1.
Ella Fitzgerald
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Ella Jane Fitzgerald was an American jazz singer often referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing and intonation, Fitzgeralds rendition of the nursery rhyme A-Tisket, A-Tasket helped boost both her and Webb to national fame. Taking over the band after Webb died, Fitzgerald left it behind in 1942 to start a career that would last effectively the rest of her life. With Verve she recorded some of her more noted works. These partnerships produced recognizable songs like Dream a Little Dream of Me, Cheek to Cheek, Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall, in 1993, Fitzgerald capped off her sixty-year career with her last public performance. Three years later, she died at the age of 79, Fitzgerald was born on April 25,1917, in Newport News, Virginia, the daughter of William Fitzgerald and Temperance Tempie Fitzgerald. Her parents were unmarried but lived together for at least two and a years after she was born. Initially living in a room, her mother and Da Silva soon found jobs. Her half-sister, Frances Da Silva, was born in 1923, by 1925, Fitzgerald and her family had moved to nearby School Street, then a predominantly poor Italian area. She began her education at the age of six and proved to be an outstanding student. Fitzgerald had been passionate about dancing from third grade, being a fan of Earl Snakehips Tucker in particular, Fitzgerald and her family were Methodists and were active in the Bethany African Methodist Episcopal Church, and she regularly attended worship services, Bible study, and Sunday school. The church provided Fitzgerald with her earliest experiences in music making. During this period Fitzgerald listened to recordings by Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby. Fitzgerald idolized the Boswell Sisters lead singer Connee Boswell, later saying, My mother brought home one of her records, in 1932, her mother died from serious injuries she received in a car accident when Fitzgerald was 15 years of age. This left her at first in the care of her stepfather but before the end of April 1933, following these traumas, Fitzgerald began skipping school and letting her grades suffer. During this period she worked at times as a lookout at a bordello, Ella Fitzgerald never talked publicly about this time in her life. When the authorities caught up with her, she was first placed in the Colored Orphan Asylum in Riverdale, in the Bronx. However, when the orphanage proved too crowded, she was moved to the New York Training School for Girls in Hudson, New York, eventually she escaped and for a time she was homeless
2.
Musical improvisation
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Sometimes musical ideas in improvisation are spontaneous, but may be based on chord changes in classical music, and many other kinds of music. One definition is a performance given extempore without planning or preparation, another definition is to play or sing extemporaneously, by inventing variations on a melody or creating new melodies, rhythms and harmonies. Improvisation is often done within a harmonic framework or chord progression. Improvisation is a part of some types of 20th-century music, such as blues, jazz. Throughout the eras of the Western art music tradition, including the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and many other famous composers and musicians were known especially for their improvisational skills. Improvisation might have played an important role in the monophonic period, the earliest treatises on polyphony, such as the Musica enchiriadis, indicate that added parts were improvised for centuries before the first notated examples. However, it was only in the century that theorists began making a hard distinction between improvised and written music. Handel, Scarlatti, and Bach all belonged to a tradition of solo keyboard improvisation, in the Baroque era, performers improvised ornaments and basso continuo keyboard players improvised chord voicings based on figured bass notation. At the same time, some contemporary composers from the 20th, in Indian classical music, improvisation is a core component and an essential criterion of performances. In Indian, Afghani, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi classical music, the Encyclopædia Britannica defines a raga as a melodic framework for improvisation and composition. Keyboard players likewise performed extempore, freely formed pieces, the pattern of chords in many baroque preludes, for example, can be played on keyboard and guitar over a pedal tone or repeated bass notes. Such progressions can be used in other structures and contexts, and are still found in Mozart. Bach, for example, was fond of the sound produced by the dominant seventh harmony played over, i. e. suspended against. This shift of roles between treble and bass is another definitive characteristic, finally, in keeping with this polarity, the kind of question and answer which appears in baroque music has the appearance of fugue or canon. This method was a favorite in compositions by Scarlatti and Handel especially at the beginning of a piece, improvised accompaniment over a figured bass was a common practice during the Baroque era, and to some extent the following periods. Improvisation remains a feature of playing in some church services and are regularly also performed at concerts. Dietrich Buxtehude and Johann Sebastian Bach were regarded in the Baroque period as highly skilled organ improvisers, maurice Duruflé, a great improviser himself, transcribed improvisations by Louis Vierne and Charles Tournemire. Olivier Latry later wrote his improvisations as a compositions, for example Salve Regina, Classical music departs from baroque style in that sometimes several voices may move together as chords involving both hands, to form brief phrases without any passing tones
3.
Scale (music)
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In music theory, a scale is any set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch. A scale ordered by increasing pitch is a scale. Some scales contain different pitches when ascending than when descending, for example, the Melodic minor scale. Due to the principle of equivalence, scales are generally considered to span a single octave. A musical scale represents a division of the space into a certain number of scale steps. A measure of the width of each scale step provides a method to classify scales, based on their interval patterns, scales are put into categories including diatonic, chromatic, major, minor, and others. A specific scale is defined by its interval pattern and by a special note. The tonic of a scale is the selected as the beginning of the octave. Typically, the name of the scale specifies both its tonic and its interval pattern, for example, C major indicates a major scale with a C tonic. Scales are typically listed from low to high, most scales are octave-repeating, meaning their pattern of notes is the same in every octave. An octave-repeating scale can be represented as an arrangement of pitch classes. The distance between two notes in a scale is called a scale step. The notes of a scale are numbered by their steps from the root of the scale, for example, in a C major scale the first note is C, the second D, the third E and so on. Two notes can also be numbered in relation to other, C and E create an interval of a third. A single scale can be manifested at many different pitch levels, for example, a C major scale can be started at C4 and ascending an octave to C5, or it could be started at C6, ascending an octave to C7. As long as all the notes can be played, the octave they take on can be altered, the pitch distances or intervals among the notes of a scale tell us more about the sound of the music than does the mere number of tones. The notes of a scale form intervals with each of the notes of the chord in combination. A 5-note scale has 10 of these intervals, a 6-note scale has 15, a 7-note scale has 21
4.
Arpeggio
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A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord, an arpeggio is a type of broken chord where the notes that compose a chord are played or sung in a rising or descending order. An arpeggio may also more than one octave. The word arpeggio comes from the Italian word arpeggiare, which means to play on a harp, even though the notes of an arpeggio are not played or sung all together at the same time, listeners hear the sequence of notes as forming a chord. When an arpeggio also contains passing tones that are not part of the chord, Arpeggios enable composers writing for monophonic instruments that play one note at a time, to voice chords and chord progressions in musical pieces. Arpeggios and broken chords are used to help create rhythmic interest. A notable example of which is the Alberti bass figuration which was used in piano music from the Classical music period. With an Alberti bass, rather play the notes of a chord all at once. An arpeggio is a group of notes which are played one after the other, executing an arpeggio requires the player to play the sounds of a chord individually to differentiate the notes. The notes all belong to one chord, the chord may, for example, be a simple chord with the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the scale in it. An arpeggio for the chord of C major going up two octaves would be the notes, an arpeggio is a type of broken chord. Other types of broken chords play chord notes out of sequence or more than one note, Arpeggios can rise or fall for more than one octave. Students of musical instruments and singers learn how to play and sing scales and they are often a requirement for music examinations. An arpeggiated chord means a chord which is spread, i. e. the notes are not played at the same time, arpeggiated chords are often used in harp and piano music. An arpeggiated chord may be written with a vertical line in front of the chord. It is spread from the lowest to the highest note, occasionally, composers such as Béla Bartók have asked for them to be played from top to bottom. This is shown by adding an arrow pointing down, some ostinato figures consist of arpeggios. Any instrument may employ arpeggiation, but the instruments use arpeggios most often
5.
Lick (music)
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In popular music genres such as rock or jazz music, a lick is a stock pattern or phrase consisting of a short series of notes that is used in solos and melodic lines and accompaniment. Licks in rock and roll are often used through a formula, in a jazz band, a lick may be performed during an improvised solo, either during an accompanied solo chorus or during an unaccompanied solo break. Jazz licks are usually original short phrases which can be altered so that they can be used over a songs changing harmonic progressions, a lick is different from the related concept of a riff in that riffs can also include repeated chord progressions. Licks are usually associated with single-note melodic lines rather than chord progressions, however, like riffs, licks can be used as the basis of an entire song. Single-line riffs or licks used as the basis of Western classical music pieces are called ostinatos, contemporary jazz writers also use riff- or lick-like ostinatos in modal music and Latin jazz. A lick can be a hook, if the lick meets the definition of a hook, a idea, a passage or phrase, that is believed to be appealing and make the song stand out. A lick may be incorporated into a fill, which is a short passage played in the pause between phrases of a melody, for musicians, learning a lick is usually a form of imitation. Imitating style is as important as learning the appropriate scale over a given chords, by imitating, musicians understand and analyze what others have done, which in turn allows them to build a vocabulary of their own
6.
