Results for "Louis Prima"

Louis Prima

Born: December 7, 1910

Best remembered for his risque Vegas act of the 1950s, Louis Prima was the ultimate showman. Loud, boisterous, and completely out front, his mix of rhythm and blues, big band music, Italian novelty tunes, and Dixieland made him one of the hottest performers of his era.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Prima studied violin as a child. He took up the trumpet at age fourteen after his brother, who was also a musician, went on tour and left behind an old instrument. Prima taught himself how to play and in the late 1920s began to perform professionally, influenced by Louis Armstrong and the rich jazz heritage of his hometown.

Louis Prima: King of the Swingers

March 3, 2022

Born in New Orleans, trumpeter, singer and entertainer Louis Prima grew up in the city's Italian-American community. He was influenced not only by New Orleans's Black jazz and folk culture but also the tradition of commedia dell'arte that dates back to 16th-century Italy. Comedy's earliest form of improv, this form of street theater poked fun at ...

New Releases, Birthday Shoutouts As Women's History Month Continues

by Mary Foster Conklin
March 22, 2021

Now in full swing, Women's History Month continues—this broadcast features new releases from Jane Monheit, Rebecca Dumaine, Yelena Eckemoff, Roni Ben-Hur and Kenney Polson with birthday shoutouts to Keely Smith, Shirley Scott, Nicki Parrott, Judy Niemack, Anat Fort, Miki Yamanaka, Bobby McFerrin and Mark Murphy, among others. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you ...

Professor Aucoin & the Jazz Scientists: Mystified

by Jack Bowers
February 21, 2021

There is a heap of soul, blues, rock, funk and heart on Professor Tim Aucoin's album, Mystified. On the other hand, the jazz content is in rather short supply. The Jazz Scientists are good at what they do, but what they do is more akin to a nightclub act than a jazz performance, at times reminiscent ...

Vinnie Corbo

Born: August

I am a veteran producer, composer, artist and performer with over 100 albums to my credit and decades of performing. My music can be heard in everything from documentaries to the Channel 5 News. My photography and artwork have appeared on magazine covers, album covers, commercial advertising, countless catalogs, all over the internet and even in Times Square.   While I enjoy entertaining and composing my own music, I also genuinely enjoy working on other artists projects. I derive a great deal of satisfaction from helping an artist have their vision come to fruition.

The Very Singular Mr. Ran Blake

by Duncan Heining
January 23, 2020

There have been few American composers and musicians, with the ability to encapsulate their country's music in all its racial and ethnic complexity. We might perhaps point to Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Charles Ives and perhaps, in their own distaff ways, Harry Partch and Steve Reich. In jazz, their number is fewer still--Duke Ellington and George ...

Moaning, Whistling, Sighing and Other Jazz Sounds

by Ludovico Granvassu
March 29, 2019

Jazz--the quintessential open door genre--has a capacity to beautifully integrate all kinds of sources. From music from faraway places to compositions written and instruments used for completely different genres. When it comes to the human voice, jazz has shown an uncanny openness to its endless possibilities finding a musical role for all sorts of non verbal ...

Rich Halley 3: The Literature

by Jim Trageser
August 17, 2018

Tenor saxophonist Rich Halley decided, according to the liner notes, to make his twenty-first recording an all-covers collection. The title of the recording, he writes, comes from his thought that if “literature" connotes a body of work in classical music, then why not in jazz as well--and so he's collected a dozen of the songs that ...

Michael Leonhart: Surfing on an Orchestral Wave

by Ludovico Granvassu
July 16, 2018

If one were to find an answer to the age-old “nature or nurture" debate, s/he would have to look no further than The Painted Lady Suite [Sunnyside Records]. Listening to the stunning debut album by the Michael Leonhart Orchestra makes it clear that major achievements are only possible when nature and nurture are well integrated and ...

Swingadelic: Mercerville

by Dan Bilawsky
August 31, 2017

Swingadelic loves a good tribute. This little big band's first date for Zoho was all about Duke--Pearson, not Ellington--and its second set on that imprint focused on the music of New Orleans icon Allen Toussaint. Now the group has set its sights on another singular figure, taking a trip to Johnny Mercer country with positive results. ...