Tag Archives: video

July 3 ~ Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

 

• 1801 ~ Johann Nepomuk Went, Composer, died at the age of 56

• 1892 ~ Joseph Labitzky, Composer

• 1809 ~ Joseph Quesne, Composer, died at the age of 62

• 1814 ~ Janis Cimze, Composer

• 1819 ~ Louis Theodore Gouvy, Composer

• 1846 ~ Achilles Alferaki, Composer

• 1850 ~ Alfredo Kiel, Composer

• 1854 ~ Leos Janácek, Czech composer, conductor and collector of Moravian folk songs. He is best known for his operas including “Jenufa” and “The Cunning Little Vixen” as well as for his orchestral piece “Taras Bulba.”
More information about Janácek

• 1855 ~ Piotr Maszynski, Composer

• 1860 ~ William Wallace, Composer

• 1862 ~ Friedrich Ernst Koch, Composer

• 1871 ~ Vicente Arregui Garay, Composer

• 1873 ~ Josef Michal Ksawery Jan Poniatowski, Composer, died at the age of 57

• 1878 ~ George M. Cohan, American songwriter, vaudeville performer, playwright and producer
Listen to Cohan’s music
More information about Cohan

• 1879 ~ Philippe Gaubert, Composer

• 1880 ~ Carl Schuricht, Composer

• 1891 ~ Stefano Golinelli, Composer, died at the age of 72

• 1930 ~ Carlos Kleiber, German conductor

• 1930 ~ Pete Fountain, Jazz clarinetist

• 1940 ~ Fontella Bass, Singer

• 1941 ~ Cab Calloway and his orchestra recorded the standard, St. James Infirmary, for Okeh Records.

• 1945 ~ Johnny Lee, Country singer

• 1945 ~ Victor Borge was first heard on NBC radio. The network gave the comedian/pianist the summer replacement slot for Fibber McGee and Molly.
More information about Borge

• 1948 ~ Paul Barrere, Musician, guitarist with Little Feat

• 1952 ~ Daniel Zamudio, Composer, died at the age of 64

• 1953 ~ Harry Belafonte was shown with actress Janet Leigh and film star Tony Curtis on the cover of Ebony magazine. It was the first time a black person and two Caucasians were seen together on a U.S. magazine cover.

• 1954 ~ “Wonderful Town” closed at Winter Garden Theater New York City after 559 performances

• 1955 ~ Neil Clark, Musician, guitarist with Lloyd Cole & The Commotions

• 1957 ~ Laura Branigan, Singer

• 1957 ~ Richard Mohaupt, German Composer (Bucolica), died at the age of 52

• 1958 ~ “Andy Williams Show” premiered on ABC (later on CBS & NBC)

• 1960 ~ Alfred Henry Ackley, Composer, died at the age of 73

• 1961 ~ Vince Clarke, Songwriter, keyboards

• 1965 ~ Clarence Loomis, Composer, died at the age of 75

• 1966 ~ Andre Gailhard, Composer, died at the age of 81

• 1966 ~ Joseph Deems Taylor, Composer, died at the age of 80

• 1969 ~ Brian Jones, guitarist (Rolling Stones), drowns to death at 25

• 1969 ~ Hermann Grabner, Composer, died at the age of 83

• 1971 ~ Jim Morrison, rock singer (Doors), died of heart failure at 27

• 1971 ~ The Newport Jazz Festival’s reputation was tarnished as gate crashers stormed the stage. The unruly mob forced the show to leave Newport, Rhode Island and move to New York City. Oh, and the artist the crowd got unruly over? Not Bob Dylan, not Miles Davis, but Dionne Warwick’s! She was singing What the World Needs Now is Love at the time of the incident.

• 1972 ~ Mississippi Fred McDowell, jazz artist, died at the age of 68

• 1973 ~ Charles Ancerl, Czech conductor (Prague/Toronto), died at the age of 63

• 1973 ~ Clint Holmes received a gold record for his hit single, Playground in My Mind.

• 1976 ~ Brian Wilson rejoined The Beach Boys, who were appearing at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, CA (before 74,000 fans). Wilson had been out of the group’s road tour schedule for 12 years.

• 1977 ~ Hugh Le Caine, Composer, died at the age of 63

• 1986 ~ Rudy Vallee, singer (Vagabond Dreams), died at the age of 84

• 1986 ~ Mikhail Baryshnikov, considered by many to be the world’s greatest ballet dancer, became a U.S. citizen in ceremonies at Ellis Island, New York Harbor.

• 1991 ~ Irina Nijinska, Russian/US dancer, died at the age of 77

• 1995 ~ Brad Lee Sexton, bass guitarist, died at the age of 47

• 2001 ~ Country guitar player Roy Nichols, who played in Merle Haggard’s band for 22 years and helped create the Bakersfield Sound, died after being hospitalized with kidney inflammation and a bacterial infection. He was 68. Nichols began recording with Haggard’s band The Strangers in 1963 and played with some of country music’s biggest names from the time he was 16 years old. “A lot of people may or may not know that he played for Johnny Cash on Tennessee Flat Top Box, the original version, and also on The Ballad of Ira Hayes,” Haggard told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. Haggard credits Nichols with jump-starting his own career and playing a key role in developing The Stranger’s distinctive sound.