Riff
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In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, usually at the same pitch. The repeating idea may be a pattern, part of a tune. Both ostinatos and ostinati are accepted English plural forms, the reflecting the words Italian etymology. If the cadence may be regarded as the cradle of tonality, within the context of film music, Claudia Gorbman defines an obstinate as a repeated melodic or rhythmic figure that propel scenes that lack dynamic visual action. Ostinato plays an important part in improvised music, in which it is referred to as a riff or a vamp. A favorite technique of contemporary writers, ostinati are often used in modal and Latin jazz. Ostinato are used in 20th-century music to stabilize groups of pitches, as in Stravinskys The Rite of Spring Introduction and Augurs of Spring. A famous type of ostinato, called the Rossini crescendo, owes its name to a crescendo that underlies a persistent musical pattern and this style was emulated by other bel canto composers, especially Vincenzo Bellini, and later by Wagner. Applicable in homophonic and contrapuntal textures they are repetitive rhythmic-harmonic schemes, more familiar as accompanimental melodies, the techniques appeal to composers from Debussy to avant-garde composers until at least the 1970s. Lies in part in the need for unity created by the abandonment of functional chord progressions to shape phrases. Relentless, repetitive character help to establish and confirm the modal center and their popularity may also be justified by their ease as well as range of use, though. Ostinato must be employed judiciously, as its overuse can lead to monotony. Ground bass or basso ostinato is a type of form in which a bass line. Aaron Copland describes basso ostinato as, the easiest to recognize of the variation forms wherein. A long phrase—either an accompanimental figure or an actual melody—is repeated over and over again in the bass part, however, he cautions, it might more properly be termed a musical device than a musical form. Many instruments south of the Sahara Desert play ostinato melodies and these include lamellophones such as the mbira, as well as xylophones like the balafon, the bikutsi, and the gyil. Ostinato figures are also played on string instruments such as the kora, gankoqui bell ensembles, often, African ostinatos contain offbeats or cross-beats, that contradict the metric structure. Other African ostinatos generate complete cross-rhythms by sounding both the main beats and cross-beats, in the following example, a gyil sounds the three-against-two cross-rhythm
7.
Musical form
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The term musical form refers to the overall structure or plan of a piece of music, and it describes the layout of a composition as divided into sections. According to Richard Middleton, musical form is the shape or structure of the work and he describes it through difference, the distance moved from a repeat, the latter being the smallest difference. Difference is quantitative and qualitative, how far, and of what type, in many cases, form depends on statement and restatement, unity and variety, and contrast and connection. This phrase may be regarded as the unit of musical form. Even at this level, the importance of the principles of repetition and contrast, weak and strong, climax and repose, thus, form may be understood on three levels of organization. For the purpose of exposition, these levels can be roughly designated as passage, piece. The smallest level of construction concerns the way musical phrases are organized into musical sentences and this may be compared to, and is often decided by, the verse form or meter of the words or the steps of a dance. In the analysis of form, any components that can be defined on the time axis are conventionally designated by letters. Upper-case letters are used for the most fundamental, while lower-case letters are used for sub-divisions, if one such section returns in a varied or modified form, a numerical digit or an appropriate number of prime symbols appears after the letter. Even at this simplest level, there are patterns that may be re-used on larger timescales, for example, consider the analogy with rhyme schemes, The following verse is composed of two differently-rhymed couplets, and thus its organization is binary or twofold. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are, up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky. There once was a fellow from Leeds Who swallowed a packet of seeds, in less than an hour he burst into flower And he died trying to pull up the weeds. The next level concerns the structure of any single self-contained musical piece. If the hymn, ballad, blues or dance alluded to above simply repeats the same musical material indefinitely then the piece is said to be in strophic form overall. If it repeats with distinct, sustained changes each time, for instance in setting, ornamentation or instrumentation, then the piece is a theme and variations. If the theme is played, then a new theme is introduced, great arguments and misunderstanding can be generated by such terms as ternary and binary, as a complex piece may have elements of both at different organizational levels. The grandest level of organization may be referred to as cyclical form and it concerns the arrangement of several self-contained pieces into a large-scale composition. For example, a set of songs with a theme may be presented as a song-cycle
8.
How High the Moon
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How High the Moon is a jazz standard with lyrics by Nancy Hamilton and music by Morgan Lewis. It was first featured in the 1940 Broadway revue Two for the Show, in Two for the Show, this was a rare serious moment in an otherwise humorous revue. The earliest recorded hit version was by Benny Goodman & His Orchestra and it was recorded on February 7,1940, and released by Columbia Records as catalog number 35391, with the flip side Fable of the Rose. The Les Paul Trio recorded a released as V-Disc 540B with a spoken introduction which was issued in November,1945 by the U. S. In 1948, bandleader Stan Kenton enjoyed some success with his version of the tune, the recording, with a vocal by June Christy, was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 911 and 15117. It reached the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart on July 9,1948, its only week on the chart, a recording of the song by Les Paul and Mary Ford was made on January 4,1951. The record was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 1451, with the flip side Walkin and Whistlin Blues, the record was subsequently re-released by Capitol as catalog number 1675, with Josephine on the B-side. This recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1979 and is on the list of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum of the Songs That Shaped Rock, the song was sung in various recordings by Ella Fitzgerald, becoming Ellas signature tune. She first performed the song at Carnegie Hall on September 29,1947 and her first recording, backed by the Daydreamers, was recorded December 20,1947, and released by Decca Records as catalog number 24387, with the flip side You Turned the Tables on Me. The song has become a jazz standard and has been recorded by several musicians of the genre. The Jack Benny Show- Mahlon Merrick arrangement, February 18,1940 Pat Suzuki on her album Miss Pony Tail. The Dave Brubeck Quartet recorded a 9, 11-length version of the piece at Oberlin College in March 1953 that is included on the Fantasy Records LP, Dave Brubeck and Jon Hendricks recorded it as a short, slow ballad on Brubecks 1995 CD Young Lions & Old Tigers. Kaye Connor Duke Ellington and his orchestra Ziggy Elman Erroll Garner Erroll Garner Trio Natalie Gauci performed this song on the Top 4 Big Band show. Marvin Gaye Gloria Gaynor Along with the tracks, Casanova Brown and Do It Yourself, manhattan Transfer Johnny Mathis Big Jay McNeely on the album Live at Birdland,1957, recorded live in stereo at the Seattle, Washington, Birdland Club in 1957. Bud Powell on the album Spring Broadcasts 1953, with Oscar Pettiford on bass and this broadcast was recorded March 21,1953. Sarah Vaughan in 1957 recorded live at Mr. Kellys in Chicago, notation is given to a version performed by Ella Fitzgerald on which she scats the verses, for which Sarah emulates. Charlie Ventura Paul Weston and his orchestra Mary Lou Williams (released by Disc Records as catalog number 5025, lola Albright in Peter Gunn season 1, episode 5 The Frog,1958. Jeff Beck paid tribute to Les Paul and Mary Ford at the 2010 Grammy Awards Ceremony by playing a version of How High the Moon with Imelda May singing
9.
Chuck Jones
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Charles Martin Chuck Jones was an American animator, filmmaker, cartoonist, author, artist, and screenwriter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts and he later started his own studio, Chuck Jones Enterprises, which created several one-shot specials, and periodically worked on Looney Tunes related works. Jones was nominated for an Academy Award eight times and won three times, receiving awards for the cartoons For Scent-imental Reasons, So Much for So Little, and The Dot and he received an Honorary Academy Award in 1996 for his work in the animation industry. Film historian Leonard Maltin has praised Jones work at Warner Bros and he also said that the feud that there may have been between Jones and colleague Bob Clampett was mainly because they were so different from each other. In Jerry Becks The 50 Greatest Cartoons, ten of the entries were directed by Jones, Jones was born on September 21,1912, in Spokane, Washington, the son of Mabel McQuiddy and Charles Adams Jones. He later moved with his parents and three siblings to the Los Angeles, California area, in his autobiography, Chuck Amuck, Jones credits his artistic bent to circumstances surrounding his father, who was an unsuccessful businessman in California in the 1920s. His father, Jones recounts, would start new business venture by purchasing new stationery. When the business failed, his father would quietly turn the huge stacks of useless stationery and pencils over to his children, armed with an endless supply of high-quality paper and pencils, the children drew constantly. Jones recounted years later that this pronouncement came as a relief to him, as he was well past the 200,000 mark. Jones and several of his siblings went on to artistic careers, during his artistic education, he worked part-time as a janitor. After graduating from Chouinard Art Institute, Jones got a call from a friend named Fred Kopietz. He worked his way up in the industry, starting as a cell washer, then I moved up to become a painter in black and white. Then I went on to take animators drawings and traced them onto the celluloid, then I became what they call an in-betweener, which is the guy that does the drawing between the drawings the animator makes. While at Iwerks, he met a cel painter named Dorothy Webster, Jones joined Leon Schlesinger Productions, the independent studio that produced Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies for Warner Bros. in 1933 as an assistant animator. In 1935, he was promoted to animator, and assigned to work with new Schlesinger director Tex Avery, Jones became a director himself in 1938 when Frank Tashlin left the studio. He was actively involved in efforts to unionize the staff of Leon Schlesinger Studios and he was responsible for recruiting animators, layout men, and background people. Almost all animators joined, in reaction to salary cuts imposed by Leon Schlesinger, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio had already signed a union contract, encouraging their counterparts under Schlesinger. In a meeting with his staff, Schlesinger talked for a few minutes and his insulting manner had a unifying effect on the staff
10.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
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Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. In the cartoons, the Coyote repeatedly attempts to catch and subsequently eat the Road Runner, a ground bird. The characters were created by animation director Chuck Jones in 1948 for Warner Bros. while the template for their adventures was the work of writer Michael Maltese, the characters star in a long-running series of theatrical cartoon shorts and occasional made-for-television cartoons. It was originally meant to parody chase cartoons like Tom and Jerry, the Coyote appears separately as an occasional antagonist of Bugs Bunny in five shorts from 1952 to 1963, Operation, Rabbit, To Hare Is Human, Rabbits Feat, Compressed Hare, and Hare-Breadth Hurry. The Road Runner vocalizes only with a sound, Beep, Beep, recorded by Paul Julian. To date,48 cartoons have been made featuring these characters, TV Guide included Wile E. Coyote in its 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. Jones based the Coyote on Mark Twains book Roughing It, in which Twain described the coyote as a long, slim, sick and sorry-looking skeleton that is a living, breathing allegory of Want. Jones said he created the Coyote-Road Runner cartoons as a parody of traditional cat and mouse such as MGMs Tom and Jerry. Jones modelled the Coyotes appearance on fellow animator Ken Harris, the Coyotes name of Wile E. is a pun of the word wily. The E stands for Ethelbert in one issue of a Looney Tunes comic book, the Coyotes surname is routinely pronounced with a long e, but in one cartoon short, To Hare Is Human, Wile E. is heard pronouncing it with a diphthong. Early model sheets for the prior to his initial appearance identified him as Don Coyote. The series consists of,48 shorts, mostly about 6 to 7 minutes long, one feature-length film that combines live action and animation. Flash in the Pain was shown at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 10,2014. 4Actual Latin name of the greater roadrunner, Wile E. follows the instructions in a manual titled How to Build a Burmese Tiger Trap. In Soup or Sonic, the beep, beep of the Road Runner is also given the pseudo-Latin name beepus-beepus. It might also be noted that in this cartoon, Wile E. finally catches the Road Runner, however, recovering from the shock, he then turns to the viewer and holds up a sign reading, Okay wise guys, you always wanted me to catch him. The desert scenery in the first two Road Runner cartoons, Fast and Furry-ous and Beep, Beep, was designed by Robert Gribbroek and was quite realistic, in most later cartoons the scenery was designed by Maurice Noble and was far more abstract. In The Wild Chase, featuring a race between the Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales, it is stated that the Road Runner is from Texas and that suggests that most of the Road Runner and Coyote cartoons could take place in Texas. Gosh. through Guided Muscle the scenery was semi-realistic with an offwhite sky, gravity-defying rock formations appeared in Ready, Set, Zoom
11.
