June 14 ~ Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

 

Flag DayFlag Day Flag Day

 

https://youtu.be/PMwjjmjwQmw

• 1594 ~ Orlandus Lassus, Composer (Prophet sybillarum), died at about 61

• 1671 ~ Thomoso Albinoni, Italian composer and violinist
More information about Albinoni

• 1691 ~ Jan Francisci, Composer

• 1709 ~ Gottfried Wegner, Composer, died at the age of 65

• 1744 ~ André Campra, Composer, died at the age of 83

• 1750 ~ Franz Anton Maichelbeck, Composer, died at the age of 47

• 1760 ~ Candido Jose Ruano, Composer

• 1763 ~ Johannes Simon Mayr, Composer

• 1769 ~ Dominique Della-Maria, Composer

• 1789 ~ Johann Wilhelm Hertel, Composer, died at the age of 61

• 1835 ~ Nikolay Rubinstein, Composer

• 1854 ~ Frederik Rung, Composer

• 1891 ~ Auguste Jean Maria Charles Serieyx (1865) Composer

• 1881 ~ The player piano was patented by John McTammany, Jr. of Cambridge, MA.

• 1882 ~ Michael Zadora, Composer

• 1884 ~ John McCormack, Irish/American singer of Irish folksongs

• 1891 ~ Nicolo Gabrielli, Composer, died at the age of 77

• 1895 ~ Cliff Edwards “Ukulele Ike”, Singer of When You Wish Upon a Star

• 1904 ~ Benno Ammann, Composer

• 1909 ~ Burl Ives, American folk singer, banjo player, guitarist and Oscar-winning actor. His gentle voice helped popularise American folk music. He played powerful dramatic roles in movies including “The Big Country,” for which he won an Acadamy Award for best supporting actor, and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” anniversary of his death

• 1910 ~ Nappy (Hilton Napoleon) Lamare, Musician with Bob Cats

• 1911 ~ Johan Severin Svendsen, Composer, died at the age of 70

• 1916 ~ Karl-Rudi Griesbach, Composer

• 1918 ~ Carter Harman, Composer

• 1920 ~ Helmer-Rayner Sinisalo, Composer

• 1923 ~ Theodore Bloomfield, Composer

• 1923 ~ It was the beginning of the country music recording industry. Ralph Peer of Okeh Records recorded Fiddlin’ John Carson doing The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane— and the first country music recording was in the can.

• 1929 ~ Cy Coleman (Seymour Kaufman), American composer of popular music and pianist
More information about Cy Coleman

https://youtu.be/tSIyVYW1JmE

• 1932 ~ Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Composer

• 1933 ~ Albert Ross Parsons, Composer, died at the age of 85

• 1940 ~ John Mizelle, Composer

• 1943 ~ Muff (Mervyn) Winwood, Singer, songwriter, bass with The Spencer Davis Group

• 1945 ~ Rod Argent, Keyboard

• 1948 ~ Ernst Henrik Ellberg, Composer, died at the age of 79

• 1948 ~ John Blackwood McEwen, Composer, died at the age of 80

• 1953 ~ Elvis Presley graduated from L.C. Humes High School in Memphis, TN. Within three years, the truck driver-turned-singer had his first number-one record with Heartbreak Hotel.

• 1960 ~ Vladimir Nikolayevich Kryukov, Composer, died at the age of 57

• 1962 ~ Boy George, Singer

• 1965 ~ Guido Guerrini, Composer, died at the age of 74

• 1965 ~ The Beatles released album “Beatles VI”

• 1965 ~ John Lennon’s second book “A Spaniard in the Works” was published

• 1968 ~ Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Swedish opera composer, died at the age of 51

• 1969 ~ John & Yoko appeared on David Frost’s British TV Show

• 1974 ~ Knud Christian Jeppesen, Composer, died at the age of 81

• 1975 ~ America reached the top spot on the Billboard pop music chart with SisterGolden Hair. The group had previously (March, 1972) taken A Horse With No Name to the number one spot. The trio of Dan Peek, Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell had received the Best New Artist Grammy in 1972. America recorded a dozen hits that made it to the popular music charts in the 1970s and 1980s. Though number one,Sister Golden Hair did not qualify for gold record (million-seller) status.