• 2001 ~ Grand Ole Opry star Johnny Russell, whose song Act Naturally was recorded by Buck Owens and The Beatles, died of leukemia, diabetes and other ailments at the age of 61. Russell once said that it took him two years to get someone to recordAct Naturally, co-written with Voni Morrison. When Owens recorded a version in 1963, it went to No. 1 on the country charts. Two years later, it was recorded by the Beatles, with Ringo Starr singing the vocal. In 1989, Starr and Owens recorded a duet of the song that was nominated for Grammy and Country Music Association awards. Russell’s own recording career took off in the 1970s. His biggest hit was the working class anthem Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer, which went to No. 4 in 1973 and was nominated for a Grammy. Russell joined the cast of the Grand Ole Opry in 1985, and over the years became its regular closing act. A jolly, 275-pound man, he would joke to audiences in his opening line: “Can everybody see me all right?” Russell also wrote the No. 1 hit Let’s Fall to Pieces Together, recorded in 1984 by George Strait, and Making Plans, which was recorded by Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt on their Trio album in 1987.

July 2 ~ Today in Music History

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• 1581 ~ Johann Staden, Composer

• 1589 ~ Guillaume van Messaus, Composer

• 1636 ~ Daniel Speer, Composer

• 1663 ~ Thomas Selle, Composer, died at the age of 64

• 1714 ~ Christoph Willibald Gluck, German composer of operas including “Orfeo ed Euridice” and “Alceste”
More information about Gluck

• 1737 ~ François Leonard Rouwyzer, Composer

• 1746 ~ Hardenack Otto Conrad Zinck, Composer

• 1763 ~ Peter Ritter, Composer

• 1778 ~ Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1793 ~ Antoine Prumier, Composer

• 1794 ~ Franz Xaver Thomas Pokorny, Composer, died at the age of 65

• 1814 ~ Atale Therese Annette Wartel, Composer

• 1857 ~ Francesco Spetrino, Composer

• 1878 ~ François-Emmanuel-Joseph Bazin, Composer, died at the age of 61

• 1880 ~ Albert Szirmai, Composer

• 1887 ~ Marcel Tabuteau, French oboist with the Philadelphia Orchestra 1915 to 1954

• 1892 ~ Jack Hylton, English orchestra leader and impresario

• 1895 ~ William Rockstro, Composer, died at the age of 72

• 1900 ~ Sibelius’ “Finlandia,” premiered in Helsinki
More information about Sibelius

• 1904 ~ Carl Weinrich, Composer

• 1906 ~ Robert Levine Sanders, Composer

• 1910 ~ Earl Hawley Robinson, Composer

• 1910 ~ William Douglas Denny, Composer

• 1911 ~ Felix Mottl, Composer, died at the age of 54

• 1918 ~ Sheikh Imam Elissa, Player and singer

• 1922 ~ Genrikh Matusovich Vagner, Composer

• 1924 ~ Rick Besoyan, Composer

• 1925 ~ Marvin Rainwater (Marvin Kalton Percy), American country singer

• 1925 ~ Yasushi Akutagawa, Composer

• 1926 ~ Billy Usselton, Saxophonist

• 1926 ~ Lee Allen, American tenor sax

• 1927 ~ Brock Peters, American actor and singer

• 1929 ~ Ruby Keeler starred in Flo Ziegfeld’s production of Show Girl which opened in New York City. Critics liked the show.

• 1930 ~ Ahmad Jamal, American jazz pianist

• 1933 ~ David Benjamin Lewin, Composer

• 1935 ~ Gilbert Kalish, American pianist and professor at SUNY-Stony Brook

• 1936 ~ Tom Springfield, Folk singer with the Springfields

• 1939 ~ Paul Williams, Singer with The Primes and The Temptations

• 1940 ~ Bertram Shapleigh, Composer, died at the age of 69

• 1942 ~ Mike Abene, Composer of the score to Goodbye, New York

• 1942 ~ Jo Stafford joined Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra for Manhattan Serenade, which was recorded for Victor Records, in Manhattan.

• 1945 ~ James Orville Fulkerson, Composer

• 1949 ~ “High Button Shoes” closed at Century Theater New York City after 727 performances

• 1951 ~ Joe Puerta, Musician, bass, singer

• 1952 ~ Henriette H Bosmans, Dutch cello player, pianist, composer, died at the age of 56

• 1955 ~ “7th Heaven” closed at ANTA Theater New York City after 44 performances

• 1955 ~ “Almost Crazy” closed at Longacre Theater New York City after 16 performances

• 1955 ~ “Lawrence Welk Show” premiered on ABCIn Welk’s 24-piece band was the ’Champagne Lady’, Alice Lon.
More information about Welk

• 1956 ~ Elvis Presley recorded Hound Dog and Don’t Be Cruel

• 1960 ~ “Once Upon a Mattress” closed at Alvin Theater New York City after 460 performances

• 1971 ~ Edward Ballantine, Composer, died at the age of 84

• 1972 ~ “Fiddler on the Roof” closed at Imperial Theater New York City after 3242 performances

• 1973 ~ Betty Grable, U.S. actress, singer and World War Two pin-up girl, died. Her films included “How To Marry A Millionaire,” “Down Argentine Way” and “Tin Pan Alley.”

• 1979 ~ Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable audio cassette player. Over the next 30 years they sold over 385 million Walkmans in cassette, CD, mini-disc and digital file versions, and were the market leaders until the arrival of Apple’s iPod and other new digital devices.

