(Piano, 1918–80) A New Orleans native, Roy Byrd brought an irresistible Caribbean feel to his piano-playing. The shaggy-haired Byrd got the nickname Professor Longhair from a club owner in 1948. Longhair first recorded his signature ‘Mardi Gras In New Orleans’ in 1949, the national R&B hit ‘Bald Head’ in 1950, and ‘Tipitina’ in 1953. Longhair endured tough times in the 1960s but enjoyed a resurgence in the 1970s. His work influenced ...
New Orleans is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of jazz, but it also produced its own indigenous brand of blues, which borrowed from Texas and Kansas City while also making use of Cajun and Afro-Caribbean rhythm patterns. A mix of croaking and yodeling, floating over the top of the music in an independent time scheme, Professor Longhair’s singular vocals added to his idiosyncratic charm. Influenced by New Orleans barrelhouse pianists Tuts ...
AUTHORITATIVE
An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
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Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.