• 1975 ~ Janis Ian released At 17

• 1976 ~ The Beatles were awarded a gold record for the compilation album of past hits titled, Rock ’n’ Roll Music.

• 1978 ~ Theodore Karyotakis, Composer, died at the age of 74

• 1980 ~ Theme From New York, New York by Frank Sinatra hit #32

• 1986 ~ Alan Jay Lerner, Broadway librettist, died in NY at 67
More information about Lerner

• 1989 ~ Carole King got a star in Hollywood’s walk of fame

• 1994 ~ Henry Mancini passed away at the age of 70
More information about Mancini

https://youtu.be/xiA6qe5S2wU

• 1994 ~ Lionel Grigson, Professor of jazz, died at the age of 52

• 1994 ~ Harry “Little” Caesar, blues singer/actor (City Heat), died at the age of 66

• 1996 ~ Thomas Edward Montgomery, drummer, died at the age of 73

• 2002 ~ Marvin Paymer, Pianist, composer, musicologist and author, died of cancer. He was 81. His son, actor David Paymer, told the Los Angeles Times that Paymer died in San Diego. In 1977, he co-founded and, until his retirement in 1993, served as associate director of the Pergolesi Research Center at City University of New York Graduate Center. Pergolesi was 18th century Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Paymer authenticated 13 Pergolesi compositions among hundreds of fakes attributed to the posthumously famous composer, who died at 26.

Smale Riverfront Park: Oinkithopter, foot piano opening soon

Posted by MaryO on

foot-piano

 

In a nearly 14-minute video released Tuesday, Smale Park project manager Dave Prather showed off that history and some of the more fun features opening soon — the “Big”gest of all probably being the giant outdoor foot piano. (Yeah, like that one from the Tom Hanks movie .)

The foot piano, created by Verdin Bell , has 32 individual chimes overhead with two and a half octaves. It’s part of the P&G go Vibrantscape, designed for people to get active in the park.

“So it’s not only a feature you can interact with, but it’s also a musical instrument,” Prather said. “Two or three can work together and play music.”

Putting final touches on the foot piano. Image courtesy Cincinnati Park Board.

Or, staff can plug in a keyboard to play it. The chimes will sound every quarter-hour and on the hour to mark the time, Prather said.

 

via Smale Riverfront Park: Oinkithopter, foot piano opening soon – Story.

June 13 ~ Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

 

• 1550 ~ Johann Spangenberg, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1592 ~ Tobias Michael, Composer

• 1627 ~ Fidel Molitor, Composer

• 1701 ~ Angelo Antonio Caroli, Composer

• 1713 ~ Arcangelo Corelli, Italian violinist and composer, died at about 49
More information on Corelli

• 1736 ~ Henryk Klein, Composer

• 1757 ~ Christian Ludwig Dieter, Composer

• 1761 ~ Anton Wranitzky, Composer

• 1765 ~ Anton Eberl, Composer

• 1775 ~ Antoni Henryk Radziwill, Composer

• 1839 ~ Martin-Pierre Dalvimare, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1824 ~ Julius Eichberg, Composer

• 1829 ~ Antonio Zamara, Composer

• 1863 ~ Josef Venantius von Woss, Composer

• 1869 ~ Ede Poldini, Composer

• 1873 ~ Angelo Maurizio Gaspare Mariani, Composer, died at the age of 51

• 1875 ~ Max d’Ollone, Composer

• 1888 ~ Elisabeth Schumann, German-born American soprano

• 1899 ~ Carlos Chávez, Principal Mexican composer and conductor

• 1903 ~ Philipp Kutev, Composer

• 1905 ~ Doc Cheatham, Jazz musician

• 1911 ~ “Petrushka”, one of the earliest works of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, was first performed in Paris.

