Ridiculed as a braggart, pimp, card shark and pool hustler, the audacious, self-proclaimed inventor of jazz Jelly Roll Morton was also hailed as a pioneering composer, gifted arranger, dazzling pianist and the greatest entertainer that New Orleans ever produced. He was one of the first jazz musicians to strike a perfect balance between composition and ...
One of the founding fathers of rock’n’roll, Charles Edward (Chuck) Berry was born in 1926 in St Louis, Missouri, to a middle-class family. His interest in the blues began in high school, where he gave his first public performance. In 1944, he was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to three years in an Intermediate Reformatory ...
Although he did not coin the term ‘rock’n’roll’ – which was an African-American slang term for sex – New York disk jockey Alan Freed did popularize it when he attached it to a teen-oriented form of music that evolved from a fusion of rockabilly, R&B and, to a lesser extent, gospel and boogie-woogie. In its early forms, ...
The full drum kit is not the only instrument in the percussion section to have benefited from advances in electronics and music technology. An array of different electronic percussion is available to the modern player. Early electronic drum kits and percussion controllers used closed, proprietary systems to link the playing surfaces to the sound sources. However, most modern instruments ...
There are many different instrumental interfaces through which it is possible to control synthesized or sampled sounds – the most common being the piano-style keyboard. The electronic musician is also able to access a wide range of sounds through electric guitar, string, percussion and wind instruments. These devices are, to a large extent, quite recognizably conventional, ...
(Tenor and soprano saxophone, b. 1930) Sonny Rollins stands alongside John Coltrane as the major bop-rooted stylist on tenor saxophone. He cut his teeth in New York with bop giants including Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis. He was a member of the Clifford Brown–Max Roach Quintet (1955–57), and has led his own bands since ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1962–present) One of the most successful bands of all time, the Rolling Stones’ original line-up comprised Mick Jagger (vocals, harmonica), Brian Jones and Keith Richards (guitars), Bill Wyman (bass) and Charlie Watts (drums). Named after a Muddy Waters song, the band were heavily influenced by blues and R&B and on their early albums recorded many ...
(Vocals, guitar, 1937–95) Johnny Carroll, from Cleburne, Texas, recorded some wild rockabilly for Decca in Nashville and appeared in the cult movie Rock Baby Rock It in 1957. He later toured with Scotty Moore and Bill Black after they left Presley. He nearly died after a nightclub shooting in the 1960s, but he recovered and ...
This unlikely opera house was the first avant-garde public arena and was funded by the Prussian Ministry of Culture. Built in 1844 by entrepreneur Josef Kroll, the theatre, with its large stage and fine acoustics, became the centrepiece for new music and production values that embraced modernity. When Otto Klemperer was appointed musical director, he approached the ...
1899–1970 English conductor Born in London to an Italian musical family, Barbirolli made his debut as a cellist at the age of 17 before pursuing a career conducting. In the 1920s and 30s he conducted the British National Opera Company, the Covent Garden Opera Company and the Scottish Orchestra. He succeeded Toscanini as permanent conductor of the New York ...
1926–87 American composer Associated with Cage’s circle of musicians, Feldman was also strongly affected by the aesthetic of the abstract Expressionist painters in New York. His music displays a distrust of intellectual, rigorous systems of writing, exploring instead abstract forms and an instinctive approach to composition. He is well known for his graphic scores, such as his ...
In its classic line-up, featuring singer-songwriter Mick Jagger (born 26 July 1943), guitarist/songwriter Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones (1942–69), bass player Bill Wyman (born William Perks, 24 October 1936) and drummer Charlie Watts (born 2 July 1941), what came to be acclaimed and self-proclaimed as ‘The World’s Greatest Rock’n’Roll Band’ first achieved success and notoriety ...
I’m having lunch in a Chelsea restaurant with a sprightly gent of 60-plus. His wits are quick and he’s a fabulous source of softly spoken gossip. He reflects a moment on one especially key evening in his life, early in 1963. ‘If you’re not sure who rock’n’roll belongs to,’ says Andrew Loog Oldham, ‘then it surely isn’t you ...
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had known each other since they were children – or, known of each other that is, having grown up in the same Dartford estate. More romantically, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met on a commuter train from Dartford to London in October 1960. An open love of blues and R&B was less common ...
July First Gig, London Dressed in coats and ties, The Rollin’ Stones (as they were initially called, after a Muddy Waters song) performed their first live gig on 12 July at The Marquee Club, a tiny basement venue on London’s Oxford Street. Playing an hour’s worth of piano-driven R&B, they made £20 between them. The six-piece ...
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.