• 1982 ~ Paul Rovsing Olsen, Composer, died at the age of 59

• 1984 ~ Ramiro Cortes, Composer, died at the age of 50

• 1984 ~ Epic Records set a record as two million copies of the Jacksons’ new album, Victory, were shipped to stores. It was the first time that such a large shipment had been initially sent to retailers. The LP arrived just days before Michael and his brothers started their hugely successful Victory Tour.

• 1987 ~ Michael Bennet, Choreographer of A Chorus Line, died at the age of 44

• 1990 ~ Snooky Lanson (Roy Landman) passed away

• 1992 ~ Edith Valckaert, Belgian violinist, died at the age of 42

• 1992 ~ Jose Monje, Spanish flamenco singer, died

• 1994 ~ Marion Williams, Gospel singer, died at the age of 66

• 1995 ~ “Rose Tattoo” closed at Circle in the Square New York City after 80 performances

• 2002 ~ Ray Brown, a legendary jazz bassist who played with Dizzy Gillespie,Charlie Parker and his one-time wife Ella Fitzgerald in a career that spanned a half century, died in his sleep in Indianapolis. He was 75. Brown was in Indianapolis for an engagement at the Jazz Kitchen. Brown, whose fluid sound helped define the bebop era, started his career in the

• 1940s and performed during jazz’s Golden Age with Gillespie, Parker and BudPowell. He was a founder of bebop and appeared with Gillespie in the 1946 film “Jivin’ in Be-Bop.” Brown later became musical director and husband of singer Ella Fitzgerald. They divorced in the early 1950s. Ray Matthews Brown was born in Pittsburgh in 1926 and moved in 1945 to New York. While playing in Gillespie’s Big Band in 1946 and 1947, he became Fitzgerald’s music director – and, in the late 1940s, her husband. Brown played with an early edition of what became the Modern Jazz Quartet, recording with the Milt Jackson Quartet in 1951. He subsequently was a founding member of the Oscar Peterson’s Trio, which ranked among jazz’s most popular groups of the ’50s and ’60s. Among his recordings is the solo effort Something for Lester.

• 2002 ~ Experimental composer Earle Brown, whose visually elegant scores and collaborative spirit pushed traditional musical composition, died at his home in Rye, N.Y. He was 75. Brown worked with composer John Cage and became known for his graphic scores. One of their most famous works is “December 1952.” Brown believed in allowing musicians much freedom in playing his compositions, describing “December 1952” as “an activity rather than a piece by me, because of the content being supplied by the musicians.” Brown’s music was highly influential in Europe and he was repertory director of an important series of new-music recordings that included works by 49 composers from 16 countries between 1960 and 1973. He taught at Yale University, the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and at the Tanglewood and Aspen music festivals.

July 1 ~ Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

 

• 1586 ~ Claudio Saracini, Composer

• 1592 ~ Marc A Ingegneri, Italian violinist and composer, died

• 1662 ~ Simon Ives, Composer, died at the age of 61

• 1663 ~ Franz Xaver Murschhauser, Composer

• 1688 ~ Johann Ludwig Steiner, Composer

• 1691 ~ Marc’Antonio Pasqualini, Composer, died at the age of 77

• 1735 ~ James Lyon, Composer

• 1742 ~ Bohuslav Matej Czernohorsky, Czech monk and composer, died at the age of 58

• 1764 ~ Georg Christoph Grosheim, Composer

• 1784 ~ Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, composer, son of J.S. Bach, died
More information about Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

• 1805 ~ Georg Ritschel, Composer, died at the age of 60

• 1883 ~ Manuel Gregorio Tavarez, Composer, died at the age of 39

• 1899 ~ Cavan O’Connor, Singer

• 1908 ~ Peter Anders, German opera singer

• 1910 ~ Marius Petipa, French ballet dancer and choreographer, died

• 1914 ~ Earle Warren, Alto sax player

• 1915 ~ Willie Dixon, Blues Musician

• 1917 ~ William Gillock, Educational Music Composer

• 1925 ~ Erik Alfred Leslie Satie, French composer, died at the age of 59
More information about Satie

• 1926 ~ Hans Werner Henze, German composer

• 1927 ~ Hans Eklund, Composer

• 1928 ~ Volker Wangenheim, Composer

• 1930 ~ Leslie Caron, Dancer

• 1933 ~ Strauss and von Hofmannsthal’s opera “Arabella,” premiered in Dresden
More information about Strauss

• 1935 ~ James Cotton, blues vocalist

• 1939 ~ Louis Davids (Simon David), Cabaret performer/chorus performer, died

• 1941 ~ Twila Tharp, Choreographer

• 1941 ~ John Gould, British composer and musical comic

• 1942 ~ Andrae Crouch, Gospel Singer

• 1945 ~ Debbie Harry, American singer

• 1946 ~ June Montiero, American vocalist

• 1947 ~ Clarence Lucas, Composer, died at the age of 80

• 1950 ~ Edward Faber Schneider, Composer, died at the age of 77

• 1954 ~ Fred Schneider, Singer for pop-punk band the B-52s

• 1956 ~ Elvis Presley appeared wearing a tuxedo on the Steve Allen Show

• 1960 ~ Benjamin Britten’s cantata “Carmen Baseliense,” premiered in Basel
More information about Britten

