1938 Aron Burton*
1969 Robbert Fossen*
1996 Ella Jane Fitzgerald+
1999 Grace Brim+
2001 Joe Carter+
Mike Watson*
Faris Amghar (Faris Amine)*
1969 Robbert Fossen*
1996 Ella Jane Fitzgerald+
1999 Grace Brim+
2001 Joe Carter+
Mike Watson*
Faris Amghar (Faris Amine)*
Happy Birthday
Aron Burton *15.06.1938
Aron Burton (born June 15, 1938) is an American electric and Chicago blues singer, bass guitarist and songwriter. In a long career as a sideman he has played with Freddie King, Albert Collins and Junior Wells, and has released a number of solo albums, including Good Blues to You (1999, Delmark).[1] His own recorded work has been nominated four times for a Blues Music Award in the 'Blues Instrumentalist - Bass' category.
Burton was born in Senatobia, Mississippi, United States.[1] He sang in a number of local churches, and was a co-founder with his cousin of the group, the Victory Travelers. Burton relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in 1955. His musical career commenced the following year, playing the bass backing for Freddie King.[3] King purchased Burton's first bass guitar.[1]
Burton served in the United States Army between 1961 and 1965, but upon discharge found employment variously playing with Baby Huey & the Babysitters, Junior Wells (with whom Burton toured between 1969 and 1972)[2] and Fenton Robinson. Burton also undertook recording sessions with George "Wild Child" Butler, Jackie Ross and Carey Bell (Heartaches and Pain, 1977).[1][4] Burton also recorded a solo single, "Garbage Man", which was released by Cleartone Records.[1]
In 1978, Burton joined his brother, Larry, in Albert Collins' backing band, the Icebreakers, and Burton appeared on Collins's Grammy Award nominated album, Ice Pickin'.[2] He also toured with Collins before leaving his ensemble in the early 1980s.[1] In the meantime, Burton worked as a horticulturist for twenty years in Garfield Park Conservatory, under the auspices of the Chicago Park District.[2] Burton found further work playing with James Cotton, Johnny Littlejohn and Fenton Robinson (again), before relocating to Europe for a time in the late 1980s. Whilst there, Burton recorded Usual Dangerous Guy, with Champion Jack Dupree playing the piano accompaniment.[1]
By the early 1990s, Burton had returned to Chicago, and Earwig Records issued the compilation album, Past, Present, & Future (1993). It included material recorded between 1986 and 1993, both in Europe and the United States, and established Burton as a frontman rather than supporting musician.[1] Burton appeared at the Chicago Blues Festival in 1994, where he was joined on stage by Liz Mandville Greeson.[5] She also sang on a couple of tracks of Burton's live album, Aron Burton Live in 1996, which was recorded at Buddy Guy's club, 'Legends'. The following year, Burton and his brother played at the Chicago Blues Festival.[4] This led on to Delmark Records releasing Good Blues to You in 1999.[1]
Burton co-wrote a track on Too Slim and the Taildraggers' 2000 album, King Size Troublemakers.
Mike Watson *15.06.
Mike has been performing music virtually his entire life, from his hometown in Bowdon, Georgia and the Atlanta area, covering thousands of miles over the years throughout the United States. He has opened for, or performed with, the Freddy Fender Band, Confederate Railroad, Cheap Trick, Darlene Austin, Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds, Bill Haley's Comets, Janie Frickie, Melva Montgomery, Allen Frizzell, and Doyle Grisham, just to name a few.
Although Mike is noted for his blues interpretations, you will find a variety of musical styles performed at any given show, including tunes from such great artists as: Merle Haggard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Seger, The Allman Brothers, Neil McCoy, B.B. King, Elmore James, and Muddy Waters, just to name a few. Many songs, from the pen of Mike Watson, have become crowd favorites over the years, such as, Biscuit On My Mind, Lonely Here Tonight, That's Just The Way My Luck Has Always Been, Juanita, Juanita, The Grass Is Never Greener, Down To The River, and many many more.
Mike has worked on numerous recording projects with longtime friend, and noted Nashville session musician, Doyle Grisham. Doyle, currently the steel guitarist for Jimmy Buffett's Corel Reefer Band, took Mike under his wing after a brief recording session at Fireside Studio in Nashville in 1985, and through the years, due to this association, Mike has developed professional vocal, writing, production, and guitar skills from being able to hang with some of the top people in the industry. Through Mike's travels through the studios and the concert stages, he has learned the making of a solid arrangement of any given song and you can always expect an outstanding performance, whether performing a solo acoustic act or "Catching the Groove" with The Mike Watson Band!
The Breeze - The Mike Watson Band
Robbert Fossen *15.06.1969
Robbert Fossen wurde 1969 geboren und begann in den achtziger Jahren Blues zu singen. Später begann er Gitarre und Mundharmonika zu spielen. Robert trat schon mit vielen Musikern auf u.a. mit A Crossroads Deal und der Robbert Fossen Blues Band. Im Lauf seine Karriere durfte er mit Bluesmusikern spielen wie John Primer, Tail Dagger, Chick Rodgers, Nick Holt, Charles Hayes, T Model Ford, Willie Kent, Magic Slim und seiner Band The Teardrops. Robbert Fossen wurde für ‘The Dutch Blues Award‘ 2013 und 2014 in der Kategorie ‘Best Vocalist‘ nominiert. In November 2012 sprang er für sein großes Vorbild Magic Slim ein, der wegen Krankheit ausfiel. In dieser Show spielte er zusammen mit der Magic Slim’s Band ‘The Teardrops‘. Im Februar darauf starb Magic Slim.
Robbert, born in 1969, started singing the blues in the late eighties. Later on he picked up harmonica, guitar and bass. With bands like A Crossroads Deal, The Robbert Fossen Blues Band, The Fossen & Struijk Band and others he did a lot of shows in and around the Netherlands.
Robbert won the Blues Award as Best Dutch Blues Vocalist 2014. Together with Peter Struijk he won the Dutch Blues Challenge 2012 and made it to the finals at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis (2013), as the first ever Dutch Blues act.
During his ‘career’ he had the chance to play and tour with blues musicians like Tail Dragger, Magic Slim, John Primer, Chick Rodgers, Nick Holt, Charles Hayes, T Model Ford and Willie Kent. In 2012 he did a show with The Teardrops (Magic Slim’s Band), because Slim had to stay in a French hospital. A few days later he opened for Magic Slim with Slim’s Teardrops and did play with Slim on his last song of his last European show ever.
Slim passed away last February 2013.
Robbert’s main style is Real Deal Chicago Blues. He was influenced by Muddy Waters, Magic Slim, John Primer, Buddy Guy, Luther Johnson Jr., Luke ‘Longgone’ Miles and Jerry Portnoy, to name a few. As a kid he listened to Elvis' music and country artists like Johnny Cash and Don Williams.
The Fossen & Struijk Band (four piece) is thè Dutch Premier Real Deal Chicago Blues Band, with Robbert Fossen (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Peter Struijk (guitars), Jan Markus (bass) and Eduard Nijenhuis (drums). The band won the Dutch Blues Awards 2014 as best Dutch Blues Band.
The main inspiration is the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s Chicago club sound from the heydays of Chicago’s Blues.
Rick Kreher, Muddy Waters’ guitar player, wrote in the liner notes of the CD ‘Clubbing’ about the funny fact that it takes a band from The Netherlands to keep the Chicago Blues torch burning. Checkout more details about The Fossen & Struijk Band here.
The Fossen & Struijk Band is thè European touring band for Chicago blues legend Tail Dragger, the legendary singer from Chicago who was Robbert’s Best Man at his wedding, May 2013.
Robbert works together with some other musicians too every once in a while, like Harold 'Fat Harry' van Dorth, Thomas Toussaint, the superb 15 years old pianoplayer Dave Warmerdam and others.
As 'Robbert Fossen & The Electric Men' he does a Tribute to Muddy Waters tribute show.
Robbert works with a 10 piece band for tours with the incredible Melvia 'Chick' Rodgers from Chicago (back in September and
November '16). Since 2016 Robbert is fronting a 12 piece soul, blues, funk, gospel band, the Memphis Soul Stew.
In 2016 he will start working together with Atlanta's 'Queen of the blues' Lola Gulley
The Fossen & Struijk Band at the Brielle Blues Festival 2014
Dutch Blues Challenge 2012 winnaar - Robbert Fossen & Peter Struijk
Taildragger & The Fossen/Struijk Band
Robbert Fossen & The Electric Men, 'Tribute to Muddy Waters'
Robbert Fossen & Thomas Toussaint - Think (Original by Magic Slim)
Amghar Faris (Faris Amine) *15.06.
