SEARCH RESULTS FOR: Chris Farlowe
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(Vocals, b. 1940) Real name John Deighton, Farlowe’s strangled gasps and anguished roars were X-factors of 1966’s ‘Out Of Time’, produced and co-written by Mick Jagger. Its rise to the top in Britain demonstrated that all this north Londoner needed was the right song. Yet even material as sturdy as 1967’s ‘Handbags And Gladrags’ – a hit decades later ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

Charlie Christian (1916–42) pushed guitar to the forefront of the big-band era, furthering the instrument’s evolution from a provider of acoustic accompaniment to an electrified foreground instrument that could pound out rhythm like a drum set or solo out front like a horn. His playing, in fact, was likened to jazz horn players who were leading the evolution ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Guitar Heroes, consultant editor Rusty Cutchin

(Yo’-han Krest’-yan Bakh) 1735–82 German composer J. S. Bach’s youngest son was known as the London Bach. Earlier he was the Milan Bach: after studying with his father and his half-brother Carl Philipp Emanuel in Berlin, he had gone to Italy, studying in Bologna, embracing Roman Catholicism and becoming organist at Milan Cathedral, and composing operas for theatres ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

(Khres’-tof Vil’-le-balt fun Glook) 1714–87 Bohemian composer Gluck was born in Erasbach, by the Czech-German border; his native language may well have been Czech. His father, a forester, was opposed to a musical career, but the boy left home at 13 to study in Prague, where he took musical posts and went briefly to the university. At ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

A product of the spiritual searching of the 1960s, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) has always been controversial. Combining rock’n’roll with a Bible-based message has seemed profane to some and artistically invalid to others. Despite such criticisms, CCM has attracted millions of loyal fans and given rise to a host of gold- and platinum-selling artists. There’s ambiguity as to what ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music, general editor Paul Du Noyer

Being perched at the top of the charts on 25 December has represented a prestigious achievement for musicians since the dawn of the pop era, while the shopping frenzy of the festive period makes it one of the most potentially profitable times to release a record. It wasn’t always that way: the original Yuletide songs were church carols that endure ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music, general editor Paul Du Noyer

(Ga’-ôrg Kres’-tof Va’-gen-zil) 1715–77 Austrian composer A Viennese, and a pupil of Johann Joseph Fux (1660–1741), Wagenseil obtained a post as court composer in 1739 and held it all his life. His early compositions are largely sacred music, including richly scored, elaborately written Masses, and in 1745–50 he wrote several operas. He is principally important for his instrumental ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

Charlie Christian was the last great figure to emerge from the jazz scene of the 1930s. He not only brought a perfectly formed approach to his music, but also an entirely new musical platform – the electric guitar. His career in the big time was brief, but Christian was a lighthouse whose beam still illuminates anyone with serious intentions ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Trombone, b. 1930) Chris Barber has been a key figure on the British traditional jazz scene since he broke away from Ken Colyer’s band to lead his own group in 1954. The band was one of the leading names in the so-called ‘trad boom’ of the late 1950s. It became the Chris Barber Jazz & Blues Band – with the ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals, b. 1964) Multi-talented King began in the footsteps of his father – Baton Rouge, Louisiana juke bluesman Tabby Thomas. King has mastered traditional electric and acoustic blues. He also performs and records rock- and rap-blues hybrids. In 2000 he appeared as Tommy Johnson in O Brother, Where Art Thou ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Various saxophones, b. 1971) A Chicago native, Chris Potter emerged professionally in bebop trumpeter Red Rodney’s combo, before moving on to featured roles in the Mingus Big Band and bassist Dave Holland’s quintet and big band. Potter became the youngest musician to win Denmark’s prestigious and financially valuable Jazzpar Prize in 2000. Personally self-effacing, Potter is a ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Vocals, guitar, songwriter, 1948–2005) Chris LeDoux lived out many people’s fantasies of being a genuine cowboy and touring rodeo shows as a musician. Garth Brooks paid tribute to him in the song ‘Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)’, and was backing vocalist on LeDoux’s Top 10 single, ‘Whatcha Gonna Do With A Cowboy’ (1992), LeDoux ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen

1735–82, German Johann Christian Bach, the youngest son of J. S. Bach (1685–1750), acquired a more thorough training in opera than most contemporary composers, studying first in Germany and afterwards in Italy. Consequently, his operas combined both styles. As a composer, Johann Christian concentrated initially on church music, but he soon transferred his talents to ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

1714–87, German Famous above all as the composer of Orfeo ed Euridice, Christoph Willibald von Gluck was, more than anyone, responsible for purging opera of what he dubbed the ‘abuses’ of opera seria in favour of ‘beautiful simplicity’, emotional directness and dramatic truth. From Bohemia to Vienna Born in the small town of Erasbach in the Upper ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ When the Emperor Franz I and his retinue attended the premiere of Orfeo ed Euridice at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 5 October 1762, they were doubtless expecting a lightweight pastoral entertainment. The occasion – the emperor’s name day – and the opera’s billing as an azione teatrale (literally ‘theatrical action’) promised as much. What they got ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie
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