Birth anniversary pop adult standard musicians aka MOR

George Martin CBE (born 3 January 1926)

2012-01-03T03:14:00.001-06:00

Sir George Henry Martin CBE (born 3 January 1926) is an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"—a title that he has described as "nonsense"—in reference to his extensive involvement on each of The Beatles' original albums. He is considered one of the greatest record producers of all time, with 30 number one hit singles in the UK and 23 number one hits in the USA.Influenced by a range of musical styles, encompassing Cole Porter, and Johnny Dankworth, he attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1947 to 1950, studying piano and oboe. Following his graduation, he worked for the BBC's classical music department, then joined EMI in 1950. Martin produced comedy and novelty records in the early 1950s, working with the likes of Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan.In a career spanning over six decades, Martin has worked in music, film, television and live performance. He has also held a number of senior executive roles at media companies and contributes to a wide range of charitable causes, including his work for the Prince's Trust and the Caribbean island of Montserrat.In recognition of his services to the music industry and popular culture, he was made a Knight Bachelor in 1996....(Wikipedia)SHOP: George Martin

Édith Piaf ( 19 December 1915 – 11 October 1963)

2011-12-19T03:23:00.000-06:00

Édith Piaf (US: /piːˈɑːf/, UK: /ˈpiːæf/; French: [eˈdit pjaf]; 19 December 1915 – 11 October 1963), born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer.[1] Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads. Among her songs are "La Vie en rose" (1946), "Non, je ne regrette rien" (1960), "Hymne à l'amour" (1949), "Milord" (1959), "La Foule" (1957), "l'Accordéoniste" (1955), and "Padam... Padam..." (1951).Wikipedia | SHOP: Édith Piaf

Ray Noble (17 December 1903 – 3 April 1978) was an English bandleader composer

2011-12-17T04:09:00.000-06:00

Noble studied music at the Royal Academy of Music and became leader of the HMV Records studio band in 1929. The band, known as the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, featured members of many of the top hotel orchestras of the day. The most popular vocalist with Noble's studio band was Al Bowlly. Ray Noble wrote both lyrics and music for many songs that became popular, contributing "Love Is The Sweetest Thing", "Cherokee", "The Touch of Your Lips", "I Hadn't Anyone Till You" and "The Very Thought Of You" to popular culture. He co-wrote "Goodnight, Sweetheart" (a number one hit for Guy Lombardo on U.S. charts), "Turkish Delight" and "By the Fireside". The Ray Noble composition "You're So Desirable" was recorded by Billie Holiday and Teddy Wilson, and by Robert Palmer in 1990.

Wikipedia | SHOP: Ray Noble

Buddy Cole (December 15, 1916 – November 5, 1964)

2011-12-15T03:28:00.001-06:00

Edwin LeMar Cole, known as Buddy Cole, was a jazz pianist and orchestra leader. He played behind a number of pop singers, including Rosemary Clooney, Jill Corey, and The Four Lads, who recorded for Columbia Records.Wikipedia |SHOP: Buddy Cole

Eddie Heywood (born Edward Heywood, Jr., 4 December 1915, Atlanta, Georgia – 3 January 1989, Miami Beach, Florida)

2011-12-04T03:21:00.000-06:00

Heywood, Jr. was a jazz pianist who was popular in the 1940s. His father, Eddie Heyward, Sr. was also a jazz musician from the 1920s. Heywood, Jr. played with several popular jazz musicians such as Wayman Carver in 1932, Clarence Love from 1934 to 1937 and Benny Carter from 1939 to 1940 after moving to New York. Between 1947 to 1950, Heywood was stricken with a partial paralysis of his hands and could not play at all. However, it did not stop him when he made a comeback later in the decade. In the 1950s, Heywood composed and recorded "Land of Dreams" and "Soft Summer Breeze" and is probably best known for his 1956 recording of his composition "Canadian Sunset," all of which he recorded with Hugo Winterhalter and his orchestra. Wikipedia | SHOP: Eddie Heywood

DECEMBER 1

2011-12-01T00:49:00.003-06:00

RAY HENDERSON

MARY MARTIN

BETTE MIDLER

1896Ray Henderson, Composerb. Buffalo, NY, USA.d. Dec. 31, 1970, Greenwich, CT, USA. Born Raymond Brost in Buffalo, New York, Henderson moved to New York City and became a popular composer in Tin Pan Alley. He was one third of a successful songwriting and music publishing team with Lew Brown and Buddy De Sylva from 1925 through 1930, responsible for several editions of the revue called George White's Scandals and such book musicals as Good News, Hold Everything!, and Follow Thru. After De Sylva's departure, Henderson continued to write with Brown through 1933, then worked with other partners. In 1934 he composed the musical Say When with lyricist Ted Koehler.Henderson's biggest hit songs included "That Old Gang of Mine", "Annabelle" (both 1923), "Bye Bye Blackbird", "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue", "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" (all 1925), "The Varsity Drag" (1927), "You're The Cream In My Coffee" (1928), "Button Up Your Overcoat", "You Are My Lucky Star" "I'm A Dreamer, Aren't We All", "Keep Your Sunny Side Up" (1929), "The Thrill Is Gone", and "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" (1931).Wikipedia Bio | Search Amazon.com for Ray Henderson

1913Mary Martin, Broadway SingerMary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989.

Wikipedia Bio | Search Amazon.com for Mary Martin,

Ford Star Jubilee. - Together With Music. (OCTOBER 22, 1955-USA)

1945Bette Midler, Pop SingerBette Midler (born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress and comedian, also known (by her informal stage name) as The Divine Miss M. She has starred in live-action films such as Ruthless People, Beaches and Hocus Pocus, as well as featuring in animated films such as Oliver & Company and Fantasia 2000. During her more than forty-year career, Midler has been nominated for two Academy Awards; and won four Grammy Awards, four Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards, and a special Tony Award. She has also sold over 30 Million records as an artist.

Wikipedia Bio | Search Amazon.com for Bette Midler

November 23

2011-11-23T06:06:00.000-06:00

On this day in 1896, singer Ruth Etting was born in smalltown Nebraska. She had more than 60 hit records in the 20's and early 30's, and her own radio show as late as 1947. The Doris Day/James Cagney movie titled after one of her hits Love Me or Leave Me is based on Etting's life. She died at age 81 Sept. 24 1978. Ruth Etting (November 23, 1897 — September 24, 1978) was an American singing star and actress of the 1920s and 1930s, who had over 60 hit recordings and worked in stage, radio, and film. Her signature tunes were "Shine On Harvest Moon", "Ten Cents a Dance", and "Love Me or Leave Me". Her other popular recordings included "Button Up Your Overcoat", "Mean to Me", "Exactly Like You", and "Shaking the Blues Away".Wikipedia | SHOP: Ruth Etting

Anita Kerr birthday October 31

2011-10-31T05:10:00.000-05:00

Anita Kerr (born Anita Jean Grilli; October 31, 1927, Memphis, Tennessee) is an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed successfully with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Europe.Wikipedia | SHOP: Anita Kerr

November 6 Birthday of Ray Conniff

2011-10-30T06:36:00.000-05:00

Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.Wikipedia | SHOP: Ray Conniff

OCTOBER 27

2011-10-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

1933 ~ Floyd Cramer (October 27, 1933 – December 31, 1997) was an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the "Nashville Sound." He popularized the 'slip note' piano style where one note slides effortlessly into the next. This was a major departure from the percussive piano style which was popular in the late 1950s. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Cramer grew up in the small town of Huttig, Arkansas, teaching himself to play the piano. After finishing high school, he returned to Shreveport, where he worked as a pianist for the Louisiana Hayride radio show.

Wikipedia Bio | Search Amazon.com for Floyd Cramer

October 15 birthday of Richard Carpenter

2011-10-15T03:59:00.000-05:00

Richard Lynn Carpenter (born October 15, 1946) is an American pop musician, best known as one half of the brother/sister duo The Carpenters, along with his sister Karen Carpenter. He was a producer, arranger, pianist and keyboardist, and occasional lyricist, as well as joining with Karen on harmony vocals.Wikipedia | SHOP: Richard Carpenter

Bobby Byrne birthday October 10

2011-10-09T22:23:00.001-05:00

Bobby Byrne joined the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra at 16, then became trombone soloist in Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra following their split in 1935. Byrne formed his own band in 1940, hiring Don Redman as arranger in 1941. He organized another band after he completed military service in 1946, then became a freelance musician in New York.