Articulation (music)
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In music, articulation refers to the direction or performance technique which affects the transition or continuity on a single note or between multiple notes or sounds. There are many types of articulation, each with a different effect on how the note is played, in music notation articulation marks include the slur, phrase mark, staccato, staccatissimo, accent, sforzando, rinforzando, and legato. A different symbol, placed above or below the note, represents each articulation, woodwind and brass instruments generally produce articulations by tonguing, the use of the tongue to break the airflow into the instrument. Certain palate cues can help student musicians master articulations, for example, the syllable dah demonstrates one placement of the tongue to articulate notes. In most cases, using the tip of the tongue, is the best way of articulation. However, different articulation markings require different tongue placement, smooth, connected passages may require an articulation more reminiscent of the syllable la, while heavy, sharp notes may be attacked with an articulation similar to tah. Furthermore, the implementation of double-tonguing may be required when many articulations are required in rapid succession, double-tonguing can be simulated by repeating the syllables dig and guh in rapid succession. Double-tonguing is a primarily used by brass players, however. A third, rare form of articulation for wind players is doodle tonguing, the name of this articulation comes from the sound, doodle, one would make if she were to sound her voice while performing the articulation. Doodle-tonguing is achieved by moving the tip of the tongue up and down quickly to block the air stream momentarily on the way up, bowed stringed instruments use different bowing techniques to achieve different articulations. One of these techniques is pizzicato, occasionally, articulations can be combined to create stylistically or technically correct sounds. For example, when staccato marks are combined with a slur, tenuto markings under a slur are called hook bows. This name is less commonly applied to staccato or martellato markings. Apagados refers to notes that are played dampened or muted, without sustain, the term is written above or below the notes with a dotted or dashed line drawn to the end of the group of notes that are to be played dampened. The technique is chiefly written for bowed or plucked instruments, modernists refer to the apogado as palm mute. On the guitar, the musician dampens the strings with the palm of the hand, strictly speaking, the term dampened is correct for this effect in music, since to mute means to silence. Illustration of the apagados may be found in the work of composer for Spanish guitar, see, https, //web. archive. org/web/20110714065232/http, //www. mednetconnection. com/18051/18020. html List of musical symbols, Articulation Marks Tonguing Cooper, Helen. Basic Guide to How to Read Music, GNU Lilypond Notation Softwares List of Articulation Symbols
12.
Betty Carter
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Vocalist Carmen McRae once remarked, Theres really only one jazz singer—only one, Betty Carter. Carter was born in Flint, Michigan, and grew up in Detroit, as a child, Carter was raised to be extremely independent and to not expect nurturing from her family. Even thirty years after leaving home, Carter was still aware of and affected by the home life she was raised in. But there was…no real closeness, where the family urged me on and she studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory at the age of fifteen, but did not exceed a modest level of expertise. At the age of sixteen, Carter began singing, as her parents were not big proponents of her pursuing a singing career, Carter would sneak out at night to audition for amateur shows. After winning first place at her first amateur competition, Carter felt as though she were being accepted into the music world and decided that she must pursue it tirelessly. When Carter began performing live, she was too young to be admitted into bars, even at a young age, Carter was able to bring a new vocal style to jazz. The breathiness of her voice was a characteristic seldom heard before her appearance on the music scene, Detroit, where Carter grew up, was a hotbed of jazz growth. Gillespie is often considered responsible for her passion for scatting. In earlier recordings, it is apparent that her scatting had similarities to the qualities of Gillespies, at the time of Gillespies visit, Charlie Parker was receiving treatment in a psychiatric hospital, delaying her encounter with him. However, Carter eventually also received an opportunity to perform with Parker, as well as with his band consisting of Tommy Potter, Max Roach, and Miles Davis. After receiving praise from both Gillespie and Parker for her vocal prowess, Carter felt a strong burst in confidence, in 1948, Carter was asked by Lionel Hampton to join his band. Carter finally had her big break, Hampton obviously had an ear for talent and a love for bebop. Carter too had a love for bebop as well as a talent for it. Hamptons wife Gladys gave her the nickname Betty Bebop, a nickname she reportedly detested, despite her good ear and charming personality, Carter was fiercely independent and had a tendency to attempt to resist Hamptons direction, while Hampton had a temper and was quick to anger. Hampton expected a lot from his players and did not want them to forget that he was the bands leader and she openly hated his swing style, refused to sing in a swinging way, and she was far too outspoken for his tastes. Carter honed her singing ability while on tour, which was not well received by Hampton as he did not enjoy her penchant for improvisation. Over the course of two and a half years, Hampton fired Carter a total of seven times, because of Hamptons hiring of Carter, she also goes down in history as one of the last big band era jazz singers in history
13.
Sarah Vaughan
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Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by music critic Scott Yanow as having one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century. Nicknamed Sassy and The Divine One, Sarah Vaughan was a four-time Grammy Award winner, the National Endowment for the Arts bestowed upon her its highest honor in jazz, the NEA Jazz Masters Award, in 1989. Sarah Vaughans father, Asbury Jake Vaughan, was a carpenter by trade and played guitar and her mother, Ada Vaughan, was a laundress and sang in the church choir. Jake and Ada Vaughan had migrated to Newark, New Jersey from Virginia during the First World War, Sarah was their only biological child, although in the 1960s they adopted Donna, the child of a woman who traveled on the road with Sarah Vaughan. The Vaughans lived in a house on Brunswick Street in Newark for Sarahs entire childhood, Jake Vaughan was deeply religious and the family was very active in the New Mount Zion Baptist Church at 186 Thomas Street. Sarah began piano lessons at the age of seven, sang in the choir and occasionally played piano for rehearsals. Vaughan developed a love for popular music on records and the radio. In the 1930s, Newark had an active live music scene and Vaughan frequently saw local. However, her adventures as a performer began to overwhelm her academic pursuits. Around this time, Vaughan and her friends began venturing across the Hudson River into New York City to hear big bands at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, biographies of Vaughan frequently stated that she was immediately thrust into stardom after a winning amateur night performance at Harlems Zeus Theater. In fact, the story that biographer Renee relates seems to be a bit more complex, Vaughan was frequently accompanied by a friend, Doris Robinson, on her trips into New York City. Some time in the fall of 1942, Vaughan suggested that Robinson enter the Apollo Theater Amateur Night contest, Vaughan played piano accompaniment for Robinson, who won second prize. Vaughan later decided to go back and compete herself as a singer, Vaughan sang Body and Soul and won, although the exact date of her victorious Apollo performance is uncertain. The prize, as Vaughan recalled later to Marian McPartland, was $10, after a considerable delay, Vaughan was contacted by the Apollo in the spring of 1943 to open for Ella Fitzgerald. Some time during her week of performances at the Apollo, Vaughan was introduced to bandleader and pianist Earl Fatha Hines, Billy Eckstine, Hines singer at the time, has been credited by Vaughan and others with hearing her at the Apollo and recommending her to Hines. Hines claimed later to have discovered her himself and offered her a job on the spot, regardless, after a brief tryout at the Apollo, Hines officially replaced his current male singer with Vaughan on April 4,1943. Vaughan spent the remainder of 1943 and part of 1944 touring the country with the Earl Hines big band that featured baritone Billy Eckstine. The Earl Hines band in this period is remembered as an incubator of bebop, as it included trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, saxophonist Charlie Parker and trombonist Bennie Green
14.