• 1917 ~ Sy (Simon) Zentner, Bandleader, trombonist with the Boyd Raeburn Orchestra

• 1919 ~ Leif Kayser, Composer

• 1927 ~ Knut Wiggen, Composer

• 1928 ~ Damaso Ledesma, Composer, died at the age of 60

• 1929 ~ Kurt Equiluz, Austrian tenor

• 1938 ~ Gwynne Howell, British opera singer

• 1939 ~ Lionel Hampton and his band recorded Memories of You for Victor Records.

• 1940 ~ Bobby Freeman, Singer

• 1944 ~ The wire recorder was patented by Marvin Camras. Wire recorders were the precursor of much easier to use magnetic tape recorders.

• 1948 ~ Liz Phillips, Composer

• 1948 ~ Dennis Locorriere, Musician, guitarist, singer

• 1954 ~ Nikolai Obouhov, Composer, died at the age of 62

• 1954 ~ Jorge Santana, rocker

• 1958 ~ Frank Zappa graduated from Antelope Valley High School in Lancaster, California

• 1959 ~ “Sammy Kaye Show,” last aired on ABC-TV

• 1960 ~ Alley-Oop by Dyna-Sores peaked at #59

• 1962 ~ Eugene Goossens, British Composer (Perseus), died at the age of 69. A member of a famed musical family, he spent his later years conducting in Australia where he trained many musicians.

• 1970 ~ The Summertime by Mungo Jerry hit #1 in England

• 1970 ~ The Beatles’ “Let It Be,” album went #1 & stayed #1 for 4 weeks

• 1970 ~ The Beatles’ Long & Winding Road, single went #1 & stayed #1 for 2 weeks

• 1970 ~ The song Make It with You, by David Gates and Bread, was released. It turned out to be a number-one hit on August 22, 1970. Though Bread had a dozen hits, including one other million-seller (Baby I’m-A Want You, 1971); Make It with Youwas the soft-pop group’s only number one tune.

• 1971 ~ Singer Francis Albert Sinatra made an attempt to retire from show business following a performance this night at the Music Center in Los Angeles, CA. ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ got a bit restless in retirement, however, and was back in Sinatra – The Main Event at Madison Square Garden in November, 1973.

• 1972 ~ Clyde L Mcphatter, American singer with the Drifters, died at the age of 39

• 1973 ~ Alvin Derold Etler, Composer, died at the age of 60

• 1973 ~ Frantisek Suchy, Composer, died at the age of 82

• 1976 ~ Bob Marley performed in Amsterdam

• 1980 ~ Billy Joel’s Glass Houses hit #1
More information on Joel

• 1980 ~ Paul McCartney released Waterfall
More information on McCartney

• 1984 ~ Marinus de Jong, Dutch Composer, died at the age of 92

• 1986 ~ Benny Goodman, American Jazz clarinetist, composer and bandleader died
More information on Goodman

• 1988 ~ George Harrison released This is Love

• 1989 ~ Jerry Lee Lewis got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

• 1990 ~ “Les Miserables” opened at South Alberta Jubilee Centre, Calgary

• 1993 ~ “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” closed at Booth NYC after 232 performances

• 2001 ~ Makanda McIntyre, a jazz musician and educator, died at the age of 69. McIntyre’s best-known album was “Looking Ahead” (1960). He taught music in Manhattan schools and at Wesleyan University, Smith College, Fordham University and the New School. He was the founder and chairman of the American music, dance and theater program at the State University at Old Westbury, N.Y. McIntyre was born in Boston. After serving in the Army, he studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music and later earned a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts. Formerly Ken McIntyre, he changed his name to Makanda after a stranger in Zimbabwe handed him a piece of paper on which was written, “Makanda,” a word in the Ndebele and Shona languages meaning “many skins.”