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OCTOBER 9

2011-10-08T19:24:00.001-05:00

1940 ~ John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE (9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles and, with Paul McCartney, formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 20th century.Born and raised in Liverpool, Lennon became involved in the skiffle craze as a teenager, his first band, The Quarrymen, evolving into The Beatles in 1960. As the group began to undergo the disintegration that led to their break-up towards the end of that decade, Lennon launched a solo career that would span the next, punctuated by critically acclaimed albums, including John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, and iconic songs such as "Give Peace a Chance" and "Imagine".

wikipedia/John_Lennon | Search Amazon.com for John Lennon

October 7 birthday of Alfred Drake

2011-10-07T03:39:00.003-05:00

Alfred Drake (October 7, 1914 - July 25, 1992) was an American actor and singer.

Wikipedia | SHOP: Alfred DrakeBorn as Alfred Capurro in New York City, the son of parents emigrated from Recco, Genoa, Drake began his Broadway career while still a student at Brooklyn College. He is best known for his leading roles in the original Broadway productions of Oklahoma!; Kiss Me, Kate; Kismet; and for playing Marshall Blackstone in the original production of Babes in Arms, (in which he sang the title song) and Hajj in Kismet, for which he received the Tony Award. He was also a prolific Shakespearean, notably starring as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing opposite Katharine Hepburn.Drake was mostly a stage and television star; he starred in only one film,Tars and Spars, but played several roles on television. His first musical television appearance was as Captain Dick Warrington in the January 15, 1955 live telecast of the operetta "Naughty Marietta".

OCTOBER 1

2011-09-30T18:01:00.001-05:00

André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (born October 1, 1949) is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer best known for creating the waltz-playing "Johann Strauss Orchestra". André Rieu was born into a Christian musical family (of French Huguenot origin) in Maastricht in the Netherlands. He began studying violin at the age of five. His father was conductor of the Maastricht Symphony Orchestra. From a very young age he developed a fascination with orchestra. He studied violin at the Conservatoire Royal in Liège and in the Conservatorium Maastricht, (1968–1973). His teachers included Jo Juda and Herman Krebbers. From 1974 to 1977, he attended the Music Academy in Brussels, studying with André Gertler, winning the Premier Prix at the academy. He records both DVD and CD repertoire at his own recording studios in Maastricht in a wide range of classical music as well as popular and folk music plus music from well-known sound tracks and musical theatre. His lively orchestral presentations, in tandem with incessant marketing, have attracted worldwide audiences to this subgenre of classical music.

Wikipedia Bio | Search Amazon.com for André Rieu | http://www.andrerieu.com/site/

SEPTEMBER 29

2011-09-28T18:04:00.000-05:00

Search Amazon.com for MIKE POST

1944 ~ Mike Post (born Leland Michael Postil on September 29, 1944) is a Grammy and Emmy award-winning composer of music best known for his scoring of numerous TV theme songs in the United States. He was born in Berkeley, California. He won his first Grammy at age 23 for Best Instrumental Arrangement on Mason Williams' "Classical Gas", a #2 hit song in 1968.Post also worked with Kenny Rogers and produced the first three albums he recorded with his country/rock group the First Edition (between 1967 and 1969). Post also produced Dolly Parton's hit album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs in 1981. Notable television themes and scores...

Rockford Files, Hill St. Blues, Magnum PI

Wikipedia Bio

SEPTEMBER 22

2011-09-22T00:12:00.000-05:00

LeRoy Holmes (born Alvin Holmes September 22, 1913, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – July 27, 1986, Los Angeles, California) was an American songwriter, composer, arranger and conductor.Holmes studied music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and the Juilliard School in New York, before working with a number of bandleaders during the 1930s and early 40s. These included Ernst Toch. He worked for Vincent Lopez for six years, then joined Harry James as James was reaching the height of his popularity in early 1940s. After World War Two, he moved to Hollywood, where he was hired by MGM as a house arranger and conductor and later, United Artists, Holmes' biggest hit was his version of Dmitri Tiomkin's theme to The High and the Mighty, which featured whistler Fred Lowery. He contributed to many compilations of movie themes, released albums under his own name and backed a succession of singers, notably Gloria Lynne and Shirley Bassey. In addition, he produced albums for a number of other United Artists acts, including the Briarwood Singers.

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SEPTEMBER 7

2011-09-06T17:37:00.001-05:00

Al Caiola (born Alexander Emil Caiola, September 7, 1920, Jersey City, New Jersey) is a guitarist who plays jazz, country, rock, western, and pop music. He has been both a studio musician and stage performer. He has recorded over fifty albums and has worked with some of the biggest stars of the 20th Century, including Frank Sinatra, Percy Faith, Buddy Holly, Mitch Miller, and Tony Bennett. During World War II Caiola played with the United States Marine Corps 5th Marine Division (United States) Band that also included Bob Crosby. Caiola served in the Battle of Iwo Jima as a stretcher bearer.

Wikipedia Bio | Search Amazon.com for Al Caiola

Arthur Ferrante birthday September 7, 1921

2011-09-05T10:37:00.001-05:00

Arthur Ferrante (September 7, 1921, New York City – September 19, 2009), and Louis Teicher (August 24, 1924, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – August 3, 2008) met while studying at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Musical prodigies, they began performing as a piano duo while still in school. After graduating, they both joined the Juilliard faculty. Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Arthur Ferrante

Enoch Henry Light (born Canton, Ohio, 18 August 1907, died Redding, Connecticut 31 July 1978) was a classical violinist, bandleader, and recording engineer.

2011-08-17T17:10:00.000-05:00

Enoch Light was the A&R chief and vice-president of Grand Award Records, he founded Command Records in 1959. Light's name was prominent on many albums both as musician and producer. In the 1930s Light studied conducting with the French conductor Maurice Frigara in Paris... more bio at Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Enoch Light

AUGUST 15 birthday of pop violinist Florian Zabach

2011-08-14T18:52:00.003-05:00

1918

Violinist Florian ZaBach was born on August 15, 1918. He died, February 25, 2006. ZaBach was an American musician and TV personality. His recording of "The Hot Canary" sold a million copies and reached the top 15 on the Pop charts in 1951. "Believe It or Not" timed his violin performance of "The Flight of the Bumblebee" and wrote, "he plays 12.8 notes per second ... faster than any known violinist in history". He hosted a television show in 1954 that was aired in cities around the world. For his work on television, ZaBach has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6505 Hollywood Blvd. Wikipedia | Search
Amazon.com for ZaBach

AUGUST 13

2011-08-11T07:51:00.000-05:00

John Cacavas (born August 13, 1930 in Aberdeen, South Dakota) is a composer and conductor, well known for his television scores, notably Kojak.

Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for John Cacavas

Sir George Shearing, OBE (August 13, 1919 – February 14, 2011) was an Anglo-American jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for MGM Records and Capitol Records. The composer of over 300 titles, he had multiple albums on the Billboard charts during the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and 1990s.[1] He died of heart failure on February 14, 2011 in New York City, at the age of 91.

Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for George Shearing

AUGUST 8

2011-08-08T01:00:00.001-05:00

Alfred Hause (August 8 1920 in Ibbenbüren, - January 14th 2005 in Hamburg) was a German violinist, conductor and musical director. The "German Tango King" played a big part in the reconstruction of musical culture in Germany after the Second World War. He created his legendary 'Continental Tango Sound'. He returned home in 1945 to join the Geiger Willy Steiner band. Steiner had a gig at that time in Hamburg for the North West German Radio NWDR. Hause was concertmaster and then led the string section. In 1948 he became head of the dance and entertainment of the orchestra NWDR. Became well known by his numerous radio and recordings, as well as appearances on TV shows of Peter Frankenfeld and Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff, and in the numerous radio broadcasts of Hans Rosenthal. In 1961 he formed his orchestra and recorded the title "Bailando a dos" which went to 1st place at the first Deutsche Schlager-Festival in Baden-Baden. 1965 and 1967 his orchestra had a successful tour of Japan, for Polydor in collaboration with the Nippon Grammophon Co. Since the late 50s he worked with James Last under the name Hans Last at NWDR as the arranger for Franz Thon and Alfred Hause. With NWDR (later NDR) he remained until his retirement in 1973. In 1996 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. His urn is located in the Chapel Columbarium 11 at the cemetery Ohlsdorf Hamburg.Search Amazon.com for Alfred Hause

August 3 Musician Ray Bloch birthday

2011-08-03T04:13:00.000-05:00

Raymond A. Bloch ( August 3 1902 in Alsace-Lorraine , March 29 1982 ) was an American orchestral and choral conductor, composer, arranger and pianist.Ray Bloch immigrated with his parents during the First World War to the United States. In the 1920s he had his first job as a pianist in New York dance bands. He founded his own jazz quintet and toured to the USA. The late 1920s he moved to radio as a pianist and played for several radio stations. In 1931, he was longtime arranger and accompanist of the then-popular quartet The Eton Boys. Later, he headed various choral groups, including the Swing Fourteen. In 1939, he notified the U.S. performing rights society for music copyright, ASCAP for his own compositions. Mostly he wrote the songs with Paul and W. Edward Breuder Rosincky. Among his most successful songs- "When Love Has Gone," "You're Everything That's Lovely," "In the Same Old Way", "" In My Little Red Book, "" The Wide Open Spaces, "" Sam the Vegetable Man, "" Let's Make Up a Little Party "or" If You Were Mine. " He was the orchestra conductor for many shows on CBS including Johnny Presents, where he worked in the succession of conductors such as Ferde Grofé , Leo Reisman and Russ Morgan. Later, he was musical director of the CBS TV show 'Tost of the Town aka The Ed Sullivan Show. 1963 the movie "Bye Bye Birdie". The Steve Allen Show 'Songs for Sale', and many other shows on U.S. television.Ray Bloch's orchestra and choirs also released many pop records. In the late 1960s the Ray Bloch Singers issued several LPs with cover versions of current hits. Ray Bloch was married to the singer Ann Seaton.

Fan Site | Search Amazon.com for ray bloch

JOE HARNELL Birthday August 2

2011-08-02T02:19:00.001-05:00

Joe Harnell (August 2, 1924, The Bronx, New York City - July 14, 2005, Sherman Oaks, California) was an American easy listening composer and arranger. He played in Lester Lanin's band at this time and found work as an accompanist for singers such as Judy Garland, Maurice Chevalier, and Marlene Dietrich. From 1958 to 1961, he was Peggy Lee's full-time accompanist and arranger for the albums Anything Goes:Cole Porter and Peggy Lee & the George Shearing Quartet. In 1962, he was hurt in a car crash, and while he recovered, Kapp Records asked him to work on writing potential hits in the then-hot genre of bossa nova. Harnell's biggest success was with his arrangement of Fly Me to the Moon, which was a hit in the US in 1963 (#14 Pop, #4 AC) and which won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. The song also peaked at #6 in Joe's hometown, on WMCA in New York, on January 16, 1963. The album from which it was taken went to #3 on the Billboard 200. Harnell would go on to release nearly 20 easy listening albums, on Kapp, Columbia, and Motown among others. Starting in 1964, Harnell worked with Gray Advertising as a jingle writer, and from 1967 to 1973, he worked as musical director of The Mike Douglas Show.Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Joe Harnell

AUGUST 2

2011-08-01T18:04:00.001-05:00

1920 - Werner Muller was born in Berlin 2 AUG 1920. He studied music and performance on bassoon, trombone and violin. He headed the RIAS dance orchestra and recorded many hits including How High The Moon and Malaguena with vocalist Caterina Valente. In 1967 he headed the dance orchestra of Cologne Germany radio WDR. He died in 1998.Search Amazon.com for Werner Muller Orchestra

August 1 Birthday of Morris Stoloff

2011-07-31T10:04:00.000-05:00

Morris Stoloff (1 August 1898, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – 16 April 1980, Los Angeles, California) was a musical composer.Stoloff worked as a music director at Columbia Pictures from 1936 to 1962. Among space age pop fans, he is best remembered for his 1956 Top 10 hit that paired the swing era tune "Moonglow" with the love theme from the movie Picnic.A child prodigy on the violin, Stoloff was taken under the wing of W. A. Clark. After studying with Leopold Auer for several years, Stoloff was touring the U.S. as a featured soloist at the age of 16, and joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic a year later as its youngest member ever.When sound came to motion pictures, studios came looking for musicians to provide it, and Stoloff was one of the first to cross over from classical music to movies. He was the first concertmaster on Paramount Pictures' payroll, and he worked with setting up the mechanics of a system that had to provide a steady stream of music for everything from epic dramas to serials and comedy shorts.In 1936, Stoloff moved over to Columbia Pictures, where he took the title of music director, a new position unique to the studio system. As music director, he was the chief executive responsible for providing musical production support to every film the studio released. This meant matching up composers, orchestrators, conductors, musicians and recording facilities to meet the creative scope of each project as well as its schedule and budget.Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Morris Stoloff

July 28 Birthday Rudy Vallee

2011-07-28T05:08:00.000-05:00

Rudy Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986) was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer. Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée. Both of his parents were born and raised in Vermont, but their parents were immigrants; the Vallées being of French Canadian origin from neighboring Quebec, while the Lynches were from Ireland. Vallée grew up in Westbrook, Maine.

Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Rudy Vallée

July 27 Bob Thiele American record producer

2011-07-27T04:48:00.000-05:00

Bob Thiele (July 27, 1922 – January 30, 1996) was an American record producer who worked on countless classic jazz albums and record labels. His wife was the singer Teresa Brewer, whom he met and produced while working for Decca Records in the 1950s.He hosted a jazz radio show when he was 14. He also played clarinet and led a band in the New York area. At 17 he founded the Signature Records label and recorded many jazz greats, including Lester Young, Errol Garner and, in 1943, Coleman Hawkins. Signature folded in 1948 and he joined Decca Records in 1952, running its Coral Records subsidiary.He took over as head of Impulse! Records from 1961-69 after founder Creed Taylor went to run Verve Records and signed, and recorded such artists as John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler and others. Thiele's most successful hit song was with Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", which he co-wrote with George David Weiss. According to Thiele's memoir, the recording session for this now-famous song was the scene of a major clash with ABC Records president Larry Newton, who had to be locked out of the studio after getting into a heated argument with Thiele over the song.

Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Bob Thiele

Robert Farnon birthday July 24

2011-07-24T00:21:00.000-05:00

Robert Joseph Farnon (July 24, 1917 – April 23, 2005) was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. He was considered by his peers the finest arranger in the world, and his talents influenced many composer-arrangers including Quincy Jones, all of whom acknowledge his contributions to their work. Conductor André Previn called him "the greatest writer for strings in the world." Robert Farnon died at the age of eighty-seven at a hospice near his home of forty years in Guernsey. He was survived by his wife Patricia and their five children. We have added several selections from a recent CD compilation titled Melody Fair This however is not the London LP of the same title which was released in the mid 1950's.

Wikipedia BIO

Ginger Rogers birthday July 16, 1911 – death April 25, 1995

2011-07-15T15:35:00.002-05:00

An American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century. During her long career, she made a total of 73 films, and is noted for her role as Fred Astaire's romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of ten Hollywood musical films that revolutionized the genre. She also achieved great success in a variety of film roles and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Kitty Foyle (1940). She ranks #14 on the AFI's 100 Years…100 Stars list of actress screen legends.Wikipedia | Official Site | Search Amazon.com for Ginger Rogers records

JULY 14

2011-07-14T04:44:00.001-05:00

Polly Bergen (born Nellie Paulina Burgin; July 14, 1930) is an American actress, singer, and entrepreneur. Bergen received an Emmy award for her portrayal of singer Helen Morgan in a May 1957 episode of the television series Playhouse 90 on CBS. Sylvia Sidney played her mother on the episode. Signed to Columbia Records, she also enjoyed a successful recording career during this era. Bergen appeared in many film roles, most notably in the original Cape Fear (1962) opposite Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. She had roles in three Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy films in the early 1950s: At War with the Army, That's My Boy, and The Stooge.Bergen portrayed the first female President of the United States in the 1964 comedy Kisses for My President, co-starring Fred MacMurray as her "First Gentleman."

Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Polly Bergen

LIVE 365 SUBSCRIPTION

2011-07-11T22:53:00.002-05:00

JULY 8

2011-07-07T18:54:00.000-05:00

Popular music vocalist of adult standards, Jerry Vale, was born Gennaro Luigi Vitaliano, July 8, 1932, in The Bronx, New York. His career began in the early 1950's. Vale recorded demonstration records of songs he'd written, and brought the demos to Columbia Records. Vale then signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. Bio. Many of his songs were major hits of the '50s and '60s, including a parade of Italian-American favorites like "Innamorata (Sweetheart)," "Volare," "Amore, Scusami," and his signature song, "Al Di La." More Bio | Search Amazon.com for Jerry Vale

JULY 4

2011-07-04T05:13:00.001-05:00

BIRTH CENTENNIAL of Mitchell William "Mitch" Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive. Miller was one of the most influential figures in American popular music during the 1950s and early 1960s, both as the head of Artists and Repertoire at Columbia Records and as a best-selling recording artist with an NBC television series, Sing Along with Mitch. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester in the early 1930s, Miller began his musical career as an accomplished player of the oboe and English horn, and recorded several highly regarded classical albums featuring his instrumental work, but he is best remembered as a conductor, choral director, television performer and recording executive.

Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Mitch Miller

Plays Oboe & English Horn

JUNE 29

2011-06-29T00:23:00.000-05:00

WOODBURY, Mass. The music of a composer best known for his tribute to winter will be celebrated as the town honors the 100th anniversary of beloved composer Leroy Anderson's birth with a series of events that begin Saturday morning a commemorative postal cancellation at the Woodbury Post Office. MORE1908 - The anniversary of the birth of composer Leroy (pronounced luh-ROY) Anderson. Anderson, who was born June 29, 1908, was a master of light classical works, many of which have become so popular that we hardly realize anymore that they're by Anderson.WEB LINKS | IMAGES | SHOP Leroy Anderson

JUNE 29

2011-06-28T16:50:00.000-05:00

Bernard Herrmann (June 29, 1911 – December 24, 1975) was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures. An Academy Award-winner (for The Devil and Daniel Webster, 1941), Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo. He also composed notable scores for many other movies, including Citizen Kane, Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Cape Fear, and Taxi Driver. He worked extensively in radio drama (most notably for Orson Welles), composed the scores for several fantasy films by Ray Harryhausen, and many TV programs including most notably Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone and Have Gun–Will Travel.

Official Site | Wikipedia BIO | Search Amazon.com for Bernard Herrmann

JUNE 20 Chet Atkins

2011-06-19T19:18:00.000-05:00

Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), better known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle Travis, Django Reinhardt, George Barnes and Les Paul, brought him admirers within and outside the country scene, both in the United States and internationally. Atkins produced records for Perry Como, Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Eddy Arnold, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves, Jerry Reed, Skeeter Davis, Connie Smith, Waylon Jennings and others.Among many honors, Atkins received 14 Grammy Awards as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, nine Country Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year awards, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

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JUNE 15

2011-06-15T00:14:00.001-05:00

David Rose (June 15, 1910 – August 23, 1990) was a British-born American songwriter, composer, arranger, pianist, and orchestra leader. His most famous compositions were "The Stripper", "Holiday for Strings", and "Calypso Melody". He also wrote music for the television series Little House on the Prairie , Highway To Heaven and Bonanza as well as others under the name "Ray Llewellyn". In addition, Rose was musical director for the Red Skelton show during its 21-year-run on the CBS and NBC networks. He was a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music.

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MAY 30

2011-05-29T13:32:00.000-05:00

Bobby Sherwood (May 30, 1914 in Indianapolis, Indiana – January 23, 1981 Auburn, Massachusetts) was a trumpet player, bandleader, actor and composer. He appeared in three films including Pal Joey in 1957. His sons Billy and Michael are both musicians.Sherwood was a regular performer on The Red Buttons Show on TV in the fifties. He hosted the DuMont variety show Stars on Parade (1953-54), was the announcer for DuMont's The Morey Amsterdam Show, and the host for the ABC game show Quick As a Flash (March to May 1953). He composed the music for at least one film, Campus Sleuth (1948).

MAY 22

2011-05-21T18:01:00.005-05:00

1934 ~ Peter Nero (born Bernard Nierow, 22 May 1934) is an American pianist and pops conductor. Nero recorded his first album in 1961, and won a Grammy Award that year for "Best New Artist." Since then, he has received another Grammy, garnered ten additional nominations and released 67 albums. Nero's early association with RCA Records produced 23 albums in eight years. His subsequent move to Columbia Records resulted in a million-selling single and album - Summer of '42.

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MAY 18

2011-05-18T06:56:00.000-05:00

Charles Trenet (born Louis Charles Auguste Claude Trenet, 18 May 1913, Narbonne, France – 19 February 2001, Créteil, France)[citation needed] was a French singer and songwriter, most famous for his recordings from the late 1930s until the mid-1950s, though his career continued through the 1990s. In an era in which it was exceptional for a singer to write his or her own material, Trenet wrote prolifically and declined to record any but his own songs.His best known songs include "Boum!", "La Mer", "Y'a d'la joie", "Que reste-t-il de nos amours?", "Ménilmontant" and "Douce France". His catalogue of songs is enormous, numbering close to a thousand. While many of his songs mined relatively conventional topics such as love, Paris, and nostalgia for his younger days, what set Trenet's songs apart were their personal, poetic, sometimes quite eccentric qualities, often infused with a warm wit. Some of his songs had unconventional subject matter, with whimsical imagery bordering on the surreal. "Y'a d'la joie" evokes 'joy' through a series of disconnected images, including that of a subway car shooting out of its tunnel into the air, the Eiffel Tower crossing the street and a baker making excellent bread. The lovers engaged in a minuet in "Polka du Roi" reveal themselves at length to be 'no longer human': they are made of wax and trapped in the Musée Grévin. Many of his hits from the 1930s and 1940s effectively combine the melodic and verbal nuances of French song with American swing rhythms. His song "La Mer", which according to legend he composed with Léo Chauliac on a train in 1943, was recorded in 1946. "La Mer" is perhaps his best known work outside the French-speaking world, with over 400 recorded versions. The song was given unrelated English words and under the title "Beyond the Sea" (or sometimes "Sailing"), was a hit for Bobby Darin in the early 1960s, and George Benson in the mid-1980s. "La Mer" has been used in many films such as The Dreamers, Bernardo Bertolucci's 2003 film, and more recently in the closing scene (on the beach) of Mr. Bean's Holiday. The song was also used in the opening credits of the 2007 film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which used the song to highlight the paralyzing effects of a stroke that felled his fellow Frenchman, Jean-Dominique Bauby. It was also used as the opening title song in Steve Martin's L.A. Story in 1991, and in a popular commercial for South Australia, promoting the wine region of Australia. Other Trenet songs were recorded by such popular French singers as Maurice Chevalier, Jean Sablon and Fréhel.Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Charles Trenet

MAY 16

2011-05-17T06:01:00.001-05:00

Francis Goya (born Francis Weyer on 16 May 1946) is a Belgian guitarist born in Liege.Weyer first played with Patrick Ruymen in the group Les Caraïbes, a Belgian cover group. The two then formed the rock group Liberty Six in 1965, which had a proto-psychedelic stage show and released only one single before disbanding. Weyer then moved on to the J.J. Band and Plus.In the 1970s, Weyer started using the name Francis Goya and released solo albums of romantic Spanish guitar and mandolin music. His 1975 single "Nostalgia", a tune written by his father and arranged for guitar by Goya, became an international hit, reaching #1 in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Norway, and Brazil. Later albums saw Goya moving more into a Latin American-influenced style, including three albums recorded with Bolivian singer Carmina Cabrera.

