Billie Holiday was entirely untrained as a singer, but drew on the example of popular recording artists such as Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong in developing her musical approach. She was able to make much of poor songs as well as great ones. Her phrasing, intonation, attention to the weight and nuance of lyrics, and her lightly ...
A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who have come together to play music. In theory, an ensemble could contain any number of instruments in any combination, but in practice, certain combinations just don’t work very well, either for musical reasons or because of the sheer practicality of getting particular instruments and players ...
Few would deny that the blues has played a more important role in the history of popular culture than any other musical genre. As well as being a complete art form in itself, it is a direct ancestor to the different types of current popular music we know and love today. Without the blues there would have been no Beatles ...
(Vocals, composer, b. 1930) Lincoln caps her long, diversified singing and acting career as an iconic songwriter and performer. Her first record, in the 1950s, was with Benny Carter’s orchestra; in the 1960s she recorded politicized material with then-husband Max Roach. In the mid-1980s she re-emerged, paying tribute to Billie Holiday and embodying an African-American ...
(Tenor saxophone, 1909–73) Ben Webster served an initial apprenticeship in ‘territory’ bands in the Southwest (including those led by Benny Moten and Andy Kirk) before moving to New York in 1934. He recorded with Billie Holiday and worked with a succession of notable bandleaders before joining Duke Ellington in 1940. He was a key member of Ellington’s legendary band of ...
Bessie Smith was one of the greatest vocalists of the twentieth century; her emotional delivery and exquisite phrasing has been an influence on instrumentalists as well as innumerable singers, both male and female. Many of her records, including ‘Gimmie a Pigfoot’, ‘Woman’s Trouble Blues’, ‘St. Louis Blues’ and the song that became an anthem of the Great Depression, ...
(Vocals, b. 1950) First heard in the 1970s with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, then in the Broadway musicals The Wiz and Sophisticated Ladies and later in pop/jazz contexts, Bridgewater relocated to Paris in 1983. Leading a trio, she regained career momentum in the 1990s with tribute projects commemorating Billie Holiday, Horace Silver and Ella Fitzgerald ...
American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown (2009) cemented Green Day’s position as one of the biggest, if not the biggest, rock band in the world. From their Hurricane Katrina collaboration with U2 to the honour of performing The Simpsons Movie theme, Green Day were woven into the fabric of popular culture. Not only did more awards flow into ...
May ASCAP Pop Music Awards The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is vital in protecting the rights of artists such as Green Day by licensing public performances of their songs through mediums like radio and distributing royalties to songwriters. The ASCAP holds an annual awards ceremony to honour the most-performed songs in their repertory, and in ...
June Lennon’s ‘Working Class Hero’ In June 2007, the album Instant Karma was released to raise money for the Amnesty International campaign to raise money to help those caught up in the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. The album featured covers of John Lennon songs performed by various artists, ranging from Aerosmith’s take on ‘Give Peace A Chance’ to ...
May Stop, Drop And Roll!!! The debut album by the Foxboro Hot Tubs entitled Stop, Drop And Roll!!! was released in May 2008 and was supported by a short tour of eight small clubs in the Bay Area with $20 tickets only available on the night. Musically, the album dropped anchor in various ports of the ...
March Heart Like A Hand Grenade Filmmaker and punk-rock fan John Roecker was given access at various stages of the recording of American Idiot and 300 hours of footage was eventually boiled down to a two-hour film entitled Heart Like A Hand Grenade. Although completed, apart from some limited showings the film has yet to be officially released. Tantalizing clips ...
January Grammy For Best Rock Album ‘Is this old hat now ?’ an interviewer from TV Guide asked the band after 21st Century Breakdown won a Grammy for Best Rock Album, ‘No, no, this is never old hat,’ replied Billie Joe, ‘when you put that much effort into a record nothing is old hat.’ At ...
January American Idiot Celebrates 300th Show Billie Joe joined the cast of American Idiot on New Year’s Day 2011 for 50 performances spread between January and February and so was on hand to celebrate its 300th performance on 8 January. He appeared with the cast in a photo call with a cake to mark the event. Plans were being hatched and ...
January ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ Billie Joe had actually written the acoustic ‘Good Riddance’ back in 1993 after his relationship with his first serious girlfriend Amanda ended. This bittersweet song was released as a single and, as well as becoming a hit, crossed over into a wider cultural arena, where it was used to highlight clips ...
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.