Faris is a singer-songwriter, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist.
Born of a Touareg mother and an Italian father, he grew up in different countries and was influenced by many musical styles, although traditional touareg music was a major influence to him due to his maternal connection. He recorded his debut single Derhan Alkher with Terakaft in 2010, and performed as a soloist with Tinariwen at Festival du Desert in Mali in 2012. After many collaborations with Tinariwen, Terakaft and Tartit, his work with artists like David Rhodes, Leo Bud Welch, Fulvio Maras and Kiran Ahluwalia demonstrates his broad view of the musical landscape.
As a young and promising artist with his own repertoire, Faris is an example of how Touareg music is evolving and will evolve in the future.
FARIS is a guitarist, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Born of a Touareg mother and an Italian father, he grew up in a musical environment, lived in several countries and was influenced by many musical styles, although traditional touareg music was a major influence to him due to his maternal connection.
He recorded his debut single "Derhan Alkher" with Terakaft in 2010, and performed as a soloist with Tinariwen at the "Festival au Désert" in Mali in 2012. After years of collaborations and touring with Tartit, Terakaft and Tinariwen, he released his debut album "Mississippi To Sahara", produced by Reaktion and distributed by Wrasse Records, Universal France. This saharan part of Africa is widely known to be the land in which the american blues may have a great deal of its roots. Amongst the originators of the blues are the Kel Tamasheq or Tuareg people. "From this heart of Africa, the Sahara, to the place that I call home, in the Mississippi Delta, and musically now known around the world as "the blues"" said recently actor Morgan Freeman. "I really love this record, it is a simple record, you can't lie when you do things like that, you can't hide behind tricks or sound effects, and I can really hear myself in it" says Faris. "If you go to the desert, yes, it really becomes self evident how the blues are linked to this lands, every person who listens to traditional tuareg music will think of the blues". The record was critically acclaimed, Faris has this great ability to mix things up without messing things up. He did amazing arrangements of the songs, respecting the originals but adding a lot of new things to them, not to mention his playing and singing, rich, full of finesse and emotions. "Faris is Amazing!" said american blues musician Taj Mahal listening to the record, "This is the most amazing movement to happen with this great music!". Upon Taj's suggestion, singer-songwriter Ben Harper invited Faris to meet him while he was touring Europe with the Innocent Criminals. "I played almost all of the weissenborns he had with him" says Faris "that was wonderful, and I am such a big fan, I mean, he did so much for music, so much for activism and art". Ben played Faris' guitars as well, "Mississippi to Sahara is a great record", he said, "I can only imagine the wonderful songs to come from Faris in the future".
As a young and promising artist with a rich repertoire, Faris is an example of how Tuareg music is evolving, and will evolve in the future.
His works with artists like David Rhodes, Calexico, Leo Bud Welch and Kiran Ahluwalia are just a little glimpse of his broad view of the musical landscape...
Born of a Touareg mother and an Italian father, he grew up in a musical environment, lived in several countries and was influenced by many musical styles, although traditional touareg music was a major influence to him due to his maternal connection.
He recorded his debut single "Derhan Alkher" with Terakaft in 2010, and performed as a soloist with Tinariwen at the "Festival au Désert" in Mali in 2012. After years of collaborations and touring with Tartit, Terakaft and Tinariwen, he released his debut album "Mississippi To Sahara", produced by Reaktion and distributed by Wrasse Records, Universal France. This saharan part of Africa is widely known to be the land in which the american blues may have a great deal of its roots. Amongst the originators of the blues are the Kel Tamasheq or Tuareg people. "From this heart of Africa, the Sahara, to the place that I call home, in the Mississippi Delta, and musically now known around the world as "the blues"" said recently actor Morgan Freeman. "I really love this record, it is a simple record, you can't lie when you do things like that, you can't hide behind tricks or sound effects, and I can really hear myself in it" says Faris. "If you go to the desert, yes, it really becomes self evident how the blues are linked to this lands, every person who listens to traditional tuareg music will think of the blues". The record was critically acclaimed, Faris has this great ability to mix things up without messing things up. He did amazing arrangements of the songs, respecting the originals but adding a lot of new things to them, not to mention his playing and singing, rich, full of finesse and emotions. "Faris is Amazing!" said american blues musician Taj Mahal listening to the record, "This is the most amazing movement to happen with this great music!". Upon Taj's suggestion, singer-songwriter Ben Harper invited Faris to meet him while he was touring Europe with the Innocent Criminals. "I played almost all of the weissenborns he had with him" says Faris "that was wonderful, and I am such a big fan, I mean, he did so much for music, so much for activism and art". Ben played Faris' guitars as well, "Mississippi to Sahara is a great record", he said, "I can only imagine the wonderful songs to come from Faris in the future".
As a young and promising artist with a rich repertoire, Faris is an example of how Tuareg music is evolving, and will evolve in the future.
His works with artists like David Rhodes, Calexico, Leo Bud Welch and Kiran Ahluwalia are just a little glimpse of his broad view of the musical landscape...
Faris Amine - Mississippi To Sahara
Faris Amine Paris 2015
FARIS ; TOUAREG BLUES TRIO { Niliwityan Dagh } in VI° Crissier BLUES RULES Festival 2015
Duke Tumatoe *15.06.1947
Chicago-born Duke Tumatoe is a musician/showman who has retained a firm career by fusing gritty R&B, rock, blues, and funk injected with equal parts humor and gut-level sincerity.
Tumatoe was a founding member of what would become REO Speedwagon. His tenure with that band was short-lived, leaving in 1969 and forming Duke Tumatoe & the All-Star Frogs. For the next 13 years, they toured relentlessly playing throughout the Midwest on countless collegecampuses and bars. Because of this grueling tour schedule, the band managed to release two albums, Red Pepper Hot! (1976) and Back to Chicago (1982).
In 1983, Tumatoe decided to slow down the pace and break up the Frogs. He immediately rebounded with the creation of the Power Trio, who recorded Duke's Up for Blind Pig Records. Tumatoe took advantage of the more flexible schedule and formed his own record label, Sweetfinger Music. Over the next several years,Tumatoe released four discs on his label, Dr. Duke (1992), Wild Animals (1994), Greatest Hits Plus (1996), and the all-instrumental Picks & Sticks (1997).
Throughout his illustrious career, Tumatoe opened for several legendary figures in blues and rock, including Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, George Thorogood, Fabulous Thunderbirds, and John Fogerty. Fogerty was so taken with Tumatoe's performance, he produced the critically acclaimed 1988 live album I Like My Job! on Warner Bros. In 1999, Tumatoe signed with the J-Bird label, which released A Ejukatid Man that same year. In 2001, Tumatoe had tongue firmly in cheek with the releases Pompous & Overrated and the raunchy seasonal disc It's Christmas (Let's Have Sex). Duke Tumatoe & the Power Trio appeared from Sweetfinger Records in 2003, followed by 2006's You've Got the Problem! on Blind Pig Records.
In November 2010, Duke released his newest album, "I Just Want to Be Rich."
Tumatoe was a founding member of what would become REO Speedwagon. His tenure with that band was short-lived, leaving in 1969 and forming Duke Tumatoe & the All-Star Frogs. For the next 13 years, they toured relentlessly playing throughout the Midwest on countless collegecampuses and bars. Because of this grueling tour schedule, the band managed to release two albums, Red Pepper Hot! (1976) and Back to Chicago (1982).
In 1983, Tumatoe decided to slow down the pace and break up the Frogs. He immediately rebounded with the creation of the Power Trio, who recorded Duke's Up for Blind Pig Records. Tumatoe took advantage of the more flexible schedule and formed his own record label, Sweetfinger Music. Over the next several years,Tumatoe released four discs on his label, Dr. Duke (1992), Wild Animals (1994), Greatest Hits Plus (1996), and the all-instrumental Picks & Sticks (1997).
Throughout his illustrious career, Tumatoe opened for several legendary figures in blues and rock, including Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, George Thorogood, Fabulous Thunderbirds, and John Fogerty. Fogerty was so taken with Tumatoe's performance, he produced the critically acclaimed 1988 live album I Like My Job! on Warner Bros. In 1999, Tumatoe signed with the J-Bird label, which released A Ejukatid Man that same year. In 2001, Tumatoe had tongue firmly in cheek with the releases Pompous & Overrated and the raunchy seasonal disc It's Christmas (Let's Have Sex). Duke Tumatoe & the Power Trio appeared from Sweetfinger Records in 2003, followed by 2006's You've Got the Problem! on Blind Pig Records.
