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Documents for "Music: Popular and Jazz: Biographies":
  • Arlen, Harold 1905-86, American jazz and popular composer, b. Buffalo, N.Y., as Hyman Arluck. From the age of seven Arlen sang in the synagogue where his father was cantor, at 15 he left school to play jazz...
  • Armstrong, Louis Satchmo (Daniel Louis Armstrong), 1901-1971, American jazz trumpet virtuoso, singer, and bandleader, b. New Orleans. He learned to play the cornet in the band of the Waif's Home in New Orleans, and after...
  • Atkins, Chet (Chester Burton Atkins), 1924-2001, American country guitarist, singer, and record company executive, b. Luttrell, Tenn. Part of a musical family, he played fiddle and guitar as a youngster and...
  • Bacharach, Burt 1929-, American composer, arranger, and conductor, b. Kansas City, Mo. He began his career playing piano with jazz bands in the 1940s and then as a pianist and arranger for nightclub acts, notably...
  • Baez, Joan 1941-, American folk singer and political activist, b. New York City. Baez began singing traditional folk ballads, blues, and spirituals in Cambridge, Mass., coffeehouses in a clear soprano voice...
  • Baker, Josephine 1906-75, dancer and singer, b. St. Louis, Mo., as Freda Josephine McDonald. In 1923 and 1924 she appeared in Broadway chorus lines. She became a sensation in Paris in La Revue négre (1925), renowned for her jazz singing, dancing, and exotic costumes. Naturalized as a French citizen in 1937, she worked for the Resistance in World War II. She died in Paris after 14 triumphant...
  • Basie, Count (William Basie) , 1904-84, American jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer, b. Red Bank, N.J. After working in dance halls and vaudeville in New York City, Basie moved to Kansas City, a major jazz center. There he...
  • Bechet, Sidney 1897-1959, American jazz musician, b. New Orleans, La. He began his professional career with his brother Leonard's band in 1911. Later he played with many other bands, including that of King Oliver. Although Bechet played clarinet with vigorous elegance, his most remarkable achievement was his approach to the most difficult of the saxophones, the soprano. His style was marked by a trumpetlike...
  • Beiderbecke, Bix (Leon Bismarck Beiderbecke) , 1903-31, American jazz cornetist, pianist, and composer, b. Davenport, Iowa. Mainly self-taught, he was influenced by recordings of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and by the music of King...
  • Berlin, Irving 1888-1989, American songwriter, b. Russia. Berlin's surname was originally Baline. Of his nearly 1,000 songs, Alexander's Ragtime Band (1911) was his first outstanding hit. In 1918, while he was in...
  • Berry, Chuck (Charles Edward Anderson Berry) , 1926-, American rock music guitarist, singer, and songwriter, b. San Jose, Calif. He was brought up in St. Louis, Mo., where he still lives. Berry is widely regarded as one of the leading pioneers...
  • Blades, Rubén 1948-, Panamanian singer, songwriter, band leader, and actor. He is a graduate (1972) of the Univ. of Panama law school and holds a masters degree (1985) in international law from Harvard. An...
  • Blake, Eubie (James Hubert Blake), 1883-1983, African-American pianist and composer, b. Baltimore. His career has extended from ragtime (see jazz ) to the 1980s. With the songwriter Noble Sissle he produced early...
  • Bowie, David 1947-, British rock and roll singer and songwriter, b. Brixton as David Robert Jones. He scored his first hit with "Space Oddity" (1969), in which he assumed the role of astronaut Major Tom. A student of mime, the tall, slender, theatrical Bowie has been the ultimate pop chameleon. During the 1970s, the height of his fame, he...
  • Brown, James 1933-, African-American rhythm-and-blues singer known as the "godfather of soul," b. Barnwell, S.C., as James Joe Brown, Jr. Abandoned by his parents, he left school in the seventh grade and turned to petty crime. After three years in reform school, Brown joined (1952) the...
  • Brubeck, Dave (David Warren Brubeck) , 1920-, American pianist and composer, b. Concord, Calif. Brubeck began studying piano at the age of four and later studied composition with Milhaud and Schoenberg. In 1951 he organized a jazz...
  • Cahn, Sammy 1913-93, American lyricist, b. New York City as Samuel Cohen. With his first collaborator, Saul Chaplin, he wrote material for vaudeville, and scored his first success (1935) with "Rhythm Is Our Business." He was even more successful with a 1938 version of the Yiddish "Bei Mir Bist du Shoen," which became a number-one hit for the Andrews Sisters. Cahn soon moved to Hollywood, where he collaborated with composer Jule Styne (1942-51) to write songs for 19 movies. He also wrote lyrics for...
