Results for "Nelson Riddle"

Nelson Riddle

Born: June 1, 1921

Nelson Riddle - arranger (1921 - 1985) Nelson Riddle was one of the greatest arrangers in the history of American popular music. He worked with many of the major pop vocalists of his day, but it was his immortal work with Frank Sinatra, particularly on the singer’s justly revered Capitol concept albums, that cemented his enduring legacy. He was a master of mood and subtlety, and an expert at drawing out a song’s emotional subtext. He was highly versatile in terms of style, mood and tempo, and packed his charts full of rhythmic and melodic variations and rich tonal colors that blended seamlessly behind the lead vocal line

Joe Block Christmas Extravaganza at Chris’ Jazz Café

by Victor L. Schermer
December 25, 2023

Joe Block Christmas Extravaganza Chris' Jazz Café Philadelphia, PA December 17, 2023 Pianist Joe Block is a remarkable pianist and band leader born and bred in Philadelphia and its suburbs. He is a graduate of both Juilliard and Columbia, was mentored by legendary pianists like Tom Lawton ...

Backgrounder: Nelson Riddle - Changing Colors

July 6, 2023

Yesterday, I posted on Nelson Riddle's little-known Communication album in 1971 for MPS Records. Two years later, Riddle recorded a second album for MPS that was equally excellent—Changing Colors. The song list on this album was a fresh mixed bag, including three originals, a George Harrison song and standards: My Life (composed by Claus Ogerman) My ...

Backgrouder: Nelson Riddle - Communication

July 5, 2023

In 1971, Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer, the founder of Germany's MPS Records, had an idea. But first he had two questions: Why would an arranger the likes of Nelson Riddle be reduced to composing, arranging and conducting for The 101 Strings, an album released a year earlier? And why would he be compelled to record originals straining ...

November 2022: Novel Noël: A Jingle Jazz Celebration

by C. Michael Bailey
November 16, 2022

Lyn Stanley Novel Noël: A Jingle Jazz Celebration A. T. Music 2022 Vocalist Lyn Stanley ironically calls her ensemble the Big Band Jazz Maverick when it is she who is the maverick, the evidence being how seamlessly she expands the holiday canon on Novel Noël: A Jingle Jazz Celebration. Over ...

Pianist Joe Block: At the Start of His Big Bang

by Victor L. Schermer
June 9, 2022

According to cosmologists, our universe started as a tiny speck and within a fraction of a second exploded into a huge ever-expanding space with all the galaxies, stars, and planets condensing out of the dispersed matter within it. This picture of the origins of the cosmos provides an apt metaphor for the way in which some ...

Matthew Parrish's Philly Express Band: Jazz at Cherry Street Pier

by Victor L. Schermer
April 28, 2022

Matthew Parrish Philly Express Band Cherry Street Pier Philadelphia, PA April 16, 2022 This “Jazz Appreciation Month" concert, sponsored by Jazz Philadelphia and the city's Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, unveiled a jazz quintet of highest caliber. The group was assembled by bassist Matthew Parrish ...

2021: The Year in Jazz

by Ken Franckling
December 31, 2021

The jazz world continued grappling and adjusting in year two of the COVID-19 pandemic. International Jazz Day again went virtual for the most part. Singer Tony Bennett put the final stamp on his touring--and likely recording--career after his Alzheimer's disclosure. Trumpeter Irvin Mayfield was headed to federal prison. The National Endowment for the Arts welcomed four ...

Rubén Blades: Salswing!

by Jim Trageser
May 23, 2021

In the liner notes to this recording, veteran Latin pop singer Rubén Blades explains that Salswing! is meant as a demonstrative statement: About his own ability to grow beyond being a Panamanian singer, to show that musicians can speak to an audience beyond their own nationality, and to celebrate the stellar chops of the Roberto Delgado ...

Robyn Spangler