(Vocals, 1915–98) Frank Sinatra was best known as a popular singer and film actor but established his jazz credentials early in his career. He combined the smooth, Italian bel canto style with a sure sense of swing, toured with Harry James and learned about breath control from Tommy Dorsey (1940–42). He worked with arrangers Billy May, Gordon ...
Renowned as the leader of avant-garde satirical group the Mothers Of Invention in the 1960s, Frank Zappa developed a singular guitar prowess that emerged in the 1970s as his band became increasingly adventurous, drawing on a wide variety of classical, jazz and rock forms while maintaining their razor-sharp wit. Zappa’s approach to playing influenced many guitarists, including ...
(C-melody and alto saxophone, 1901–56) Known as ‘Tram’ by his colleagues, Trumbauer was a player of impeccable technique who had a major influence on many saxophonists in the 1920s (notably Benny Carter and Lester Young). He first recorded in 1923 with the popular Benson Orchestra of Chicago and by 1926 was playing alongside cornettist and kindred spirit Bix Beiderbecke ...
(Guitar, vocals, harmonica, 1897–1945) Hutchison, a singer, slide-guitarist and harmonica player from West Virginia, was one of the more striking exponents of ‘hillbilly blues’ – music learned from, or influenced by, African-American sources, which in his case was acquired from railroad workers and miners. His ragtime picking piece ‘Coney Isle’, retitled ‘Alabam’’, ...
(Frank Mär-tan’) 1890–1974 Swiss composer Martin was an eclectic, but with his own voice. His best-known composition, the Petite symphonie concertante (1945) for harp, harpsichord, piano and strings, adopts systematic discipline from Schoenberg and rhythmic vigour from Stravinsky and jazz, but its combination of brooding solemnity and Gallic wit is Martin’s own. His concertos and ...
1940–93 American composer, rock musician Zappa, the anti-establishment rock musician and founder of The Mothers of Invention, was inspired as a teenager by the music of Varèse, Stravinsky and Webern, and wrote fully notated avant-garde-style pieces while still at school. In 1970 he performed material from his forthcoming film 200 Motels with the Los Angeles Philharmonic ...
(Trumpet, vocals, b. 1939) As rock’n’roll lost its way in the late 1950s, good looks replaced musical ability and Philadelphia-born Francis Avalon became a teen idol via a series of forgettable pop hits like 1959’s million-selling US No. 1, ‘Venus’. Frequent exposure on the American Bandstand TV show produced two dozen US hits by 1962, and ...
(Vocal group, 1955–65) New Yorker Lymon (1942–68) was invited to join a school vocal group with Sherman Gaines (1940–78), Jimmy Merchant, Joe Negroni and Herman Santiago. Before finding Lymon, the others, who were known as The Premiers, were working on a song they had written, but needed a soprano lead voice, a vacancy Lymon ...
The undisputed Queen of Soul since the title was first applied to her in the late 1960s, Aretha Franklin has been hailed as the greatest soul diva of all time. Possessing a voice of power and passion (and an underrated talent on the piano) she has turned her attention to everything from pop through jazz to classical; but with a ...
(Guitar, vocals, 1940–93) In 1964, Zappa formed The Mothers Of Invention, whose albums resembled pop-Dada aural junk-sculptures made from an eclectic heap that, laced with outright craziness, included 1950s pop, jazz, schmaltz and the pioneering tonalities of Stravinsky, Varèse and Webern. However, Zappa’s intense concern over social issues was never so ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1980–87) Fronted by the charismatic Holly Johnson, FGTH – Paul Rutherford (vocals), Peter Gill (drums), Mark O’Toole (bass) and Brian Nash (guitar) – hit Britain with three consecutive No. 1s: the exciting, synthesized funk pop of 1983’s ‘Relax’ (banned by the BBC) and ‘Two Tribes’ – both precursors of house music – and the huge ballad ...
Elvis Aaron Presley was born in his family’s shot-gun shack in Tupelo, Mississippi, on 8 January 1935. His twin brother died at birth, and his mother doted on her sole son. He showed musical aptitude early, and loved to sing at the local First Assembly of God church. His mother, Gladys and father, Vernon, ...
(Vocals, record producer, b. 1937) New Mexico-born Bowen enjoyed three distinctive careers, first as a rock’n’roll artist with Buddy Knox (their 1957 double A-sided single, ‘Party Doll’/’I’m Stickin’ With You’ sold a million copies); then as a West Coast record executive, working with such as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin; and, finally, running several ...
California native Joe Pass (1929–94) developed a thoroughly precise jazz technique that propelled him to virtuoso status alongside pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, with whom he made a series of essential recordings for the Pablo label in the Seventies. Pass was raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He took up guitar after being inspired by singing cowboy Gene Autry. ...
(Piano, vocals, 1947–97) An ill-fated performance at 1967’s Monterey Festival arrested the commercial progress of the late New Yorker, whose songs – imaginative fusions of jazz, gospel and folk – were to be covered by the diverse likes of Blood, Sweat and Tears, Fifth Dimension, Three Dog Night, Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra ...
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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.