  • Calloway, Cab (Cabell Calloway) , 1907-94, jazz singer and band leader, b. Rochester, N.Y. Known for his inventive creativity, he hired some of the top musicians of his day for his jazz orchestra, including Dizzy Gillespie and...
  • Carmichael, Hoagy (Hoagland Howard Carmichael), 1899-1981, American songwriter, pianist, and singer, b. Bloomington, Ind. While still a student at Indiana Univ. he was influenced by a number of jazz musicians...
  • Carter Family group of singers that specialized in traditional music of the Southern Appalachian Mountains; it consisted of A(lvin) P(leasant) Carter, 1891-1960, b. Maces Spring, Va.; his wife, Sara (Dougherty) Carter, 1898-1979, b. Flatwoods, Va.; and his sister-in-law, Maybelle (Addington) Carter, 1909-1978, b. Nickelsville, Va. Perhaps the most influential group in the history of country music, they helped to bring folk and country into America's cultural mainstream. The group sang locally...
  • Cash, Johnny 1932-2003, American singer and songwriter, b. Kingsland, Ark. Born to a farm family, he went to Memphis in 1955 and recorded hits such as "I Walk the Line" (1956) and "Ring of Fire" (1963), written with his wife, singer June Carter Cash of the famous country dynasty (see Carter family ). A major figure in country and western music , Cash lent a unique note of grace and gravitas to the genre with his all-black wardrobe, rumbling bass-baritone voice, and often tragic subject matter of his songs. Nonetheless, one of his biggest...
  • Charles, Ray (Ray Charles Robinson), 1930-2004, African-American musician and composer, b. Albany, Ga. Blinded at age seven, he was raised in Florida and at 16 began singing in a local hillbilly group. Two...
  • Christian, Charlie (Charles Henry Christian), 1916-42, African-American jazz guitarist, b. Bonham, Tex. The son of a singer-guitarist father and pianist mother, he grew up in Oklahoma City, where he began playing...
  • Clapton, Eric Patrick 1945-, British guitarist, singer, and songwriter, b. Ripley, Surrey, England. A seminal figure in rock music, he is noted especially for his virtuoso guitar playing, whose style is based on...
  • Clements, Vassar 1928-2005, American virtuoso fiddle player, b. Kinards, S.C. Self-taught, he played with Bill Monroe 's Blue Grass Boys from 1949 to 1956. Though his roots were in country and western music and he began his career playing bluegrass, Clements was accomplished in many genres, including jazz, pop, rock, and swing. Known for his innovative style and technical prowess, he played or...
  • Cline, Patsy 1932-63, American country singer, b. Winchester, Va., as Virginia Patterson Hensley. She began singing locally while still in her teens and signed her first recording contract in 1953, but did not...
  • Cole, Nat King 1919-65, American musician and composer, b. Montgomery, Ala., as Nathaniel Adams Coles. A jazz pianist, he played Los Angeles nightclubs and in 1938 formed the original King Cole Trio. Later he...
  • Coleman, Ornette 1930-, African-American saxophonist and composer, b. Fort Worth, Tex. Largely self-taught, he began playing the alto saxophone in rhythm-and-blues bands. He later developed an unorthodox and...
  • Coltrane, John 1926-67, American jazz musician, b. Hamlet, N.C. He began playing tenor saxophone as an adolescent. Coltrane worked with numerous big bands before emerging in the mid-1950s as a major stylist...
  • Crosby, Bing 1904-77, American singer and film actor, b. Tacoma, Wash., as Harry Lillis Crosby. He sang with dance bands from 1925 to 1930 and in 1931 began work in radio and films. Crosby gained enormous...
  • Cruz, Celia 1929-2003, Cuban-American singer, b. Havana. The "Queen of Salsa" began singing as a teenager, and in 1950 joined Sonora Matancera, Cuba's most popular band. She left Cuba a year after Fidel Castro came to power (1960) and was an exile in the United States for...
  • Davis, Miles 1926-91, American jazz musician, b. Alton, Ill. Rising to prominence with the birth of modern jazz in the mid-1940s, when he was a sideman in Charlie Parker 's bop quintet, Davis became a dominant force...
  • Diddley, Bo 1928-, pioneering African-American rock-and-roll singer, guitarist, and songwriter, b. near McComb, Miss., as Otha Ellas Bates. He and his cousin, Gussie McDaniel, who raised him and whose last...
