The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. For most of its history the Quartet consisted of John Lewis (piano), Milt Jackson (vibraphone), Percy Heath, and Connie Kay (drums). The group grew out of the rhythm section of Dizzy Gillespie's big band from 1946 to 1948, which consisted of Lewis and Jackson along with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Kenny Clarke. They recorded as the Milt Jackson Quartet in 1951 and Brown left the group, being replaced as bassist by Heath. During the early-to-mid-1950s they became the Modern Jazz Quartet, Lewis became the group's musical director, and they made several recordings with Prestige Records, including the original versions of their two best-known compositions, Lewis's "Django" and Jackson's Bags' Groove". Clarke left the group in 1955 and was replaced as drummer by Connie Kay, and in 1956 they moved to Atlantic Records and made their first tour to Europe.
Dame Cleo Laine is an English jazz and pop singer and an actress, known for her scat singing and for her vocal range. Though her natural range is that of a contralto, she is able to produce a G above high C, giving her an overall compass of well over three octaves.
Lighthouse is a Canadian rock band formed in 1968 in Toronto, Ontario. Their sound included horns, string instruments, and vibraphone; their music reflected elements of rock music, jazz, classical music, and swing. They won Juno Awards for Best Canadian Group of the Year in 1972, 1973, and 1974.
Celebration or Celebrations may refer to:
The One O’Clock Lab Band for 71 years has been the premier ensemble of the Jazz Studies Division at the University of North Texas College of Music in Denton. The band has performed and toured in Australia, Canada, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand, and The Netherlands. Since the 1970s, the band’s albums have received seven Grammy nominations, including two for Lab 2009. Steve Wiest, a three-time Grammy-nominated composer-arranger-director and Associate Professor of Music, directed the O'Clock Lab Band from 2008 through the summer of 2014. Jay Saunders, a veteran of the Stan Kenton Orchestra, has been interim director since 2014. The One O’Clock is the highest of nine peer lab bands at the college, each named for its hour of rehearsal and each a standard 19-piece big band instrumentation — five saxophones, five trombones, five trumpets, piano, guitar, bass, and drums. The One O'Clock evolved from an extracurricular stage band founded in 1927 into a curricular laboratory dance band in 1947, when North Texas launched the first jazz degree program in the world. For the next 20 years — until 1967 — North Texas was the only US university that offered a degree in jazz studies.
Gerald Stanley Wilson was an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer/arranger, and educator. Born in Mississippi, he was based in Los Angeles from the early 1940s. In addition to being a band leader, Wilson wrote arrangements for Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Ray Charles, Julie London, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Carter, Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Nancy Wilson.
Tractor is a band founded in Rochdale, Lancashire, England by guitarist/vocalist Jim Milne and drummer Steve Clayton in 1971. Both had been members of a beat group, The Way We Live since 1966. They are notable both for their appreciation by John Peel and Julian Cope, but also for their longevity because as of 2007, they are still performing. The band was produced initially by schoolfriend sound engineer John Brierley.
The Muffins were an American Maryland-based progressive rock/avant-jazz group. They were formed in Washington, DC in the early 1970s and recorded four albums before disbanding in 1981. In 1998 the group reformed and recorded a further five albums and a DVD. The Muffins played at Symphony Space on Broadway in NYC with Marion Brown in 1979, and also performed at a number of festivals, starting with the ZU Manifestival in New York City in 1978, The Villa Celimontana festival in Rome, Italy in 2000, two appearances at Progday in 2001 and 2002, NEARfest in 2005, and the "Rock in Opposition" festival in France in 2009. In 2010, The Muffins headlined at Progday, making a third appearance at this long running festival.
Time Tripping is an album released by the Fullerton College Jazz Band for the Discovery Records Trend AM-PM label, it became the Down Beat Magazine 1st Place Award Winner in the College Big Band Jazz category for 1983.
Diversions is a 1987 album released by the California State University, Los Angeles Jazz Ensemble, it featured the Charles Richard Suite for Jazz Orchestra which was premiered by Dave Edwards earlier that year. This group proved to be one of the finest college jazz orchestras of that era with having placed in the finals of the Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival. The jazz band had numerous student musicians that have made a name for themselves as professionals to include Sharon Hirata, Luis Bonilla, Jack Cooper, Charlie Richard, Eric "Bobo" Correa, Vince Dublino, Alan Parr, and José Arellano.
It's About Time is the first CD digital format album release by the California State University, Los Angeles Jazz Ensembles completed in 1990. In addition to two big bands (1989/1990) the CD features the CSULA Jazz Sextet. The jazz bands had numerous student musicians that have made a name for themselves as professionals to include Luis Bonilla, Jack Cooper, Corey Gemme, Alan Parr, Randall Willis, Paul De Castro, Alex Henderson, Sheffer Bruton, Ruben Ramos, and José Arellano.
Mainstream is a CD released by the Fullerton College Jazz Band in 1994, it was critically acclaimed by Down Beat Magazine being given three and a half stars.
Unforgettable is a CD released by the Fullerton College Jazz Bands and Jazz Singers for the Discovery Records Trend AM-PM label. The current #1 jazz band on this recording was the winner of the 1985 International Association for Jazz Education Disneyworld Competition and the opening band for the 1985 Playboy Jazz Festival.
Primarily Jazz is an album released by the Fullerton College Jazz Band for the Discovery Records Trend AM-PM label, it was the third release in as many years.
Escape To Asylum is an album released by the Fullerton College Jazz Band in 1982, it was the initial recording from an award winning group who become the Down Beat Magazine 1st Place Award Winner in the College Big Band Jazz category for 1983.
Standard Deviations is a CD released by the Fullerton College Jazz Band in 2003; three of the school's groups are on the CD to include the #1 big band and two combos.
Love Ya is a CD released by the Fullerton College Jazz Bands and Vocal Jazz for the Discovery Records Trend AM-PM label. It was first released as a vinyl LP in 1986 and then re-released by the label on digital CD in 1988. The #1 jazz band was the winner of the 1985 International Association for Jazz Education Disneyworld Competition and the opening band for the 1985 Playboy Jazz Festival as well as being invited to play at the 1986 N.A.J.E. conference.
Soundtrack is a CD released by the Fullerton College Jazz Bands and Vocal Jazz for the Discovery Records Trend AM-PM label.
Piranha is a CD released by the Fullerton College Jazz Band and Alternative Jazz Lab Ensemble in 2000, it was critically acclaimed by All About Jazz.
Time Within Itself is a big band jazz album produced by Origin Records and released March 17, 2015. The concept for the recording came from the idea of a high level feature CD showcasing the Michael Waldrop Big Band. Most notably, music critic Jack Bowers gave the recording 4 and a half of 5 stars and notes, "...Waldrop's first visit to a recording studio with his own big band was worth the wait."
