(Tuba, bass, 1900–57) By the end of the 1930s Walter Page had brought the usually subordinate roll of the bass to a position of critical importance without substantially expanding its time-keeping function. As a component of the unique Count Basie ‘all-American’ rhythm section from 1936–42, he produced a large, round but never percussive attack, whose ringing ...
The last of the triumvirate of guitar legends who played with The Yardbirds, Jimmy Page became an icon of rock guitarists in the 1970s with Led Zeppelin. Elements of his playing style have been copied to the point of cliché in the years since Led Zeppelin dominated the rock world, but as the originator, Page developed the heavy-metal ...
Sir Walter Scott was perhaps the most popular literary figure in Europe in the 1820s. His adventurous tales set in chivalrous times captured an atmosphere of romance and mysticism, and exploited the vogue for Scottish subjects which was enveloping Europe. Rossini’s La donna del lago (‘The Lady of the Lake’, 1819), was the first successful opera derived from Scott’s works. ...
(Trumpet, vocals, 1908–54) Oran Thaddeus Page surfaced in the Bennie Moten Band as a powerful blues player, often using a plunger mute. He was with the as-yet unknown Count Basie in 1936 and might soon have left Kansas City as one of that fabled band of brothers had he not been approached by Joe Glaser. Glaser was Louis ...
(Harmonica, vocals, 1918–61) Walter Horton was born in Horn Lake, Mississippi. He taught himself harmonica at the age of five and was working the streets shortly thereafter. He moved to Chicago in 1940 but it wasn’t until later in the decade that he began to be more active professionally. Horton replaced Junior Wells in the Muddy Waters Band ...
(Harmonica, vocals, 1930–68) Marion Walter Jacobs was born in Marksville, Louisiana. He taught himself harmonica at the age of eight and was working the New Orleans streets by the time he was 12. He worked in Helena, Arkansas (where he met Rice Miller) and St. Louis before arriving in Chicago in 1946. He was encouraged by guitarists ...
(Guitar, vocals, b. 1943) This New Orleans guitarist started out accompanying R&B singers, but as a leader in the 1970s he developed a strong local following and gradually crossed over to wider audiences through appearances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He debuted on Rounder Records in 1986 with the funky Wolf Tracks, following up ...
(Guitar, vocals, b. 1951) In a BBC radio poll, blues rocker Trout was ranked number six among the top 20 guitarists of all time. Not bad for an Ocean City, New Jersey native who worked for decades as a sideman with John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thornton, Canned Heat and John Mayall before forming his ...
1894–1976 American composer Piston studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger and Dukas, then taught at Harvard University (Leonard Bernstein and Elliott Carter, 1908–2012, were among his pupils), publishing several composition textbooks. His music, including eight symphonies, is neo-classical, athletically energetic and graceful. Recommended Recording: The Incredible Flutist, New York PO (cond) Leonard Bernstein (Sony) ...
1876–1962 German conductor After conducting at the Vienna Court Opera, Walter was music director at the Munich Opera 1913–22, and at the Städtische Oper, Berlin 1925–29. He worked at the Vienna Opera in the 1930s, but left Austria after the Anschlüss and settled in the US. He conducted regularly at Covent Garden 1924–31, and at the ...
1895–1956 German pianist Born in France to German parents, Gieseking was particularly associated with the music of Debussy and Ravel. He studied in Hanover, where he performed a near-complete cycle of the Beethoven sonatas. His recitals in the 1920s included much contemporary music, and he was admired as an interpreter of Mozart and Beethoven. Introduction | Modern Era ...
If swing in its most characteristic form was a hot and hard-driving music, William ‘Count’ Basie showed that there was a cooler and softer side to the music, an alter ego that even at swift tempos could move with a relaxed, almost serene restraint that subliminally mirrored the streamlined design forms of the Machine Age, in which ...
(Vocals, 1899–1972) James Andrew Rushing was born in Oklahoma City into a musical family. He worked in California in the mid-1920s as a pianist and vocalist, joined Walter Page’s Blue Devils in Oklahoma City in 1927 and made his recording debut with the band in 1929. He played with the Bennie Moten Band in Kansas City from 1929, ...
Infectiously swinging, full of good humour and hugely popular for its time, the jump blues movement of the pre-and-post-Second World War years was a precursor to the birth of both R&B and rock’n’roll. Kansas City was an incubator for jump blues in the late 1930s, via the infectious, rolling rhythms of Walter Page’s Blue Devils and the ...
The popularity of jazz hit a peak after the Depression years of 1929–33. By the end of 1934, huge numbers were tuning in to the NBC Radio series Let’s Dance, which broadcast performances by The Xavier Cugat, Kel Murray and Benny Goodman Orchestras. Goodman’s orchestra in particular caught on with the public and created a demand for live ...
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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.