b. 1958 English cellist Since his London debut in 1977, Isserlis has appeared throughout the world in solo and chamber music (with Thomas Adès, Joshua Bell and others) and with orchestras of both period and modern instruments (often playing on gut strings, which create a rich and mellow tone quality). He has given first performances of works by ...
Brooklyn’s Steve Stevens (b. 1959) grew up as a fan of progressive rock and honed his chops by studying guitar at Manhattan’s LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts. He worked the Long Island and Manhattan club scenes with bands and eventually was hired for session work, including tracks for ex-Kiss drummer Peter Criss. But Stevens’ star really began to shine ...
(Trumpet, composer, arranger, b. 1961) A member of several populist-experimental-fun jazz bands since the late 1980s (including Hieroglyphics Ensemble, Kamakazi Ground Crew, Lounge Lizards, Spanish Fly, Sex Mob and the Millennial Territory Orchestra), Bernstein continues to perform on slide trumpet (or soprano trombone), cornet and other standard brass instruments, and to compose and ...
(Vocals, b. 1948) The former Michael Barratt worked the clubs for many years with his superb backing band The Sunsets, delivering old-fashioned rock’n’roll based on his convincing Elvis-isms. Success came late to the Welshman when he signed to Epic and delivered a seemingly endless stream of professionally reworked 1950s classics, including the No. 1s ‘This Ole House’ and ...
1944–2013 English composer Tavener first had his music performed while studying at the Royal Academy of Music, but came to wider attention with the premiere of his dramatic cantata The Whale at the London Sinfonietta’s inaugural concert in 1968. The Beatles’ Apple label recorded both it and Tavener’s next work, the Celtic Requiem – an often unsettling blend of ...
(Loo-e’-ge Bok-ker-e’-ne) 1743–1805 Italian composer The son of a musician in Lucca, Boccherini was trained by his father and in Rome as a composer and cellist. He made his debut at the age of 13 and undertook several journeys to play in Vienna. In 1766 he went on a concert tour which took him to Paris and Madrid, where he ...
1904–89 American pianist Horowitz studied in his native Russia and gave concerts in Kiev, Moscow and Leningrad before his debut in Berlin in 1925. His New York and London debuts followed in 1928. He settled in the US in 1940. In later life he restricted his concert appearances, but he continued to make recordings. He performed again in the ...
Almost no Texan musicians have ever herded cattle, but most like to think of themselves as cowboys nonetheless. They imagine themselves pulling out an acoustic guitar after dinner and singing a song about the adventures and frustrations they have known. And not just any old song – it has to be one they wrote and it has to be more ...
Despite initial comparisons to her fellow Londoner, the late Amy Winehouse, and other female soul acts – Adele has been likened to everyone from the late Whitney Houston to a combination of Joni Mitchell and Carole King – there’s no denying she is now widely thought of as a unique talent. ‘I keep getting called “the new Amy Winehouse” and ...
Master of guitar-generated sound effects, Adrian Belew (b. 1949) makes his Parker Deluxe guitar not only sing but also scream, squawk, roar, tweet and talk in elephant tongue. Best known for his time in King Crimson during the early Eighties as comic foil to Robert Fripp’s relatively nerdy straight man, Belew is one of the most ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1970–present) This best-selling American heavy rock band, frequently compared to The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, centred on the relationship between principal members Steven Tyler (vocals) and Joe Perry (guitar). The pair came together in Boston, Massachusetts, with Joey Kramer (drums), Brad Whitford (guitar) and Tom Hamilton (bass). Their first album Aerosmith (1973) was ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1997–present) Embrace – Danny McNamara (vocals), Richard McNamara (guitar), Steven Firth (bass), Mike Heaton (drums) and Mickey Dale (keyboards) – have had numerous career resuscitations in their decade-long existence. But the band started life as press-darlings after a number of singles on the fiercely independent Fierce Panda label. It was these early, near-demo quality recordings that caught ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 2004–present) True suburban boys, Hard-Fi – Richard Archer (vocals), Ross Phillips (guitar), Kai Stephens (bass) and Steven Kemp (drums) – claim to have recorded their debut, Stars Of CCTV (2005) in a local taxi office in Staines, east London. A heady mix of social observation and steely dance rhythms, the four-piece play on their ...
One half of the infamous ‘Toxic Twins’, along with vocalist Steven Tyler, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry projects a swagger and ultra-cool stage presence that few guitarists can match. Fewer still possess his capacity for muscular, gritty soloing and hook-laden riffing. For over 30 years now, Perry and his stinging guitar tone, generated most often via his signature Gibson ...
b. 1932 American composer Early work as a studio pianist in Hollywood led to pockets of work in the 1960s. During the 1970s, he produced music for a number of films including The Towering Inferno (1974). Following collaborations with Steven Spielberg in the mid-1970s, Williams wrote music to Star Wars (1977). Stylistically, he adopts the romantic breadth of ...
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David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
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