(Vocal/instrumental group, 1984–present) Gary, Indiana’s Kinsey brothers formed the Kinsey Report to support their father, Lester ‘Big Daddy’ Kinsey. In 1985 they recorded Bad Situation as Big Daddy Kinsey & the Kinsey Report. Led by Donald (guitar, vocals), who had been a sideman for Albert King and Bob Marley, the brothers signed with Alligator Records and ...
(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 ...
Like a great river that runs endlessly, forming numerous tributary streams as it flows, jazz continues to evolve over time. And no matter how far the River Jazz may flow from its source – whether through stylistic evolution or technological innovation – the essential spirit of the music remains intact. Granted, the more academic and esoteric extrapolations of ...
‘Clowns’ Composed: 1892 Premiered: 1892, Milan Libretto by the composer, based on a newspaper crime report Prologue Tonio addresses the audience. The author has sent him to explain that they are to see real people and real passions. Act I A troupe of four travelling players arrives in a Calabrian village. They are led by Canio, with his ...
Composed: 1941–42; 1946–47; rev. up to 1953 Final version (13 scenes) premiered: 1959, Moscow Libretto by the composer and Mira Mendelson after Tolstoy’s novel Part One 1806: Andrey Bolkonsky is weary of life. He overhears Natasha Rostova talking to her cousin Sonya about the beauty of life. Her words renew his belief in happiness. 1810, St Petersburg: Andrey meets ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1967–present) They were the most famous rock equivalent of a ‘brass band’ – founder member Al Kooper’s own description. With a sensational horn section always high in the mix, 1968’s Child Is Father To The Man established them a musicianly act that was to serve as role model for Colosseum and The Average White Band and the ...
In the early 1980s, as the new wave of British heavy metal was taking the US by storm, an American music revolution called ‘thrash metal’ was brewing, combining the heavy sounds of metal with the unabashed aggression and speed of punk. At the centre of this sonic storm was a young quartet called Megadeth, which featured the ...
(Electric bass, piano, 1951–87) The brash Pennsylvania native burst on to the music scene in 1974 with a debut recording, Jaco, which redefined the way in which the electric bass could be played. A veteran of R&B and pop bands in Fort Lauderdale by the age of 24, Pastorius collaborated with his good friend, guitarist ...
(Piano, electronic keyboards, b. 1932) Born in Vienna, Josef Zawinul was 27 when he arrived in the US on a music scholarship, but this relatively late start did not prevent him from becoming an enormously influential composer and bandleader. Following brief stints with Dinah Washington and Maynard Ferguson, Zawinul joined Cannonball Adderley’s band as musical director ...
As lead guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Cheap Trick, Rick Nielsen fired the band’s melting pot of pop melodies and punk energy. Nielsen also became a highly coveted session player in the 1970s. With his legendary guitar collection (numbering over 250) and a unique stage wardrobe featuring bow ties and baseball caps, Nielsen’s style made him ...
(Tenor and soprano saxophones, b. 1933) Wayne Shorter’s most significant early position was in Maynard Ferguson’s orchestra in 1958, where he met pianist Joe Zawinul. In 1959 Shorter joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and soon thereafter made his debut as a leader. He gained prominence as a member of Miles Davis’s ambitious groups from 1964–70, in which his ...
As the end of the twentieth century approached, the United States – its culture included – entered a rare period of recapitulation, retrieval and, ultimately, renewal. The election as President of ageing Ronald Reagan, ex-movie star and California governor, introduced unexpected neo-conservatism, an ideology that looked back to a rosy, though mythical, ...
The 1940s encompassed a wide range of musical art, reflecting extremes of economic hardship and recovery, global war and rebuilding. Empowered by necessarily full-tilt production, US industry recovered from the Depression, though the cream of its youth was siphoned off to fight on distant fronts, and returned to a strange new world. Great Britain suffered air ...
‘Fusion’ can be applied to any music that blends two or more different styles, though it is normally used to describe the electronic jazz rock movement that emerged in the late 1960s. Some of the musicians expanded the boundaries of both jazz and rock, while others focused on producing sophisticated, but shallow, ‘background’ music. Although fusion records ...
January The Sex Pistols Get The Bullet On 6 January 1977 EMI Records terminated its contract with The Sex Pistols, saying it was unable to promote the group’s records ‘in view of the adverse publicity generated over the past two months’. The media furore over the Pistols’ TV appearance six weeks earlier had barely abated and now politicians were weighing ...
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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.