Luxury news round up

Posted by MaryO on

Spirio

 

Renowned piano manufacturer Steinway has launched a self-playing piano. Programmed via its own iPad and linked up to play more than 1,700 different pieces of music, the Spirio high-resolution system will be offered exclusively on select Steinway grands. Able to replicate the virtuosity of the most talented of pianists, this player piano is bound to impress unsuspecting dinner guests. Spirio Model O, £77,150 (020 7487 3391, http://www.steinway.co.uk)

via Luxury news round up – May 2015 – Country Life.

June 12 ~ Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

 

• 1468 ~ Juan del Encina, Composer

• 1526 ~ Marc-Antoine de Muret, Composer

• 1616 ~ Cornelis F Schuyt, Dutch organist/composer, died

• 1761 ~ Meinrad Spiess, Composer, died at the age of 77

• 1858 ~ William Horsley, Composer, died at the age of 83

• 1876 ~ Narciso Garay, Composer

• 1881 ~ Juan de Hernandez, Composer

• 1887 ~ Gustav Weber, Composer, died at the age of 41

• 1892 ~ John Donald Robb, Composer

• 1900 ~ Amadeo Roldan, Composer

• 1904 ~ Eino Roiha, Composer

• 1907 ~ Giorgio Nataletti, Composer

• 1909 ~ Mansel Treharne Thomas, Composer

• 1909 ~ Archie Bleyer, Orchestra leader for Arthur Godfrey

• 1909 ~ Shine On, Harvest Moon by Ada Jones & Billy Murray hit #1

• 1912 ~ Eddie Williams, Blues/jazz bassist

• 1917 ~ Maria Teresa Carreno, Composer, died at the age of 63

• 1922 ~ Leif Thybo, Composer

• 1927 ~ Al Fairweather, Jazz musician

• 1928 ~ Richard Sherman, Composer/lyricist

• 1928 ~ Vic Damone (Vito Farinola), American singer of popular music

• 1930 ~ Jim Nabors, Singer

• 1935 ~ Ella Fitzgerald recorded her first sides for Brunswick Records. The tunes were Love and Kisses and I’ll Chase the Blues Away. She was featured with Chick Webb and his band. Ella was 17 at the time and conducted the Webb band for three years following his death in 1939.

• 1938 ~ Ian Partridge, British tenor

• 1941 ~ “Chick” Corea, American Grammy Award-winning (4) Jazz musician and composer

• 1942 ~ Walter Leigh, Composer, died at the age of 36

• 1942 ~ Paul Whiteman and his orchestra recorded Travelin’ Light on Capitol Records of Hollywood, California. On the track with Whiteman’s orchestra was the vocal talent of ‘Lady Day’, Billie Holiday.

• 1944 ~ Reg Presley, Singer with Troggs

• 1947 ~ Jazeps Medins, Composer, died at the age of 70

• 1948 ~ William Tell Overture by Spike Jones (originally an opera by Rossini) peaked at #6

Original:

• 1951 ~ Bun Carlos (Brad Carlson), Musician, drummer with Cheap Trick

• 1951 ~ Brad Delp, Musician, guitarist, singer with Boston

• 1954 ~ Bill Haley’s Rock Around the Clock, was originally released

• 1957 ~ James F “Jimmy” Dorsey, American orchestra leader, died at the age of 53

• 1962 ~ John N Ireland, English Composer/pianist, died at the age of 82

• 1965 ~ The Queen of England announced that The Beatles would receive the coveted MBE Award. The Order of the British Empire recognition had previously been bestowed only upon British military heroes, many of whom were so infuriated by the news, they returned their medals to the Queen. In fact, John Lennon wasn’t terribly impressed with receiving the honor. He returned it (for other reasons) four years later.

• 1965 ~ Rolling Stones released Satisfaction

• 1965 ~ Sonny and Cher made their first TV appearance, “American Bandstand”

• 1966 ~ Hermann Scherchen, German conductor and music publisher, died at the age of 74

• 1966 ~ The Dave Clark Five set record as they appear for twelfth time on Ed Sullivan

• 1968 ~ Fidelio Friedrich Finke, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1968 ~ “What Makes Sammy Run?” closed at 84th St Theater NYC after 540 performances

• 1977 ~ “Pippin” closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 1944 performances

• 1982 ~ Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel performed in Rotterdam

• 1989 ~ Peter Conrad Baden, Composer, died at the age of 80

• 1992 ~ “Batman Returns”, music by Danny Elfman, was released in America

• 1993 ~ Three Little Pigs by Green Jelly hit #17

• 1994 ~ Cab Calloway suffered massive stroke at his home White Plaines NY

• 1995 ~ Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian Pianist, died at the age of 75. He was hailed as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.