• 1963 ~ The Beatles recorded She Loves You & I’ll Get You

• 1964 ~ Pierre Monteux, French/American conductor, died at the age of 89

• 1965 ~ Claude Thornhill, Composer, died at the age of 55

• 1967 ~ “Funny Girl”, the story of Fanny Brice, closed at Winter Garden Theater New York City after 1348 performances
More information about Fanny Brice

• 1967 ~ The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, went #1 for 15 weeks

• 1968 ~ John Lennon’s first full art exhibition (You are Here)

• 1969 ~ John & Yoko were hospitalized after a car crash

• 1969 ~ Shelby Singleton bought Sun Records from Sam Phillips

• 1970 ~ Jimi Hendrix first recording session (New York City)

• 1972 ~ “Follies” closed at Winter Garden Theater New York City after 524 performances

• 1972 ~ “Hair” closesd at Biltmore Theater New York City after 1750 performances

• 1973 ~ Mario La Broca, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1973 ~ “Jesus Christ Superstar”, by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice, closed at Mark Hellinger New York City after 711 performances

• 1978 ~ “Act” closed at Majestic Theater New York City after 233 performances

• 1982 ~ John Everett Watts, Composer, died at the age of 51

• 1982 ~ Shon Coco Palm, (Jacobo JM Palm), Curaçan Composer, died

• 1982 ~ ABC national music radio network scheduled premiere, but it never happened

• 1988 ~ Hellmuth Christian Wolff, Composer, died at the age of 82

• 1988 ~ Lex van Delden, Dutch Composer and writer, died at the age of 68

• 1995 ~ “Kiss of the Spider Woman” closed at Broadhurst New York City after 906 performances

• 1996 ~ Placido Domingo became art director of Washington Opera

• 2015 ~ Val Doonican, Irish singer and entertainer, died at the age of 88

Summer Camp is Back. New Pop Song Released Each Week!

Posted by MaryO on

PM-SummerCamp

Summer is upon us which means BBQ cook outs, poolside hangouts and lots of ice cream! It also means less time by the piano, which means getting back into the groove of playing can be difficult come September.

We at JoyTunes want to keep you playing all summer long! To do so we are bringing back Summer Camp in Piano Maestro!

Each week, starting July 1st, we will release a new fun song for you to learn and play. Songs from artists such as

Colbie Caillat

Michael Buble

Florida Georgia Line and more!

Summer Camp songs can be found in the “summer camp” category in the Library.

Prizes will be rewarded to top players, we want to recognize your awesome playing!

Summer Camp is the perfect way to keep your piano practice up during this summer, as to not miss a beat.

The first song of Summer Camp will be Andy Grammer “Honey, I’m good”. Check out the (very cute!) video for the song to get a taste of what to look forward to!

via Summer Camp is Back. New Pop Song Released Each Week! | JoyTunes.

June 30 ~ Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

 

• 1666 ~ Adam Krieger, German Composer, died at the age of 32

• 1669 ~ Mauritius Vogt, Composer

• 1722 ~ Jiri Antonin Benda, Composer

• 1723 ~ Christian Ernst Graf, Composer

• 1743 ~ Niels Schiorring, Composer

• 1792 ~ Francesco Antonio Rosetti, Composer, died

• 1818 ~ Edward John Hopkins, Composer

• 1819 ~ Ernst Ludwig Gerber, Composer, died at the age of 72

• 1846 ~ Ricardo Drigo, Composer

• 1889 ~ Eugenio Terziani, Composer, died at the age of 64

• 1890 ~ Samuel Parkman Tuckerman, Composer, died at the age of 71

• 1896 ~ Wilfred Pelletier, Canadian conductor for Voice of Firestone

• 1908 ~ Lucino Tinio Sacramento, Composer

• 1914 ~ Natko Devcic, Composer

• 1917 ~ Lena Horne, American singer of popular music

• 1917 ~ “Buddy” Rich, American jazz drummer and bandleader

 

• 1918 ~ Stuart Foster, American singer

• 1921 ~ Gordon Reynolds, Musician

• 1923 ~ Claude Antoine Terrasse, Composer, died at the age of 56

• 1925 ~ Will Gay Bottje, Composer

• 1929 ~ Alexander Kelly, Pianist and teacher

• 1930 ~ June Valli, American singer on Your Hit Parade

• 1931 ~ James Loughran, British conductor

• 1932 ~ Martin Mailman, American composer

• 1936 ~ Pauls Dambis, Composer

• 1939 ~ Chris Hinze, Dutch flutist

• 1939 ~ Lindembergue Cardoso, Composer

• 1939 ~ Frank Sinatra made his first appearance with Harry James’ band. Sinatra was center stage at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, MD, where he sang My Love for You

• 1941 ~ Micki Grant, Composer

• 1941 ~ Mike Leander Farr, Record producer

• 1943 ~ Florence Ballard, Singer with the Supremes

• 1944 ~ Glenn Shorrock, Australian singer with Little River Band

• 1946 ~ Billy Brown, singer with Ray, Goodman, Brown

• 1946 ~ Michael Zadora, Composer, died at the age of 64

• 1947 ~ Jasper van’t Hof, Dutch jazz pianist (Live in Montreux)

• 1951 ~ Andrew Scott, Welch rock guitarist

• 1951 ~ “Victor Borge Show,” last aired on NBC-TV
More information about Borge

• 1953 ~ Gote Carlid, Composer, died at the age of 32

• 1956 ~ “Pipe Dream” closed at Shubert Theater New York City after 245 performances

• 1956 ~ “Shangri-La” closed at Winter Garden Theater New York City after 21 performances

• 1959 ~ Lazare Saminsky, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1960 ~ Clarence Cameron White, Composer, died at the age of 79

• 1969 ~ Jan Evangelista Zelinka, Composer, died at the age of 76

• 1982 ~ “Lena Horne: Lady, Music” closed at Nederlander New York City after 333 performances

• 1983 ~ Bo Gentry, Songwriter and producer, died

• 1985 ~ Yul Brynner left his role as the King of Siam after 4,600 performances in The King and I at the Broadway Theatre in New York City. The show had run, on and off, for over 34 years and 191 performances.

