(Guitar, vocals, 1932–93) Collins’s highly original and bold, chiselled tone – achieved through an idiosyncratic tuning and high volume – earned the Texan his nickname ‘The Iceman’. The moniker was abetted by a string of chilly-themed, early 1960s instrumental hits that incorporated R&B rhythms, including the million-selling ‘Frosty’, ‘Sno Cone’ and ‘Thaw Out’. Although his cousin ...
Rock guitarist Albert Lee was born in Leominster, Herefordshire in 1943. The son of a musician, Lee started his musical career on piano, but like many of his generation, took up the guitar upon the arrival of rock’n’roll, inspired in particular by Buddy Holly. He played in various bands after leaving school at the age of ...
Few blues guitarists had more style and presence than Albert King (1923–92). At 6ft 4in (1.93m) and 250lbs (113kg), he cut an imposing figure onstage. Equally distinctive was his Gibson Flying V guitar, a right-handed instrument that King played left-handed and upside down. This gave him an unusual, tormented sound when he bent the strings on his fretboard. ...
(Al’-bârt Lôrt’-zing) 1801–51 German composer Lortzing’s youthful experience in theatres – acting, singing and conducting – was of immense value to his later vocation as a composer of operas, the largest and most important part of his output. His comic operas are his most characteristic works, portraying a homely, sentimental humour that has proved hugely popular in Germany. ...
(Oi’-gan Dal’-ber) 1864–1932 German pianist and composer Born in Glasgow to a ballet composer, at 17 D’Albert moved to Vienna, befriending the great Wagner conductors Richter and Bülow, as well as Brahms and Liszt, with whom he studied. Widely admired as a piano virtuoso (several of his six wives were noted musicians), D’Albert was increasingly drawn to operatic composition. ...
(Vocals, 1895–1984) Memphis-born Alberta Hunter ran away to Chicago as a young girl to seek her fortune as an entertainer. She survived the cutthroat world of early twentieth-century jazz long enough to establish herself as a front-line vocalist, albeit in a somewhat less-declamatory style than that favoured by some of her contemporaries. She recorded (sometimes using pseudonyms) for Black ...
Albert Clifton Ammons was born in Chicago, Illinois in March 1907. As a young man he learned from Jimmy Yancey, who cast a long shadow over Chicago blues pianists through his work at rent parties, social functions and after-hours jobs. Ammons came to know other pianists and the blues specialists gathered together in Chicago to create a coterie ...
Albert King’s late 1960s and early 1970s recordings for the Stax label remain cornerstones of modern blues. Tunes like ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’, ‘Crosscut Saw’ and ‘I’ll Play the Blues For You’ are also an antidote to the over-the-top playing indulged in by so many contemporary blues guitarists. For King, a six-foot-four, 250-pound man possessed of a big ...
(Various saxophones, 1936–70) Albert Ayler was one of the most controversial free-jazz performers. Eccentric and tirelessly inventive, he shifted ensemble roles in his music so that drummers and bassists were on equal ground with the horns. Ayler influenced John Coltrane and many younger saxophonists, and his recordings gradually moved from free jazz towards rock and soul themes. Spiritual ...
(Trombone, 1928–2005) Although he played violin and guitar, Frankfurt native Albert Mangelsdorff did not take up the trombone until the age of 20. However, despite this relatively late start, he became a pioneer of multiphonics on the horn and a leader of the European avant-garde. Recordings with pianist John Lewis and sitarist Ravi Shankar in the 1960s ...
(Vocals, guitar, songwriter, 1930–2000) One of the earliest pioneers of the Bakersfield Sound, Oklahoma City-born Tommy Collins (Leonard Raymond Sipes) began activities on the West Coast thanks to the encouragement of dj Ferlin Husky. Securing deals with Cliffie Stone’s Central Songs and Capitol Records, he began putting Bakersfield on the map with nationwide humorous hits like ...
(Guitar, vocals, songwriter, b. 1943) Englishman Albert Lee first attracted attention playing with British R&B singer Chris Farlowe in the mid-1960s, and played in several British bands before working as a ‘hired gun’ for legendary acts like The Crickets, Jerry Lee Lewis and most notably The Everly Brothers. In 1976, he replaced his hero, ...
1864–1932, German Born in Glasgow, D’Albert’s parents were German, with French blood. D’Albert eventually took Swiss nationality but not before he had studied with Arthur Sullivan in London, Hans Richter in Vienna and Liszt in Weimar. D’Albert was a prolific composer and completed some 20 operas of widely differing styles and subjects. His most publicly successful work ...
1916–83, Argentinian One of the most important South American composers of the twentieth century, Ginastera combined energetic Argentine rhythms with enchanting lyricism and an almost hallucinatory ambiance to forge his unique style. He lived in New York on a Guggenheim Fellowship from 1945–48 before returning to Argentina. Here, he experimented with advanced composition techniques, yet his three ...
1875–1965 German/French organist Born in Alsace, at that time part of the German Empire, Schweitzer studied in Paris with Charles Widor (1844–1937), who encouraged him to write his book on J. S. Bach. Schweitzer also studied organ building, and was convinced of the unsuitability of the modern organ for Bach’s music. Introduction | Modern Era | Classical Personalities ...
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David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
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sweep of incredible photographs.