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 ...
Juan Cristóbal Martín (b. 1948) was born in Málaga, Spain, and started learning the guitar at the age of six. In his early twenties he moved to Madrid to study under Nino Ricardo and Paco de Lucía. Martín was influenced by classic flamenco and the Spanish classical guitar tradition. His major influences included de Lucía, Tomatito and Andrés ...
(Jo-van’-ne Bat-tes’-ta Mär-te’-ne) 1706–84 Italian theorist and composer Padre Martini, as he was always known, was the most influential theorist and musical thinker of his time. He was born in Bologna, traditionally a centre of learning, where he studied with his father and leading musicians before entering a monastery. He returned to Bologna as organist and then as ...
(Fi’-then-ti Mar’-ti-ni So-le) 1754–1806 Spanish composer Martín y Soler had moved to Naples by 1777, when his Ifigenia in Aulide was staged there. By the early 1780s, his operas were being given in north Italy and he moved to Venice; from this time on he wrote only comic operas. Three years later he was in Vienna, where he had ...
(Vocals, 1884–1955) Martin, an early classic blues singer, was signed by Clarence Williams for OKeh Records in 1922, at the beginning of the blues craze. While she was a pop-style singer, she was also able to pitch the blues in a rough-and-ready way. She recorded with Williams-led jazz groups, with such illustrious accompanists as King ...
(Instrumental group, 1991–present) In the 1990s John Medeski (keyboards, b. 1965), Billy Martin (drums, b. 1963) and Chris Wood (bass, b. c. 1969) established an energized form of lengthy improvisations over powerful grooves, playing student venues and festivals. All three members have impressive résumés, including conservatory training and experience with experimental jazz leaders. Their recordings ...
Even when he was sober, Jimmy Martin (vocals, guitar, 1927–2005) was willing to tell anyone who would listen why he was the ‘king of bluegrass’. After all, didn’t Bill Monroe’s sound change dramatically when Martin joined The Blue Grass Boys in 1949 ? Didn’t Martin create a brand new honky-tonk/bluegrass hybrid on his great Decca recordings of ...
(Vocals, guitar, b. 1940) Born in Sutherlin, Virginia, Janis Martin toured extensively but was too raunchy for mass acceptance, despite a series of outstanding rockabilly recordings. She retired in 1959 to raise her family but re-emerged in the 1980s. Since then she has made numerous live appearances, mainly in Europe, where she has established ...
1754–1806, Spanish The Spanish composer Martín y Soler wrote his first opera, entitled La Madrilena (‘The Girl from Madrid’, 1776), which was probably a zarzuela. Afterwards, Martín went to Italy, where he gained a reputation for writing both serious and comic operas that were performed in Lucca, Parma, Turin, Venice and Naples. Soon his ...
1768–1837, French The French baritone Jean-Blaise Martin gave his name to the voice type termed baryton-Martin, through his ability to extend his voice range into falsetto mode by an extra octave. This sort of voice, in which the baritone’s normal top notes shade into the falsetto, is classed as a ‘high baritone’ and enables singers to take ...
1885–1969, Italian Born in a small Italian village, Martinelli scaled the heights of operatic fame, becoming Caruso’s successor in verismo repertoire at the Met. After making his operatic debut in the title role of Verdi’s Ernani, he achieved his breakthrough when engaged by Puccini to sing Dick Johnson in the 1911 European premiere of La fanciulla del ...
1890–1959, Czech One of the leading Czech composers of the twentieth century, Martinu produced 15 operas that display a penchant for vibrant innovation. After studying at the Prague Conservatory, Martinu moved to Paris in 1923 and was influenced by the sights and sounds of jazz, music hall and the avant-garde. As Western Europe regenerated itself following the ...
(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 ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1983–88) Formed in Hull by Paul Heaton (vocals), Stan Cullimore (guitar, vocals), Ted Key (bass) and Hugh Whitaker (drums), the band were the epitome of unassuming British indie pop. Their up-tempo, melodic songs belied some abrasive, politically charged lyrics on the likes of ‘Sheep’ and their first big hit ‘Happy Hour’, from 1986’s all-conquering debut ...
(Vocals, b. 1971) Born in Puerto Rico, Enrique Martin Morales, was a member of the Latin boy-band Menudo in the 1980s. As an actor he also enjoyed TV work in Mexico and America, notably as a singing bartender in General Hospital. Martin made his Spanish-language solo debut in 1991 and a string of albums like A Medio ...
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