In November 2010, Duke released his newest album, "I Just Want to Be Rich."
http://www.duketumatoe.com/
Duke Tumatoe, born William “Bill" Severen Fiorio in 1947,[1] is an American blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. He has gigged with Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, B.B. King, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, John Fogerty and George Thorogood.[2] He was a founding member of arena-rock giants REO Speedwagon.[1] He has released fifteen albums as the bandleader of Duke Tumatoe & The All-Star Frogs and Duke Tumatoe & The Power Trio. His 1988 live album I Like My Job was produced by John Fogerty. He typically plays more than 200 dates per year.[2]
Early life
Duke Tumatoe was born in June 1947 in Chicago. His father was a first-generation Italian whose family hailed from San Bonifacio, Italy, a northern Italian town outside Verona. He grew up in Beverly, a neighborhood on the Southwest side of Chicago.
The South Side of Chicago was also the birthplace of urban, electric blues, which was a huge influence on Tumatoe. As a teen, he often visited the legendary market at Maxwell Street to hear live blues. He says, “I first saw Muddy Waters when I was 13. We were hearing that stuff all the time and just assumed everybody was, too. I knew all the old guys, and I'd see them every day. I can't believe I took that for granted.[2]"
He learned to play drums at age 14 and guitar a year after that.[2]
Career
Lothar & The Handpeople
In 1965, Tumatoe enrolled in college at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and founded a short-lived band called Lothar & The Handpeople. This band was named by CBS News Correspondent and Emmy Award winner Bill Geist, a classmate of Tumatoe’s.[3]
REO Speedwagon
In 1967, while living in Champaign, Illinois, Tumatoe was an original member of early REO Speedwagon, alongside Neal Doughty and Alan Gratzer. The band started as a soul band, inspired by Otis Redding, Sam and Dave and The Doors. In 1969, the band decided to take a more straightforward rock and roll approach, so Tumatoe, who wanted to play blues music, left the group to pursue his own musical endeavors.[2] Tumatoe says, "It became more and more obvious that we weren't meant to play together...They're really hard-working people. I have nothing but good things to say about them.[4]"
Duke Tumatoe & The All-Star Frogs
In 1969, Tumatoe founded Duke Tumatoe & The All-Star Frogs. The band featured guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. They toured for thirteen years and released three albums.[4] The All-Star Frogs featured keyboardist James Mitchell Hill, whose playing has been compared to Booker T. Jones.[5] Hill continues to play with Tumatoe through the present day.
Duke Tumatoe & The Power Trio
In 1983, Tumatoe disbanded The All-Star Frogs. He had moved to Indianapolis and was looking to form a group closer to his new home. The new group consisted of guitar, bass, drums and keys, though certain lineup changes featured two guitarists and no keys. The Power Trio performed an average of 200 dates per year.[4] They have released twelve albums to date.
John Fogerty and I Like My Job
In 1987, John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival undertook his own ethnomusicologist mission by traveling through the South and Midwest to discover regional acts that couldn’t be heard on the radio.[6] While passing through Mishawaka, Indiana, Fogerty heard a radio advertisement for Duke Tumatoe, whose name caught his attention.[7] He attended the show that evening and was so impressed that he returned to the club on four consecutive evenings to see more.[8]
“The first time I heard Duke it gave me chills,” said Fogerty. "I hadn't experienced energy like that in a long time. It was like walking in on Jimmy Swaggart in his heyday. Everybody in the audience was shouting and screaming and having a good time. I mean the crowd was just eating out of this guy's hand. Immediately the light went on in my head--somebody ought to record these guys.[6]"
For the first time, Fogerty decided to try his hand as a record producer.[7] He played a cassette of a live recording of Duke to Warner Bros. Records President Lenny Waronker and got the go-ahead to begin recording what would become the 1988 live album, I Like My Job.[9] Determined to capture the live energy of the band, Fogerty assembled over 24 hours of live recordings before beginning the mixing process. Fogerty and engineer Alan Johnson spent three focused months mixing the record.[7]
Of the mixing process, Fogerty said, "I'd take a piece of a song from one night and add pieces from other nights...a bridge here, a chorus there. I was looking to get as close to that feeling I had when I first saw him. At the same time, it was important to me that I didn't mess with the material itself. Duke is a great songwriter, and great song interpreter. I really wasn't able to tell which tunes were originals and which were covers and that's the way I liked it. This is his music, played his way. I just sort of assembled the best moments.[8]" Capturing Tumatoe's crowd interaction was a prominent concern. "That interaction was vital. Which is why you get a lot of call and response on the record. Duke is a very quick guy. And very funny. He knows how to work a crowd and it was my hope that the energy would come across on record.[8]"
“Lord Help Our Colts”
Shortly after moving to Indianapolis in 1980, Tumatoe befriended Tom Griswold of “The Bob & Tom Show,” a nationally-syndicated radio program that fuses comedy and music. In 1985, Tumatoe was looking for a way to promote a local blues club called Uncle Slugs, and Griswold suggested he write a song about the city’s new NFL team, the Indianapolis Colts, which had formerly been the Baltimore Colts. The result was the tongue-in-cheek “Lord Help Our Colts,” a catchy twelve-bar blues jingle with a static chorus and verses that could easily be updated to recap each game. “I, of course, wrote the song in a form that I thought if necessary, I could easily update, which turned out to be a real good thing, a smart move,” says Tumatoe. To date, he has sung more than 800 versions over the past thirty years.[10]
Tumatoe performed the songs weekly on air, and though they were a hit with fans, some of the players and coaches took umbrage to his lyrics, especially when Tumatoe couldn’t resist taking a dig. On a few different occasions, Tumatoe barely avoided physical altercations initiated by drunken quarterbacks or angry coaches. Says Tumatoe, “I think people miss a basic thing about the blues, and I don’t understand why they don’t get it. Blues is a light-hearted music. They’re stories that make fun of what goes on in your life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a football fan. I enjoy these games. I watch them all. But the premise of all these guys getting millions and millions of dollars to play a kids’ game is in and of itself not serious. It’s a cause to celebrate when they’re winning, but it really doesn’t affect your life other than it’s nice when your team is doing well. And these guys are getting millions of dollars, and these guys are bitching about it when you criticize their performance? I didn’t really criticize their performance. I just made it rhyme.[2][10]"
Musical Style
Tumatoe is a self-taught guitarist who learned to play by watching Chicago’s blues legends. His guitar playing has been described as “B.B. King played through Jimi Hendrix (with a touch of Andy Gill).[5]”
Tumatoe’s songs are noted for their humor, something he explains as, "There are two elements of the blues. There's the general intensity of the music…and an element of humor, some twist in the lyrics. It's like a comedian turning something sad into something funny.[4]"
Gear
Tumatoe’s primary guitar is a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Jr. named “Albert,” an homage to Albert King, a blues legend with whom Tumatoe has performed.[2]
Personal life
Tumatoe has been married for 33 years and has six grown children. Says Tumatoe, “I’ve had a great life. If you get a chance the next time around, pick Duke Tumatoe. It’s a lot of fun.
Early life
Duke Tumatoe was born in June 1947 in Chicago. His father was a first-generation Italian whose family hailed from San Bonifacio, Italy, a northern Italian town outside Verona. He grew up in Beverly, a neighborhood on the Southwest side of Chicago.
The South Side of Chicago was also the birthplace of urban, electric blues, which was a huge influence on Tumatoe. As a teen, he often visited the legendary market at Maxwell Street to hear live blues. He says, “I first saw Muddy Waters when I was 13. We were hearing that stuff all the time and just assumed everybody was, too. I knew all the old guys, and I'd see them every day. I can't believe I took that for granted.[2]"
He learned to play drums at age 14 and guitar a year after that.[2]
Career
Lothar & The Handpeople
In 1965, Tumatoe enrolled in college at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and founded a short-lived band called Lothar & The Handpeople. This band was named by CBS News Correspondent and Emmy Award winner Bill Geist, a classmate of Tumatoe’s.[3]
REO Speedwagon
In 1967, while living in Champaign, Illinois, Tumatoe was an original member of early REO Speedwagon, alongside Neal Doughty and Alan Gratzer. The band started as a soul band, inspired by Otis Redding, Sam and Dave and The Doors. In 1969, the band decided to take a more straightforward rock and roll approach, so Tumatoe, who wanted to play blues music, left the group to pursue his own musical endeavors.[2] Tumatoe says, "It became more and more obvious that we weren't meant to play together...They're really hard-working people. I have nothing but good things to say about them.[4]"
Duke Tumatoe & The All-Star Frogs
In 1969, Tumatoe founded Duke Tumatoe & The All-Star Frogs. The band featured guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. They toured for thirteen years and released three albums.[4] The All-Star Frogs featured keyboardist James Mitchell Hill, whose playing has been compared to Booker T. Jones.[5] Hill continues to play with Tumatoe through the present day.
