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Billy May
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The last of the great arrangers who wrote regularly for Frank Sinatra, Billy May had several varied careers in and out of jazz. His first notable gig was as an arranger/trumpeter with Charlie Barnet (1938-1940), for whom he wrote the wah-wah-ing hit arrangement of Ray Noble's "Cherokee." Later, he worked in the same capacities for Glenn Miller (1940-1942) and Les Brown (1942) before settling into staff jobs, first at NBC studios, then at Capitol Records, where he led his own studio big band from 1951 to 1954. His arrangements for Sinatra, beginning with Come Fly With Me (1957) and ending with Trilogy (1979), are often in a walloping, brassy, even taunting swing mode, generating some of the singer's most swaggering vocals
The Songbooks (1950 - 1959)
by Russell Perry
Songs from what came to be known as the Great American Songbook, have been part of jazz perhaps since The Original Dixieland Jazz Band began recording Irving Berlin compositions. In the 1940s, singer Lee Wiley recorded several collections of 78s, known as “albums"--a name that stuck into the LP era, focused on the work of individual ...
Gerry Mulligan, Adam Price & More
by Joe Dimino
This week we begin with a profile of a the fresh jazz sounds out of the United Kingdom with The Beats and Pieces Big Band featuring the group's leader Ben Cottrell off their latest commemorative CD simply entitled Ten. It celebrates a full decade of their groundbreaking jazz groove. The hour continues with a mincing of ...
Los Angeles Jazz Institute Festival - Woodchopper's Ball: Part 3-4
by Simon Pilbrow
Los Angeles Jazz Institute Festival “Woodchoppers' Ball" Four Points by Sheraton at LAX Los Angeles, CA May 23-27, 2018 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Concert 8: The Herdsmen -Bobby Shew meets Larry McKenna Trumpeter Bobby Shew is a well- known ...
The Ken Peplowski Big Band: Sunrise
by Jack Bowers
Many contemporary big bands are all about “breaking new ground" and “exploring new pathways." Not this one. Ace clarinetist Ken Peplowski, who has performed and recorded with myriad large ensembles, at home and abroad, but has seldom led one--although he did record one other big-band album, Last Swing of the Century (Concord Jazz, 1999)--simply wants to ...
Billy May: The Transcriptions
Something happened in the 1950s. Actually two things did. The generation that grew up during the Depression and fought in World War II turned 40 in 1955. Just as they blew out the candles, the long-playing album expanded from 10 inches to 12. Both trends set the table neatly for Frank Sinatra's recording comeback. By the ...
Curtis Stigers with the Danish Radio Big Band: One More For The Road
by Angelo Leonardi
Curtis Stigers è un cantante pop che ha debuttato nel 1991 con brani di grande appeal commerciale come “I Wonder Why," “Never Saw a Miracle" e “You're All That Matters to Me." Per un decennio ha variato leggermente quel patinato blend di pop, soul, smooth jazz, folk e rock, fino ad abbracciare più decisamente il jazz ...
Walt Weiskopf: All About the Sound
by Bob Kenselaar
What is it that drives Walt Weiskopf? It's all about the music, all about the sound.He's reached a large audience in ten years of touring with Steely Dan. He's written a half dozen books on jazz improvisation techniques and methods, and he's taught at the Eastman School of Music, Temple University and New Jersey ...
Peter Oprisko - Sean Baker Orchestra: Lost in a Kiss
by Angelo Leonardi
Senza attendere il successo planetario di Michael Bublé, Jamie Cullum, Harry Connick Jr. e Peter Cincotti, la tradizione statunitense del crooner s'è mantenuta grazie al florido mercato musicale che opera in locali notturni, casinò, ristoranti e hotel. Peter Oprisko è uno dei migliori esponenti di questo filone, grazie alla vicinanza stilistica con Frank Sinatra ...
Roberto Magris Trio & Herb Geller: An Evening with Herb Geller & the Roberto Magris Trio: Live in Europe 2009
by Edward Blanco
Italian pianist Roberto Magris pays tribute to one of the most unheralded and exceptional alto saxophonist of our time on An Evening With Herb Geller & The Roberto Magris Trio: Live In Europe 2009, documenting the last recording before his passing in late 2013. A traditional old-style American saxophonist prominent as a West coast jazz master, ...