• 1987 ~ Federico Mompou, Composer, died at the age of 94

• 1993 ~ “Les Miserables” opened at Point Theatre, Dublin

• 1995 ~ Phyllis Hyman, Rhythm and Blues Jazz singer, died at 45

• 1996 ~ “State Fair,” closed at Music Box Theater New York City after 118 performances

• 2001 ~ Chet Atkins, whose guitar style influenced a generation of rock musicians even as he helped develop an easygoing country style to compete with it, died at the age of 77.

Atkins recorded more than 75 albums of guitar instrumentals and sold more than 75 million albums. He played on hundreds of hit records, including those of Elvis Presley (Heartbreak Hotel), Hank Williams Sr. (Your Cheatin’ Heart, Jambalaya) and The Everly Brothers (Wake Up Little Susie). As an executive with RCA Records for nearly two decades beginning in 1957, Atkins played a part in the careers of Roy Orbison, Jim Reeves, Charley Pride, Dolly Parton Jerry Reed, Waylon Jennings, Eddy Arnold and many others. “It’s impossible to capsulize his life – due to the profound impact he’s had as a wonderful human being and incredible member of our industry,” said Joe Galante, chairman of the RCA Label Group in Nashville. “His artistry and his influence as an industry leader have impacted so many. “There is no way to replace him nor what he has meant to music and our Nashville community.” Atkins helped craft the lush Nashville Sound, using string sections and lots of echo to make records that appealed to older listeners not interested in rock music. Among his notable productions are The End of the World by Skeeter Davis and He’ll Have to Go by Reeves. “I realized that what I liked, the public would like, too,” Atkins said in a 1996 interview with The Associated Press. ‘”Cause I’m kind of square.”

Chester Burton Atkins was born June 20, 1924, on a farm near Luttrell, Tenn., about 20 miles northeast of Knoxville. His elder brother Jim Atkins also played guitar, and went on to perform with Les Paul. Chet Atkins’ first professional job was as a fiddler on WNOX in Knoxville, where his boss was singer Bill Carlisle. “He was horrible,” Carlisle said at a tribute concert to Atkins in 1997. “But I heard him during a break playing guitar and decided to feature him on that.” Atkins’ unusual fingerpicking style, a pseudoclassical variation influenced by such diverse talents as Merle Travis and Django Reinhardt, got him hired and fired from jobs at radio stations all over the country. Atkins sometimes joked that early on his playing sounded “like two guitarists playing badly.” During the 1940s he toured with many acts, including Red Foley, The Carter Family and Kitty Wells. RCA executive Steve Sholes took Atkins on as a protege in the 1950s, using him as the house guitarist on recording sessions. RCA began issuing instrumental albums by Atkins in 1953. George Harrison, whose guitar work on early Beatles records is heavily influenced by Atkins, wrote the liner notes for “Chet Atkins Picks on the Beatles.” Sholes put Atkins in charge of RCA Nashville when he was promoted in 1957. There, he helped Nashville survive the challenge of rock ‘n’ roll with the Nashville Sound. The lavish sound has been criticized by purists who prefer their country music raw and unadorned. Atkins was unrepentant, saying that at the time his goal was simply “to keep my job.” “And the way you do that is you make a hit record once in a while,” he said in 1993. “And the way you do that is you give the audience something different.” Atkins quit his job as an executive in the 1970s and concentrated on playing his guitar. He’s collaborated with a wide range of artists on solo albums, including Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney, Eric Johnson, George Benson, Susie Bogguss and Earl Klugh. At the time he became ill, Atkins had just released a CD, “The Day Finger Pickers took over the World.” He also had begun regular Monday night performances at a Nashville club. “If I know I’ve got to go do a show, I practice quite a bit, because you can’t get out there and embarrass yourself.” Atkins said in 1996. “So I thought, if I play every week I won’t be so rusty and I’ll play a lot better.”

Chet Atkins official site: http://www.misterguitar.com/

 

 

100-year-old Pianist is so Good he makes People Cry

Posted by MaryO on

Hokanson

It’s the kind of high-caliber performance you might usually see at the Seattle Symphony or on an even bigger stage. Yet the show put on Wednesday night took place inside a retirement home.

Randolph Hokanson is a world renowned pianist. He also happens to be a resident at a retirement community in Seattle.

“He’s very gifted. He studied with many famous people especially in the 1930s,” said Duane Funderburk, who studied under Hokanson himself. “I keep studying with him as much as I can.”

Funderburk was just one of many people who packed into a concert hall Wednesday afternoon to hear Hokanson perform.

“There was a full house. It was amazing,” said Hokanson. “I didn’t know I had that many friends.”