Duke Tumatoe & The Power Trio
In 1983, Tumatoe disbanded The All-Star Frogs. He had moved to Indianapolis and was looking to form a group closer to his new home. The new group consisted of guitar, bass, drums and keys, though certain lineup changes featured two guitarists and no keys. The Power Trio performed an average of 200 dates per year.[4] They have released twelve albums to date.
John Fogerty and I Like My Job
In 1987, John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival undertook his own ethnomusicologist mission by traveling through the South and Midwest to discover regional acts that couldn’t be heard on the radio.[6] While passing through Mishawaka, Indiana, Fogerty heard a radio advertisement for Duke Tumatoe, whose name caught his attention.[7] He attended the show that evening and was so impressed that he returned to the club on four consecutive evenings to see more.[8]
“The first time I heard Duke it gave me chills,” said Fogerty. "I hadn't experienced energy like that in a long time. It was like walking in on Jimmy Swaggart in his heyday. Everybody in the audience was shouting and screaming and having a good time. I mean the crowd was just eating out of this guy's hand. Immediately the light went on in my head--somebody ought to record these guys.[6]"
For the first time, Fogerty decided to try his hand as a record producer.[7] He played a cassette of a live recording of Duke to Warner Bros. Records President Lenny Waronker and got the go-ahead to begin recording what would become the 1988 live album, I Like My Job.[9] Determined to capture the live energy of the band, Fogerty assembled over 24 hours of live recordings before beginning the mixing process. Fogerty and engineer Alan Johnson spent three focused months mixing the record.[7]
Of the mixing process, Fogerty said, "I'd take a piece of a song from one night and add pieces from other nights...a bridge here, a chorus there. I was looking to get as close to that feeling I had when I first saw him. At the same time, it was important to me that I didn't mess with the material itself. Duke is a great songwriter, and great song interpreter. I really wasn't able to tell which tunes were originals and which were covers and that's the way I liked it. This is his music, played his way. I just sort of assembled the best moments.[8]" Capturing Tumatoe's crowd interaction was a prominent concern. "That interaction was vital. Which is why you get a lot of call and response on the record. Duke is a very quick guy. And very funny. He knows how to work a crowd and it was my hope that the energy would come across on record.[8]"
“Lord Help Our Colts”
Shortly after moving to Indianapolis in 1980, Tumatoe befriended Tom Griswold of “The Bob & Tom Show,” a nationally-syndicated radio program that fuses comedy and music. In 1985, Tumatoe was looking for a way to promote a local blues club called Uncle Slugs, and Griswold suggested he write a song about the city’s new NFL team, the Indianapolis Colts, which had formerly been the Baltimore Colts. The result was the tongue-in-cheek “Lord Help Our Colts,” a catchy twelve-bar blues jingle with a static chorus and verses that could easily be updated to recap each game. “I, of course, wrote the song in a form that I thought if necessary, I could easily update, which turned out to be a real good thing, a smart move,” says Tumatoe. To date, he has sung more than 800 versions over the past thirty years.[10]
Tumatoe performed the songs weekly on air, and though they were a hit with fans, some of the players and coaches took umbrage to his lyrics, especially when Tumatoe couldn’t resist taking a dig. On a few different occasions, Tumatoe barely avoided physical altercations initiated by drunken quarterbacks or angry coaches. Says Tumatoe, “I think people miss a basic thing about the blues, and I don’t understand why they don’t get it. Blues is a light-hearted music. They’re stories that make fun of what goes on in your life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a football fan. I enjoy these games. I watch them all. But the premise of all these guys getting millions and millions of dollars to play a kids’ game is in and of itself not serious. It’s a cause to celebrate when they’re winning, but it really doesn’t affect your life other than it’s nice when your team is doing well. And these guys are getting millions of dollars, and these guys are bitching about it when you criticize their performance? I didn’t really criticize their performance. I just made it rhyme.[2][10]"
Musical Style
Tumatoe is a self-taught guitarist who learned to play by watching Chicago’s blues legends. His guitar playing has been described as “B.B. King played through Jimi Hendrix (with a touch of Andy Gill).[5]”
Tumatoe’s songs are noted for their humor, something he explains as, "There are two elements of the blues. There's the general intensity of the music…and an element of humor, some twist in the lyrics. It's like a comedian turning something sad into something funny.[4]"
Gear
Tumatoe’s primary guitar is a 1957 Gibson Les Paul Jr. named “Albert,” an homage to Albert King, a blues legend with whom Tumatoe has performed.[2]
Personal life
Tumatoe has been married for 33 years and has six grown children. Says Tumatoe, “I’ve had a great life. If you get a chance the next time around, pick Duke Tumatoe. It’s a lot of fun.
Duke
Tumatoe and the Power Trio - Be So Easy
"LOVE TO PLAY THE BLUES" - DUKE TUMATOE
R.I.P.
Grace Brim +15.06.1999
b. 20 July 1924, Biscoe, Arkansas, USA, d. 15 June 1999, Gary, Indiana, USA. One of the few female musicians active on the post-war Chicago blues scene, Brim appeared with her husband John Brim’s group, the Gary Kings. At her first recording session in 1950, she played harmonica and sang, demonstrating a pleasant, though not especially expressive, vocal style. Later she took to the drums, although on at least one record she also sang and played harmonica. Some records appeared under her own name, some as Mrs John Brim, but mostly she played a subordinate role on John’s records, and can be heard lending very solid support on his fine topical blues, ‘Tough Times’, with Eddie Taylor and Jimmy Reed. She continued to play for many years, both with her husband and with other groups, and they appeared together on a single in the 70s.
Joe Carter +15.06.2001
Joseph J. „Joe“ Carter (* 6. November 1927 in Midland, Georgia; † 15. Juni 2001 in Chicago) war ein US-amerikanischer Blues-Gitarrist und Sänger in der Chicago Blues Szene.
Joe Carter hatte als Jugendlicher Gitarrenunterricht bei Lee Willis in Georgia; 1952 zog er nach Chicago, wo er Muddy Waters kennenlernte. Er gründete dort seine erste Band mit Smokey Smothers an der Gitarre und Lester Davenport an der Mundharmonika, obwohl mit dieser Formation keine Aufnahmen entstanden. Er bekam einen Plattenkontrakt von Cobra Records angeboten, lehnte aber ab, weil er es vorzog, von Clubauftritten zu leben. In den 1950er Jahren trat er regelmäßig im 708 Club auf, einer der damals bekanntesten Bluesclubs an Chicagos South Side, wo er als Joe „Elmore James, Jr.“ Carter bezeichnet wurde, da er Elmore James´ Slide-Gitarrenstil perfekt beherrschte. Lange Jahre arbeitete Carter außerhalb der Musikszene als Packarbeiter; erst 1976 entstand ein erstes Album, das er für Barrelhouse Records aufnahm. Ende der 1980er Jahre trat er gelegentlich in Lilly's Nachtclub an Chicagos North Side auf, begleitet von der Band The Ice Cream Men. Eine Krebserkrankung beendete Anfang der 1990er seine Karriere.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Carter
Joe Carter (November 6, 1927 – June 15, 2001) was an American blues guitarist and singer, formerly active on the Chicago blues scene.
Biography
Born Joseph J. Carter in Midland, Georgia, he was taught to play guitar by Lee Willis as a youngster in Georgia. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1952, where he met Muddy Waters. He formed his first band with Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers on guitar and Lester Davenport on harmonica, though he never recorded with this band. He was offered a recording contract with Cobra Records, but turned it down because he made more money with his club gigs. In the 1950s he performed frequently at the 708 Club, one of the premier blues clubs on Chicago's south side, often billed as Joe "Elmore James, Jr." Carter because of his mastery of the Elmore James slide guitar style.