MAY 15

2011-05-14T07:07:00.000-05:00

Norrie Paramor (15 May 1914 – 9 September 1979) was a British record producer, composer, arranger, and orchestral conductor. Although the term 'producer' was not in frequent circulation at the time Paramor started producing records (the usual term being 'Artiste and Repertoire Manager' or 'A&R Man'), he effectively commenced this role in 1952 when he became 'Recording Director' for EMI's Columbia Records. Paramor produced hit singles for Cliff Richard.
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Others inckluded The Shadows, and Frank Ifield. Until George Martin produced "Candle In The Wind 97" for Elton John, Paramor and Martin jointly held the record for having produced the most number one hit singles, despite Paramor's death 18 years earlier. Paramor recorded one of the biggest selling albums from Capitol Records' "Capitol of the World" import series: In London in Love which featured the floating voice of the soprano Patricia Clark, who was used in many subsequent selling albums. This became his trademark orchestral signature sound.
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MAY 13

2011-05-12T19:37:00.001-05:00

1948 ~ Colin Towns is an English composer, born 13 May 1948 in London, specialising in soundtracks for film, television and commercials. Learning piano as a child, by the age of 13 he was earning money playing at weddings and birthdays in his neighbourhood of the East End of London. He went on to play in numerous dance bands, jazz ensembles and also became a session musician.In 1976 he was recruited as keyboardist to replace Mickey Lee Soule in the Ian Gillan Band. Whilst with the band he used his free time to seek opportunities to compose music beyond the Heavy metal direction of Gillan, including releasing a solo album, Making Faces, in 1982. He submitted a demo soundtrack for the Mia Farrow film Full Circle which received reviews praising the music.In 1983 Ian Gillan dissolved the band, and Towns decided to pursue soundtrack composing full-time. In that year he won the commission to write the score for the film Slayground. From then on he was in constant demand, particularly in British Television, where his body of work is prolific, and includes Dalziel and Pascoe, Cadfael, Capital City, Pie in the Sky, Between the Lines, Doc Martin, and Imogen's Face.

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May 12

2011-05-11T03:56:00.001-05:00

Add caption

Burt F. Bacharach (born May 12, 1928) is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick. Following on with the initial success of this collaboration, Bacharach went on to produce hits with Dusty Springfield, Bobbie Gentry and others. As of 2006, Bacharach had written 70 Top 40 hits in the US, and 52 Top 40 hits in the UK.

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MAY 11

2011-05-10T11:25:00.000-05:00

Salvador "Tutti" Camarata (May 11, 1913 - April 13, 2005) was a composer, arranger and trumpeter. Born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, he studied music at Juilliard School in New York - a student of Bernard Wagenaar, Joseph Littau, Cesare Sodero, and Jan Meyerowitz. His early career was as a trumpet player for bands such as Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and others, eventually becoming the lead trumpet and arranger for Jimmy Dorsey (arranging such hits as Tangerine, Green Eyes and Yours). He also did arranging for Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and many others. He conducted and orchestrated a recording of Jascha Heifetz, the legendary violinist.
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MAY 9

2011-05-09T02:03:00.000-05:00

Frank Chacksfield (9 May 1914 - 9 June 1995) was an English pianist, organist, composer and conductor of popular light orchestral easy listening music, who had great success in Britain and internationally in the 1950s and early 1960s.

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MAY 6

2011-05-05T15:45:00.000-05:00

Carmen Cavallaro (May 6, 1913 – October 12, 1989) was an American pianist born in New York. He established himself as one of the most accomplished and admired light music pianists of his generation. Cavallaro also became famous through the medium of radio and film, firstly with his regular program on NBC during the 1940s, The Schaeffer Parade, of which he was the host and later in films where he played himself, starting with Hollywood Canteen (1944), then Diamond Horseshoe (1945) and Out of This World (1945). His most celebrated film achievement was playing the piano music for actor Tyrone Power’s hands to mime, in The Eddy Duchin Story (1956). Carmen Cavallaro died from cancer in 1989 in Columbus, Ohio. Wikipedia

MAY 2

2011-05-04T04:16:00.002-05:00

Born 2 May 1917, Chicago, Illinois

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Herman Clebanoff, concert and recording violinist headed the 18-piece Clebanoff Strings and had been conductor of the Beach Cities Symphony Orchestra. Clebanoff, who recorded under that single surname, died Jan. 13, 2004 of natural causes in Sherman Oaks, CA at the age of 86.BIOGRAPHY | More Bio

MAY 1

2011-05-03T07:17:00.001-05:00

George Melachrino (born George Miltiades; 1 May 1909 — 18 June 1965) was a musician, movie composer, and musical director who was English born of Greek and Italian descent. He was an accomplished player of the violin, viola, oboe, clarinet and saxophone. Born in London, England. As a young boy, he had a love of music. At the age of five, he began composing and by the age of fourteen he enrolled in the Trinity College of Music. In 1927, he began his career by singing and playing at the Savoy Hill Studios in London. For the next twelve years, he played in many different bands and orchestras. In the 1930s, Melachrino started working for bands led by Ambrose singing & playing saxophone with Carroll Gibbons at the Savoy Hotel London, and Bert Firman, and started playing on radio for the BBC. By 1939, he started his own band and secured a contract at the Café de Paris. He joined the Army a year later, and received training at the Corps of Military Police where he became a P.T. Instructor. Melachrino also gained experience as a military musician, at the Army Broadcasting Department, as Musical Director for the recording of entertainment for overseas forces, leading the British Band of the American Expeditionary Forces and the Orchestra Khaki. After the war, in 1945, he formed the George Melachrino Orchestra, an orchestra that became synonymous with sweet and melodious music. In 1956, his orchestra's track, "Autumn Concerto", reached number 18 in the UK Singles Chart, and remained in the chart for nine weeks. Melachrino frequently performed on BBC and American Armed Forces Radio. He vied with Mantovani with easy listening audiences. Melachrino has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.(from Wikipedia) Search Amazon.com for George Melachrino

APRIL 26

2011-04-25T08:24:00.001-05:00

1932
Born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. Francis Lai is a French accordionist, and composer noted for his film scores. While in his twenties, Francis Lai left home and went to Paris where he became part of the lively Montmartre music scene. In 1965 he met filmmaker Claude Lelouch and was hired to help write the score for the film, Un homme et une femme (A Man and A Woman). Released in 1966, the film was a major international success, earning a number of Academy Awards, and for the young Francis Lai, a Golden Globe Award nomination for "Best Original Score".

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APRIL 19

2011-04-18T18:48:00.001-05:00

1921
Robert Maxwell (born April 19, 1921)
He is a harpist and songwriter, who wrote the music for two well-known songs: "Ebb Tide" and "Shangri-La (originally a composition entitled "Fantasy for Harp").He is the father of modern dancer Carla Maxwell, artistic director of The Jose Limon Dance Company. He and his two brothers, Abe Rosen and Myor Rosen, all played the harp professionally. Abe Rosen was known for his work playing in New York shows and Myor Rosen was the principal harpist for the New York Philharmonic for thirty years.

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APRIL 18

2011-04-18T04:46:00.000-05:00

1918

Tony Mottola (April 18, 1918 – August 9, 2004) was an American guitarist who released dozens of solo albums. Mottola was born in Kearny, New Jersey, and died in Denville, New Jersey.

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APRIL 17

2011-04-17T03:23:00.002-05:00

1929

Hans Last was born on 17 April 1929 in Bremen. He is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition Happy Heart became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark.

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APRIL 16

2011-04-15T08:41:00.000-05:00

1924Henry Mancini (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards (20), including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 1995. His best-known works include the jazz-idiom theme to The Pink Panther film series ("The Pink Panther Theme"), the Peter Gunn Theme from the television series, and back-to-back Academy Awards for the songs "Moon River" from the Blake Edwards film Breakfast at Tiffany's and "Days of Wine and Roses" from the 1962 film Days of Wine and Roses.Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Henry Mancini

APRIL 13

2011-04-13T05:49:00.001-05:00

1942 William "Bill" Conti (born April 13, 1942) is an American film music composer who is frequently the conductor at the Academy Awards ceremony. His big break into celebrity came in 1976, when he was hired to compose the music for a small United Artists film called Rocky. The film became a phenomenon, and Conti's training montage tune, "Gonna Fly Now" topped the Billboard singles chart in 1977. He also composed music for the sequels Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky V (1990) and Rocky Balboa (2006).Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Bill" Conti

APRIL 12

2011-04-12T04:30:00.000-05:00

1919 Richard "Billy" Vaughn (April 12, 1919 - September 26, 1991) was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, orchestra leader, and A&R man for Dot Records. He was born in Glasgow, Kentucky, where his father was a barber who loved music and inspired Billy to teach himself to play the mandolin at age of three, while suffering from measles. He went on to learn a number of other instruments. Vaughn charted a total of 42 singles on the Billboard charts. He also charted thirty six albums on the Billboard 200, beginning with 1958's Sail Along and ending with 1970's Winter World of Love.

