1898–1979 American composer Born in a log cabin, Harris paid for his musical studies by driving a truck. He studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, but his rugged style owes as much to American folksong and hymn tunes as to his love of J. S. Bach. Of his 16 symphonies only the Third (1937), a work of epic striving ...
Pigeonholed as the ‘quiet one’, misunderstood as an adopter of Eastern religion and music, and overshadowed (sometimes maligned) by his prolific, trail-blazing bandmates Lennon and McCartney, George Harrison (1943–2001) might have become a footnote in musical history. But as a member of The Beatles, Harrison made the words ‘lead guitar’ a household term and steadily developed as ...
Vocalist/pianist Leroy Carr’s life and career belie the myth that pre-war acoustic blues artists were necessarily ‘rural’ or ‘primitive’. Carr was born not on a plantation but in Nashville, Tennessee on 27 March 1905. His father worked as a porter at Vanderbilt University. After his parents separated, his mother brought him and his sister to Indianapolis (known in the ...
While Louis Armstrong remained a pre-eminent jazz symbol in the public mind through the 1930s, and inspired many imitators (Taft Jordan, Hot Lips Page, Wingy Manone), younger and better-schooled musicians were coming up who could navigate the trumpet with great agility and dexterity. They would break through the perimeters that Armstrong had established in the 1920s and take ...
(Vocals, 1925–81) Roy James Brown was born in New Orleans and raised in Texas and Louisiana. A strong blues shouter, Brown was one of the first stars of New Orleans R&B. He led his own group, Roy Brown & his Mighty, Mighty Men, and wrote most of the material he recorded. He began recording for DeLuxe ...
(Vocals, 1913–69) Raised in Omaha, Nebraska, Wynonie Harris first came to prominence in the Lucky Millinder Orchestra of 1944, where he had a number-one Race Chart hit, ‘Who Threw The Whiskey In The Well’. A leather-lunged shouter in the Big Joe Turner tradition, Harris had a long successful run on King records (1947–57), which produced ...
(Drums, vocals, 1907–83) Roy Bunny Milton was born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. He had his own bands before moving to Los Angeles in 1935, where he formed the Solid Senders combo in 1938 and worked small clubs throughout the city. He began recording in 1945 and had a lengthy relationship with Specialty records throughout 1946–54, which produced ...
(Tenor saxophone, vocals, 1934–96) Eddie Harris was one of the few jazz musicians to achieve the distinction of a million-selling hit single with his version of the theme from the film Exodus (1960). A funky, hard-blowing saxophonist from Chicago, he pioneered the use of electronics with tenor saxophone through the Varitone signal processor and similar devices from ...
(Drums, b. 1925) Roy Haynes is a major jazz drummer in settings ranging from swing to jazz rock, taking in most genres of the music including free jazz. He spent three years with Charlie Parker (1949–52) and five with Sarah Vaughan (1953–58), and by the mid-1960s had also worked with Bud Powell, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, ...
(Guitar, vocals, 1939–88) Roy Buchanan’s use of harmonics and his melodic sense were incomparable. Raised on gospel and R&B, he performed with Johnny Otis, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson and Ronnie Hawkins’ Hawks as a young man. A 1971 PBS documentary, The Best Unknown Guitarist In The World, together with adulation from the likes of John Lennon ...
(Guitar, vocals, b. 1950) An exponent of acoustic and electric blues, California-based slide guitarist Rogers played with John Lee Hooker’s Coast To Coast band from 1982–86, before releasing his debut recording as a leader, Chops Not Chaps (1986). He followed up with 1988’s Slidewinder and in 1990 produced Hooker’s Grammy-winning comeback album The Healer. Rogers maintained ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1973–present) Thorogood’s energetic, Delaware-based band drew inspiration from Elmore James and Hound Dog Taylor. Flash guitarist and raw vocalist Thorogood moved the band to Boston in 1974 and gained popularity on the blues circuit there, leading to its 1978 self-titled debut on Rounder Records. The 1979 album Move It On Over was a commercial breakthrough and ...
(Trumpet, b. 1969) Encouraged by Wynton Marsalis while in high school in Dallas, Texas, Hargrove has a jauntier approach to trumpet than his mentor. He principally employs hard-bop vocabulary, but has also led the Latin jazz band Crîsol with Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés, recorded with hip hop/soul singer D’Angelo, and co-starred in Herbie Hancock’s New ...
(Guitar, vocals, b. 1969) Harris was discovered on the streets of New Orleans playing acoustic blues. Soon after his debut, 1995’s Between Midnight And Day, the Denver, Colorado native began incorporating rock, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Caribbean and African influences into his repertoire, creating a distinctive fusion. The electric Greens From The Garden (1999) and Mississippi ...
If Jimmie Rodgers is the father of country music, Uncle Dave Macon its first radio star and the Carters its first family group, Roy Acuff (1903–92) has a claim to be called the father of the country-music business. Not only was he a key figure in the Grand Ole Opry – indeed, for many, its figurehead – ...
AUTHORITATIVE
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...
CURATED
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.