Carter worked at the Hormel Meat Packing plant for many years when he was inactive as a musician.
Carter did not begin recording until 1976, when his debut album was issued on Barrelhouse Records. In the late 1980s he performed occasionally at the Lilly's nightclub on Chicago's north side, backed by the band The Ice Cream Men. By the early 1990s he had developed throat cancer and was forced to curtail his career.
Carter died in June 2001 in Chicago.Joe Carter (November 6, 1927 – June 15, 2001) was an American blues guitarist and singer, formerly active on the Chicago blues scene.
Biography
Born Joseph J. Carter in Midland, Georgia, he was taught to play guitar by Lee Willis as a youngster in Georgia. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1952, where he met Muddy Waters. He formed his first band with Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers on guitar and Lester Davenport on harmonica, though he never recorded with this band. He was offered a recording contract with Cobra Records, but turned it down because he made more money with his club gigs. In the 1950s he performed frequently at the 708 Club, one of the premier blues clubs on Chicago's south side, often billed as Joe "Elmore James, Jr." Carter because of his mastery of the Elmore James slide guitar style.
Carter worked at the Hormel Meat Packing plant for many years when he was inactive as a musician.
Carter did not begin recording until 1976, when his debut album was issued on Barrelhouse Records. In the late 1980s he performed occasionally at the Lilly's nightclub on Chicago's north side, backed by the band The Ice Cream Men. By the early 1990s he had developed throat cancer and was forced to curtail his career.
Carter died in June 2001 in Chicago.
Biography
Born Joseph J. Carter in Midland, Georgia, he was taught to play guitar by Lee Willis as a youngster in Georgia. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1952, where he met Muddy Waters. He formed his first band with Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers on guitar and Lester Davenport on harmonica, though he never recorded with this band. He was offered a recording contract with Cobra Records, but turned it down because he made more money with his club gigs. In the 1950s he performed frequently at the 708 Club, one of the premier blues clubs on Chicago's south side, often billed as Joe "Elmore James, Jr." Carter because of his mastery of the Elmore James slide guitar style.
Carter worked at the Hormel Meat Packing plant for many years when he was inactive as a musician.
Carter did not begin recording until 1976, when his debut album was issued on Barrelhouse Records. In the late 1980s he performed occasionally at the Lilly's nightclub on Chicago's north side, backed by the band The Ice Cream Men. By the early 1990s he had developed throat cancer and was forced to curtail his career.
Carter died in June 2001 in Chicago.Joe Carter (November 6, 1927 – June 15, 2001) was an American blues guitarist and singer, formerly active on the Chicago blues scene.
Biography
Born Joseph J. Carter in Midland, Georgia, he was taught to play guitar by Lee Willis as a youngster in Georgia. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1952, where he met Muddy Waters. He formed his first band with Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers on guitar and Lester Davenport on harmonica, though he never recorded with this band. He was offered a recording contract with Cobra Records, but turned it down because he made more money with his club gigs. In the 1950s he performed frequently at the 708 Club, one of the premier blues clubs on Chicago's south side, often billed as Joe "Elmore James, Jr." Carter because of his mastery of the Elmore James slide guitar style.
Carter worked at the Hormel Meat Packing plant for many years when he was inactive as a musician.
Carter did not begin recording until 1976, when his debut album was issued on Barrelhouse Records. In the late 1980s he performed occasionally at the Lilly's nightclub on Chicago's north side, backed by the band The Ice Cream Men. By the early 1990s he had developed throat cancer and was forced to curtail his career.
Carter died in June 2001 in Chicago.
Ella Jane Fitzgerald +15.06.1996
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Ella Jane Fitzgerald (* 25. April 1917[1] in Newport News, Virginia; † 15. Juni 1996 in Beverly Hills, Kalifornien) war eine US-amerikanische Jazz-Sängerin.Leben
Ella Fitzgerald wuchs in Yonkers in der Nähe von New York auf und war seit ihrem vierzehnten Lebensjahr als Vollwaise auf sich allein gestellt. Ihr Debüt als Sängerin gab sie mit siebzehn im legendären Apollo Theater in Harlem; das Apollo Theater veranstaltete regelmäßige Amateurwettbewerbe, von denen sie einen gewann. Ursprünglich wollte sie bei diesem Talentwettbewerb als Tänzerin antreten; als der Moment des Auftritts gekommen war, zitterten ihr jedoch vor Aufregung so die Beine, dass sie stattdessen ein Lied sang.[2] Fitzgerald wurde daraufhin 1935 von Chick Webb in seine Big Band engagiert. 1936 nahmen sie mit Love and Kisses eine erste Platte auf; 1938 hatten sie einen Nummer-eins-Hit: Das fröhliche A Tisket A Tasket – eigentlich ein Kinderlied – machte sie mit Chick Webb zum Star.[3][4] Ein weiterer Nummer-eins-Hit gelang ihr mit Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall im Jahre 1944. Fitzgerald konnte sich sowohl in den Pop-, als auch in R&B- und Country-Charts der USA platzieren.
Als Chick Webb 1939 starb, übernahm sie zunächst die Band, die nun unter dem Namen Ella Fitzgerald and Her Famous Orchestra auftrat. Da Ella Fitzgerald aber keine Noten lesen konnte, taugte sie nicht als Bandleaderin. So begann sie 1941 ihre Solokarriere und entwickelte sich zu einer der größten Jazzsängerinnen. 1946 tourte sie mit Dizzy Gillespie und trat in der Jazz at the Philharmonic-Konzertreihe von Norman Granz auf, der sie auch in dem Musikfilm Improvisation (1950) mitwirken ließ. Nach einem Auftritt im Film Pete Kelly’s Blues 1955 ging sie zu Verve Records. Ihr Repertoire reichte von Swing über Bebop, Blues, Bossa Nova, Samba, Gospel und Hip-Hop bis zu verjazzten Weihnachtsliedern. Oft wurde sie die First Lady of Song genannt. Ihr Markenzeichen war eine Gesangsart, die sie mitentwickelte und der sie zu Weltruhm verhalf: der Scatgesang. Charakteristisch ist der jugendliche Charme ihrer Stimme und ihre bis heute unübertroffene Leichtigkeit der Phrasierung, welche es ihr erlaubte, mit einem beachtlichen Stimmumfang von drei Oktaven wie ein Jazz-Instrumentalist zu improvisieren.
Zu Fitzgeralds herausragenden Schallplatteneinspielungen zählen ihre Songbooks der wichtigsten amerikanischen Komponisten der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts, denen sie damit Denkmäler setzte und allen nachfolgenden Sängerinnen Lehrbücher für die perfekte Interpretation der jeweiligen Songs gab.
Im Folgenden eine Auflistung ihrer klassischen Songbooks für das Label Verve und die dazugehörigen Arrangeure:
1956 – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook (Buddy Bregman)
1956 – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers & Hart Songbook (Bregman)
1957 – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook (Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn)
1958 – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook (Paul Weston)
1959 – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (Nelson Riddle)
1961 – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Songbook (Billy May)
1963 – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook (Riddle)
1964 – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook (Riddle)
Für andere Plattenfirmen nahm sie später ebenfalls Songbooks auf, unter anderem erneut mit Liedern der Gebrüder Gershwin sowie Cole Porter und Antônio Carlos Jobim. Kolleginnen wie Sarah Vaughan oder Dinah Washington folgtem ihrem Beispiel und nahmen ebenfalls Songbooks auf. Eine weitere bedeutende Einspielung Fitzgeralds gibt es von Gershwins Oper Porgy and Bess, die sie gemeinsam mit Louis Armstrong aufnahm. Darüber hinaus gibt es zahlreiche Live-Einspielungen der Konzerte von Fitzgerald, die zeigen, dass es keinen Unterschied zwischen einem Studio- oder Livegig bei ihr gab. Die einzigen qualitativen Unterschiede bestehen bei der Aufnahmetechnik. Sie gewann insgesamt 13 Grammys; 1987 wurde sie mit der National Medal of Arts ausgezeichnet.
Sie litt lange Jahre an Diabetes, der gegen Ende ihres Lebens zur Erblindung führte. Eine weitere Folge der Krankheit war die Amputation beider Unterschenkel im Jahre 1993. Drei Jahre später verstarb sie als eine der wichtigsten Jazzsängerinnen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Sie liegt auf dem Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood bei Los Angeles begraben.
