SEARCH RESULTS FOR: Pee Wee Russell
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(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 ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

1576–1623 English composer Weelkes was one of the leading composers of the English madrigal. The unusual text of ‘Thule the Period of Cosmographie’ (1660) is a list of marvels, each of which he matches with appropriately descriptive music. Also famous is ‘As Vesta Was, from Latmos hill descending’ (1601), his contribution to The Triumphs of Oriana, a book ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

(Yän Pe’-ter-sun Sva’-lingk) 1562–1621 Netherlandish composer Sweelinck was a composer, organist and teacher, numbering Scheidt among his pupils. He was enormously influential in the development of north and mid-German organ music, later prompting the most important writer on music of the German Baroque, Johann Mattheson (1681– 1764), to describe him as the ‘creator of Hamburg organists’. He worked ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

Speed and thrash metal sprang to prominence in America during the early 1980s, with fans around the globe forming their own groups. Equally indebted to the do-it-yourself ethos of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal and the underground spirit of hardcore punk, the style’s original progenitors were frighteningly young, but had spent years sharpening their musicianship. Speed ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music, general editor Paul Du Noyer

(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 ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Piano, vocals, 1902–41) William Bunch was born in Tennessee but raised in Arkansas. He played guitar and piano in his youth, left home in the mid-1920s and settled in East St. Louis, Illinois. He made his recording debut in 1930 for Vocalion as Peetie Wheatstraw. A popular and prolific recording artist for Decca and Vocalion until his ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(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 ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Producer, 1892–1960) Peer entered the record business at the age of 19 in his home town of Kansas City, Missouri. By 1920, he was in New York running the OKeh label, where he supervised the first vocal blues recording by a black artist – Mamie Smith – and created a ‘race series’ of exclusively African-American recordings. He ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen

(Accordion, bandleader, 1914–2000) Pee Wee King And His Golden West Cowboys were the chief exponents of western music and western swing east of the Mississippi, best known for high-profile years on the Grand Ole Opry. An accordionist from Wisconsin of German-Polish heritage (born Kuczynski), King eased towards country music during the 1930s and towards stardom under the auspices ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen

(Steel guitar, 1924–2003) Initially influenced by Earl ‘Joaquin’ Murphy, Wesley Webb West picked up the nickname ‘Speedy’ for his skills as a steel guitarist, playing with Spade Cooley and Hank Penny before joining forces with the equally adroit guitarist Jimmy Bryant (1925–80). Together they claimed the title ‘The Flaming Guitars’. Besides producing dazzling, ‘hard to believe’ recordings ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Country Music, consultant editor Bob Allen

(Vocal/instrumental group, 1978–89, 2000–06) One of Australia’s greatest and most underrated bands. Built round the complementary songwriting skills of Robert Forster and Grant McLennan (with Lindy Morrison, drums and Robert Vickers, bass), the band’s thoughtful but powerful indie rock obviously owes a certain debt to Dylan, but with a punky feel; best showcased on 1983’s Before ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

(Vocal/instrumental group, 2006–present) Led by singer Ezra Koenig, American indie quartet Vampire Weekend were formed at prestigious Columbia University. After canvassing fans through sharing songs and internet blogs, they were signed in 2007 and released their self-titled debut the following year. This made the Top 20 in America and the UK, and the hype appeared justified as ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley

(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 ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

(Tenor saxophone, 1904–69) ‘Hawk’ played with Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds in 1922 before joining Fletcher Henderson’s band in New York. Louis Armstrong’s presence in the band had a major effect on Hawkins’ playing; by marrying a swing feel to his heavy tone, informed by his advanced understanding of harmony and chords, Hawkins became a star soloist and the ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues, founding editor Howard Mandel

By the end of the 1930s, the Swing era was in full force, ushered in by big bands led by Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, the Dorsey brothers (Jimmy and Tommy) and Glenn Miller. New Orleans jazz and its stylistic off-shoot, Dixieland, had both largely faded from popularity. New Orleans pioneers King Oliver and Jelly Roll ...

Source: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music, general editor Paul Du Noyer
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