(Piano, b. 1925) Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson made his name on ‘Jazz At The Philharmonic’ (JATP) tours in the early 1950s, and formed his own trio in 1952. His most famous line-up (1953–58) featured Herb Ellis (guitar) and Ray Brown (bass); he replaced the guitar with more conventional drums from 1958. His extravagant improvisations combined pre-bop and bop elements. ...
(Bass, cello, composer, 1922–60) Oscar Pettiford was the first bass player to develop the new melodic and rhythmic concepts of bebop on his instrument and was an accomplished cellist and composer. He was of mixed African-American and Native American extraction and had a famously irascible temperament, frequently falling out with his many collaborators. He worked with Duke ...
(Keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, trumpet, vocals, b. 1963) Born Judge Kenneth Peterson in Buffalo, New York, this child prodigy keyboardist had played on The Ed Sullivan Show by the age of six. His father is soul bluesman James Peterson. At 17, Lucky became Little Milton’s bandleader and then played with Bobby Bland. ...
(Comedy duo, 1945–85) This popular musical comedy duo went through several personnel changes during its four decades on the Grand Ole Opry. The original Lonzo And Oscar comprised two Kentucky-born brothers, Johnny (1917–67) and Rollin Sullivan (b. 1919). The Sullivans began performing on a Jackson, Tennessee radio station, and in 1945 started working as stage and studio ...
(Alto and tenor saxophones, 1925–82) Art Pepper was a soloist with Stan Kenton (1947–52) and took part in trumpeter Shorty Rogers’s first so-called West Coast jazz recordings in 1951. He made a series of classic records for the California-based Contemporary label (1957–60), but was imprisoned at various times for heroin-related offences, culminating in three years’ voluntary rehabilitation in Synanon ...
(Guitar, 1923–2004) Barney Kessel took inspiration from his fellow Oklahoman, guitarist Charlie Christian, and developed an electric-guitar style that straddled swing and bop in effective fashion. He was featured in the Oscar-nominated short film Jammin’ The Blues (1944), and recorded with Charlie Parker in 1947. A stint with the Oscar Peterson Trio in 1952–53 led to recordings as ...
(Piano, composer, 1898–1937) One of the most enduringly popular composers of the twentieth century, Gershwin composed such enduring melodies as ‘Summertime’, ‘Embraceable You’ and ‘Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off’. His tuneful songs with their rich harmonic progressions are ideal for improvisation and were popular with jazz musicians including Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, ...
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. ...
(Vibraphone, 1923–99) Milt Jackson diverged from his two great predecessors on vibes, Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo, by developing a linear, rhythmically inflected approach rooted in bebop rather than swing. He preferred the slightly larger vibraharp to the more familiar vibraphone, and adjusted the oscillator to give a trademark rich, warm sound. He recorded as ...
(Piano, vocals, 1917–65) Nat ‘King’ Cole (real name Coles) was one of the few jazz artists to become a household name as a popular singer, and was one of the first black American artists to have his own radio show (1948–49), and later television show (1956–57). He was born into a musical family in Alabama, but moved ...
(Alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, 1924–82) Edward ‘Sonny’ Stitt was equally proficient on the alto and tenor saxophones. Initially a devotee of Charlie Parker, he developed into a hard-hitting and fluid improviser with a reputation for extreme toughness in ‘cutting’ contests. He worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, J.J. Johnson and Oscar Peterson, but ...
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, ...
In 1891, when the Irish playwright Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) wrote his famous words ‘Life imitates art far more than art imitates life’, he had somehow managed to overlook the artistic realities of the late nineteenth century. By that time, after some 50 years of the High Romantic era, music and opera had brought real life on stage and ...
The singing cowboys did not have the monopoly on country music on the silver screen, although it was their breed that first caught Hollywood’s attention. By the time the 1940s rolled around, several of Nashville’s top stars found that they could expand their careers by bringing their talents to the vast new audiences. Singing Stars In the earlier decade ...
This section encompasses styles that were, at least initially, designed to work in tandem with other forms of expression, deepening or enhancing their impact. The scores of musical theatre are woven into stories played out by the characters on stage. A film soundtrack is composed to interlock with the action on a cinema screen, while cabaret songs ...
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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
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