Results for "composer/conductor"

Claus Ogerman

Born: April 29, 1930

Chico O'Farrill

Born: October 28, 1921

For over half a century, he was one of a pantheon of innovators who fused the soul-wrenching rhythms of African Cuba with the sweet harmonies of American jazz. Longtime admirers of the Latin jazz genre know O’Farrill as a master of sweeping, symphonic compositions that embraced his love of Debussy, Stravinsky, and the mambo; and as a bandleader who keeps alive the roar of a full dance band, as conductor of the Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Big Band, which played New York’s Birdland every Sunday night. For much of his career he worked quietly in the background, crafting music that became a showcase for others: "Undercurrent Blues" for Benny Goodman; “Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite” for Charlie Parker and the Machito orchestra; “Trumpet Fantasy,” premiered at Lincoln Center in 1996 with soloist Wynton Marsalis; and more than 80 arrangements for Count Basie

Ray Noble

Born: December 17, 1903

The songs of the late English bandleader and composer, Ray Noble, are very much of the type for which many take a historical look backwards in saying, "They don't write songs like that -anymore." And without denigrating the wonderful output of songwriters of today, songs like those in Noble's amazing catalog are simply not being written today. The coterie of classic songs, included the enduring, "The Very Thought Of You," "The Touch Of Your Lips," “Love Is The Sweetest Thing" and "I Hadn't Anyone 'Til You," the latter highly popularized by the famed Tommy Dorsey Band in the late '30s

Lennie Niehaus

Born: June 1, 1929

Featured alto sax soloist and arranger for the famous Stan Kenton Orchestra, he has also recorded several albums of his own with jazz greats Mel Lewis, Shelly Manne, Jimmy Giuffre, Hampton Hawes and more. Lennie has also been composer for numerous Clint Eastwood's films including Pale Rider, Unforgiven, The Bridges Of Madison County, Absolute Power, True Crime, Space Cowboys, and Bird, the award- winning tribute to legendary bebop artist Charlie Parker. In 1994 he won an Emmy for his score for the Showtime film Lush Life. Lennie Niehaus admits that he “has every reason to be proud and happy”

Sammy Nestico

Born: February 6, 1924

At the age of 17, Sammy Nestico became the staff arranger for ABC radio station, WCAE, Pittsburgh, Pa. He received his B.S. degree in music education from Duquesne University, and has been honored three times by the school with an honorary Doctor of Music degree, the Distinguished Alumni award, and in 1994, he was inducted into the Century Club. North Texas State also presented him with special music awards in 1978, 1979 and 1980. As an educator, he has directed the music programs at Westinghouse Memorial High School, Wilmerding Pa., Pierce College, Los Angeles, Ca. and the University of Georgia, Athens, Ga

Bennie Moten

Born: November 13, 1894

Kansas City jazz, a hard-swinging, blues-based musical style that flourished in the 1920s and '30s, is one of the greatest contributions to the uniquely American art form of jazz. Of the countless musicians and bandleaders who played at nightclubs, ballrooms, social clubs, and all-night jam sessions in the 18th & Vine district during that golden era, none embodied Kansas City jazz more than Bennie Moten. Moten was born and raised in Kansas City, where he studied piano with two of Scott Joplin's former students. While Moten was considered to be a good, but not exceptional, piano player, he excelled as a bandleader and businessman

Noro Morales

Born: January 4, 1911

Noro Morales - piano, bandleader (1911 - 1964) Noro Morales was one of the most popular Latin band leaders of the ‘40s and ‘50s, in New York. Morales grew up in a musical family, which was invited in 1924 to become the court orchestra of the president of Venezuela. Noro took over as conductor after his father died, eventually moving the band back to Puerto Rico. He moved to New York City in 1935 and within two years was leading his own rhumba band. Installed as the house band at the legendary club El Morocco, Morales was at the center of the rise of Latin jazz in the early 1940s. Xavier Cugat took Morales' composition, "Bim, Bam, Bum" and covered it for one of his earliest hits

Lucky Millinder

Born: August 8, 1900

He played no instruments, sang no songs, never became a noted composer, but in his own way, a musician of undeniable talent. He put bands together, got the vocalists, the right songs, and presented the entire package. Lucky Millinder was a genuine showman who was very much in the spotlight, while, contributing to the background of Jazz, Blues, Rhythm and Blues and all that followed. The man who would be nicknamed Lucky was born Lucius Venable Millinder in Anniston, Alabama August 8, 1900, but it was exposure to his folks new home in Chicago that would provide more than luck to Lucky Millinder's musical development

Johnny Mercer

Born: November 18, 1909

When people write about Johnny Mercer, they usually talk about his fabulous career, the sheer quantity of his output, the speed and ease with which he wrote, his southern charm, the hip sophistication of his lyrics. But all this misses the real point. Ask anyone who writes lyrics. Johnny Mercer was a genius. He was born John Herndon Mercer on November 18, 1909 into an old Southern family in Savannah, Georgia. His father was a wealthy attorney with a flourishing real estate business, and young John was sent to a fashionable prep school, the Woodbury Forrest School in Virginia. However, when he was 17, his father's business collapsed, and his father found himself a million dollars in debt

Vince Mendoza

Born: November 17, 1961

8 Time Grammy award winning composer-arranger Vince Mendoza has been at the forefront of the jazz and contemporary music scene as a composer, conductor and recording artist for the last 30 years. He has written scores of compositions and arrangements for big band, chamber and symphonic settings while his jazz composing credits read like a “who's who” of the best modern instrumentalists and singers in the world today.  

Mendoza's arranging has appeared on many critically acclaimed projects that include dozens of albums with song writing legends and vocalists such as Björk, Gregory Porter, Chaka Khan, Elvis Costello, Alejandro Sanz, Al Jarreau, Diana Krall, Melody Gardot, Sting and Joni Mitchell.  He has 8 Grammy awards and 38 nominations.