional career had stalled by the early 1950s, and he turned to Las Vegas and his career was reborn in 1953 with the success of From Here to Eternity, with his performance subsequently winning an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sinatra released several critically lauded albums, including In the Wee Small Hours, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice n Easy. Sinatra left Capitol in 1960 to start his own label, Reprise Records. It was followed by 1968s collaboration with Duke Ellington, using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured both within the United States and internationally until a short time before his death in 1998. Sinatra forged a successful career as a film actor. After winning an Academy Award for From Here to Eternity, he starred in The Man with the Golden Arm and he appeared in various musicals such as On the Town, Guys and Dolls, High Society, and Pal Joey, winning another Golden Globe for the latter. Toward the end of his career, he associated with playing detectives. Sinatra would later receive the Golden Globe Cecil B, on television, The Frank Sinatra Show began on ABC in 1950, and he continued to make appearances on television throughout the 1950s and 1960s. While Sinatra never formally learned how to read music, he had a natural, intuitive understanding of it, a perfectionist, renowned for his impeccable dress sense and cleanliness, he always insisted on recording live with his band. His bright blue eyes earned him the popular nickname Ol Blue Eyes, Sinatra led a colorful personal life, and was often involved in turbulent affairs with women, such as with his second wife Ava Gardner. He went on to marry Mia Farrow in 1966 and Barbara Marx in 1976, Sinatra had several violent confrontations, usually with journalists he felt had crossed him, or work bosses with whom he had disagreements. He was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985, Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. After his death, American music critic Robert Christgau called him the greatest singer of the 20th century, Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12,1915, in an upstairs tenement at 415 Monroe Street in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was the child of Italian immigrants Antonino Martino Marty Sinatra
19.
Higher and Higher (film)
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Higher and Higher is a 1944 musical film starring Michèle Morgan, Jack Haley, and Frank Sinatra, loosely based on a 1940 Broadway musical written by Gladys Hurlbut and Joshua Logan. The film version, written by Jay Dratler and Ralph Spence with additional dialogue by William Bowers and Howard Harris, the film has songs by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson, as well as one song by Rodgers and Hart, Disgustingly Rich, that remains from the stage production. The household staff of millionaire Cyrus Drake hasnt been paid for months when his bankruptcy is announced, the valet, Mike OBrien, helps with the transformation, unaware that Millie is secretly in love with him. Asked if shed ever been courted, Millie mentions that she likes the way a man next door sometimes sings to her. The social secretary Sandy begins to teach Millie the proper etiquette, no one there knows Victor cant even pay his hotel bill. Hes hoping to catch a girl to pay off his own debts. Millie isnt in love, but agrees to him for everyones sake. Mike mistakenly thinks shes in love with Frank, so he helps Millie get out of the wedding at the last minute, to his surprise, Frank ends up paired up with Katherine, which frees Mike and Millie to finally begin their romance. Higher and Higher marked the second of Sinatras forty-plus film roles, the film made a profit of $780,000. Higher and Higher at the American Film Institute Catalog Higher and Higher at the Internet Movie Database Higher and Higher at the TCM Movie Database Higher and Higher at AllMovie
20.
Good News (1947 film)
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Good News is a 1947 American MGM musical film based on the 1927 stage production of the same name. It starred June Allyson, Peter Lawford, Mel Tormé, the screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green was directed by Charles Walters in Technicolor. Three additional songs were written for the film, The French Lesson, Pass That Peace Pipe, and An Easier Way, Good News was the second adaptation of the stage musical, after the 1930 film Good News. The 1947 film was a sanitized version of the musical. The film is set in 1927 at fictional Tait College, where football is all the rage, taits football star Tommy Marlowe is a prime catch for the college girls. Tommy tells his friend and non-playing teammate Bobby Turner that the trick to attracting girls is to no interest. New student Pat McClellan resists his advances, cutting Tommy down to size at a party, Pat is interested in French, so Tommy enlists part-time school librarian Connie Lane to help him study the language. He gradually falls for Connie, who comes from a poor background, meanwhile, Babe Doolittle is seeking to leave a relationship with football player Beef so she can get involved with Bobby Turner. At a local shop, Babe advises Pat not to lose her temper. Connie grows attracted to Tommy, who she feels is not interested, Tommy asks Connie to the prom, but reneges when Pat shows interest. In the end, Tait wins the big game, Tommy pairs off with Connie, Beef pairs off with Pat, the college bursts out into song in a production number. June Allyson as Connie Lane Peter Lawford as Tommy Marlowe Patricia Marshall as Pat McClellan Joan McCracken as Babe Doolittle Ray McDonald as Bobby Turner Mel Tormé as Danny Robert E and this musical number survives and is included as an extra on the DVD. The film was a box office disappointment, earning $2,545,000 in the US and Canada and $411,000 elsewhere, edens, Martin and Blane were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song for Pass That Peace Pipe. Good News at the Internet Movie Database Good News at AllMovie Good News at the TCM Movie Database Good News at the American Film Institute Catalog DVD information about the 1947 film version
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