• 1996 ~ MacKenzie John, Pipe major, died at the age of 83

• 2000 ~ Robert J. Lurtsema, a classical music show host with a sonorous voice and unique delivery who became a fixture of the Boston radio scene over nearly three decades, died of lung disease. He was 68. Lurtsema, who worked at WGBH-FM for more than 28 years, is well-known to classical music buffs as the host of “Morning pro musica”, which could be heard throughout the Northeast.

Jazz great Ornette Coleman dies

Posted by MaryO on

Ornette Coleman, one of jazz’s most influential and innovative musicians and composers, died Thursday, June 11, 2015 at 85.

Coleman, whose primary instrument was the alto saxophone, was a pioneer of the avant-garde movement of the ’50s and ’60s, helping to steer jazz away from bebop and taking both melodic and rhythmic interpretation in new directions.

The “free jazz” that Coleman spearheaded — a new approach to melody and harmony, essentially coined as a term by 1961’s Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation, one of his landmark albums – was but one of the contributions that made his work both controversial and fundamental to the progress of his form.

“The whole notion of postmodern jazz is essentially his creation,” says veteran jazz critic and author Will Friedwald of Coleman. “But he is very different from other jazz innovators in one key aspect: Musicians influenced by Charlie Parker tend to play like Charlie Parker, but most of the musicians who were inspired by Coleman sound nothing like him.”

Coleman’s music continued to evolve through the decades, incorporating elements of funk and rock in the ’70s and ’80s when he worked intermittently with the group Prime Time. Coleman also teamed with artists from outside his genre, including Jerry Garcia and Lou Reed. In 2007, Coleman was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his album Sound Grammar.

For Friedwald, Coleman was “easily the most important figure in jazz” since Parker. “Virtually everyone in the music, from Miles Davis to John Coltrane to Cecil Taylor to Wynton Marsalis to Keith Jarrett, owes a huge debt to him.”

via Jazz great Ornette Coleman dies.

 

92-year old Carnegie Hall Pianist Becomes Oldest-Ever Woman To Complete a Marathon

Posted by MaryO on

Harriette Thompson, who is a classically trained musician, completed the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego in 7hr 24min 36sec.

She has performed at New York’s iconic Carnegie Hall three times and says she plays through old pieces in her head as she runs.

Thompson, who is a cancer survivor, started running marathons when she was in her 70s. “At that time I had lost several people in my family to cancer and I said, ‘Oh maybe I should do that.’ When I got out there the first year I just planned to walk it, but everybody else was running so I started to run with them.”

via 92-year old Carnegie Hall pianist becomes oldest-ever woman to complete a marathon – Classic FM Music News and Features.

June 11 ~ Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1672 ~ Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Composer

• 1678 ~ Antonio Vivaldi, Italian composer
More information about Vivaldi

• 1697 ~ Francesco A Vallotti, Italian organist, composer and theorist

• 1704 ~ Jose Antonio Carlos de Seixas, Composer

• 1740 ~ Luigi Gatti, Composer

• 1764 ~ Christoph Stoltzenberg, Composer, died at the age of 74

• 1775 ~ Egidio Romoaldo Duni, Italian Composer, died at the age of 67

• 1808 ~ Giovanni Battista Cirri, Composer, died at the age of 83

• 1861 ~ Sigismund Vladislavovich Zaremba, Composer

• 1864 ~ Richard Strauss, German composer and conductor.  Strauss wrote in nearly every genre, but is best known for his tone poems and operas.
Read quotes by and about Strauss
More information about Richard Strauss