Privat
Fitzgerald war mindestens zweimal verheiratet. Ihre erste Ehe schloss sie 1939[5] – andere Quellen sprechen von 1941[6] – mit dem Hafenarbeiter Benjamin „Benny“ Kornegay, der ihr und ihrer Band als eine Art männlicher Groupie auf Schritt und Tritt folgte. Als sie nach kurzer Ehe von kriminellen Verwicklungen ihres Mannes erfuhr, ließ sie die Ehe annullieren. Ihr zweiter Ehemann war von 1946 bis 1952 – andere Quellen nennen wiederum abweichende Daten, wie z. B. 1947–1953 oder 10. Dezember 1947 – 1952 – der Bassist Ray Brown, mit dem sie ein Kind, Ray Brown jr., adoptierte. 1957 kursierten Berichte in der skandinavischen Presse, sie habe den jungen Norweger Thor Einar Larsen heimlich geheiratet.
_by_Erling_Mandelmann.jpg)
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer often referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing and intonation, and a "horn-like" improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.After tumultuous teenage years, Fitzgerald found stability in musical success with performances on many stages in the Harlem area, including her rendition of the nursery rhyme "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" that helped boost her to fame. In 1942, Fitzgerald left the amateur performances behind, signed a deal with Decca Records, and started her solo career by redefining the art of scat singing. It was not until her manager, Norman Granz, built Verve Records based on her vocal abilities that she recorded some of her more widely noted works. Under this label, Fitzgerald focused more on singing than scatting, providing perhaps her most career-defining works in her interpretation of the Great American Songbook.
While Fitzgerald appeared in movies and as guests on popular television shows in the second half of the twentieth century, her musical collaborations with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and The Ink Spots were some of her most notable acts outside of her solo career. These partnerships produced recognizable songs like "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "Cheek to Cheek", "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall", and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)". In 1993, Fitzgerald capped off her sixty-year career with her last public performance. Three years later, she died at the age of 79, following years of decline in her health. After her passing, Fitzgerald's influence lived on through her fourteen Grammy Awards, National Medal of Arts, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and tributes in the form of stamps, music festivals, and theater namesakes.
Early life
Fitzgerald was born on April 25, 1917 in Newport News, Virginia, the daughter of William Fitzgerald and Temperance "Tempie" Fitzgerald.[1] Her parents were unmarried, and they had separated within a year of her birth.[1] With her mother's new partner, a Portuguese immigrant named Joseph Da Silva, Fitzgerald and her mother moved to the city of Yonkers, in Westchester County, New York, as part of the first Great Migration of African Americans.[1] Initially living in a single room, her mother and Da Silva soon found jobs. Her half-sister, Frances Da Silva, was born in 1923.[2] By 1925, Fitzgerald and her family had moved to nearby School Street, then a predominantly poor Italian area.[2] At the age of six, she began her formal education and moved through a variety of schools before attending Benjamin Franklin Junior High School from 1929.[3]
Fitzgerald had been passionate about dancing from third grade, being a fan of Earl "Snakehips" Tucker in particular, and would perform for her peers on the way to school and at lunchtime.[4] Fitzgerald and her family were Methodists and were active in the Bethany African Methodist Episcopal Church, and she regularly attended worship services, Bible study, and Sunday school.[4] The church provided Fitzgerald with her earliest experiences in formal music making, and she may also have had a short series of piano lessons during this period.[3]
As a child Fitzgerald listened to jazz recordings by Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, and The Boswell Sisters. Fitzgerald idolized the Boswell Sisters' lead singer Connee Boswell, later saying, "My mother brought home one of her records, and I fell in love with it....I tried so hard to sound just like her."[5]
In 1932, her mother died from a heart attack when Fitzgerald was 15 years of age.[6] Following this trauma, Fitzgerald's grades dropped dramatically, and she frequently skipped school. Abused by her stepfather, she ran away to her aunt and,[7] at one point, worked as a lookout at a bordello and with a Mafia-affiliated numbers runner.[8] When the authorities caught up with her, she was first placed in the Colored Orphan Asylum in Riverdale, Bronx.[7] However, when the orphanage proved too crowded, she was moved to the New York Training School for Girls in Hudson, New York, a state reformatory located about 120 miles north of New York City. Eventually she escaped and for a time she was homeless.[7]
Early career
Fitzgerald made her singing debut at age 17 on November 21, 1934, at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York.[9][10] She pulled in a weekly audience at the Apollo and won the opportunity to compete in one of the earliest of its famous "Amateur Nights". She had originally intended to go on stage and dance, but, intimidated by the Edwards Sisters, a local dance duo, she opted to sing instead in the style of Connee Boswell.[10][11] She sang Boswell's "Judy" and "The Object of My Affection", a song recorded by the Boswell Sisters, and won the first prize of US $25.00.[12]
In January 1935, Fitzgerald won the chance to perform for a week with the Tiny Bradshaw band at the Harlem Opera House.[9] She met drummer and bandleader Chick Webb there. Webb had already hired singer Charlie Linton to work with the band and was, The New York Times later wrote, "reluctant to sign her....because she was gawky and unkempt, a 'diamond in the rough'."[5] Webb offered her the opportunity to test with his band when they played a dance at Yale University.[9] She began singing regularly with his orchestra throughout 1935 at Harlem's Savoy Ballroom.[9] Fitzgerald recorded several hit songs with them, including "Love and Kisses" and "(If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini)".[9] But it was her 1938 version of the nursery rhyme, "A-Tisket, A-Tasket", a song she co-wrote, that brought her wide public acclaim.[13][14]
Webb died on June 16, 1939,[15] and his band was renamed Ella and her Famous Orchestra with Fitzgerald taking on the role of nominal bandleader.[16] She recorded nearly 150 songs with the orchestra before it broke up in 1942; in her New York Times obituary of 1996, Stephen Holder wrote that "the majority of them (were) novelties and disposable pop fluff".[5]
Decca years
In 1942, Fitzgerald left the band to begin a solo career.[17] Now signed to the Decca label, she had several popular hits while recording with such artists as Bill Kenny & the Ink Spots,[18] Louis Jordan,[19] and the Delta Rhythm Boys.[20]
With Decca's Milt Gabler as her manager, Fitzgerald began working regularly for the jazz impresario Norman Granz and appeared regularly in his Jazz at the Philharmonic (JATP) concerts. Her relationship with Granz was further cemented when he became her manager, although it would be nearly a decade before he could record her on one of his many record labels.
With the demise of the Swing era and the decline of the great touring big bands, a major change in jazz music occurred. The advent of bebop led to new developments in Fitzgerald's vocal style, influenced by her work with Dizzy Gillespie's big band. It was in this period that Fitzgerald started including scat singing as a major part of her performance repertoire. While singing with Gillespie, Fitzgerald recalled, "I just tried to do [with my voice] what I heard the horns in the band doing."[12]
Her 1945 scat recording of "Flying Home" arranged by Vic Schoen would later be described by The New York Times as "one of the most influential vocal jazz records of the decade....Where other singers, most notably Louis Armstrong, had tried similar improvisation, no one before Miss Fitzgerald employed the technique with such dazzling inventiveness."[5] Her bebop recording of "Oh, Lady Be Good!" (1947) was similarly popular and increased her reputation as one of the leading jazz vocalists.[21]
Verve years
Fitzgerald was still performing at Granz's JATP concerts by 1955. She left Decca and Granz, now her manager, created Verve Records around her. She later described the period as strategically crucial, saying, "I had gotten to the point where I was only singing be-bop. I thought be-bop was 'it', and that all I had to do was go some place and sing bop. But it finally got to the point where I had no place to sing. I realized then that there was more to music than bop. Norman ... felt that I should do other things, so he produced The Cole Porter Songbook with me. It was a turning point in my life."[5]
On March 15, 1955[22] Ella Fitzgerald opened her initial engagement at the Mocambo nightclub in Hollywood,[23] after Marilyn Monroe lobbied the owner for the booking.[24] The booking was instrumental in Fitzgerald's career. Bonnie Greer dramatized the incident as the musical drama, Marilyn and Ella, in 2008. It has been widely reported that Fitzgerald was the first Black performer to play the Mocambo, following Monroe's intervention, but this is not true. African-American singers Herb Jefferies,[25] Eartha Kitt,[26] and Joyce Bryan[27] all played the Mocambo in 1952 and 1953, according to stories published at the time in Jet magazine and Billboard.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook, released in 1956, was the first of eight Songbook sets Fitzgerald would record for Verve at irregular intervals from 1956 to 1964. The composers and lyricists spotlighted on each set, taken together, represent the greatest part of the cultural canon known as the Great American Songbook. Her song selections ranged from standards to rarities and represented an attempt by Fitzgerald to cross over into a non-jazz audience. The sets are the most well-known items in her discography.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book was the only Songbook on which the composer she interpreted played with her. Duke Ellington and his longtime collaborator Billy Strayhorn both appeared on exactly half the set's 38 tracks and wrote two new pieces of music for the album: "The E and D Blues" and a four-movement musical portrait of Fitzgerald (the only Songbook track on which Fitzgerald does not sing). The Songbook series ended up becoming the singer's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful work, and probably her most significant offering to American culture. The New York Times wrote in 1996, "These albums were among the first pop records to devote such serious attention to individual songwriters, and they were instrumental in establishing the pop album as a vehicle for serious musical exploration."[5]
A few days after Fitzgerald's death, The New York Times columnist Frank Rich wrote that in the Songbook series Fitzgerald "performed a cultural transaction as extraordinary as Elvis' contemporaneous integration of white and African American soul. Here was a black woman popularizing urban songs often written by immigrant Jews to a national audience of predominantly white Christians."[8] Frank Sinatra, out of respect for Fitzgerald, prohibited Capitol Records from re-releasing his own recordings in separate albums for individual composers in the same way.
