(Singer-songwriter, b. 1963) Originally compared to Joni Mitchell, North Carolina-born Amos has an ability to blend crafted confessional and confident songwriting with pop and rock hooks. Subject matter included rape – ‘Me And A Gun’ – as well as miscarriage, marriage and the celebration of her own sexuality. As well as singles like ‘Cornflake Girl’ and ‘Pretty Good ...
(Yo-an’-nes Tink’-tôr-is) 1430–after 1511 French theorist Tinctoris attended university at Orléans and worked for most of his adult life at the Aragonese court in Naples. There he produced the most authoritative body of theoretical writing on music of his time. He was familiar with current musical practices, and dedicated one of his treatises to his contemporaries Ockeghem and Busnoys. His surviving ...
(Mekh’-a-el Pri-tô’-re-oos) c. 1571–1621 German composer and theorist Born into a strict Lutheran household, Praetorius became one of the greatest and most prolific early composers in the Protestant tradition. He composed over 1,000 sacred works – mostly hymns based on Lutheran chorales, but also German psalm settings and some Latin-texted works. Today, however, Praetorius is best known ...
(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 ...
(Vocals, piano, 1906–76) Houston native Victoria Spivey cut her first sides for OKeh in 1926 and she was soon one of the most popular artists of the ‘classic blues’ era. An eloquent lyricist alongside her vocal gifts, Spivey worked steadily into the 1940s; in 1962 she emerged from retirement as the head of blues label Spivey Records, ...
(Piano, vocals, 1927–80) Joseph Amos Milburn Jr. was born in Houston, Texas, and he began recording in 1946 for Aladdin records. Milburn was an exceptionally popular performer between the late 1940s and mid-1950s, with number-one R&B hits such as ‘Chicken Shack Boogie’, ‘Bewildered’ and ‘Roomin’ House Boogie’ (all 1948–49). Beginning in 1949, he toured and ...
(Electric bass, piano, 1951–87) The brash Pennsylvania native burst on to the music scene in 1974 with a debut recording, Jaco, which redefined the way in which the electric bass could be played. A veteran of R&B and pop bands in Fort Lauderdale by the age of 24, Pastorius collaborated with his good friend, guitarist ...
1630–80, Italian Nothing is known of the first 30 years of Antonio Sartorio’s life, except that he was Venetian. He made his first appearance in the historical records in 1661, when the first of his 15 operas, Gl’amori infruttuosi di Pirro (‘Pirro’s Hopeless Love’, 1661) was performed in Venice. In 1664, Sartorio was appointed Kappellmeister at ...
1923–2005, Spanish Possessing fine musicianship and a warm, sincere stage presence, soprano de Los Angeles gained recognition when she won first prize in the 1947 Geneva International Competition. She performed the following year in London, then at the Paris Opéra in 1949 and the Salzburg Festival in 1950. After her Met debut in 1951, she was ...
(Ot-to-re’-no Res-pe’-ge) 1879–1936 Italian composer As a young man, making his living as a violinist, Respighi studied briefly with Rimsky-Korsakov. This, and a remarkable ear, made him a master orchestrator, and his three sets of Roman Pictures (Pines, Fountains and Festivals of Rome) are vividly colourful and dramatic. His popular suites of Ancient Airs and ...
(Piano, vocals, 1927–80) Milburn was a Houston pianist whose rollicking piano-playing and versatile singing was a major influence on Fats Domino and others. Milburn’s first hit was the 1948 party classic ‘Chicken Shack Boogie’. Milburn could croon a soulful ballad, but made a bigger impact with horn-driven material such as ‘Roomin’ House Boogie’ and ‘Sax Shack Boogie’, along ...
(Vocals, 1972–97) Born Christopher Wallace in New York, he sold crack to make ends meet which ended up in a jail term. Because of his large size he began rapping under the name of Biggie Smalls and an early demo eventually found its way to Sean Combs, a.k.a. Puff Daddy, who signed him to his ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1987–present) This Seattle group, Layne Staley (vocals), Jerry Cantrell (guitar), Mike Starr (bass) and Sean Kinney (drums), cut their teeth on a winning blend of metal and acoustic numbers before being remarketed as a ‘grunge’ act after Nirvana’s huge success. Their second album Dirt (1992) won acclaim and huge sales, a position cemented by Jar Of ...
It may not fit into the purists’ ideal, but contemporary song has long been an essential element of folk music. The art of the singer-songwriter, from Woody Guthrie through to Bob Dylan, and a whole host of artists who emerged in their wake, fuelled much of the early folk revival. Today’s singer-songwriters borrow heavily from many disparate ...
After a decade that saw the art of the singer-songwriter being somewhat submerged by the demands of electronic over-production, disco crossover and relentless fashion horrors, the 1990s saw a rebirth of the solo artist with a genuinely individual style. This proved to be of particular benefit to female artists who, while still having to conform to demands for ...
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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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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.