• 1874 ~ Richard Stohr, Composer

• 1896 ~ Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke, Composer, died at the age of 72

• 1899 ~ George Frederick McKay, Composer

• 1900 ~ Charles Swinnerton Heap, Composer, died at the age of 53

• 1904 ~ Emil Frantisek Burian, Composer

• 1904 ~ Clarence “Pinetop” Smith, Jazz pianist and singer of Boogie Woogie Piano

• 1910 ~ Carmine Coppola, Composer and conductor

• 1912 ~ Mukhtar Ashrafi, Composer

• 1913 ~ Risë Stevens (Steenberg), American mezzo-soprano at the New York Metropolitan Opera

• 1920 ~ Shelly Manne, Composer, musician, drummer

• 1920 ~ Hazel Scott, Trinidad singer and pianist

• 1924 ~ Théodore Dubois, French organist and composer, died at the age of 86

• 1926 ~ Carlisle Floyd, American opera composer

• 1927 ~ Josef Anton Reidl, Composer

• 1928 ~ King Oliver and his band recorded Tin Roof Blues for Vocalion Records.

• 1939 ~ Wilma Burgess, Country singer

• 1940 ~ Joey Dee (Joseph DiNicola), Singer with Joey Dee and The Starliters

• 1940 ~ The Ink Spots recorded Maybe on Decca Records. By September, 1940, the song had climbed to the number two position on the nation’s pop music charts.

• 1946 ~ John Lawton, Singer

• 1949 ~ Hank Williams sang a show-stopper on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. He sang the classic Lovesick Blues, one of his most beloved songs. 1951 ~ Bonnie Pointer, Grammy Award-winning singer (with sister Anita) in the Pointer Sisters

• 1955 ~ Marcel Louis Auguste Samuel-Rousseau, Composer, died at the age of 72

• 1961 ~ Roy Orbison was wrapping up a week at number one on the Billboard record chart with Running Scared, his first number one hit. Orbison recorded 23 hits for the pop charts, but only one other song made it to number one: Oh Pretty Woman in  1964. He came close with a number two effort, Crying, number four with Dream Baby and number five with Mean Woman Blues. Orbison was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987; but suffered a fatal heart attack just one year later.

• 1964 ~ The group, Manfred Mann, recorded Do Wah Diddy Diddy

• 1966 ~ Janis Joplin made her first onstage appearance — at the Avalon ballroom in San Francisco. She began her professional career at the age of 23 with Big Brother and The Holding Company. The group was a sensation at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Piece of My Heart was the only hit to chart for the group in 1968. Big Brother and The Holding Company disbanded in 1972, though Joplin continued in a solo career with hits such as Down on Me and Me and Bobby McGee. Janis ‘Pearl’ Joplin died of a heroin overdose in Hollywood in October, 1970. The movie The Rose, starring Bette Midler, was inspired by the life of the rock star.

• 1966 ~ (I’m A) Road Runner by Jr Walker & The All-Stars peaked at #20

• 1966 ~ I Am A Rock by Simon and Garfunkel peaks at #3

• 1966 ~ “On A Clear Day You…” closed at Mark Hellinger NYC after 280 performances

• 1966 ~ Paint It, Black by The Rolling Stones peaked at #1

• 1966 ~ “Skyscraper” closed at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC after 248 performances