  • Dorsey, Jimmy (James Francis Dorsey), 1904-57, and his brother Tommy Dorsey (Thomas Francis Dorsey, Jr.), 1905-1956, both b. Shenandoah, Pa., American jazz musicians and bandleaders during the Big Band era. Jimmy Dorsey played the clarinet and alto saxophone, his brother...
  • Dorsey, Thomas Andrew 1899-1993, American gospel musician, b. Villa Rica, Ga. He began his career as a blues pianist and songwriter. Later he became a church choir director in Chicago and was a co-founder of the...
  • Dylan, Bob 1941-, American singer and composer, b. Duluth, Minn., as Robert Zimmerman. Dylan learned guitar at the age of 10 and autoharp and harmonica at 15. After a rebellious youth, he moved to New York...
  • Ellington, Duke (Edward Kennedy Ellington), 1899-1974, American jazz musician and composer, b. Washington, D.C. Ellington made his first professional appearance as a jazz pianist in 1916. By 1918 he had formed a...
  • Fitzgerald, Ella 1917-96, American jazz singer, b. Newport News, Va. Probably the most celebrated jazz vocalist of her generation, Fitzgerald was reared in Yonkers, N.Y., moving after her mother's death (1932) to...
  • Foster, Stephen Collins 1826-64, American songwriter and composer, b. Lawrenceville, Pa. His pioneer family was aware of his talent for music, but not understanding it they provided him with little formal musical...
  • Franklin, Aretha 1942-, American singer, b. Memphis. She began singing in the choir of her father's church. Known as the "Queen of Soul," she recorded such hits as "Respect," "Chain of Fools," and "Who's...
  • Garland, Judy 1922-69, American singer and film actress, b. Grand Rapids, Minn., originally named Frances Gumm. She sang in her father's theater from the age of four as one of The Gumm Sisters; she later toured...
  • Garner, Erroll Louis 1921-77, American jazz pianist and composer, b. Pittsburgh. He wrote some 200 songs, including "Misty," "Dreamy," and "Solitaire." He developed a unique style of piano playing and toured...
  • Getz, Stan 1927-91, American jazz tenor saxophonist, b. Philadelphia, Pa., as Stanley Gayetsky. As a mature musician he was especially known for his "cool" jazz style. He began playing as a teenager in Jack...
  • Gillespie, Dizzy (John Birks Gillespie) , 1917-93, American jazz musician and composer, b. Cheraw, S.C. He began to play the trumpet at 15 and later studied harmony and theory at Laurinburg Institute, N.C. He played with the bands of Cab...
  • Goodman, Benny (Benjamin David Goodman), 1909-86, American clarinetist, composer, and band leader, b. Chicago. Goodman studied clarinet at Hull House. In Chicago he had the opportunity to hear (and eventually to...
  • Grappelli, Stéphane 1908-97, French jazz violinist, b. Paris. Trained at the Paris Conservatory as a classical violinist, he became enamored of American jazz and devoted himself to the idiom, successfully melding...
  • Guthrie, Woody (Woodrow Wilson Guthrie), 1912-67, American folk singer, guitarist, and composer, b. Okemah, Okla. Having learned harmonica as a boy and guitar as an adolescent, Guthrie was an itinerant musician...
  • Hampton, Lionel 1908?-2002, African-American vibraphonist and bandleader, b. Louisville, Ky. When his family moved to Chicago c.1916, the young Hampton began playing drums in a newsboys' band. He moved to Los...
  • Handy, W. C. (William Christopher Handy), 1873-1958, American songwriter and band leader, b. Florence, Ala. Largely self-taught, Handy began his career as a cornet player in a minstrel show in 1896, and later...
  • Hawkins, Coleman 1904-69, American jazz musician, b. St. Joseph, Mo. He began playing saxophone at the age of 9. He was part of Fletcher Henderson 's band from 1924 until 1934. Hawkins established the tenor saxophone as a major jazz instrument. His enormous tone, vigorous attack, and improvisatory genius both in ballads and up-tempo pieces...
  • Henderson, Fletcher (James Fletcher "Smack" Henderson), 1898-1952, American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist, b. Cuthbert, Ga. Henderson played piano from childhood. Short of funds after coming to New York City in 1920 to study graduate...
  • Hendrix, Jimi (James Marshall Hendrix), 1942-70, African-American rock guitarist, b. Seattle, Wash. Hendrix, in his short musical career, was known for an innovative and extremely influential guitar style that...
  • Hines, Earl Fatha (Earl Kenneth Hines) , 1903-83, American jazz pianist, b. Duquesne, Pa. The son of musicians, he played jazz piano in big bands as a young man and in 1927 joined Louis Armstrong's quintet in Chicago. Under Armstrong's...