With each stroke of the keys, Hokanson has the unique ability to make his friends and fellow residents feel young again. Many in the crowd tapped their feet and bobbed their heads to the music.

Watch the video above to see this 100-year-old in his piano-playing groove.

“It’s sensational,” said Stuart Baker. “It makes me cry. It just makes the tears flow.”

No tears from Hokanson, though, who says he’s thrilled to still be playing the piano after marking a big milestone Monday.

“Yep! Yep! I was a hundred on Monday,” he said. “My birthday was on the 22nd.”

After 100 years spent making music and living life, we had to ask Hokanson about his secret to longevity. He says the piano definitely has something to do with it.

“You just keep doing what you love to do. That’s all. It’s very simple,” he said. “Anybody who has a great passion and can’t live without it, I think that helps you live. I think it keeps you well and happy and busy. It certainly has kept me busy.”

In addition to his career as a pianist, Hokanson also spent 35 years teaching music at the University of Washington. In more recent years, he divides his time between playing music and composing music and says he doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.

“It’s really an inspiration to all of us who know him,” said Funderbunk.

via 100-year-old pianist is so good he makes people cry.

June 29 ~ Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1696 ~ Michel Lambert, Composer, died

• 1738 ~ Constantin Reindl, Composer

• 1783 ~ August Alexander Klengel, Composer

• 1842 ~ Josef Labor, Composer

• 1850 ~ Joseph Paul Skelly, Composer

• 1864 ~ Anton Beer-Walbrun, Composer

• 1870 ~ Joseph Carl Breil, Composer

• 1871 ~ Luisa Tetrazzini, Italian operatic singer. Her dazzling technique made her one of the most famous sopranos of her time.

• 1874 ~ Georg Gohler, Composer

• 1885 ~ Andre Gailhard, Composer

• 1886 ~ George Frederick Boyle, Composer

• 1893 ~ Aare Merikanto, Composer

• 1897 ~ Ottmar Gerster, Composer

• 1901 ~ Hendrik Diels, Flemish conductor

• 1901 ~ Nelson Eddy, American baritone and actor, often performed with Jeanette MacDonald

• 1903 ~ Rentaro Taki, Composer, died at the age of 23

• 1908 ~ Rene Gerber, Composer

• 1908 ~ Leroy Anderson, Composer
Read more about Anderson

• 1910 ~ Frank Loesser, American songwriter and composer of musical comedies

• 1911 ~ Bernard Herrmann, Composer

• 1914 ~ Rafael Kubelík, Czech-born Swiss conductor and composer of operas, symphonies and concertos

• 1922 ~ Ralph Burns, Musician, pianist, composer and arranger

• 1922 ~ Elmer J. ‘Mousey’ Alexander, Drummer with Alexanders the Great

• 1923 ~ Chou Wen-Chung, Chinese composer

• 1923 ~ Gustave Adolph Kerker, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1924 ~ Ezra Laderman, American composer

• 1925 ~ Hale Smith, Composer

• 1929 ~ Michio Mamaia, Composer

• 1936 ~ Leonard Lee, American vocalist

• 1938 ~ Billy Storm, Singer with the Valiants

• 1938 ~ Edmund Falkiner, Jazz saxophonist

• 1940 ~ Viacheslav Artyomov, Composer

• 1942 ~ Dmitri Shostakovitch’s Seventh Symphony, premiered

• 1943 ~ Roger Ruskin Spear, English saxophonist, kazoo with The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

• 1945 ~ Little Eva (Boyd), Singer

• 1946 ~ “Are You with It?” closed at Century Theater New York City after 264 performances

• 1946 ~ “Billion Dollar Baby” closed at Alvin Theater New York City after 219 performances

• 1948 ~ Ian Paice, Musician, drums with Paice Ashton Lord

• 1953 ~ Jules van Nuffel, Composer, died at the age of 70

• 1955 ~ Bill Haley and His Comets reached the top of the pop music charts with Rock Around the Clock. The smash hit stayed there for eight straight weeks. The song was featured in the film Blackboard Jungle. Most consider the hit song the first rock ’n’ roll single.

• 1963 ~ “Little Me” closed at Lunt-Fontanne Theater New York City after 257 performances

• 1963 ~ The Beatles’ 1st song From Me to You hits UK charts

• 1964 ~ Milenko Zivkovic, Composer, died at the age of 63

• 1966 ~ Arthur Meulemans, Belgian Composer, died at the age of 82

• 1968 ~ Tiptoe Through the Tulips by Tiny Tim peaked at #17

• 1969 ~ Shorty Long, Soul singer and pianist, died at the age of 29

• 1969 ~ Vesselin Stoyanov, Composer, died at the age of 67

• 1970 ~ NBC presented an evening of exciting and entertaining TV with the award-winning Liza Minelli Special.

• 1980 ~ “Sweeney Todd” closed at Uris Theater New York City after 557 performances

• 1984 ~ Singer Bruce Springsteen kicked off his first U.S. tour in three years, before 17,700 fans at the Civic Center in St. Paul, MN. Music critics called the Boss, “the most exciting performer in rock.”