Fitzgerald also recorded albums exclusively devoted to the songs of Porter and Gershwin in 1972 and 1983; the albums being, respectively, Ella Loves Cole and Nice Work If You Can Get It. A later collection devoted to a single composer was released during her time with Pablo Records, Ella Abraça Jobim, featuring the songs of Antônio Carlos Jobim.
While recording the Songbooks and the occasional studio album, Fitzgerald toured 40 to 45 weeks per year in the United States and internationally, under the tutelage of Norman Granz. Granz helped solidify her position as one of the leading live jazz performers.[5] In 1961 Fitzgerald bought a house in the Klampenborg district of Copenhagen, Denmark, after she began a relationship with a Danish man. Though the relationship ended after a year, Fitzgerald regularly returned to Denmark over the next three years, and even considered buying a jazz club there. The house was sold in 1963, and Fitzgerald permanently returned to the United States.[28]
There are several live albums on Verve that are highly regarded by critics. Ella at the Opera House shows a typical JATP set from Fitzgerald. Ella in Rome and Twelve Nights in Hollywood display her vocal jazz canon. Ella in Berlin is still one of her best selling albums; it includes a Grammy-winning performance of "Mack the Knife" in which she forgets the lyrics, but improvises magnificently to compensate.
Verve Records was sold to MGM in 1963 for $3 million and in 1967 MGM failed to renew Fitzgerald's contract. Over the next five years she flitted between Atlantic, Capitol and Reprise. Her material at this time represented a departure from her typical jazz repertoire. For Capitol she recorded Brighten the Corner, an album of hymns, Ella Fitzgerald's Christmas, an album of traditional Christmas carols, Misty Blue, a country and western-influenced album, and 30 by Ella, a series of six medleys that fulfilled her obligations for the label. During this period, she had her last US chart single with a cover of Smokey Robinson's "Get Ready", previously a hit for the Temptations, and some months later a top-five hit for Rare Earth.
The surprise success of the 1972 album Jazz at Santa Monica Civic '72 led Granz to found Pablo Records, his first record label since the sale of Verve. Fitzgerald recorded some 20 albums for the label. Ella in London recorded live in 1974 with pianist Tommy Flanagan, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Keter Betts and drummer Bobby Durham, was considered by many to be some of her best work. The following year she again performed with Joe Pass on German television station NDR in Hamburg. Her years with Pablo Records also documented the decline in her voice. "She frequently used shorter, stabbing phrases, and her voice was harder, with a wider vibrato", one biographer wrote.[29] Plagued by health problems, Fitzgerald made her last recording in 1991 and her last public performances in 1993.[30]
Film and television
In her most notable screen role, Fitzgerald played the part of singer Maggie Jackson in Jack Webb's 1955 jazz film Pete Kelly's Blues.[31] The film costarred Janet Leigh and singer Peggy Lee.[32] Even though she had already worked in the movies (she had sung briefly in the 1942 Abbott and Costello film Ride 'Em Cowboy),[33] she was "delighted" when Norman Granz negotiated the role for her, and, "at the time....considered her role in the Warner Brothers movie the biggest thing ever to have happened to her."[29] Amid The New York Times pan of the film when it opened in August 1955, the reviewer wrote, "About five minutes (out of ninety-five) suggest the picture this might have been. Take the ingenious prologue ... [or] take the fleeting scenes when the wonderful Ella Fitzgerald, allotted a few spoken lines, fills the screen and sound track with her strong mobile features and voice."[34] Fitzgerald's race precluded major big-screen success. After Pete Kelly's Blues, she appeared in sporadic movie cameos, in St. Louis Blues (1958),[35] and Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960).[36] Much later, she appeared in the 1980s television drama The White Shadow.
She made numerous guest appearances on television shows, singing on The Frank Sinatra Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, and alongside other greats Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Mel Tormé, and many others. She was also frequently featured on The Ed Sullivan Show. Perhaps her most unusual and intriguing performance was of the "Three Little Maids" song from Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operetta The Mikado alongside Joan Sutherland and Dinah Shore on Shore's weekly variety series in 1963. A performance at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London was filmed and shown on the BBC. Fitzgerald also made a one-off appearance alongside Sarah Vaughan and Pearl Bailey on a 1979 television special honoring Bailey. In 1980, she performed a medley of standards in a duet with Karen Carpenter on the Carpenters' television program Music, Music, Music.[37]
Fitzgerald also appeared in TV commercials, her most memorable being an ad for Memorex.[38] In the commercials, she sang a note that shattered a glass while being recorded on a Memorex cassette tape.[39] The tape was played back and the recording also broke the glass, asking: "Is it live, or is it Memorex?"[39] She also starred in a number of commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken, singing and scatting to the fast-food chain's longtime slogan, "We do chicken right!"[40] Her final commercial campaign was for American Express, in which she was photographed by Annie Leibovitz.[41]
Collaborations
Fitzgerald's most famous collaborations were with the vocal quartet Bill Kenny & the Ink Spots, trumpeter Louis Armstrong, the guitarist Joe Pass, and the bandleaders Count Basie and Duke Ellington.
From 1943 to 1950, Fitzgerald recorded seven songs with the Ink Spots featuring Bill Kenny. Out of all seven recordings, four reached the top of the pop charts including "I'm Making Believe" and "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" which both reached #1.
Fitzgerald recorded three Verve studio albums with Armstrong, two albums of standards (1956's Ella and Louis and 1957's Ella and Louis Again), and a third album featured music from the Gershwin musical Porgy and Bess. Fitzgerald also recorded a number of sides with Armstrong for Decca in the early 1950s.
Fitzgerald is sometimes referred to as the quintessential swing singer, and her meetings with Count Basie are highly regarded by critics. Fitzgerald features on one track on Basie's 1957 album One O'Clock Jump, while her 1963 album Ella and Basie! is remembered as one of her greatest recordings. With the 'New Testament' Basie band in full swing, and arrangements written by a young Quincy Jones, this album proved a respite from the 'Songbook' recordings and constant touring that Fitzgerald was engaged in during this period. Fitzgerald and Basie also collaborated on the 1972 album Jazz at Santa Monica Civic '72, and on the 1979 albums Digital III at Montreux, A Classy Pair and A Perfect Match.
Fitzgerald and Joe Pass recorded four albums together toward the end of Fitzgerald's career. She recorded several albums with piano accompaniment, but a guitar proved the perfect melodic foil for her. Fitzgerald and Pass appeared together on the albums Take Love Easy (1973), Easy Living (1986), Speak Love (1983) and Fitzgerald and Pass... Again (1976).
Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington recorded two live albums, and two studio albums. Her Duke Ellington Songbook placed Ellington firmly in the canon known as the Great American Songbook, and the 1960s saw Fitzgerald and the 'Duke' meet on the Côte d'Azur for the 1966 album Ella and Duke at the Cote D'Azur, and in Sweden for The Stockholm Concert, 1966. Their 1965 album Ella at Duke's Place is also extremely well received.