Big band
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A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s. Big Bands evolved with the times and continue to this day, a big band typically consists of approximately 12 to 25 musicians and contains saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. The terms jazz band, jazz ensemble, stage band, jazz orchestra and this does not, however, mean that each one of these names is technically correct for naming a big band specifically. The music is traditionally called charts, improvised solos may be played only when called for by the arranger. There are two periods in the history of popular bands. Beginning in the mid-1920s, big bands, then consisting of 10–25 pieces. At that time they played a form of jazz that involved very little improvisation, which included a string section with violins. A few bands also had violas and cellos, usually one or two along with them, the dance form of jazz was characterized by a sweet and romantic melody. Orchestras tended to stick to the melody as it was written and vocals would be sung, many of these artists changed styles or retired after the introduction of swing music. Although unashamedly commercial, these bands often featured front-rank jazz musicians - for example Paul Whiteman employed Bix Beiderbecke, there were also all-girl bands such as Helen Lewis and Her All-Girl Jazz Syncopators. Towards the end of the 1920s, a new form of Big Band emerged which was more authentically jazz and this form of music never gained the popularity of the sweet dance form of jazz. The few recordings made in form of jazz were labelled race records and were intended for a limited urban audience. Few white musicians were familiar with music, Johnny Mercer. The three major centres in this development were New York City, Chicago and Kansas City, some big ensembles, like the Joe King Oliver outfit played a kind of half arranged, half improvised jazz, often relying on head arrangements. Other great bands, like the one of Luis Russell became a vehicle for star instrumentalists, there the whole arrangement had to promote all the possibilities of the star, although they often contained very good musicians, like Henry Red Allen, J. C. Earl Hines became the star of Chicago with his Grand Terrace Cafe band, meanwhile, in Kansas City and across the Southwest, an earthier, bluesier style was developed by such bandleaders as Benny Moten and, later, by Jay McShann and Jesse Stone. Radio was a factor in gaining notice and fame for Benny Goodman. Soon, others challenged him, and the battles of the bands became a staple at theater performances featuring many groups on one bill
15.
Bebop
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As bebop was not intended for dancing, it enabled the musicians to play at faster tempos. Bebop musicians explored advanced harmonies, complex syncopation, altered chords, extended chords, chord substitutions, asymmetrical phrasing, Bebop groups used rhythm sections in a way that expanded their role. The term bebop is derived from nonsense syllables used in scat singing and it appears again in a 1936 recording of Ise a Muggin by Jack Teagarden. A variation, rebop, appears in several 1939 recordings, the first, known print appearance also occurred in 1939, but the term was little-used subsequently until applied to the music now associated with it in the mid-1940s. Some researchers speculate that it was a used by Charlie Christian because it sounded like something he hummed along with his playing. Another theory is that it derives from the cry of Arriba, used by Latin American bandleaders of the period to encourage their bands. At times, the bebop and rebop were used interchangeably. By 1945, the use of bebop/rebop as nonsense syllables was widespread in R&B music, ability to play sustained, high energy, and creative solos was highly valued for this newer style and the basis of intense competition. Swing-era jam sessions and cutting contests in Kansas City became legendary, the Kansas City approach to swing was epitomized by the Count Basie Orchestra, which came to national prominence in 1937. One young admirer of the Basie orchestra in Kansas City was an alto saxophone player named Charlie Parker. Young was equally daring with his rhythm and phrasing as with his approach to harmonic structures in his solos and he would frequently repeat simple two or three note figures, with shifting rhythmic accents expressed by volume, articulation, or tone. His phrasing was far removed from the two or four bar phrases that players had used until then. They would often be extended to an odd number of measures and he would take a breath in the middle of a phrase, using the pause, or free space, as a creative device. The overall effect was that his solos were something floating above the rest of the music, Parker played along with the new Basie recordings on a Victrola until he could play Youngs solos note for note. That understatement of harmonically sophisticated chords would soon be used by young musicians exploring the new language of bebop. That solo showed a sophisticated harmonic exploration of the tune, with implied passing chords, Hawkins would eventually go on to lead the first formal recording of the bebop style in early 1944. As the 1930s turned to the 1940s, Parker went to New York as a player in the Jay McShann Orchestra. Guitarist Charlie Christian, who had arrived in New York with the Benny Goodman Orchestra in 1939 was, like Parker, christians major influence was in the realm of rhythmic phrasing
16.
Cab Calloway
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Cabell Cab Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City, Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the United States most popular big bands from the start of the 1930s to the late 1940s. Calloway continued to perform until his death in 1994 at the age of 86, Calloway was born in Rochester, New York, on Christmas Day in 1907 to an upper-middle-class family. His mother, Martha Eulalia Reed, was a Morgan State College graduate, teacher and his father, Cabell Calloway, Jr. graduated from Lincoln University of Pennsylvania in 1898, and worked as a lawyer and in real estate. Cab Calloway grew up as an adolescent in a household in West Baltimores Sugar Hill, considered the political, cultural. Early on, his parents recognized their sons talent. He continued to study music and voice throughout his formal schooling, despite his parents and teachers disapproval of jazz, Calloway began frequenting and performing in many of Baltimores nightclubs. As a result, he came into contact with many of the local jazz luminaries of the time and he counted among his early mentors drummer Chick Webb and pianist Johnny Jones. After his graduation from Frederick Douglass High School, Calloway joined his sister, Blanche, in a touring production of the popular Black musical revue. His parents had hopes of their son becoming an attorney following after his father, at the Sunset Café, Cab cut his teeth as an understudy for singer Adelaide Hall. Here he met and performed with Louis Armstrong, who taught him to sing in the scat style and he eventually left school to sing with a band called the Alabamians. In 1930 Calloway took over a brilliant, but failing band called The Missourians, later on, they renamed it Cab Calloway, the Cotton Club in New Yorks Harlem was the premier jazz venue in the country. In 1931 Calloway and his orchestra were hired as a replacement for the Duke Ellington Orchestra while it was touring, Calloway quickly proved so popular that his band became the co-house band with Ellingtons, and his group began touring nationwide when not playing the Cotton Club. Their popularity was enhanced by the twice-weekly live national radio broadcasts on NBC from the Cotton Club. Calloway also appeared on Walter Winchells radio program and with Bing Crosby in his show at New Yorks Paramount Theatre, as a result of these appearances, Calloway, together with Ellington, broke the major broadcast network color barrier. Many of his records were vocal specialties with Calloways vocal taking up the majority of the record, in 1931 Calloway recorded his most famous song, Minnie the Moocher. Through rotoscoping, Calloway performed voiceover for these cartoons, but his dance steps were the basis of the characters movements and he took advantage of this, timing concerts in some communities to coincide with the release of the films in order to make the most of the publicity. As a result of the success of Minnie the Moocher, Calloway became identified with its chorus and he also performed in the 1930s in a series of short films for Paramount
17.
Slim Gaillard
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Bulee Slim Gaillard, also known as McVouty, was an American jazz singer and songwriter who played piano, guitar, vibraphone and tenor saxophone. Gaillard was noted for his comedic vocalese singing and word play in his own constructed language called Vout-O-Reenee and he also spoke at least six other languages with varying degrees of fluency. He rose to prominence in the late 1930s with hits such as Flat Foot Floogie and Cement Mixer, after forming Slim, during World War II, Gaillard served as a bomber pilot in the Pacific. In 1944, he resumed his career and performed with notable jazz musicians such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie. In the 1960s and 1970s, he acted in films—sometimes as himself—and also appeared in bit parts in series such as Roots. In the 1980s, Gaillard resumed touring the circuit of European jazz festivals, along with Gaillards date of birth, his family lineage and place of birth are disputed. During an interview in 1989, Gaillard added, They all think I was born in Detroit because that was the first place I got into when I got to America. However, the 1920 census lists one Beuler Gillard as living in Pensacola, Florida, according to the obituaries in leading newspapers, Gaillards putative childhood in Cuba was spent cutting sugar-cane and picking bananas, as well as occasionally going to sea with his father. At the age of twelve, he accompanied his father on a voyage and was accidentally left behind on the island of Crete. After acquiring a few words of Greek, he worked on the island for a while, making shoes and he then joined a ship working the eastern Mediterranean ports, mainly Beirut, where he picked up some knowledge of Arabic. When he was about 15, he re-crossed the Atlantic, hoping the ship would take him home to Cuba and he never saw either of his parents again. In Detroit, Gaillard first worked doing odd jobs in a store owned by an Armenian family, with whom he lived for some time. During 1931 or 1932, when Prohibition was still in force, some sources state that he apparently also worked in an abattoir and trained as a mortician. While working for the Purple Gang, he attended evening classes in music and taught himself to play guitar, piano, when Duke Ellington came to Detroit, Gaillard managed to go backstage and meet his hero. I like you, said Duke, because youre studying music properly, determined to become a musical entertainer, Gaillard moved to New York City and entered the world of show business as a professional amateur. The duo performs in the 1941 movie Hellzapoppin, Gaillards appeal was similar to Cab Calloway and Louis Jordan in that he presented a hip style with broad appeal. One such performance is celebrated in the 1957 novel On the Road by Jack Kerouac. In 1943, Gaillard was drafted in the United States Army Air Forces and qualified as a pilot flying B-26 bombers in the Pacific, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Gaillard frequently opened at Birdland for such greats as Charlie Parker, Flip Phillips, and Coleman Hawkins
18.