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APRIL 10

2011-04-11T04:05:00.002-05:00

1911 MARTIN DENNY
(April 10, 1911–March 2, 2005) was an American piano-player and composer best known as the "father of exotica." In a long career that saw him performing well into his 80s, he toured the world popularizing his brand of lounge music which included exotic percussion, imaginative rearrangements of popular songs, and original songs that celebrated Tiki culture.His combo spawned two successful offshoots: Julius Wechter (of Baja Marimba Band fame) and exotica vibist Arthur Lyman.
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APRIL 9

2011-04-09T07:53:00.000-05:00

1920 Art Van Damme (April 9, 1920 – February 15, 2010) was a pop/jazz accordionist. Born in Norway, Michigan, he began playing the accordion at age nine and started classical study when his family moved to Chicago in 1934. In 1941 he joined Ben Bernie's band as an accordionist. He adapted Benny Goodman's music to the accordion. From 1945 to 1960 he worked for NBC, performing on The Dinah Shore Show, Tonight, The Dave Garroway Show and other radio and TV shows with Garroway. He recorded 130 episodes of the 15-minute The Art Van Damme Show for NBC Radio.
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APRIL 7

2011-04-07T04:25:00.001-05:00

1908 Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian-born American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited[who?] with creating the "easy listening" or "mood music" format which became staples of American popular music in the 1950s and continued well into the 1960s. Though his professional orchestra-leading career began at the height of the swing era, Faith refined and rethought orchestration techniques, including use of large string sections, to soften and fill out the brass-dominated popular music of the 1940s.Wikipedia | Percy Faith Pages Search Amazon.com for Percy Faith

APRIL 6

2011-04-06T06:10:00.000-05:00

André George Previn KBE (born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929) is a German-born naturalised American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. In the mid-to-late 1950s, and more recently, he toured and recorded as a jazz pianist. In the 1950s, mainly recording for Contemporary Records, he worked with Shelly Manne, Leroy Vinnegar, Benny Carter, and others. An album he recorded with Manne and Vinnegar of songs from My Fair Lady was a best-seller (see My Fair Lady (Shelly Manne album)). Andre Previn made two albums with Dinah Shore as arranger, conductor, and accompanist in 1960. He made appearances on The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford as well as The Dinah Shore Chevy Show. He collaborated with Julie Andrews on a collection of Christmas carols in 1966, focusing on rarely heard carols. This popular album has been reissued many times over the years, and is now available on CD. His main influences as a jazz pianist include Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, and Horace Silver. Previn has also recorded classical piano compositions by Mozart, Gershwin, Poulenc, Shostakovich, and others.

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APRIL 3

2011-04-02T04:19:00.000-05:00

Stanley Freeman (April 3, 1920 - January 13, 2001) was an American composer, lyricist, musical arranger, conductor, and studio musician. Freeman's work as a studio musician included sessions with Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Percy Faith, Mabel Mercer, and Rosemary Clooney, for whom he played harpsichord on her hit "Come on-a My House." Freeman's solo recordings include several albums, some in permanent rotation on our radio station- Piano Sweethearts, Piano Moods, Come on-a Stan's house: Stan Freeman at the Harpsichord, Fascination, Manhattan, At the Blue Angel.

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APRIL 1

2011-04-01T08:04:00.000-05:00

Eddy Duchin (April 1, 1909 or April 10, 1910 – February 9, 1951) was an American popular pianist and bandleader of the 1930s and 1940s, famous for his engaging onstage personality, his elegant piano style, and his fight against leukemia.
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MARCH 31

2011-03-31T07:07:00.000-05:00

HERB ALPERT + THIJS VAN LEER1935 Herbert "Herb" Alpert ( Los Angeles , California , USA , March 31 of 1935 ) is a trumpeter and singer American known for being part of the Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass , Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass or just TJB . It is also famous for being a recording industry executive, is the letter "A" of A & M Records , a record label founded with Jerry Moss -.Alpert's musical accomplishments include five number one, twenty-eight albums on the list of Billboard , eight Grammy Awards , fourteen Platinum albums and fifteen gold records . In 1996, Alpert had sold 72 million albums worldwide.

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1948 Thijs van Leer (born 31 March 1948, Amsterdam) is a Dutch musician, singer and composer, best known for heading the Dutch progressive rock band, Focus, as primary vocalist, Hammond organ player, and flautist. He also yodels and whistles. In his later years, Van Leer went on to release many solo albums which were also classical music and jazz-based.
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MARCH 29

2011-03-28T19:07:00.000-05:00

1927 Harpist Eugene Capobianco born on 29 March 1927 in Hartford, Connecticut was known professionally as Gene Bianco. Died 7 May 2007, Queens, New York City, New York.

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He started off his career as a classical virtuoso harpist, and toured with major symphony orchestras. His love for jazz prompted him to use harp as a jazz instrument. Having appeared as a solo act in a variety of New York nightclubs, he later teamed up with guitarist Mundell Lowe and percussionist Joe Venuto to form a jazz trio which released an album on the Major Records label. Soon after, RCA signed the group to a three-album contract, under which the albums "Stringin' the Standards" and "Harp, Skip and Jump!" were released. We are playing several of his selections on our Internet radio stream.

MARCH 28

2011-03-28T08:24:00.001-05:00

1915 Jay Livingston (March 28, 1915 – October 17, 2001) was an American composer and singer best known as half of a songwriting duo with Ray Evans that specialized in songs composed for films. Livingston wrote the music and Evans the lyrics.Livingston was born Jacob Harold Levison in McDonald, Pennsylvania; he was Jewish. Livingston studied piano with Harry Archer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and worked as a musician at local clubs while still in high school. He attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he organized a dance band and met Evans, a fellow student in the band. Their professional collaboration began in 1937. Livingston and Evans won the Academy Award for Best Original Song three times, in 1948 for the song Buttons and Bows, written for the movie The Paleface; in 1950 for the song Mona Lisa, written for the movie Captain Carey, U.S.A.; and in 1956 for the song "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," featured in the movie The Man Who Knew Too Much. Livingston and Evans wrote popular TV themes for shows including Bonanza and Mr. Ed. They also wrote the Christmas song Silver Bells in 1951 for the film The Lemon Drop Kid as well as "Never Let Me Go" for the 1956 film The Scarlet Hour.
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Bonanza Theme From the Television Production - Sheet Music

MARCH 27

2011-03-26T23:13:00.000-05:00

1920 Richard Hayman (born March 27, 1920) is an American arranger, harmonica player, and conductor.Hayman started out as a player and arranger for the Borrah Minnevitch Harmonica Rascals before becoming an arranger for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during the early 1940s. He did arrangements (often uncredited) for the MGM films Girl Crazy, Meet Me in St. Louis, and Thousands Cheer. From 1945-1950, he was musical director for the Vaughn Monroe Orchestra.In the 1950s and 60's, Hayman recorded a series of albums for Mercury Records. His 1957 outing "Havana In Hi-Fi" was first in the label's pop music stereo LP series (SR 60000).Hayman is most famous for being the principal arranger at the Boston Pops Orchestra for over 30 years where his award-winning arrangements are still used today. He occasionally guest-conducted there, and when Arthur Fiedler had a time conflict with his job as pops conductor for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, he recommended Hayman for the post.

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MARCH 26

2011-03-26T07:24:00.001-05:00

1916 Victor "Vic" Schoen (March 26, 1916 – January 5, 2000) was an American bandleader, arranger, and composer whose career spanned from the 1930s until his death in 2000. He furnished music for some of the greatest names in show business including Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Les Brown, Woody Herman, Gene Krupa, George Shearing, Jimmie Lunceford, Ray McKinley, Benny Carter, Louis Prima, Russ Morgan, Guy Lombardo, Carmen Cavallaro, Carmen Miranda, Gordon Jenkins, Joe Venuti, Victor Young, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops, and his own The Vic Schoen Orchestra. Schoen arranged and recorded with The Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Irving Berlin, Marion Hutton, Betty Hutton, Perry Como, Dick Haymes, Ella Fitzgerald, Al Jolson, Maurice Chevalier, Enzo Stuarti, Lauritz Melchior, Mary Martin, Bob Crosby, The Weavers, Burl Ives, Eddie Fisher, Mildred Bailey, Peggy Lee, Patti Page, the McGuire Sisters, the Sherman Brothers, and Kay Starr. Schoen wrote TV specials for Jack Carson Show, The Dave King Show, Ethel Merman, The Big Record with Patti Page, The Dinah Shore Show, Shirley Maclaine, Shirley Temple, Andy Williams, and Pat Boone. He is probably best remembered as the musical director and arranger for the Andrews Sisters.

