Results for "composer/conductor"

Vince Giordano

Born: March 11, 1952

In 30 years as a bandleader, Vince Giordano has become the authority on recreating the sounds of 1920s and '30s jazz and popular music. "I just love the energy of the early jazz," says Giordano. "I wanted to recapture some of that." Early appearances with Leon Redbone and on Prairie Home Companion and lending his talents to Francis Ford Coppola’s film The Cotton Club, led to working with Dick Hyman's Orchestra in half a dozen Woody Allen soundtracks then as a bass player in Sean Penn’s band in Woody’s Sweet and Lowdown. He and band were featured in Gus Van Sant’s film Finding Forrester, in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, Robert DeNiro’s film, The Good Shepherd and most recently in Sam Mendes’ upcoming film: Revolutionary Road

George Gershwin

Born: September 26, 1898

George Gershwin was born Jacob Gershowitz in Brooklyn in 1898, the second of four children from a close-knit immigrant family. He began his musical career as a song-plugger on Tin Pan Alley, but was soon writing his own pieces. Gershwin's first published song, "When You Want ‘Em, You Can't Get ‘Em," demonstrated innovative new techniques, but only earned him five dollars. Soon after, however, he met a young lyricist named Irving Ceaser. Together they composed a number of songs including "Swanee," which sold more than a million copies. In the same year as "Swanee," Gershwin collaborated with Arthur L

Russell Garcia

Born: April 12, 1916

Russell Garcia, the composer, conductor and arranger renowned for his stellar collaborations with Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Anita O'Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Frances Faye, Mel Tormé, Frank Sinatra and numerous others as well as film scores for George Pal's "The Time Machine" and "Atlantis: The Lost Continent" and his orchestrations for Charlie Chaplin's "Limelight," died Sunday, November 20, 2011. He passed away peacefully at his home in Kerikeri, New Zealand, with Gina Mauriello Garcia, his lyricist and wife of 59 years, by his side. He was 95. In April, Mr. Garcia performed three 95th birthday concerts throughout New Zealand with New York vocalists Shaynee Rainbolt and Terese Genecco and New Zealand singer Tim Beveridge. Mr

Rob Fisher

ROB FISHER is a recognized authority on American music of all kinds. His particular specialty has been conducting classic musical theater. Fisher was music director and conductor of the Tony-honored Encores! series at New York’s City Center from its inception in 1994 through 2005. In 1997 he was presented the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Special Achievement for his work on Encores! The series has spawned many recordings for which he has served as the conductor and associate producer. The Broadway hits Chicago and Wonderful Town began at the Encores! series. Fisher was instrumental in their successful transfers, and he remains supervising music director of companies of Chicago around the world

Gil Evans

Born: May 13, 1912

Ian Ernest Gilmore Green (or Gilmore Ian Rodrigo Green) was born May 13, 1912, in Toronto, Canada, the son of Margaret Julia MacChonechy and a father he never knew. He took the name of his stepfather, and thus became Gil Evans. His stepfather was a miner, whereas his mother took care of the children of rich families, and prepared meals for campsites. Moving wherever work would take them, they went from one North-American mining site to the next, including Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and such Northwestern U.S. states as Idaho, Montana, and Washington. Their child was put in boarding houses, moving from one family to the next, until they finally settled permanently in California, around 1922

James Reese Europe

Born: February 22, 1881

During the first two decades of the twentieth century, James Reese Europe emerged as the most renowned bandleader of New York's entertainment world. Famed for his syncopated orchestral accompaniment of the dancing team of Irene and Vernon Castle, Europe became a major figure in promoting the popularity of social dancing and engendered a ragtime-based music that contributed to the emergence of jazz. During World War I, his 369th Infantry Band the “Hell Fighters,” was hailed by French and American troops as the finest ensemble in the Allied Army. James Reese Europe was born on February 22, 1880, in Mobile, Alabama

Eddy Duchin

Born: April 1, 1909

Eddy Duchin - pianist, bandleader (1910 - 1951) The most famous of the piano showman, Eddy Duchin (his first name sometimes spelled ''Eddie'') began his career in 1928 with Leo Reisman's orchestra at New York's Central Park Casino, the most elegant society nightspot in the city. Though part of a team with fellow pianist Nat Brandywynne, Duchin's flashy style and suave demeanor quickly made him the most popular member of the group, and in 1931 he took over Reisman's place as leader at the Casino. His ten-piece orchestra played seven nights a week to a packed house. Duchin's trademark was crossing his hands and playing the lower register with only one finger

Jimmy Dorsey

Born: February 29, 1904

James "Jimmy" Dorsey the older of the two Dorsey brothers was a child prodigy who began his musical career at the age seven playing the slide trumpet and cornet with his father's brass band at local parties. His father was a working class man who wanted a better life for his children and made them study music, diligently. By the time he was 17, Jimmy was playing with the Jean Goldkette band with Bix Beiderbecke and Frankie Trumbauer. During the 1920's the Goldkette Orchestra had broken up, and Jimmy, along with Bix and Trumbauer joined Paul Whiteman's group. Jimmy left Whiteman's group and freelanced around playing with Red Nichols

Xavier Cugat

Born: January 1, 1900

Xavier Cugat was the first bandleader to front a successful Latin orchestra in the United States. He was largely responsible for popularizing Latin music among North American audiences, paving the way for such future stars as Perez Prado, and Tito Puente. Sources differ widely on Cugat's early life and career. It seems, though, that he was born on January 1, 1900, in the Catalonian region of Spain and moved to Cuba with his family when he was only a few years of age. A child prodigy on the violin, at age 12 he earned a seat as first violin with the orchestra of the Teatro Nacional in Havana

Henry Cowell

Born: March 11, 1897