Verdi’s five-act opera Don Carlos was taken from a drama written in 1787 by the German playwright Friedrich von Schiller (1759–1805). Written for the Paris Opéra, Don Carlos was first performed there on 11 March 1867. Schiller’s play was translated and the libretto written by Joseph Méry, who unfortunately died before it was completed, and Camille du Locle ...
Spanish guitar legend Carlos Montoya (1903–93) helped propel the flamenco style of music from accompaniment for gypsy folk dances and songs to a serious and internationally popular form of guitar music. Montoya was born into a gypsy family in Spain. He studied guitar with his mother and a local barber, eventually learning from professionals and becoming an expert on the ...
Multitalented guitarist Carlos Santana was born the son of a mariachi musician in the Mexican town of Autlan de Navarro in 1947. The family moved to Tijuana when he was nine, and Carlos, who first played violin before changing to guitar, became interested in rock’n’roll and blues. At 13, he was earning money playing in cantinas and ...
Martin Pugh grew up in England during the 1960s and 1970s. As a young musician influenced by rock’n’roll, Pugh developed his progressive, blues-and-folk-influenced style with his first band, known as The Package Deal, who performed in Devon and Cornwall in the early 1960s. Martin soon moved to London and joined Carl Douglas (‘Kung Fu Fighting’) and The ...
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born on 5 May 1988 in Tottenham, a deprived part of North London with a high rate of unemployment. Her mother, Penny Adkins, was just 18 and an art student when her daughter was born. Adele’s father, Mark Evans, exited Adele’s life when she was aged three, leaving mother and daughter ...
During the first half of the nineteenth century, London became the financial and commercial capital of the world, its population expanding to two and a half million. Concert life had stagnated at the turn of the century, but the first few years of the new century saw a new interest in the art and by 1810 development was ...
(Ga-a-ta’-no Don-it-set’-te) 1797–1848 Italian composer Between the death of Bellini (1835) and the emergence of Verdi, Donizetti was the dominant figure in Italian opera. He studied with Mayr and Padre Mattei. After composing numerous apprentice operas and various sacred, orchestral and instrumental works, he had his first real success with Zoraida di Granata (‘Zoraida of Granada’, 1822), which gave ...
(Kar-loos Go’-mas) 1836–96 Brazilian composer Gomes was the son of a bandmaster, and after studies at the Imperial Conservatory of Music in Rio de Janeiro, he settled in Italy. His comedies Se sa minga and Nella Luna (1867–68) were successful, but international recognition really arrived with the composition of Il Guarany (La Scala, 1870), whose exotic score includes ...
(Banjo, guitar, 1905–73) Originally from Indiana, Condon became associated with Chicago’s Austin High School Gang, a group of white West-Side teenagers who emulated King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band and created their own take on hot jazz. In 1927, Condon co-led a band with William ‘Red’ McKenzie (which also included Bud Freeman, Frank Teschemacher, Gene ...
(Alto saxophone, clarinet, vocals, composer, arranger, 1900–64) Renowned for crafting the polished sound of the mid-1920s Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, Redman’s innovative arrangements pre-dated the swing era by a decade. His sophisticated compositions were significantly affected by the driving, swinging trumpet work of Louis Armstrong, who played in Henderson’s orchestra throughout 1924. The conservatory-trained ...
(Tenor and soprano saxophone, 1923–90) Dexter Gordon is widely credited as the leading figure in the evolution of bebop on his instrument, the tenor saxophone. The Los Angeles native was influenced initially by stars of the swing era, in particular Lester Young, and went on to adapt many of Charlie Parker’s alto saxophone innovations to the tenor. ...
(Piano, vocals, 1928–2002) Rosco Gordon was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He won an amateur contest in 1950 and was soon appearing on WDIA radio with his own show. He began recording with Sam Phillips in 1951; Phillips sold the master of ‘Booted’ to Chess Records and the master of ‘No More Doggin’’ to Modern. Gordon had two hits ...
(Composer, piano, guitar, 1927–94) Jobim was the best known of the Brazilian composers who made an impact on jazz. His international reputation blossomed due to his songs in the film Black Orpheus (1959) and with João Gilberto he sparked a bossa nova craze, boosted by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd’s Jazz Samba (1962). He led his own ...
(Cornet, 1936–95) Besides serving as the perfect complement for Ornette Coleman in the saxophonist’s early quartet, cornettist Don Cherry was a pioneer of the now-popular ‘world music’ movement. His musician father brought the family to Los Angeles from Cherry’s birthplace in Oklahoma, where Cherry played in the Jazz Messiahs before meeting Coleman. After leaving the Coleman group and ...
(Vocals, guitar, songwriter, 1915–68) Honky-tonk stylist Skeets McDonald was another of Cliffie Stone’s discoveries, who put him on the Hometown Jamboree before he became a regular member of the weekly Town Hall Party. Stone also signed him to Capitol where he achieved a number one with ‘Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes’ (1952). He had ...
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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.