Fitzgerald had a number of famous jazz musicians and soloists as sidemen over her long career. The trumpeters Roy Eldridge and Dizzy Gillespie, the guitarist Herb Ellis, and the pianists Tommy Flanagan, Oscar Peterson, Lou Levy, Paul Smith, Jimmy Rowles, and Ellis Larkins all worked with Ella mostly in live, small group settings.
Possibly Fitzgerald's greatest unrealized collaboration (in terms of popular music) was a studio or live album with Frank Sinatra. The two appeared on the same stage only periodically over the years, in television specials in 1958 and 1959, and again on 1967's A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim, a show that also featured Antônio Carlos Jobim. Pianist Paul Smith has said, "Ella loved working with [Frank]. Sinatra gave her his dressing-room on A Man and His Music and couldn't do enough for her." When asked, Norman Granz would cite "complex contractual reasons" for the fact that the two artists never recorded together.[29] Fitzgerald's appearance with Sinatra and Count Basie in June 1974 for a series of concerts at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, was seen as an important incentive for Sinatra to return from his self-imposed retirement of the early 1970s. The shows were a great success, and September 1975 saw them gross $1,000,000 in two weeks on Broadway, in a triumvirate with the Count Basie Orchestra.
Later life and death
In 1985, Fitzgerald was hospitalized briefly for respiratory problems,[42] in 1986 for congestive heart failure,[43] and in 1990 for exhaustion.[44] In March 1990 she appeared at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England with the Count Basie Orchestra for the launch of Jazz FM, plus a gala dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel at which she performed.[45] In 1993, she had to have both of her legs amputated below the knee due to the effects of diabetes.[46] Her eyesight was affected as well.[5]
In 1996, tired of being in the hospital, she wished to spend her last days at home. Confined to a wheelchair, she spent her final days in her backyard of her Beverly Hills mansion on Whittier, with her son Ray and 12-year-old granddaughter, Alice. "I just want to smell the air, listen to the birds and hear Alice laugh," she reportedly said. On her last day, she was wheeled outside one last time, and sat there for about an hour. When she was taken back in, she looked up with a soft smile on her face and said, "I'm ready to go now." She died in her home on June 15, 1996 at the age of 79.[5] A few hours after her death, the Playboy Jazz Festival was launched at the Hollywood Bowl. In tribute, the marquee read: "Ella We Will Miss You."[47] Her funeral was private,[47] and she was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Personal life
Fitzgerald married at least twice, and there is evidence that she may have married a third time. Her first marriage was in 1941, to Benny Kornegay, a convicted drug dealer and local dockworker. The marriage was annulled in 1942.[48]
Her second marriage was in December 1947, to the famous bass player Ray Brown, whom she had met while on tour with Dizzy Gillespie's band a year earlier. Together they adopted a child born to Fitzgerald's half-sister, Frances, whom they christened Ray Brown, Jr. With Fitzgerald and Brown often busy touring and recording, the child was largely raised by his mother's aunt, Virginia. Fitzgerald and Brown divorced in 1953, bowing to the various career pressures both were experiencing at the time, though they would continue to perform together.[5]
In July 1957, Reuters reported that Fitzgerald had secretly married Thor Einar Larsen, a young Norwegian, in Oslo. She had even gone as far as furnishing an apartment in Oslo, but the affair was quickly forgotten when Larsen was sentenced to five months' hard labor in Sweden for stealing money from a young woman to whom he had previously been engaged.[49]
Fitzgerald was also notoriously shy. Trumpet player Mario Bauzá, who played behind Fitzgerald in her early years with Chick Webb, remembered that "she didn't hang out much. When she got into the band, she was dedicated to her music....She was a lonely girl around New York, just kept herself to herself, for the gig."[29] When, later in her career, the Society of Singers named an award after her, Fitzgerald explained, "I don't want to say the wrong thing, which I always do but I think I do better when I sing."[12]
Fitzgerald was a quiet but ardent supporter of many charities and non-profit organizations, including the American Heart Association and the City of Hope Medical Center. In 1993, she established the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation.[50]
Discography and collections
The primary collections of Fitzgerald's media and memorabilia reside at and are shared between the Smithsonian Institution and the US Library of Congress [51]
Awards, citations and honors
Fitzgerald won thirteen Grammy Awards,[52] and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1967.[53]
Other major awards and honors she received during her career were the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Medal of Honor Award, National Medal of Art, first Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award, named "Ella" in her honor, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement, UCLA Spring Sing.[54] Across town at the University of Southern California, she received the USC "Magnum Opus" Award which hangs in the office of the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation. In 1990, she received an honorary doctorate of Music from Harvard University.[55]
Tributes and legacy
The career history and archival material from Ella's long career are housed in the Archives Center at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, while her personal music arrangements are at the Library of Congress. Her extensive cookbook collection was donated to the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University, and her extensive collection of published sheet music was donated to UCLA.
In 1997, Newport News, Virginia created a music festival with Christopher Newport University to honor Ella Fitzgerald in her birth city. The Ella Fitzgerald Music Festival is designed to teach the region's youth of the musical legacy of Fitzgerald and jazz. Past performers at the week-long festival include: Diana Krall, Arturo Sandoval, Jean Carne, Phil Woods, Aretha Franklin, Victoria Wyndham, Charles Keating, Freda Payne, Cassandra Wilson, Ethel Ennis, David Sanborn, Jane Monheit, Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ramsey Lewis, Patti Austin, Lalah Hathaway, Ledisi, Chrisette Michele, Natalie Cole, Freddie Jackson, Joe Harnell, Roy Ayers and Ann Hampton Callaway.
Callaway, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Patti Austin have all recorded albums in tribute to Fitzgerald. Callaway's album To Ella with Love (1996) features fourteen jazz standards made popular by Fitzgerald, and the album also features the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Bridgewater's album Dear Ella (1997) featured many musicians that were closely associated with Fitzgerald during her career, including the pianist Lou Levy, the trumpeter Benny Powell, and Fitzgerald's second husband, double bassist Ray Brown. Bridgewater's following album, Live at Yoshi's, was recorded live on April 25, 1998, what would have been Fitzgerald's 81st birthday.
Austin's album, For Ella (2002) features 11 songs most immediately associated with Fitzgerald, and a twelfth song, "Hearing Ella Sing" is Austin's tribute to Fitzgerald. The album was nominated for a Grammy. In 2007, We All Love Ella, was released, a tribute album recorded for the 90th anniversary of Fitzgerald's birth. It featured artists such as Michael Bublé, Natalie Cole, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Diana Krall, k.d. lang, Queen Latifah, Ledisi, Dianne Reeves, Linda Ronstadt, and Lizz Wright, collating songs most readily associated with the "First Lady of Song". Folk singer Odetta's album To Ella (1998) is dedicated to Fitzgerald, but features no songs associated with her. Her accompanist Tommy Flanagan affectionately remembered Fitzgerald on his album Lady be Good ... For Ella (1994).
"Ella, elle l'a", a tribute to Fitzgerald written by Michel Berger and performed by French singer France Gall, was a hit in Europe in 1987 and 1988.[56] Fitzgerald is also referred to in the 1976 Stevie Wonder hit "Sir Duke" from his album Songs in the Key of Life, and the song "I Love Being Here With You", written by Peggy Lee and Bill Schluger. Sinatra's 1986 recording of "Mack the Knife" from his album L.A. Is My Lady (1984) includes a homage to some of the song's previous performers, including 'Lady Ella' herself. She is also honored in the song "First Lady" by Canadian artist Nikki Yanofsky.
In 2008, the Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center in Newport News named its brand new 276-seat theater the Ella Fitzgerald Theater. The theater is located several blocks away from her birthplace on Marshall Avenue. The Grand Opening performers (October 11 and 12, 2008) were Roberta Flack and Queen Esther Marrow.
In 2012, Rod Stewart performed a "virtual duet" with Ella Fitzgerald on his Christmas album Merry Christmas, Baby, and his television special of the same name.[57]
In 2013, Google paid tribute to Ella by celebrating her 96th birthday with a Google Doodle on its US homepage.[58]
There is a bronze sculpture of Fitzgerald in Yonkers, the city in which she grew up, created by American artist Vinnie Bagwell. It is located southeast of the main entrance to the Amtrak/Metro-North Railroad station in front of the city's old trolley barn. A bust of Fitzgerald is on the campus of Chapman University in Orange, California. On January 9, 2007, the United States Postal Service announced that Fitzgerald would be honored with her own postage stamp.[38] The stamp was released in April 2007 as part of the Postal Service's Black Heritage series.
Basin Street Blues by Ella Fitzgerald with Lyrics
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