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brass laced with strings LP A Stands For A/Hora Staccato Somebody Loves You/Greensleeves

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MARCH 25

2011-03-24T05:17:00.001-05:00

FRANKIE CARLE + JERRY LIVINGSTON

1903 Frankie Carle (March 25, 1903–March 7, 2001) was an American pianist and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed "The Wizard of the Keyboard", He started out working with a number of mainstream dance bands. He received attention when he joined Horace Heidt's band, later becoming co-leader of the band.He left Heidt's band in 1944 to form his own. His daughter, Marjorie Hughes, was the lead female singer. Carle had several major hits in the 1940s and early 1950s, including his theme song, "Sunrise Serenade" and "Oh! What It Seemed To Be!" His band disbanded after 1955 and he performed mainly as a soloist thereafter. Carle died of natural causes in Mesa, Arizona in 2001, a few weeks shy of his 98th birthday.
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1909 Jerry Livingston (né Jerry Levinson; b. March 25, 1909, Denver, CO; d. July 1, 1987, Beverly Hills, CA) was an American songwriter, and dance orchestra pianist. Jerry Livingston, was composer of “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo” and “Casper the Friendly Ghost,” His filmography includes Cinderella, At War With the Army, Sailor Beware, Jumping Jacks. He also wrote scores for early television series including Shirley Temple Storybook and Jack and the Beanstalk. Title songs for film and TV include “The Hanging Tree”, “Room for One More”, “Cat Ballou”, “77 Sunset Strip”, “Bourbon Street Beat”, “Hawaiian Eye”, “Surfside 6”, “The Roaring Twenties”, “Casper the Friendly Ghost”, “Bugs Bunny Theme” and “Lawman.” Collaborating with songwriters such as Mack David, Al Hoffman, Al Neiburg, Marty Symes, Milton Drake, Paul Francis Webster, Dan Shapiro, Ralph Freed, Mann Curtis, Helen Deutsch, Mitchell Parish, Milton Berle, Allen Roberts and Bob Merrill, Livingston produced a string of hit songs including “When It’s Darkness on the Delt”, “Under a Blanket of Blue”, “I’ve Got an Invitation to a Dance”, “Oh, Oh, What Do You Know About Love?”, “Just a Kid Named Joe”, “I’d Give a Million Tomorrows”, “Story of a starry Night”, “Close to You”, “What’s the Good Word, Mr. Bluebird?”, “Mairzy Doats”, “Fuzzy Wuzzy”, “I’ve a Big Girl Now”, “Promises”, “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” and others.
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MARCH 23

2011-03-23T04:56:00.002-05:00

JOHNNY GUARNERI + MICHAEL NYMAN

1917 Johnny Guarnieri (23 March 1917 – 7 January 1985) was an American virtuoso jazz and stride pianist, born in New York City, perhaps best-known for his big band stints with Benny Goodman in 1939 and with Artie Shaw in 1940. Guarnieri is also noted for his embellishment and juxtaposition of jazz with classical piano, such as Scarlatti and Beethoven.In the early 1980s, Johnny Guarnieri recorded "Johnny Guarnieri plays Duke Ellington" on a Bosendorfer Grand "SE" player piano, for the Live-Performance Jazz Series.

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1944 Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano. His operas include The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Letters, Riddles and Writs, Noises, Sounds & Sweet Airs, Facing Goya, Man and Boy: Dada, Love Counts, and Sparkie: Cage and Beyond, and he has written six concerti, four string quartets, and many other chamber works, many for his Michael Nyman Band, with and without whom he tours as a performing pianist. Nyman has stated his preference for writing opera to other sorts of music.

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MARCH 22

2011-03-22T05:30:00.006-05:00

SONNY BURKE + STEPHEN SONDHEIM + ROGER WHITTAKER + GEORGE BENSON + ANDREW LOYDD WEBER

1914 Sonny Burke (born Joseph Francis Burke; March 22, 1914, Scranton, Pennsylvania – May 31, 1980) was a big band leader. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University where he had formed and led the jazz big band known as the Duke Ambassadors.During the 1930s and 1940s he was a big band leader in New York, including Sam Donahue's band, and during the 1940s and 1950s he worked as a band arranger for the Charlie Spivak and Jimmy Dorsey bands, among others. In 1955 he wrote, along with Peggy Lee, the songs to Disney's Lady and the Tramp. Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Sonny Burke

1930 Stephen Joshua Sondheim (born March 22, 1930) is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards (eight, more than any other composer) including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. Described by Frank Rich of the New York Times as "the greatest, and perhaps best-known artist working in musical theatre", his most famous scores include (as composer/lyricist) A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, and Assassins, as well as the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy. He was president of the Dramatists Guild from 1973 to 1981.
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1936 Roger Whittaker is an Anglo-Kenyan singer-songwriter and musician with worldwide record sales of over 55 million. His music can be described as easy listening. He is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability.

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1943 George Benson (born March 22, 1943) is a multi- Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist. He is also known as a pop, R&B, and scat singer. This one-time child prodigy topped the Billboard 200 in 1976 with the triple-platinum album, Breezin'. He was also a major live attraction in the UK during the 1980s.[2] Benson uses a rest-stroke picking technique similar to that of gypsy jazz players such as Django Reinhardt.
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1948 Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer of musical theatre.
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MARCH 21

2011-03-21T05:37:00.000-05:00

1923 Mort Lindsey, born 21 March 1923 in Newark, New Jersey USA is an orchestrator, composer, pianist, conductor and musical director for Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and Merv Griffin and music director in television, motion picturesand recordings. Mort began his career as a staff pianist for NBCin 1948, then as a staff conductor at CBS and ABC, and was longknown for his relationship with Merv Griffin, he spent over twentyyears as orchestra leader on the Merv Griffin Show. He received a Grammy Award (Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall)and Emmy Award (A Happening in Central Park) plus several goldrecords for his work with Merv Griffin, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand,Aaron Neville, Willie Nelson and Elton John. Mort orchestratednumerous television specials starring Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra,Dean Martin, Phil Silvers, Robert Goulet, Carol Channing and PearlBailey. He also conducted for Judy Garland, and for Barbra Streisand,at the Hollywood Bowl. Mort served as associate conductor on arecent Barbra Sreisand concert tour. In addition, he composedand conducted the music for eight major motion pictures includingThe Best Man with Henry Fonda and Real Life with Albert Brooks and other motion picture scores including I Could Go On Singing, Stolen Hours, and Gay Purr-ee.Lindsey won an Emmy Award for Barbra Streisand in Central Park.

MARCH 20

2011-03-20T06:15:00.003-05:00

OZZIE NELSON + VERA LYNN + MARIAN MCPARTLAND + LARRY ELGART

1906 Oswald George "Ozzie" Nelson (March 20, 1906 – June 3, 1975) was an American entertainer and band leader who originated and starred in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio and television series with his wife and two sons. Ozzie started his entertainment career as a band leader. He formed and led the Ozzie Nelson Band, and had some initial limited success. He made his own "big break" in 1930. The New York Daily Mirror ran a poll of its readers to determine their favorite band. He knew that news vendors got credit from the newspaper for unsold copies by returning the front page and discarding the rest of the issue. Gathering hundreds of discarded newspapers, the band filled out ballots in their favor. They edged out Paul Whiteman and were pronounced the winners. From 1930 through the 1940s, Nelson's band recorded prolifically—first on Brunswick (1930–1933), then Vocalion (1933–1934), then back to Brunswick (1934–1936), Bluebird (1937–1941), Victor (1941) and finally back to Bluebird (1941-through the 1940s). Nelson's records were consistently popular and in 1934 Nelson enjoyed success with his hit song, "Over Somebody Else's Shoulder" which he introduced. Nelson was their primary vocalist and (from August 1932) featured in duets with his other star vocalist, Harriet Hilliard. Nelson's calm, easy vocal style was popular on records and radio and quite similar to son Rick's voice and Harriet's perky vocals added to the band's popularity.