  • Holiday, Billie 1915-59, American singer, b. Baltimore. Her original name was Eleanora Fagan. She began singing professionally in 1930, and after performing with numerous bands—especially those of Benny Goodman,...
  • Holly, Buddy 1936-59, American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, b. Lubbock, Tex., as Charles Hardin Holley. He performed country and western music while a teenager, but influenced by black rhythm and...
  • Hooker, John Lee 1917-2001, American blues singer and guitarist, b. near Clarksdale, Miss. From a cotton-sharecropping family, he learned the blues from his stepfather and various visiting Delta bluesmen,...
  • Howlin' Wolf 1910-76, African-American blues singer and composer, b. White Station, Miss., as Chester Arthur Burnett. Exposed to blues performers from childhood, he sang locally and organized his first band in...
  • Jackson, Mahalia 1911-72, American gospel singer, b. New Orleans. She sang in church choirs during her childhood. Moving (1927) to Chicago, she worked at various menial jobs and sang in churches and at revival...
  • Jackson, Michael Joseph 1958-, American performer, b. Gary, Ind. Jackson is known as a superb dancer and pop singer, often conveying an androgynous image and an ambiguous sexuality, but offstage he has become known for...
  • Jamal, Ahmad 1930-, American jazz pianist, b. Pittsburgh, Pa. He started playing the piano at the age of three and became interested in jazz during the bop era. He began playing professionally at 18 and shortly...
  • John, Elton Hercules 1947-, English popular singer, pianist, and composer, b. Reginald Kenneth Dwight. By the mid-1970s he had become famous presenting his own and other composers' songs in spectacularly staged...
  • Johnson, Robert 1911-38, African-American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter, b. Hazelhurst, Miss. A sharecropper's son, he grew up absorbing the music of Delta bluesmen, learning the harmonica and then...
  • Jones, Quincy (Quincy Delight Jones, Jr.), 1933-, African-American musician, composer, bandleader, and music executive, b. Chicago. Jones played trumpet and sang gospel growing up, and studied briefly at...
  • Joplin, Janis 1943-70, American blues-rock singer, b. Port Arthur, Tex. After dropping out of college (1963) and singing folk rock in Texas clubs, she moved (1966) to San Francisco and became lead vocalist of...
  • Joplin, Scott jŏp´lĬn , 1868-1917, American ragtime pianist and composer, b. Texarkana, Tex. Self-taught, Joplin left home in his early teens to seek his fortune in music. He lived in St. Louis (1885-93), playing in...
  • King, B. B. 1925-, African-American blues singer and guitarist, b. near Indianola, Miss., as Riley B. King. He grew up poor in the Mississippi Delta region, began playing the guitar at 12, was a street corner...
  • Lauder, Sir Harry 1870-1950, Scottish baritone. His original name was MacLennan. Lauder was popular for his singing of ballads and comic songs, many of his own composition. During World War II he emerged from...
  • Leadbelly nickname of Huddie William Ledbetter, 1885-1949, American singer, b. Mooringsport, La. While wandering through Louisiana and Texas, he earned a living by playing the guitar for dances. For a time he joined with Blind Lemon Jefferson,...
  • Lerner, Alan Jay 1918-86, American lyricist and librettist, b. New York City. After two years as a radio scriptwriter, Lerner began an association with the composer Frederick Loewe that resulted in several popular...
  • Lewis, Jerry Lee 1935-, American singer and composer, b. Ferriday, La. Combining country music elements with an energetic performance style, he was an early star of rock music. His songs include "Whole Lotta Shakin'...
  • Little Richard 1935-, American musician and singer, b. Macon, Ga., as Richard Wayne Penniman. One of the first rock musicians in the 1950s, he recorded "Tutti Frutti," "Long Tall Sally," and "Good Golly Miss...
  • Loesser, Frank (Frank Henry Loesser), 1910-69, American lyricist and songwriter, b. New York City. He is noted for smart, often witty lyrics that catch the tone and rhythms of vernacular speech. Loesser rejected...
  • Lomax, John Avery 1867-1948, American folklorist, b. Goodman, Miss. Lomax's first book, Cowboy Songs (1910), contained for the first time in print such songs as "The Old Chisholm Trail," "Git Along Home Little...
  • Lynn, Loretta 1935-, American country singer and songwriter, b. Butcher Hollow, Ky. One of the most successful singers in modern country music, she has a distinct voice and a style reminiscent of earlier...
  • Madonna (Madonna Louise Ciccone) , 1958-, American pop singer and actress, b. Bay City, Mich. She trained as a dan