USA

Page 5

SONGWRITER

The three acts of Lonnie Johnson' blues

Lonnie Johnson (1889—1970) was a prolific American musician, singer, and songwriter, and one of the first major blues...
Electric Guitar

Swedish Rhapsody variations for electric guitar

The painting Midsummer Eve bonfire on Skagen’s beach is a tribute to the artist colony in Skagen by Peder Severin Krøyer...
SAROD

Vasant Rai's fretless guitar arrangements for Indian classical

Vasant Rai (1942-1985) was one of the world's most acclaimed masters of Indian music. Born in Unjha, in the province of...
FLUTE

Incredible stunts by the blind virtuoso influenced a whole generation

Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1936-1977) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who played saxophone, flute, and over 40...
SONGWRITER

La Mer poem became an international hit after years of searching for a melody

Charles Trenet was one of the most influential popular French songwriters in the mid-20th century. A performer of...
PIANO

To study academic theory, superb pianist Wynton Kelly took up bass

Wynton Kelly was born in Brooklyn, NYC in 1931 to Jamaican parents. His blues-based piano playing made him one of the...
SONGWRITER

German roots of the Moon of Alabama

The Alabama Song first appeared in a collection of five poems published by German playwright Bertolt Brecht in 1927,...
FILM

Five tones of Spielberg's alien language

Close Encounters of the Third Kind—Steven Spielberg’s first and perhaps best attempt at sci-fi—was released in 1977 only...
FILM

The drama of The Chain kept alive on the big screen

The Chain, included on Fleetwood Mac’s classic 1977 Rumours album, has retained that particular brand of culturally...
Trombone

Moonlight Serenade got its name to contrast the sun

Glenn Miller, American big band leader, composer, and trombonist, is considered the primary musical symbol of the World...
FILM

Instrumental simplicity of the quiet piano drama Breathe In

In the intimate story of a foreign exchange student who causes a deep and devastating rift in a close-knit upstate New...
ORCHESTRA

'Mysterious Mountain' creator was not thrilled with its popularity

American composer Alan Hovhaness is perhaps most known for his work Mysterious Mountain, or Symphony No.2, which proved...
Contemporary Composer

North Indian classics introduced into Californian underground thanks to Terry Riley

Minimalist pioneer Terry Riley remains among the most revolutionary composers of the post-war era. Famed for his...
SONGWRITER

I Put a Spell on You: the wild roots of the song's blackout drunk recording

I Put a Spell on You is a 1956 song written by Screamin' Jay Hawkins that became an instant classic and remained his...
Violin

Belated appreciation for the history-making Florence Price

The modern rediscovery of the little-known African-American composer Florence Price only began in 2009, when a large...
SAXOPHONE

Chu Berry: finest tenor sax voice of the '30s silenced by fatal car crash

Leon 'Chu' Berry (1908-1941), perhaps one of the most brilliant American tenor sax players, found interest in music at a...
MODERN JAZZ QUARTET

Bebop meets baroque in memorable Collaboration

Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) is an American musical ensemble noted for their innovations in jazz forms and consistently...
ORCHESTRA

The most performed contemporary composer grew up with Bob Marley music

Jennifer Higdon is a contemporary composer and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Awards. According to a recent...
SONGWRITER

There were no bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover

(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover is an iconic song composed in 1941 by the American songwriting... 4 comments
FILM

Easy Living owes Billie Holiday for giving it voice

A tender ballad Easy Living has forthright lyrics that declare just how wonderful life can be when living for someone...
FILM

Sicario's desert pulsates in Jóhannsson's score

Sicario tells the story of an idealistic FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) who is enlisted by a government official to...
FILM

Vintage synthesizers alleviate the Blade Runner sequel

Blade Runner 2049 is the long-anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 iconic film which defined a whole generation of...
MEDITATION

Brian Eno's Airport Music for orchestra

It is useless to speculate now which direction the genre of ambient might have taken if not for Brian Eno, the revered... 1 comment
VIBRAPHONE

Cal Tjader: the inception of Latin jazz in the Bay Area

Vibraphonist Cal Tjader was a fruitful composer who combined Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms with jazz harmonies,...
SONGWRITER

The Birth of 'Venus': from Stephen Foster, to The Big 3, and Shocking Blue

Stephen Foster (1826—1864) was an American composer whose vast contribution to a popular song, specifically the ballad... 2 comments
SONGWRITER

Peggy Lee's sensual version of Fever replaced the original

Fever, one of the biggest songs to define a generation, is a passionate love proclamation that spoke to listeners of all...
FILM

Star Wars meets Baroque classics

The long-spanning Star Wars saga is embedded into our consciousness not only with its visual motifs but also its iconic...
Big band

The Stride Piano founder left nightclubs in favor of symphonic music

James P. Johnson has secured an honorable place in jazz music history as one of the most gifted piano players and...
SAXOPHONE

Nelson's time in the Marines inspired his future composer career

Oliver Edward Nelson (1932–1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He is best remembered for...
SONGWRITER

Seven Nation Army riff conquers sport and classical music

It seems that since the initial release of the White Stripes' Seven Nation Army in 2003, the crowds at sporting events...

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