• 1966 ~ Sloop John B by The Beach Boys hit #1 in the United Kingdom

• 1969 ~ “The Ballad Of John & Yoko” by The Beatles hit #1 in the United Kingdom

• 1969 ~ David Bowie released Space Oddity

• 1975 ~ Floro Manuel Ugarte, Composer, died at the age of 90

• 1976 ~ Australian band AC/DC began their first headline tour of Britain

• 1976 ~ The Beatles “Rock & Roll Music” LP was released in America

• 1977 ~ Dance & Shake Your Tambourine by Universal Robot Band peaked at #93

• 1977 ~ I Need A Man by Grace Jones peaked at #83

• 1977 ~ I’m Your Boogie Man by KC & Sunshine Band peaked at #1

• 1977 ~ Lonely Boy by Andrew Gold peaked at #7

• 1977 ~ The Pretender by Jackson Browne peaked at #58

• 1990 ~ Clyde McCoy, Jazz trumpeter, died at the age of 86

• 1995 ~ Lovelace Watkins, Singer, died at the age of 58

• 2001 ~ Amalia Mendoza, one of Mexico’s most famous singers of mariachi and ranchera music, died at the age of 78. She was famous for songs such as Echame a mi la Culpa (Put the Blame on Me) and Amarga Navidad (Bitter Christmas). Born in the Michoacan town of San Juan Huetamo in 1923, she was part of a family of noted musicians. Ranchera music is a kind of Mexican country music that overlaps with Mariachi music.

• 2001 ~ Ponn Yinn, a flutist of traditional Cambodian music and dance who survived the Khmer Rouge purge and helped preserve his country’s culture, died of a stroke at the age of 82. Yinn was working under Prince Norodom Sihanouk, then Gen. Lon Nol, for the Classical Symphony of the Army for the Royal Ballet, when the Khmer Rouge overthrew Cambodia’s government in 1975. Khmer Rouge forces found Yinn during their campaign to uncover and eliminate Cambodia’s intellectuals and artists. He begged for his life and claimed to be a steel worker who enjoyed playing the flute. He was allowed to live, but was forced to play a makeshift flute nightly into loudspeakers to drown out the screams of people being slaughtered in fields nearby. In 1979, Yinn crossed through minefields and escaped to Thailand. In a border refugee camp, Yinn headed the Khmer Classical Dance Troupe. At a time when Cambodian culture was believed to have been almost eradicated – a result of the Khmer Rouge’s genocide of 1 million to 2 million people, the troupe was discovered by Western visitors. Yinn settled in Long Beach in 1984, where he taught music for more than 20 years and continued to perform.

• 2015 ~ Ornette Coleman died.  He was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement of the 1960s.

Tartarov plays in the style of Mozart

Posted by MaryO on

Antonei Sergejvitch Tartarov  was a fictional Russian pianist whose real name was Jean-Jacques Hauser.

He had an exceptional gift for improvisation.

On April 16, 1968 Hauser fooled an audience of 2,000 people in Zurich into thinking not only that he was a little-known Russian virtuoso (Tartarov), but that much of the improvised material in his program was composed by Beethoven, Mozart, Prokofiev, and Liszt.

Imagine when it was announced that the music the audience had just applauded as works of genius had actually been improvised on the spot by a home-grown Swiss pianist.

 

June 10 ~ Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

 

• 1781 ~ Giovanni Battista Polledro, Composer

• 1790 ~ Louis Joseph Daussoigne-Mehul, Composer

• 1800 ~ Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German Composer, died at the age of 53

• 1818 ~ Pesaro opera theater opened with Rossini’s “La gaza ladra”

• 1831 ~ W A Remy, Composer

• 1843 ~ Heinrich von Herzogenberg, Composer

• 1865 ~ Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” first performance Münich, Germany

• 1883 ~ Carl Gradener, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1890 ~ Powell Weaver, Composer

• 1891 ~ Al Dubin, Swiss songwriter of Tiptoe Through the Tulips

• 1893 ~ Elek Erkel, Composer, died at the age of 49

• 1894 ~ Pavel Borkovec, Czech Composer

• 1899 ~ Ernest Chausson, French Composer, died at the age of 44
More information about Chausson

• 1902 ~ Gaston Brenta, Composer

• 1904 ~ Frederick Loewe, Austrian-born American composer for the musical theater
More information about Loewe

• 1906 ~ Janos Viski, Composer

• 1910 ~ Robert Still, Composer

• 1910 ~ Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett), Harmonica, blues musician, rhythm guitar, singer

• 1911 ~ Ralph Kirkpatrick, Harpsichordist, famed for playing the works of Domenico Scarlatti

