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Stan Levey
Born:
Stan Levey, one of the strongest drummers of his generation, was born in Philadelphia in 1926. As a youngster, he showed promise as a boxer, and considered it briefly as a career, but music won out. He played in Philly with Dizzy Gillespie's group in 1942, at the tender age of 17. Soon after, he went to New York, where he and Dizzy worked on 52nd Street with Charlie Parker and Oscar Pettiford. He went on to play on over 1400 recordings and work with most of the big names in the music business at that time. For example: (this is the short list) Instrumentalists: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins, Art Tatum, Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Errol Garner, Miles Davis, George Shearing, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Zoot Simms, Stan Getz, John Lewis, Ray Brown, Sonny Stitt, Barney Bigard, Gerry Mulligan, Vince Guaraldi, Lee Konitz, Bud Shank, Charlie Ventura, Scott LaFaro, Victor Feldman, Art Pepper, Charlie Barnett Big Bands: Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Quincy Jones, Georgie Auld, Charlie Ventura, Boyd Reaburn, Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Skitch Henderson "The Tonight Show Band" Singers: Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Gary Crosby, Pat Boone, Barbara Streisand, The Supremes, Vic Damone, Nancy Wilson, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughn, etc
Results for pages tagged "Philadelphia"...
John LaPorta
Born:
At one point in time, John LaPorta looked like he was going to be one of the leading clarinetists in modern jazz. His cool tone and very advanced style (influenced by Lennie Tristano) seemed to be making him the Lee Konitz of the clarinet. LaPorta showed great promise as a reedman, particularly for his skills as a bebop and Third Stream clarinetist, but chose to sidestep into the educator's chair. One of his first professional gigs was with Bob Chester's swing band, beginning in 1942. In '44 he joined the Herman aggregation and remained for two years, making his own imprint on what became a classic big- band sound
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Eddie Lang
Born:
Eddie Lang was the first Jazz guitar virtuoso. A boyhood friend of Joe Venuti, Lang took violin lessons for 11 years but switched to guitar before he turned professional in 1924 with the Mound City Blue Blowers. He was soon in great demand for recording dates, both in the jazz world and in pop settings. His sophisticated European sounding chord patterns made him a unique accompanist, but he was also a fine soloist. He often played with violinist Venuti and with Red Nichols's Five Pennies , Frankie Trumbauer and Bix Beiderbecke (most memorably on the song "Singin' the Blues")
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Byard Lancaster
Born:
Born William Byard Lancaster, 6 August 1942, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, multi-instrumentalist Lancaster (alto, tenor and soprano saxophones, flutes, clarinets, piano) was, with Sonny Sharrock, Dave Burrell and Eric Gravatt, part of a second generation of African-American "new jazz" players who viewed themselves as John Coltrane's spiritual heirs or "John's Children" as the title of an early Lancaster band song (written by Sharrock) insisted, committed to the same "healing" energies inherent in the jubilant scream. Lancaster identified with secular screams, hence the motto on his business cards: From A Love Supreme To The Sex Machine And All In Between
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Denise King
Born:
"When people ask me about my music and how I got started, I tell them that my singing career really started by accident. Music was never something that I planned to do or something that I picked. It just happened. After all that I've experienced, and all of the wonderful people that I've met, I don't think I would trade this gig for any other in the world." One day a shy girl from Philadelphia, PA, was sweeping her front stoop and sweetly singing "Summertime” when a guitarist/writer from Philadelphia International Records walked by and heard her singing. He was so impressed by what he heard that he auditioned her, hired her and the rest is history
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Richie Kamuca
Born:
Richie Kamuca - tenor saxophone - (1930 - 1977) A superb tenor saxophonist who is another of those jazz musicians who deserved better recognition, Richie Kamuca had a reputation based on his tone, soloing capabilities and solid studio work. Kamuca though from back east, was strongly associated with the west coast jazz scene, but before his move west he played and was a star soloist with Stan Kenton in 1953 and then Woody Herman from 1954 through ’56. It was with Herman’s outfit during 1955 that he was included in the famed Four Brothers that included Al Cohn and Bill Perkins, they recorded an album for RCA which is a classic. His move to the west coast found him joining up with Chet Baker, Maynard Ferguson, the Lighthouse All-Stars (1957-1958), Shorty Rogers, and Shelly Manne, (1959-1961) with whom he appeared on the heralded album “At The Blackhawk” in 1959. By 1962 he was back in New York, and working with Gerry Mulligan, Gary McFarland, and Roy Eldridge, (1966-1971) but after that he headed back to the west coast to steady studio work. Richie Kamuca left us a brief but very distinguished recorded legacy whether as a sideman on albums, or on his own as leader
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Louis Jordan
Born:
At the height of his career, in the 1940s, bandleader and alto saxophonist Louis Jordan scored 18 Number One hit records. Jordan exhibited a brilliant sense of showmanship that brought audiences first-rate entertainment without any loss of musical integrity. He performed songs that appealed to millions of black and white listeners. Able to communicate between these two audiences, Jordan emerged as one of the first successful crossover artists of American popular music. Born on July 8, 1908, in Brinkley, Arkansas, Jordan was the son of Jim Jordan, a bandleader and music teacher. Under the tutelage of his father, Jordan began studying clarinet at age seven, then saxophone
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Philly Joe Jones
Born:
Philly Joe Jones was born with the name Joseph Rudolph Jones in the city of Philadelphia on July 15, 1923. His mother, a piano teacher taught him the basics in music. In his formative years he also studied the drums with drummers the likes of Cozy Cole and Charles Wilcoxon, receiving valuable advise from Art Blakey and a then younger Max Roach. He established himself as "Philly Joe" Jones, from the name of the city of his birth, to distinguish himself from the mainstay Count Basie’s drummer, Jo Jones. But just as Jo Jones established the rhythm section standard in the 30’s and 40’s, Philly Joe would do the same in the 50’s. He began playing with the rhythm and blues bands in the 40’s, establishing himself on the New York jazz scene
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Alphonso Johnson
Born:
Alphonso Johnson is an iconic musician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania whose contributions with the electric bass set the landscape of music to come. As Weather Report’s bassist, Johnson’s warm tone and fluent chops contributed to the band’s initial breakout from avant-garde into funk fusion. His playing was featured on the songs “Mysterious Traveler”, “Scarlet Woman”, and “Cucumber Slumber” which he co-wrote. Alphonso played with the group Santana and also toured with saxophonist Wayne Shorter, pianist James Beard, drummer Rodney Holmes, and guitarist David Gilmore playing S.R.O. shows that stretched across Europe and Japan. Johnson has taught all over the world and in 2004 was appointed Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of Southern California and Part-Time Lecturer at The California Institute of The Arts.
Results for pages tagged "Philadelphia"...
Khan Jamal
Born:
Khan Jamal has been playing the vibraphone and marimbas in the Philadelphia and NYC area as well as touring extensively in Europe for going on 4 decades. Having studied at Granoff School of Music and Combs College as well as with Bill Lewis, the Philadelphia vibraphonist, he began an association with the renowned improvisational drummer, Sunny Murray back in the 60's that has lasted to this day. His appetite for all ranges of music and a distaste for marketing himself not uncommon among gifted performers has led to a lack of notoriety, except among fellow artists who acknowledge his skill and musical leadership