Witch Doctor (song)
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Witch Doctor is a song performed by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. and released in 1958 by Liberty Records under the stage name David Seville. The song tells the story of a man in love with a woman who initially does not return his affections, longing for her companionship, the man goes to see a witch doctor for advice. The wise witch doctor replies, Oo ee oo ah ah ting tang walla walla bing bang, at the middle of the song, the man tells the woman he loves about his asking the witch doctor for advice. The voice of the doctor was in fact Bagdasarians own voice sped up to double speed, a technique later exploited by Bagdasarian to create Alvin. Because of this, it is referred to as the first song by the Chipmunks. For one, only one sped-up chipmunk-style voice is featured rather than three such voices singing in harmony, furthermore, Bagdasarian insisted that it was not technically a Chipmunks song in an episode of The Alvin Show when he exclaims I made that record once. And Alvin responds But not with us, the first true song by the group was The Chipmunk Song. The song peaked at one on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was considered a surprise hit on the chart. The single peaked at one on the Billboard R&B chart. The single sold one million copies in the United States. Billboard ranked it as the No.4 song for 1958, the song had gained further popularity due to multiple covers performed by Alvin and the Chipmunks. The first was for their 1960 album Sing Again with The Chipmunks, in 1983, they would perform this song on the Alvin and the Chipmunks episode The Chipmunks Story and the soundtrack Songs from Our TV Shows. The song was used for the opening of the 1990 TV special Rockin Through the Decades in the style of various artists, in 1996, a dance cover was recorded for the album Club Chipmunk, The Dance Mixes. In 2007, a DeeTown cover was recorded for the live-action/CGI Alvin, in 2012, they released a duet cover with The Chipettes entitled Witch Doctor 2.0 available for digital download on the iTunes Store. The first cover version was recorded in 1958 by the British musician Don Lang, in 1958 it was covered by the Italian musician Fred Buscaglione. The song has been covered by Sha Na Na and in Spanish by Manuel El Loco Valdés, a French-language version, Docteur Miracle was recorded by Danyel Gérard, by Annie Cordy, and also by Claude Piron. A modified version was used in a commercial for Tab soda, mickey Katz recorded a parody called Knish Doctor in which the doctor uses quasi-Yiddish utterances
19.
Ross Bagdasarian Sr.
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Rostom Sipan Ross Bagdasarian, otherwise known by his stage name David Seville, was an American pianist, musician, actor, voice actor, and record producer of Armenian descent. Bagdasarian was the creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks and the founder of Bagdasarian Productions, Bagdasarian was born in Fresno, California, the youngest child of Dick and Virginia Bagdasarian, Armenian immigrants from the Ottoman Empire. He enlisted in the United States Army one month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Bagdasarian performed in the Broadway cast of The Time of Your Life, written by his famous cousin William Saroyan. Bagdasarians first musical success was the song that he wrote with Saroyan Come on-a My House, the lyrics are based on dialogue from Saroyans novel The Human Comedy. Bagdasarian played minor roles in films, the best known of which is his appearance in Alfred Hitchcocks 1954 murder mystery Rear Window, Bagdasarian portrays a piano-playing songwriter who composes, plays, and sings the song Lisa. His character lives in an apartment opposite the protagonists, in keeping with the screenplays theme of social voyeurism, his dialogue is never clearly heard and he appears only in long shots, sometimes seen through a window. He stands next to Hitchcock in his cameo appearance. Bagdasarian had small parts in The Greatest Show on Earth, Viva Zapata, destination Gobi, Stalag 17, Alaska Seas, The Proud and Profane, Three Violent People, Hot Blood, The Deep Six, and The Devils Hairpin. In 1956, Bagdasarian had a hit as Alfi and Harry with a novelty record The Trouble with Harry. He wrote The Ballad of Colin Black, a song to The Proud. According to Ross Bagdasarian Jr. his father was down to his last $200 when he spent $190 on a V-M tape recorder that would let him vary the tape speed and he followed this with The Bird on My Head, which barely made the Top 40. Then for the 1958 Christmas season came The Chipmunk Song with the Chipmunks, Bagdasarian named the three Chipmunk characters after record executives, Simon Waronker, Ted Keep, and Alvin Bennett. Most consumer tape recorders of the day had changeable speeds, but usually only in simple binary multiples, doubling or halving the speed, changing speeds of voices in these limited multiples creates extremely high or low pitches that sound too extreme for most purposes. The first Chipmunk record, The Chipmunk Song, had Bagdasarian doing all the voices, after the success of The Chipmunk Song, a series of follow-up hit singles were quickly released, also on Liberty Records. Alvins Harmonica was the second, Ragtime Cowboy Joe the third, albums continued this trend, the first album being released on red vinyl, successfully continuing well into the 60s with an album of the Chipmunks singing various early hits of the Beatles in 1964. Other trick-recording producers tried to imitate Sevilles Chipmunks, with embarrassing results. A failed novelty single by Shirley and Squirrelly is a good example, following his hit records, Bagdasarian provided the voice for David Seville and Alvin in the Chipmunks short-lived 1961–62 animated television series The Alvin Show. The Chipmunks recordings had the performers often labeled as David Seville and the Chipmunks, bagdasarians last album was The Chipmunks Go to the Movies, released in 1969, almost three years before his death
20.
Alvin and the Chipmunks
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Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. for a novelty record in 1958. The trio is managed by their adoptive father, David Seville. In reality, David Seville was Bagdasarians stage name, and the Chipmunks themselves are named after the executives of their record label. The characters became a success, and the singing Chipmunks and their manager were given life in animated cartoon productions, using redrawn, anthropomorphic chipmunks. The voices of the group were all performed by Bagdasarian, who sped up the playback to create high-pitched voices, Bagdasarian, performing as the Chipmunks, released a long line of albums and singles, with The Chipmunk Song becoming a number-one single in the United States. After the death of Bagdasarian in 1972, the voices were performed by his son Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. In the 2007 CGI/live-action film adaptation and its 2009 sequel, they were voiced in dialogue by Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Bagdasarian, Jr. and Karman continue to perform the singing voices for Alvin, Theodore and the Chipettes, but Steve Vining does Simons singing voice. The project has earned five Grammy awards, an American Music Award, a Golden Reel Award, a third film installment, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Chipwrecked, was released in theaters on December 16,2011. Fox 2000 Pictures and Regency Enterprises announced a fourth installment, titled Alvin, a CGI-animated TV series revival, titled ALVINNN. and the Chipmunks, premiered on Nickelodeon on August 3,2015. In 1958, Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. released a novelty song about being unsuccessful at love until he found a doctor who told him how to woo his woman. The words themselves are nonsense, Oo-ee, oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla, the song was a hit, holding number one for three weeks in the Billboard Top 100 chart. Nothing makes any reference to chipmunks, but the song is included on Chipmunk compilations. Bagdasarian did record a Chipmunks version of Witch Doctor, which appeared on the second Chipmunks album, Sing Again with the Chipmunks, Bagdasarian performed the song live on The Ed Sullivan Show. Bagdasarian recorded a song, The Bird on My Head. It also reached the Top 40, peaking at No.34, the technique was imitated by Sheb Wooleys Purple People Eater and The Big Boppers The Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor. The Chipmunks first officially appeared on the scene in a novelty record released in late fall 1958 by Bagdasarian, the song, originally listed on the record label as The Chipmunk Song, featured the singing skills of the chipmunk trio. One phrase in the chorus has Alvin wishing for a hula hoop, the novelty record was highly successful, selling more than 4 million copies in seven weeks, and it launched the careers of its chipmunk stars. It spent four weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from December 22,1958 to January 12,1959 and it also earned three Grammy Awards and a nomination for Record of the Year
21.
The Peanut Vendor
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El manisero, known in English as The Peanut Vendor, is a Cuban son-pregón composed by Moisés Simons. Together with Guantanamera, it is arguably the most famous piece of music created by a Cuban musician, the Peanut Vendor has been recorded more than 160 times, sold over a million copies of the sheet music, and was the first million-selling 78 rpm single of Cuban music. The score and lyrics of El manisero were by Moises Simons and it sold over a million copies of sheet music for E. B. Marks Inc. and this netted $100,000 in royalties for Simons by 1943 and its success led to a rumba craze in the US and Europe which lasted through the 1940s. The consequences of the Peanut Vendors success were quite far-reaching, the number was first sung and recorded by the vedette Rita Montaner in 1927 or 1928 for Columbia Records. The biggest record sales for El manisero came from the recording made by Don Azpiazú, the band included a number of star musicians such as Julio Cueva and Mario Bauza, Antonio Machín was the singer. The lyrics were in a style based on street vendors cries, a pregón, on the record label, however, it was called a rhumba-fox trot, not only the wrong genre, but misspelled as well. After this, the term rhumba was used as a label for Cuban music, as salsa is today. Rhumba was easy to say and remember, cristóbal Díaz says For various reasons, we have doubts about this version. El manisero was one of rare cases in popular music where an author got immediate. Logically Mello would have tried to reclaim his authorship of the lyrics, the second attack on the authorship of the lyrics came from none other than the great Fernando Ortíz. For Ortíz, the author was an unknown Havana peanut seller, of the second half of the 19th century. Of course, it may well be that elements of the song were to be found in real life. The English lyrics are by L. Wolfe Gilbert and Marion Sunshine, the latter was Azpiazús sister-in-law, the English lyrics are, in the opinion of Sublette, of almost unsurpassed banality. The Peanut Vendor had a life as a hit number when Stan Kenton recorded it with his big band for Capitol Records. This was also a great and long-lasting hit, re-recorded by Kenton twice with the band, the Kenton version was entirely instrumental, with the rhythmic pattern emphasised by trombones. The Peanut Vendor has been recorded more than 160 times and this recording launched a decade of rumbamania, introducing U. S. listeners to Cuban percussion instruments and Cuban rhythms. The song was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001, several films included versions of El Manisero
22.