• 1992 ~ “Salome” opened at Circle in Sq Theater New York City for 9 performances

• 1994 ~ Kurt Eichhorn, Conductor, died at the age of 85

• 1994 ~ Ray Crane, Trumpeter, died at the age of 63

• 1998 ~ Horst Jankowski passed away

• 2001 ~ Kimo Wilder McVay, a veteran talent agent who promoted singer Don Ho into an international star, died at the age of 73. McVay introduced Ho, known for his song Tiny Bubbles, to tourist audiences in the 1960s at his Duke Kahanamoku’s nightclub in Waikiki. He represented Hawaii’s top talents in an up-and-down career that spanned nearly five decades, but slowed his work when diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago. McVay was the son of Navy Capt. Charles B. McVay III, who was found guilty at a court martial trial of failing to steer a zigzag course to evade a Japanese submarine that sank the USS Indianapolis in 1945. The younger McVay’s years of trying to clear his father’s name resulted in congressional action last year to exonerate the Indianapolis’ skipper, who committed suicide in 1968.

• 2002 ~ Rosemary Clooney, the mellow-voiced singer who co-starred with Bing Crosby in “White Christmas” and staged a dramatic comeback after her career was nearly destroyed by drugs and alcohol, died. She was 74. Clooney soared to fame with her 1951 record of Come on-a My House, and became a star in television and films. Her career was sidelined by her marriage to Oscar- winning actor Jose Ferrer and the births of their five children. The pair divorced, and her attempts to return to performing were sabotaged by her erratic behavior. Having undergone a series of emotional upsets – she was devastated by Martin Luther King’s assassination, and was present in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles when Robert F. Kennedy was shot – the blond singer had a breakdown during a 1968 engagement in Reno. She underwent harrowing confinement in a psychotic ward, then began rebuilding her life, gradually resuming her career and reaching new heights as a singer. She performed a concert with Crosby in the Christmas of 1975 at the Los Angeles Music Center, and the pair continued on to Chicago, New York and London. Clooney won a new record contract, and singing dates poured in. In 1995, she received an Emmy Award nomination for guest actress in a drama series for her role on “ER” with her nephew, actor George Clooney. He is the son of her brother, former television news anchor Nick Clooney. In 1996, Clooney married Hollywood dancer Dante DiPaolo.

• 2002 ~ Edmund Anderson, a former stock broker and producer who was close friends with musician Duke Ellington, died. He was 89. Anderson and Ellington met in 1936 and remained friends until Ellington’s death in 1974. Anderson was said to have pressed Ellington to perform at Carnegie Hall, which he did for the first time in 1943. Anderson worked for his father’s brokerage, Anderson & Company, but had a strong interest in music and also produced broadcasts for radio, including a program known as “The Edgar Bergen-Charlie McCarthy Show.” He also composed music, including the love song Flamingo, written in collaboration with Ted Grouya and recorded by Ellington and his band.

Shocking News for Piano Students: Note Reading Not the Best Way to Learn Piano?

Posted by MaryO on

So many piano students would love to be able to just sit down at the piano and play without having to read sheet music. At least, that’s according to pianist/composer Edward Weiss.

Weiss, owner and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons believes anyone can play the piano. And he does it all without note reading.

Weiss explains…

“Most piano students assume they must learn how to read music before they attempt anything creative. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I encourage students to speak the language of music first through chords before learning how to read it.”

This ‘backwards’ approach isn’t really backwards at all according to this teacher. When asked why he teaches piano this way, Weiss says:

“We learn our native language first by speaking it. This is a normal and natural thing. Why not music? Note reading should be the last thing taught. As students become more and more comfortable with ‘speaking the language’ of music, the need to play what other’s have written and produced decreases.”

via Shocking News for Piano Students: Note Reading Not the Best Way to Learn Piano? | PRLog.

June 28 ~ Today in Music History

Posted by MaryO on

today

• 1547 ~ Cristofano Malvezzi, Composer

• 1586 ~ Paul Siefert, Composer

• 1641 ~ King Henry VIII, English monarch and occasional composer

• 1734 ~ Jean-Jacques Beauvarget-Charpentier, Composer

• 1742 ~ Johann Joseph Ignaz Brentner, Composer, died at the age of 52

• 1788 ~ Johann Christoph Vogel, Composer, died at the age of 32

• 1798 ~ Pierre Dutillieu, Composer, died at the age of 44

• 1806 ~ Napoleon Coste, Composer

• 1815 ~ Robert Franz, Composer

• 1831 ~ Joseph Joachim, Hungarian violinist, composer and conductor
Read more about Joachim


• 1852 ~ Hans Huber, Composer

• 1853 ~ Edwin Arthur Jones, Composer

• 1855 ~ Giovanni Agostino Perotti, Composer, died at the age of 86

• 1857 ~ Joseph Fischhof, Composer, died at the age of 53

• 1872 ~ Ludwig Friedrich Hetsch, Composer, died at the age of 66

• 1874 ~ Oley Speaks, Composer

• 1876 ~ August W Ambros, Austria musicologist, died at the age of 59

• 1885 ~ Giuseppe Mule, Composer

• 1887 ~ Boleslav Vomacka, Composer

• 1890 ~ Edouard Gregoir, Composer, died at the age of 67

• 1891 ~ Jose Inzenga y Castellanos, Composer, died at the age of 63

• 1893 ~ Luciano Gallet, Composer

• 1893 ~ Nils Bjorkander, Composer

• 1895 ~ Kazimierz Sikorski, Composer

• 1902 ~ Richard Rogers, Academy Award-winning American composer for the musical theater
Read more about Rogers