• 1913 ~ John Edmunds, Composer

• 1918 ~ Arrigio Enrico Boito, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1922 ~ Judy Garland (Frances Ethel Gumm), American actress and singer of popular music

• 1925 ~ Nat Hentoff, Journalist and music critic

• 1926 ~ Bruno Bartoletti, Italian conductor

• 1929 ~ Vasile Herman, Composer

• 1934 ~ Nicolas Roussakis, Composer

• 1934 ~ Frederick Delius, English Composer, died at the age of 72
More information about Delius

• 1940 ~ John William Stevens, Jazz drummer

• 1941 ~ Shirley Owens Alston, Singer with The Shirelles

• 1946 ~ Matthew Fisher, English keyboardist with Procol Harum

• 1954 ~ Will Rossiter, Composer, died at the age of 87

• 1964 ~ Louis Gruenberg, Composer, died at the age of 79

• 1964 ~ Rolling Stones recorded their 12×5 album at Chess Studios Chicago

• 1966 ~ The Beatles Paperback Writer was released in England

• 1966 ~ The Beatles recorded Rain, first to use reverse tapes

• 1966 ~ Janis Joplin’s first live concert in the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco

• 1966 ~ The Mamas and The Papas won a gold record for Monday, Monday

• 1968 ~ Yury Sergeyevich Milyutin, Composer, died at the age of 65

• 1972 ~ Elvis Presley recorded a live album at NY’s Madison Square Garden

• 1972 ~ Sammy Davis, Jr. earned his place at the top of the popular music charts for the first time, after years in the entertainment business. His number one song, The Candy Man, stayed at the top for three consecutive weeks. The Candy Man was truly a song of fate for Sammy. He openly did not want to record the song, but did so as a favor to MGM Records head Mike Curb, since it was to be used in the film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Davis said he would give the tune one take, “and that’s it!” Sure enough, in that one-time recording, Sammy nailed it. The Candy Man stayed on the pop charts for 16 weeks. The best the legendary performer had done before was 12 weeks for Love Me or Leave Me in 1955 and 11 weeks for I’ve Gotta Be Me (from Golden Rainbow) in 1969. After TheCandy Man became a hit, Davis included it in his stage shows and concerts — and collected huge royalties from it.

• 1976 ~ Paul McCartney and Wings set a record for an indoor concert crowd as 67,100 fans gathered in Seattle, WA to hear the former Beatle and his new group.

• 1982 ~ Addie “Micki” Harris, American singer with the Shirelles, died at the age of 42

• 1985 ~ Nineteenth Music City News Country Awards: Statler Brothers, BarbaraMandrell

• 1990 ~ “Meet Me St Louis” closed at Gershwin Theater NYC after 253 performances

• 1992 ~ Hachidal Nakamura, Composer, died at the age of 61 of heart failure

• 1996 ~ Thirtyth Music City News Country Awards: Alan Jackson

• 2001 ~ Pianist Yaltah Menuhin, last of three famous siblings whose musical talents brought them fame at an early age, died at the age of 79. Yaltah, the youngest, and her sister Hepzibah, also a pianist, did not achieve the international renown of their brother, the violinist Yehudi Menuhin. But they often appeared with him in concerts around the world, including the Bath Festival in Britain, where Yehudi was artistic director in the 1960s. Yaltah Menuhin was born in San Francisco, to Russian-Jewish parents. Like her siblings, she began studying music as a child, and moved about the world performing. Her brother was astonishing audiences with his virtuosity by the age of 7. Yaltah Menuhin and her husband, pianist Joel Ryce, often performed together as a duo in the United States, and she also performed with violist Michael Mann.

• 2001 ~ Harold S. Grossbardt, a founder of Colony Records, the famed record collector’s store in Manhattan, died at the age of 85. Grossbardt founded the store in 1948 with his partner, Sidney Turk, and the shop quickly became popular with music lovers. Hundreds of musicians, including Frank Sinatra, John Lennon and Michael Jackson, shopped at the store. Grossbardt worked at Colony Records until his retirement in 1988.