A-Tisket, A-Tasket
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A Tisket A Tasket is a nursery rhyme first recorded in America in the late nineteenth century. It was used as the basis for a successful and highly regarded 1938 recording by Ella Fitzgerald. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13188, the rhyme was first noted in the United States in 1879 as a childrens rhyming game. It was sung while children danced in a circle, one of the number ran on the outside of the circle and dropped a handkerchief. The nearest child would then pick it up and chase the dropper, if caught the dropper either was kissed, joined the circle, or had to tell the name of their sweetheart. An early noted version had the lyrics, A-tisket a-tasket A green and yellow basket I wrote a letter to my love And on the way I dropped it, I dropped it, I dropped it, a little boy he picked it up And put it in his pocket. In some variants, the line is I lost my yellow basket. In other variants, the last line is A little girl picked it up and put it in her pocket. I sent a letter to my love, I carried water in my glove, And by the way I dropped it, I did so, I did so, I had a little cat that said meow-meow. Shant bite you, shant bite you, Shall bite you, I dropt it, I dropt it, And by the way I lost it. Ella Fitzgerald, in conjunction with Al Feldman, extended and embellished the rhyme into a piece that was her breakthrough hit with the Chick Webb Orchestra in 1938. It has since become a jazz standard, a follow-up song written by Fitzgerald and Webb entitled I Found My Yellow Basket was less successful. The song was a hit of the pre-chart era, reaching number one in Billboards sheet music and Record Buying Guide charts. Stevie Ray Vaughan referenced the rhyme in his rendition of Mary Had a Little Lamb, tommy Walshs Eco House by the band Half Man Half Biscuit on their 2011 album 90 Bisodol quotes the song. In Ganksta N-I-Ps Horror Movie Rap, from his 1992 debut album The South Park Psycho, the Shangri-Las sing about a tisket a tasket a green and yellow basket in their 1966 song Past, Present and Future. The phrase A-tisket a-tasket is used in Scarfaces song, Jesse James, the phrase A-tisket a-tasket is used in Eminems song Without Me. Curly Howard recites a paraphrase of the rhyme in The Three Stooges short We Want Our Mummy, the music for the song was used in the opening scene of John Fords 1940 film The Grapes of Wrath to help establish the contemporary time frame of the events of the film. Ella Fitzgerald performed the song in the Abbott and Costello film, a rendition of the song was also performed in the Paul Thomas Anderson movie The Master
23.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
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Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for their 1933 musical Roberta. The song was sung in the original Broadway show by Tamara Drasin and its first recorded performance was by Gertrude Niesen, who recorded the song with orchestral direction from Ray Sinatra, Frank Sinatras second cousin, on October 13,1933. Niesens recording of the song was released by Victor, catalog# VE B24454, with the B-side, Jealousy, featuring Isham Jones, Paul Whiteman had the first hit recording of the song on the record charts in 1934. The song was reprised by Irene Dunne, who performed it in the original 1935 film adaptation of the musical, co-starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. The song was included in the 1952 remake of Roberta, Lovely to Look At, in which it was performed by Kathryn Grayson. The song has been covered by artists, the first being Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra. This version of the song topped charts in 1934. Other early covers of the song include that of the Tommy Dorsey orchestra, the b-side to Dorseys single was Night And Day. Henry Halls version was released as a 10 single. Art Tatum said in an introduction to a 1955 performance of the song that he performed Smoke Gets in Your Eyes in the 1930s, contributing to the songs popularity. However, it is unclear whether Tatum recorded the song during that decade, if a recording was made at that time, in 1941 the Benny Goodman Orchestra first performed the song during recorded radio performances with Helen Forrest. Glenn Miller conducted his rendition of the song at Abbey Road Studios in 1944, owing to his sudden death later that year, his orchestral version of the song was not released until 1995. On October 30,1946 Nat King Cole recorded the song, with Oscar Moore playing guitar, coles recording was made during a live WMCA radio broadcast from New York. Later, in 1957, Cole performed the live on his television variety show The Nat King Cole Show. Though it was not released until years later, Harry Belafonte made a recording of the song in 1949 with jazz saxophonist Zoot Sims. This was one of Belafontes first recordings, Sims performance on the track would later be parodied by the character inspired by him, in episode 2.02 of The Muppet Show, which aired on December 10,1977. In 1950 Charlie Parker and Jo Stafford each released versions of the song on their albums, Bird at St. Nicks. Thelonious Monk released the song in 1954 on his album Monk, on his 1955 album Clifford Brown with Strings, Clifford Brown released a cover of the song
24.
Explosion
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An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known as detonations and travel via supersonic shock waves, subsonic explosions are created by low explosives through a slower burning process known as deflagration. When caused by a device such as an exploding rocket or firework. Most natural explosions arise from volcanic processes of various sorts, explosions also occur as a result of impact events and in phenomena such as hydrothermal explosions. Explosions can also occur outside of Earth in the universe in events such as supernova, explosions frequently occur during bushfires in eucalyptus forests where the volatile oils in the tree tops suddenly combust. Solar flares are an example of common explosion on the Sun, the energy source for solar flare activity comes from the tangling of magnetic field lines resulting from the rotation of the Suns conductive plasma. Another type of large astronomical explosion occurs when a large meteoroid or an asteroid impacts the surface of another object. The most common artificial explosives are chemical explosives, usually involving a rapid, gunpowder was the first explosive to be discovered and put to use. Other notable early developments in chemical explosive technology were Frederick Augustus Abels development of nitrocellulose in 1865, chemical explosions are often initiated by an electric spark or flame. Accidental explosions may occur in fuel tanks, rocket engines, etc, a high current electrical fault can create an electrical explosion by forming a high energy electrical arc which rapidly vaporizes metal and insulation material. This arc flash hazard is a danger to persons working on energized switchgear, also, excessive magnetic pressure within an ultra-strong electromagnet can cause a magnetic explosion. Strictly a physical process, as opposed to chemical or nuclear, examples include an overheated boiler or a simple tin can of beans tossed into a fire. Note that the contents of the container may cause a subsequent chemical explosion, in such a case, to the effects of the mechanical explosion when the tank fails are added the effects from the explosion resulting from the released propane in the presence of an ignition source. For this reason, emergency workers often differentiate between the two events, in addition to stellar nuclear explosions, a man-made nuclear weapon is a type of explosive weapon that derives its destructive force from nuclear fission or from a combination of fission and fusion. Explosive force is released in a perpendicular to the surface of the explosive. If a grenade is in mid air during the explosion, the direction of the blast will be 360°, if the surface is cut or shaped, the explosive forces can be focused to produce a greater local effect, this is known as a shaped charge. The speed of the reaction is what distinguishes an explosive reaction from a combustion reaction. Unless the reaction occurs rapidly, the thermally expanding gases will be moderately dissipated in the medium
25.
Al Jolson
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Al Jolson was an American singer, film actor, and comedian. At the peak of his career, he was dubbed The Worlds Greatest Entertainer and his performing style was brash and extroverted, and he popularized a large number of songs that benefited from his shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach. Numerous well-known singers were influenced by his music, including Bing Crosby, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Dylan once referred to him as somebody whose life I can feel. Broadway critic Gilbert Seldes compared him to the Greek god Pan, claiming that Jolson represented the concentration of our national health, in the 1930s, Jolson was Americas most famous and highest-paid entertainer. Between 1911 and 1928, Jolson had nine sell-out Winter Garden shows in a row, more than 80 hit records, and 16 national and international tours. Although he is best remembered today as the star of the first talking picture, The Jazz Singer, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was the first star to entertain troops overseas during World War II. After a period of inactivity, his stardom returned with The Jolson Story, for which Larry Parks played Jolson, the formula was repeated in a sequel, Jolson Sings Again. In 1950, he became the first star to entertain GIs on active service in the Korean War. He died just weeks after returning to the U. S. partly owing to the exertion of performing. Defense Secretary George Marshall posthumously awarded him the Medal of Merit, According to the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Jolson was to jazz, blues, and ragtime what Elvis Presley was to rock n roll. Being the first popular singer to make a spectacular event out of singing a song and his specialty was performing on stage runways extending out into the audience. According to music historian Larry Stempel, No one had heard anything quite like it before on Broadway, author Stephen Banfield agreed, writing that Jolsons style was arguably the single most important factor in defining the modern musical. Jolson also enjoyed performing in blackface makeup, a convention since the mid-19th century. With his unique and dynamic style of singing black music, such as jazz and blues, as early as 1911, he became known for fighting against black discrimination on Broadway. Al Jolson was born as Asa Yoelson in the Jewish village of Srednik now known as Seredžius, near Kaunas in Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire. He was the fifth and youngest child of Moses Rubin Yoelson and Nechama Naomi Cantor, his four siblings were Rose, Etta, another sister who died in infancy, and Hirsch. Jolson claimed not to know when he was born, and later chose to claim he was born on May 26,1886. His one-time sister-in-law, Margaret Weatherwax, claimed Jolson was the age as their father, Ralph
26.