• 1904 ~ Wlodzimierz Pozniak, Composer

• 1904 ~ Daniel Decatur Emmett passed away

• 1906 ~ Safford Cape, American/Belgian conductor, composer and music historian

• 1909 ~ Arnold Shaw, Composer

• 1910 ~ Gustave Leon Huberti, Composer, died at the age of 67

• 1912 ~ Audrey Langford, Singing teacher

• 1912 ~ Sergiu Celibidache, conductor

• 1913 ~ George Walter Selwyn Lloyd, English Composer

• 1914 ~ Lester Flatt, Country music entertainer, guitar with Flatt and Scruggs

• 1917 ~ Willem “Wim” Sonneveld, Dutch singer and actor in My Fair Lady

• 1923 ~ Pete (Walter) Candoli, Musician, trumpeter

• 1936 ~ Giselher W Kleber, German opera composer

• 1925 ~ George Morgan, Singer

• 1930 ~ Nikolay Nikolayevich Karetnikov, Composer

• 1933 ~ Gunnar Reynir Sveinsson, Composer

• 1936 ~ Cathy Carr, Singer

• 1940 ~ As a summer replacement for blind, piano virtuoso Alec Templeton, the Quiz Kids was first heard on radio. The show continued on NBC until 1953.

• 1945 ~ Dave Knights, Musician, bass player with Procol Harum

• 1946 ~ Robert Xavier Rodriguez, Composer

• 1950 ~ Henry Balfour Gardiner, Composer, died at the age of 72

• 1957 ~ Ede Poldini, Composer, died at the age of 88

• 1979 ~ Paul Dessau, German Composer and conducter, died at the age of 84

• 1980 ~ Joseé Iturbi, Spanish/American pianist, died at the age of 84

• 1980 ~ Yoshiro Irino, Composer, died at the age of 58

• 1981 ~ “Piaf” closed at Plymouth Theater New York City after 165 performances

• 1987 ~ “Dreamgirls” opened at Ambassador Theater New York City for 177 performances

• 1996 ~ Willard F. McMurry, Musician, died at the age of 89

• 1997 ~ “Master Class,” closed at Golden Theater New York City after 601 performances

• 1997 ~ “Steel Peer,” closed at Richard Rodgers Theater New York City after 76 performances

• 2001 ~ Rene Villanueva, a social activist who co-founded a pioneering Mexican folk music group, died at the age of 67. Villanueva was a co-founder of the group Los Folkloristas in 1966 and recorded more than 12 albums with the group, which helped spread and popularize the music of Mexico’s Indian and other traditional cultures. He left the group last year as his illness advanced, but he made a final recording last week with Indian musicians. Born in Oaxaca in 1933, Villanueva earned a degree in chemical engineering as well as studying painting and music. Once a member of the Mexican Communist Party, he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Zapatista National Liberation Army in Chiapas and performed in concerts to support the rebel movement.

• 2001 ~ Scott Merrill, a Broadway star who also played Macheath in the 1954 production of “The Threepenny Opera”, died at the age of 82. Merrill received positive reviews for his performance in “The Threepenny Opera” by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, and performed at the Theater de Lys in Greenwich Village. His role as Macheath was his first nondancing part in New York, where he also attracted notice in shows such as “Bloomer Girl,” “Paint Your Wagon” and a revival of “Pal Joey.” His first role in New York was in “Lady in the Dark,” with Danny Kaye, Gertrude Lawrence and Victure Mature. Merrill was born in Baltimore, Md.

• 2002 ~ Author William F. Dufty, who co-wrote Billie Holiday’s autobiography and became Gloria Swanson’s last husband, died from complications from cancer. He was 86. Dufty was a playwright, musician, ghostwriter of about 40 books, head speechwriter to Hubert Humphrey and reporter and editor at the New York Post. Dufty, who became good friends with jazz singer Holiday, helped write her autobiography “Lady Sings the Blues”. In 1975, he also wrote “Sugar Blues”, a popular nutrition book about the dangers of sugar in the diet. He became friends with Yoko Ono and former Beatle John Lennon after translating a Japanese book that launched the macrobiotic food revolution, Georges Ohsawa’s “You Are All Sanpaku”. Dufty married Swanson, a silent screen star, in 1976, and the marriage lasted until her death in 1983.

Sleep Through this Piece of Classical Music—It’s What the Composer Wants

Posted by MaryO on

Anyone who’s ever dozed in the middle of a concerto will appreciate the sweet sound of this news: A composer has created a piece for doing just that.

British artist Max Richter has written an eight-hour “lullaby” called “SLEEP.” The piece is not only meant to facilitate slumber, but the premiere audience is set to listen from the comfort of actual beds. The performance will take place in Berlin this September, and will last from midnight until 8 a.m.

For those who can’t make it to Germany, an eight-hour digital version will be released on September 4. It will be the longest piece of classical music ever recorded and the piece itself is the longest single piece of classical music ever written. An hour-long adaptation will also be released, should someone wish to have a conscious experience engaging with the music.

“SLEEP” is scored for piano, strings, vocals and electronics. While writing it, Richter consulted with American neuroscientist David Eagleman to learn about how the brain functions during sleep.

In a teaser for the piece on YouTube, Richter says, “It’s a piece of nighttime music and I’m hoping people will actually sleep through it.” He goes on to describe it as “an eight hour place to rest.”

via Sleep Through this Piece of Classical Music—It’s What the Composer Wants | Mental Floss.