(Bandleader, pianist, 1902–63) Luis Russell first worked in New Orleans, then in Chicago with King Oliver, where he began moving the New Orleans sound towards a big-band format. Between 1929–31 he led one of the best early swing-oriented bands in the country. Its major soloists were J.C. Higginbotham and Henry ‘Red’ Allen, who also recorded ...
(To-mas’ Loo-es’ da Vik-tôr’-ya) 1548–1611 Spanish composer After training as a choirboy at Avila Cathedral, Victoria spent his early adult life in Rome, principally at the Jesuit Collegio Germanico, as both pupil and teacher. He returned to Spain permanently in the 1580s, where he became the chaplain to Philip II’s sister, Maria; he remained there as organist ...
(Clarinet, 1906–69) Great musicians are often judged by the reach of their influence on others, but Charles Ellsworth Russell’s clarinet was one of a kind, so personal and eccentric that it offered little to any would-be disciples. He arrived in New York in 1927 from the Midwest, where he had played with Bix Beiderbecke and other Chicago-area ...
(Composer, arranger, b. 1923) Cincinnati-born George Russell is one of a small number of jazz musicians whose primary reputation was earned as a composer and theoretician rather than as an instrumentalist. Initially a student of drums and later a pianist, Russell ultimately limited his onstage contribution to conducting, albeit in the style of a consummate showman. He ...
(Bass, 1892–1969) Known for his powerful, slap-bass sound and signature solos, Foster worked with the Magnolia Band and A.J. Piron before playing in Fate Marable’s riverboat band (1918–21) and collaborating with Kid Ory and others during the 1920s. In 1928 he played with King Oliver’s Dixie Syncopators in New York and then joined the Luis Russell Orchestra ...
(Trumpet, 1908–67) The son of bandleader Henry Allen Sr., Henry ‘Red’ Allen was one of the greatest trumpeters to come out of New Orleans, although he remained eternally in the shadow of Louis Armstrong. He moved to New York in 1927 to join King Oliver’s Dixie Syncopators and in 1929 the Victor label signed him as an answer ...
(Vocals, 1899–1972) James Andrew Rushing was born in Oklahoma City into a musical family. He worked in California in the mid-1920s as a pianist and vocalist, joined Walter Page’s Blue Devils in Oklahoma City in 1927 and made his recording debut with the band in 1929. He played with the Bennie Moten Band in Kansas City from 1929, ...
One of the cornet kings of early New Orleans – along with Buddy Bolden, Freddie Keppard and Bunk Johnson – Joseph ‘King’ Oliver helped to define the bravura spirit of hot jazz through his work in Chicago during the 1920s with his Creole Jazz Band. He is said to have earned the sobriquet ‘King’ by besting Keppard in a cutting ...
An incomparable figure in the history of jazz, Armstrong played with an unprecedented virtuosity and bravura, while retaining an individual tone and a deceptively laid-back style. In the early 1920s, he shifted the emphasis of jazz from ensemble playing to a soloist’s art form, while setting new standards for trumpeters worldwide. The sheer brilliance of his playing ...
Verdi was an enthusiastic admirer of Shakespeare and Macbeth was the first opera based on his work. It premiered at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence on 14 March 1847, with Verdi himself conducting. Performances followed throughout Europe, including Madrid (1848), Vienna (1849), and New York (1858). For the premiere in Paris, at the Théâtre Lyrique on 21 ...
(Ar’-vo Pairt) b. 1935 Estonian composer Pärt initially wrote in a neo-classical style, gradually shifting to serial techniques as previously banned scores filtered into the country. Works such as Perpetuum mobile (‘Continuous Motion’, 1963) attracted the wrath of the state. A love of Baroque music and particularly J. S. Bach is revealed in works such as Collage teemal B-A-C-H (1964). ...
When the great Mississippi musician Riley King left the cotton fields to seek his fortune in Memphis in 1946, he had $2.50 in his pocket and a battered guitar in his hand. Today, his name is synonymous with blues music itself, yet his ascendance to the zenith of the blues world never altered his friendly, downhome ...
Bill Evans was one of the most lyrical and romantic of all jazz pianists. His distinctive lightness of touch and singing tone on the piano shone most brightly in his favoured trio settings with compatible bass players and drummers, including famous line-ups that featured Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian, and later Eddie Gomez and Marty Morrell. Evans was born ...
(Vocals, 1908–67) A crooner and scat singer, Billy Banks was a protégé of agency impresario Irving Mills. He headlined a handful of legendary records in 1932 by the Rhythmakers – less interesting for his vocals than for the punchy, eccentric work of the all-star band, which included Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Pee Wee Russell, Fats Waller ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 2002–09) Bloc Party – Kele Okereke (vocals), Matt Tong (drums), Russell Lissack (guitar) and Gordon Moakes (bass) – achieved massive critical acclaim for their debut, Silent Alarm (2005). The record managed to appeal to a cross section of music lovers (Okereke even guested on a Chemical Brothers’ track), but is largely remembered for its stop-start guitar anthems ...
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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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David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
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sweep of incredible photographs.