Louis Armstrong
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Louis Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo or Satch, was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s and he was also skilled at scat singing. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to cross over and he rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation in the Little Rock crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society which were restricted for black men of his era. Armstrong often stated that he was born on July 4,1900, although he died in 1971, it was not until the mid-1980s that his true birth date, August 4,1901, was discovered by the researcher Tad Jones through the examination of baptismal records. Armstrong was born into a family in New Orleans, Louisiana. He spent his youth in poverty, in a neighborhood known as the Battlefield. His father, William Armstrong, abandoned the family when Louis was an infant and his mother, Mary Mayann Albert, then left Louis and his younger sister, Beatrice Armstrong Collins, in the care of his grandmother, Josephine Armstrong, and at times his uncle Isaac. At five, he moved back to live with his mother, her relatives and he attended the Fisk School for Boys, where he most likely had early exposure to music. He hung out in dance halls close to home, where he observed everything from licentious dancing to the quadrille, after dropping out of the Fisk School at age eleven, Armstrong joined a quartet of boys who sang in the streets for money. He also started to get into trouble, Cornet player Bunk Johnson said he taught Armstrong to play by ear at Dago Tonys Tonk in New Orleans, although in his later years Armstrong gave the credit to Oliver. It has given me something to live for and he also worked for a Lithuanian-Jewish immigrant family, the Karnofskys, who had a junk-hauling business and gave him odd jobs. They took him in and treated him like family, knowing he lived without a father and he later wrote a memoir of his relationship with the Karnofskys, Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, La. the Year of 1907. Armstrong wore a Star of David pendant for the rest of his life and wrote about what he learned from them, how to live—real life, professor Peter Davis instilled discipline in and provided musical training to the otherwise self-taught Armstrong. Eventually, Davis made Armstrong the band leader, the home band played around New Orleans and the thirteen-year-old Louis began to draw attention by his cornet playing, starting him on a musical career. At fourteen he was released from the home, living again with his father and new stepmother, Gertrude, Armstrong got his first dance hall job at Henry Ponces, where Black Benny became his protector and guide. He hauled coal by day and played his cornet at night, later, he played in brass bands and riverboats of New Orleans, and began traveling with the well-regarded band of Fate Marable, which toured on a steamboat up and down the Mississippi River. He described his time with Marable as going to the University, in 1919, Joe Oliver decided to go north and resigned his position in Kid Orys band, Armstrong replaced him
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The Rhythm Boys
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The Rhythm Boys were a male singing trio consisting of Bing Crosby, Harry Barris and Al Rinker. Crosby and Rinker began performing together in 1925 and were recruited by Paul Whiteman in late 1926, pianist/singer/songwriter Barris joined the team in 1927. They made a number of recordings with the Whiteman Orchestra and released singles in their own right with Barris on piano. They appeared with the Whiteman orchestra in the film King of Jazz, in which they sang Mississippi Mud, So the Bluebirds and the Blackbirds Got Together, A Bench in the Park, and Happy Feet. They are best remembered for launching Crosbys solo career, one that would make him the greatest song charting act in history, Bing Crosby, making probably his greatest purchase, bought a pair of drums. Al Rinkers high school called the Musicaladers had to let go of their drummer. Somebody told them Bing had a pair of drums and he was pretty good and they had mixed success and Bing was slowly finding less interest in becoming a lawyer, his original career path. They drove Rinkers Model T to Los Angeles where Rinkers sister, Mildred Bailey, shortly after their arrival, they landed a gig on the vaudeville circuit, as a vocal act. Bing and Al Rinker began as a part of The Syncopation Idea, a short revue put out by the Fanchon and Marco agency. They had a lively and individual style and they were popular with college students. After The Syncopation Idea closed, Bing and Al obtained work in the Will Morrissey Music Hall Revue which must have been fascinating if insecure. However, their skills were honed during their time with Morrissey. Some members of Paul Whitemans Orchestra caught their act and recommended them to him, Whiteman hired them in October 1926. While waiting to join Whitemans Orchestra they made their first record Ive Got the Girl with Don Clarks Orchestra at The Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, Bing and Al then joined the Whiteman Orchestra in Chicago, where they made their first records with Whiteman. At that time, it was felt that Whiteman needed something different and entertaining to break up the musical selections he was presenting and Crosby, after less than a year in full-time show business, they had become part of one of the biggest names in the entertainment world. Initial successes with Whiteman were followed by disaster when they reached New York as they could not be heard in the large Paramount Theater, for a while Whiteman must have thought of letting them go. Possibly Bing might have retained as Whiteman was already using him as a solo performer on record. However, the addition of Harry Barris made all the difference to the act, the additional voice meant that the boys could be heard more easily in the large New York theaters and they quickly became a real success
28.
Cymbal
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A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys, the majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a definite note. Cymbals are used in ensembles ranging from the orchestra, percussion ensembles, jazz bands, heavy metal bands. Drum kits usually incorporate at least a crash, ride or crash/ride, a player of cymbals is known as a cymbalist. The word cymbal is derived from the Latin cymbalum, which is the latinisation of the Greek word κύμβαλον kymbalon, cymbal, which in turn derives from κύμβη kymbē, cup, bowl. In orchestral scores, cymbals may be indicated by the French cymbales, German Becken, Schellbecken, Tellern, or Tschinellen, Italian piatti or cinelli, many of these derive from the word for plates. Cymbals have existed since ancient times, representations of cymbals may be found in reliefs and paintings from Hittite Anatolia, Larsa, Babylon, Assyria, ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and ancient Rome. References to cymbals also appear throughout the Bible, through many Psalms, cymbals may have been introduced to China from Central Asia in the 3rd or 4th century AD. Cymbals were employed by Turkish janissaries in the 14th century or earlier, by the 17th century, such cymbals were used in European music, and more commonly played in military bands and orchestras by the mid 18th century. Since the 19th century, some composers have called for larger roles for cymbals in musical works, and a variety of shapes, techniques. The anatomy of the plays a large part in the sound it creates. A hole is drilled in the center of the cymbal, which is used to mount the cymbal on a stand or for tying straps through. The bell, dome, or cup is the section immediately surrounding the hole. The bell produces a higher pinging pitch than the rest of the cymbal, the bow is the rest of the surface surrounding the bell. The bow is sometimes described in two areas, the ride and crash area, the ride area is the thicker section closer to the bell while the crash area is the thinner tapering section near the edge. The edge or rim is the circumference of the cymbal. Cymbals are measured by their diameter either in inches or centimeters, the size of the cymbal affects its sound, larger cymbals usually being louder and having longer sustain. The weight describes how thick the cymbal is, Cymbal weights are important to the sound they produce and how they play
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Heebie Jeebies (composition)
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Heebie Jeebies is a composition written by Boyd Atkins which achieved fame when it was recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1926. The recording on Okeh Records by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five includes an example of scat singing by Armstrong. This story, though popular, may be apocryphal, another notable feature of the record is the hokum coda, in which a line is delivered too early, leaving the break over which it should have been spoken completely empty. Various other recordings of the tune followed in the 1920s and 1930s, the Boswell Sisters performed the tune on radio, record, and in the film The Big Broadcast. Chick Webb made a recording with an arrangement by Benny Carter. Dick Jacobs & Harriet Jacobs, published by Writers Digest Books,1993
30.
Gene Greene
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Eugene Delbert Greene, better known as Gene Greene was an American entertainer, singer and composer, nicknamed The Ragtime King. He was a star and made some of the earliest sound recordings of scat singing in 1911 for Columbia Records. Greene was born in Aurora, Illinois and moved to Chicago as a young child and he began his professional career in the late 1890s with his future wife Blanche Werner. They performed in vaudeville first as Manjonita and Eugene and then as Greene & Werner, Greene began performing as a solo act around 1909. He toured England in 1912 and 1913 and Australia in 1913 and 1914 and his pianist was on these tours was Charley Straight. Greene was closely associated with the song I Didnt Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier by Alfred Bryan and this song was one of the extremely few anti-war music-hall songs during the First World War, most music-hall songs being fiercely pro-war. This reflected the views of Chicagos large German population at the time, but the song was also well-known, recordings of Greene are scarce in the compact disc era. One track, King of the Bungaloos recorded on February 17,1911, can be found on Pop Music The Early Years 1890-1950, another recording, Frankie and Johnny by the Leighton Brothers, is discussed and played by Peter C. Muir in a video to accompany his book Long Lost Blues, Greene and Straight recorded the song for Pathé Records in London during their 1912–1913 tour of England
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Gene Rodemich
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Eugene Frederick Rodemich was a pianist and orchestra leader, who composed the music for Frank Buck’s first movie, Bring Em Back Alive. Rodemich was born in St. Louis, son of a dentist, Dr. Henry Rodemich, gene Rodemich began his musical career in and near his home town as a pianist, later becoming conductor of a dance orchestra. He was accompanist for Elsie Janis on several tours, including one in Europe, before starting in radio in New York,1929, he had for three years been director and master of ceremonies at the Metropolitan Theatre, Boston. Rodemich was musical director of Van Beuren Studios, writing music for animated cartoons and he composed for many of the studio’s other shorts and for Frank Buck’s first feature-length film, Bring Em Back Alive. He also conducted during numerous NBC programs and recorded for Brunswick Records, singles Rodemich became ill while making a recording with his orchestra, which had been accompanying a National Broadcasting Company program on Sunday nights. He insisted on continuing the recording although he had been stricken with a severe chill and he was taken to the Medical Arts Sanitarium,57 West Fifty-Seventh Street, and died three days later of lobar pneumonia. He is buried in Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York, a widow, a son, and a daughter survived him
32.