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1917 Dame Vera Lynn, DBE (born Vera Margaret Welch on 20 March 1917) is an English singer and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops. She was called "The Forces' Sweetheart"; the songs most associated with her are "We'll Meet Again" and "The White Cliffs of Dover". She remained popular after the war, appearing on radio and television in the UK and the United States and recording such hits as "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" and "My Son, My Son". In 2009 she became the oldest living artist to make it to No. 1 on the British album chart, at the age of 92. She has devoted much time and energy to charity work connected with ex-servicemen, disabled children and breast cancer. She is still held in great affection by veterans of the Second World War and in 2000 was named the Briton who best exemplified the spirit of the twentieth century.
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1918 Margaret Marian McPartland, OBE (née Turner; born March 20, 1918) is an English-born jazz pianist, composer, writer, and the host of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz on National Public Radio, NPR. While touring with USO shows in Belgium, she met and began performing with Chicago cornetist Jimmy McPartland in 1944. The couple soon married, playing at their own military base wedding in Germany. With Jimmy's help and encouragement, Marian started her own trio which enjoyed a long residency at a New York City jazz club, the Hickory House, during 1952-1960. The drummer Joe Morello was a member of the group until he departed to join Dave Brubeck's Quartet. She also played at The Embers. After many years of recording for labels such as Capitol, Savoy, Argo, Sesac, Time, and Dot, in 1969 she founded her own record label, Halcyon Records, before having a long association with the Concord Jazz label.
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1922 Larry Elgart (born March 20, 1922) is an American jazz bandleader, who with his brother, Les, recorded the original rendition of "Bandstand Boogie", theme to the long-running teen dance show, American Bandstand. Both brothers began playing in jazz ensembles in their teens, and while young Larry played with jazz musicians such as Charlie Spivak, Woody Herman, Red Norvo, Freddie Slack, and Tommy Dorsey. In the mid-1940's, Les and Larry started up their own ensemble, hiring Nelson Riddle, Bill Finegan, and Ralph Flanagan to arrange tunes for them. Their ensemble was not successful, and after a few years they scuttled the band and sold the arrangements they had commissioned to Tommy Dorsey. Both returned to sideman positions in various orchestras.

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MARCH 19

2011-03-19T05:21:00.001-05:00

1912 Composer and arranger Russ Case was born on 19 March 1912, in Hamburg, Iowa and died 10 October 1964, in Miami, Florida. After a high-school education, he became a freelance arranger and trumpeter from 1927 to 1945, and then until 1964 conducted the orchestras for many network and local radio and television programs, and also made many recordings. Joining ASCAP in 1957, his popular-song compositions include "Midnight Oil", "Sliphorn Sam", "La Valse", "Frantic Fiddles", "Gambler's Ballet", "Little Genius Ballet" and "Gabriel's Heater"

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MARCH 18

2011-03-18T05:36:00.000-05:00

JOHN KANDER + KAI WINDING

1927 John Harold Kander (born March 18, 1927) is the American composer of a number of musicals as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb. His first produced musical was A Family Affair, written with James and William Goldman. He met lyricist Fred Ebb in 1962 and began a songwriting collaboration that would last for more than four decades. Later that year rising star Barbra Streisand recorded two of the duo's songs, "My Coloring Book" and "I Don't Care Much." In 1965, Kander and Ebb landed their first show on Broadway, Flora the Red Menace, produced by Hal Prince, directed by George Abbott, and with book by George Abbott and Robert Russell,[disambiguation needed] in which Liza Minnelli made her initial Broadway appearance. Kander and Ebb have since been associated with writing material for both Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera, and have produced special material for their appearances live and on television. The musicals Cabaret and Chicago were most popular and made into movies.

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1922 Kai Chresten Winding (May 18, 1922–May 6, 1983) was a popular Danish born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is well known for a successful collaboration with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson.
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MARCH 17

2011-03-17T05:24:00.000-05:00

ALFRED NEWMAN + NAT KING COLE

1900 Alfred Newman (March 17, 1900– February 17, 1970) was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of music for films. In a career which spanned over forty years, Newman composed music for over two hundred films. He was one of the most respected film score composers of his time, and is today regarded as one of the greatest musicians ever to work in film.

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1919 Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres. He was one of the first black Americans to host a television variety show, and has maintained worldwide popularity since his death.

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MARCH 15

2011-03-15T07:39:00.000-05:00

JIMMY MCPARTLAND + HARRY JAMES

1907 James Dugald McPartland (March 15, 1907–March 13, 1991), better known as Jimmy McPartland, was an American cornetist and one of the originators of Chicago Jazz. McPartland worked with Eddie Condon, Art Hodes, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey and other jazz veterans, often leading his own bands. McPartland met his future wife in Belgium, the English pianist Margaret Marian Turner. They married in Aachen, Germany and moved back to Chicago, where Jimmy appeared on Windy City Jamboree, before finally settling in New York. Soon, Jimmy McPartland was part of Willie 'The Lion' Smith's band (along with Jimmy Archey, Pee Wee Russell, George 'Pops' Foster, and George Wettling), which won a Grammy for their soundtrack to the 1954 film After Hours. McPartland proudly introduced his new bride around the New York jazz scene, but knew that Marian's future didn't lie in playing traditional jazz. He encouraged her to develop her own style and form her own group, which led to the establishment of her long residency at the Hickory House.Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Jimmy McPartland

1916 Henry Haag “Harry” James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician and bandleader. James was an instrumentalist of the swing era, employing a bravura playing style that made his trumpet work identifiable. He was one of the most popular bandleaders of the first half of the 1940s, and he continued to lead his band until just before his death, 40 years later.Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Harry James

MARCH 14

2011-03-13T19:08:00.004-05:00

EDWARD HEYMAN + LES BROWN + LUTHER HENDERSON + LES BAXTER + QUINCY JONES + ROY BUDD

1907 Edward Heyman (March 14, 1907 – October 16, 1981) was an American musician and lyricist, best known for his compositions "Body and Soul", "When I Fall in Love", and "For Sentimental Reasons". He also contributed many songs for films.Wikipedia | Blame It on My Youth Composer Edward Heyman

1912 Les Brown, Sr. (March 14, 1912 – January 4, 2001) and the Band of Renown are a big band that began in the late 1930s, initially as the group Les Brown and His Blue Devils that Brown led while a student at Duke University. The band now performs under the direction of his son Les Brown, Jr.Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Les Brown | Search Amazon.com for les brown and his band of renown

1919 Luther Henderson (March 14, 1919 – July 29, 2003) was an African American arranger, composer, orchestrator, and pianist.Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Luther Henderson

1922 Les Baxter (March 14, 1922 – January 15, 1996) was an American musician and composer.Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Les Baxter

1933 Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American musician. As a conductor, record producer, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter his career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations,[2] 27 Grammys,[2] including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991. He is particularly recognized as the producer of the album Thriller, by pop icon Michael Jackson, which has sold between 60-110 million copies worldwide,[3] and as the producer and conductor of the charity song “We Are the World”.Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Quincy Jones

1947 ~ Roy Frederick Budd (14 March 1947, South Norwood, London – 7 August 1993, London) was a British jazz musician and film score composer. His first recording was "Birth of the Budd" a single recording. His first recorded LP was Pick Yourself Up in early 1965. Around that same time, he also recorded an album named simply Roy Budd. Other solo albums include Live at Newport, Everything Is Coming Up Roses and Have a Jazzy Christmas. In 1967 he provided the theme tune for the Granada TV series Mr Rose (starring William Mervyn as an eccentric retired police chief), but his first score for the big screen was for the American western Soldier Blue in 1970 (though most of his other film work was on British productions). His best known score is probably for the 1971 Michael Caine film Get Carter, which marked the first notable use of his hallmark method of using the film's sound effects (in this case, Caine's train journey from London to Newcastle) to complement the music. He later worked on a number of films for the producer Euan Lloyd, including Paper Tiger, The Wild Geese, The Sea Wolves and Who Dares Wins. Another was the Kidnapped 1971 soundtrack.

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