Paul Whiteman
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Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director and violinist. He also co-wrote the 1925 jazz classic Flamin Mamie and his popularity faded in the swing music era of the middle 1930s, and by the 1940s Whiteman was semi-retired from music. But he experienced a revival and had a comeback in the 1950s with his own television series on ABC, Paul Whitemans Goodyear Revue. He also hosted the 1954 ABC talent contest show On the Boardwalk with Paul Whiteman, Whitemans place in the history of early jazz is somewhat controversial. Detractors suggest that Whitemans ornately-orchestrated music was jazz in name only, in his autobiography, Duke Ellington declared, Paul Whiteman was known as the King of Jazz, and no one as yet has come near carrying that title with more certainty and dignity. Whitemans crowning of the term King of Jazz was likely not meant to take anything away from the performers of the more pure jazz style, Whiteman was born in Denver, Colorado. His father insisted that he learn an instrument, preferably the violin, but young Paul preferred the viola, and that was what he learned to play. His skill at playing the viola led him to an opportunity to perform in the Denver Symphony Orchestra, he was a member from 1907, from 1917 to 1918, Whiteman conducted a 40-piece U. S. Navy band. After the war, he formed the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, moreover, with his classical violinist and violist start, he led a jazz-influenced dance band, which became popular locally in San Francisco, California in 1918. In 1920 he moved with his band to New York City where they started recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company which made the Paul Whiteman Orchestra famous nationally, Whiteman became the most popular band director of that decade. In a time when most dance bands consisted of six to ten men, Whiteman directed a much larger, by 1922, Whiteman already controlled some 28 ensembles on the East Coast and was earning over a $1,000,000 a year. Whiteman recorded Hoagy Carmichael singing and playing Washboard Blues to the accompaniment of his orchestra in 1927, in May 1928 Whiteman signed with Columbia Records, and recorded for the label until September 1931, when he returned to RCA Victor. He would remain with Victor until March 1937, in the early 1960s, he played in Las Vegas before retiring. In the 1920s the media referred to Whiteman as The King of Jazz, Whiteman emphasized the way he had approached the already well-established style of music, while also organizing its composition and style in his own fashion. There were musicians, such as Eddie Condon, who criticized Whiteman for being a bad influence on the due to his attempts to make a lady out of jazz. However, Whitemans recordings were still popular critically and successful commercially, in all, the King of Jazz wrote more than 3000 arrangements. For more than 30 years Whiteman, referred to as Pops, sought and encouraged musicians, vocalists, composers, arrangers, in 1924 Whiteman commissioned George Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue, which was premiered by Whitemans orchestra with George Gershwin at the piano. Another familiar piece in Whitemans repertoire was Grand Canyon Suite, by Ferde Grofé, however, Whiteman crossed racial lines behind-the-scenes, hiring black arrangers like Fletcher Henderson and engaging in mutually beneficial efforts with recording sessions and scheduling of tours
33.
Bing Crosby
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Harry Lillis Bing Crosby, Jr. was an American singer and actor. The first multimedia star, from 1931 to 1954 Crosby was a leader in sales, radio ratings. His early career coincided with technical recording innovations such as the microphone and this allowed him to develop a laid-back, intimate singing style that influenced many of the popular male singers who followed him, including Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, and Dean Martin. Also in 1948, the Music Digest estimated that Crosby recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music, in 1963, Crosby received the first Grammy Global Achievement Award. He is one of only 33 people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in the categories of motion pictures, radio, Crosby influenced the development of the postwar recording industry. He became the first performer to pre-record his radio shows and master his commercial recordings onto magnetic tape. In addition to his work with early tape recording, he helped to finance the development of videotape, bought television stations, bred racehorses, Crosby died at the age of 74 on October 14,1977, from a sudden heart attack in Alcobendas, Spain. Crosby was born on May 2,1903 in Tacoma, Washington, in 1906, Crosbys family moved to Spokane, and in 1913, Crosbys father built a house at 508 E. Sharp Avenue. The house now sits on the campus of Crosbys alma mater Gonzaga University and he was the fourth of seven children, brothers Larry, Everett, Ted, and Bob, and two sisters, Catherine and Mary Rose. His parents were Harry Lowe Crosby, Sr. a bookkeeper, Crosbys mother was a second generation Irish-American. In 1910, seven-year-old Harry Crosby Jr. was forever renamed, the Sunday edition of the Spokesman-Review published a feature called The Bingville Bugle. Written by humorist Newton Newkirk, The Bingville Bugle was a parody of a hillbilly newsletter filled with gossipy tidbits, minstrel quips, creative spelling, and mock ads. A neighbor, 15-year-old Valentine Hobart, shared Crosbys enthusiasm for The Bugle, and noting Crosbys laugh, took a liking to him, eventually, the last vowel was dropped and the nickname stuck. Crosby later described Jolsons delivery as electric, Crosby graduated from Gonzaga High School in 1920 and enrolled at Gonzaga University. He attended Gonzaga for three years, but did not earn a bachelors degree, as a freshman, he played on the universitys baseball team. The university granted him a doctorate in 1937. In 1923, Crosby was invited to join a new band composed of school students a few years younger than himself. Al Rinker, Miles Rinker, James Heaton, Claire Pritchard and Robert Pritchard, along with drummer Crosby, formed the Musicaladers, the group performed on Spokane radio station KHQ, but disbanded after two years
34.
Aileen Stanley
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Aileen Stanley, born Maude Elsie Aileen Muggeridge, was one of the most popular American singers of the early 1920s. Aileens sister Elsie Sherrif Muggeridge, died of typhoid in August 1892 and her widowed mother resided in Chicago along with her surviving siblings, brothers Stanley and Robert Jr. From childhood, she sang and danced in vaudeville with her older brother Stanley as Stanley and Aileen, after her brother left the act, Aileen started performing solo, forming her stage name by reversing the name of the old family billing. Stanley performed in vaudeville and cabarets, in 1920 she was a hit in New York City in the revue show Silks And Satins and made the first of her numerous recordings the same year. On some of her recordings she was accompanied by Rosario Bourdons Orchestra. Many of her records sold well at the time, between 1922 and 1924, and again in the late 20s, Victor Records produced a popular series of records pairing Stanley with singer Billy Murray. One of Stanleys 1925 Victor recordings, When My Sugar Walks Down the Street, in which she shared the vocal with newcomer Gene Austin and she recorded J. Russel Robinson and Con Conrads 1920 jazz standard Singin the Blues, released as Victor 18703. She recorded the Paul Whiteman and Fred Rose composition Flamin Mamie on October 5,1925, Stanley also recorded for Black Swan Records, a label purportedly devoted only to African-American artists, under the pseudonyms Mamie Jones and Georgia Gorham. Her handling of material was similar to that of some of the northern black vaudeville singers of the time. Her stage appearances billed her as The Phonograph Girl and The Girl With The Personality, in later life she was overheard to say that the song Ill Get By was written for her. Stanley was said to have invested heavily in the market and was one of the many who lost most of their lifes savings in the Stock Market Crash of 1929. In her later years she worked as a teacher and vocal coach
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Billy Murray (singer)
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William Thomas Billy Murray was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early decades of the 20th century. While he received star billing in Vaudeville, he was best known for his work in the recording studio. Billy Murray was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Patrick and Julia Murray, immigrants from County Kerry and his parents moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1882, where he grew up. He became fascinated with the theater and joined a vaudeville troupe in 1893. He also performed in minstrel shows early in his career, in 1897 Murray made his first recordings for Peter Bacigalupi, the owner of a phonograph company in San Francisco. As of 2010 none of Murrays Bacigalupi cylinder records are known to have survived, in 1903 he started recording regularly in the New York City and New Jersey area, when the nations major record companies as well as the Tin Pan Alley music industry were concentrated there. In 1906 he recorded the first of his duets with Ada Jones. He also performed with Aileen Stanley, the Haydn Quartet, the American Quartet, nicknamed The Denver Nightingale, Murray had a strong tenor voice with excellent enunciation and a more conversational delivery than common with bel canto singers of the era. On comic songs he often deliberately sang slightly flat, which he helped the comic effect. Although he often performed romantic numbers and ballads which sold well, his comedy, Murray was a devoted baseball fan, and he is said to have played with the New York Highlanders in exhibition games. He also supposedly sometimes called in sick to recording sessions in order to go to the ballpark, Murrays popularity faded as public taste changed and recording technology advanced, the rise of the electric microphone in the mid-1920s coincided with the era of the crooners. His hammering style, as he called it, essentially yelling the song into a recording horn, did not work in the electrical era. Though his singing style was less in demand, he continued to recording work. By the late 1920s and early 1930s, the music from his days was considered nostalgic. He did voices for animated cartoons, especially the popular follow the bouncing ball sing-along cartoons, in 1929, Murray and Walter Scanlon provided the voices for the Fleischer short animation film Finding His Voice, produced by Western Electric. Murray made his last recordings for Beacon Records on February 11,1943 with Jewish dialect comedian Monroe Silver and he retired the next year to Freeport, Long Island, New York, because of heart problems. He died at nearby Jones Beach of an attack in 1954 at the age of 77. Murray had married three times, the first two ending in divorce and he was survived by his third wife, Madeleine, and is buried in the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury, New York
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