Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music. A virtuoso bandoneonist, he regularly performed his own compositions with a variety of ensembles. In 1992, American music critic Stephen Holden described Piazzolla as "the world's foremost composer of Tango music".
Julius Baker was one of the foremost American orchestral flute players. During the course of five decades he concertized with several of America's premier orchestral ensembles including the Chicago Symphony and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Marc Ribot is an American guitarist and composer.
John Lurie is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; has acted in 19 films, including Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law; has composed and performed music for 20 television and film works; and he produced, directed, and starred in the Fishing with John television series. In 1996 his soundtrack for Get Shorty was nominated for a Grammy Award, and his album The Legendary Marvin Pontiac: Greatest Hits has been praised by critics and fellow musicians.
The Lounge Lizards were an eclectic musical group founded by saxophonist John Lurie and his brother, pianist Evan Lurie, in 1978. Initially known for their ironic, tongue-in-cheek take on jazz, The Lounge Lizards eventually became a showcase for John Lurie's sophisticated compositions straddling jazz and many other genres. They were active until about 1998 with the Lurie brothers as the only constant members, though many leading New York City based musicians were members of the group.
The Backyardigans is an animated musical children's television series created by Janice Burgess. The series was written and recorded at Nickelodeon Animation Studio. It centers on five anthropomorphic animal neighbors who imagine themselves on fantastic adventures in their backyard. Each episode is set to a different musical genre and features four songs, composed by Evan Lurie with lyrics by McPaul Smith. The Backyardigans' adventures span many different genres and settings. The show's writers took inspiration from action-adventure films, and many episodes are parodies of films.
Eric Ewazen is an American composer and teacher.
Timoteo "Dino" Saluzzi is an Argentinian bandoneon player. He is the son of Cayetano Saluzzi and the father of guitarist José Maria Saluzzi.
Alexander Lafayette Chew Wilder was an American composer and author.
Janice Burgess was an American television executive, screenwriter and producer for Nickelodeon. She created the Nick Jr. series The Backyardigans and worked as a writer and story editor for Nickelodeon's revival of Winx Club. Due to both shows being produced at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio, Burgess joined Nickelodeon in 1995 as executive-in-charge of production.
Roy Jay Nathanson is an American saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and teacher. He became the leader and principal composer of the Jazz Passengers, a six piece group that he founded with Curtis Fowlkes in 1987. They have toured Europe many times and played at major festivals in Finland, Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland, as well as the J.V.C. Festival in New York, the Du Maurier Festival in Canada and toured throughout the United States and Canada. The band has recorded eight albums since their debut release.
Ben Perowsky is an American drummer, percussionist, composer, and music producer. He is the drummer on stage in the 8 TONY award winning Broadway musical Hadestown. Perowsky leads the Ben Perowsky Trio, Moodswing Orchestra and Upstream Trio with Chris Speed and John Medeski. He is a founding member of the electric jazz group Lost Tribe. A prolific sideman, Perowsky has performed with Roy Ayers, John Scofield, The Lounge Lizards, Joan As Police Woman, Elysian Fields, Darryl Jenifer, Uri Caine, Dave Douglas, Mike Stern, Bob Berg, Walter Becker, Steven Bernstein., and John Zorn.
This is a discography for guitarist Marc Ribot, including both his own albums and significant recordings to which he has contributed. The year in brackets indicates the date of first release.
Erik Sanko is an American bass player who has played in The Lounge Lizards and currently active in Skeleton Key.
David Jason Snow is an American composer. Snow studied composition with Samuel Adler, Warren Benson, and Joseph Schwantner at the Eastman School of Music, Jacob Druckman at the Yale School of Music, and Arthur Berger and Martin Boykan at Brandeis University. At the Eastman School, Snow was awarded the Sernoffsky, McCurdy, and Howard Hanson prizes in composition; Yale awarded him a Bradley-Keeler Memorial Scholarship and the Frances E. Osborne Kellogg Prize in composition. Snow has been the recipient of awards, fellowships, residencies and commissions from BMI, the National Association of Composers/USA, the National Federation of Music Clubs, the Annapolis Fine Arts Foundation, the ASCAP Foundation, the College Band Directors Association, the National Endowment for the Arts, Res Musica Baltimore, the Maryland State Arts Council, the Renée B. Fisher Foundation, Trio Indiana, SoundMoves, Pastiche, the Arts Council of Montgomery County (Maryland), Yaddo, and the Millay Colony for the Arts.
Koba Entertainment is a producer of original musical theatre based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. To date, they have produced numerous Canadian and U.S. tours for such famous children's properties as Bubble Guppies, Max and Ruby, Toopy & Binoo, The Backyardigans, The Big Comfy Couch, Caillou, The Doodlebops, Franklin the Turtle, and Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear.
Nickelodeon Digital, often shortened to Nick Digital and originally known as Nickelodeon Creative Labs, is an American animation studio based in New York City which opened in 1994. It is a division of Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Nickelodeon Digital produces some of Nickelodeon's animated series and creates digital content and motion graphics for the Nickelodeon Group. The company's Burbank, California branch creates CGI and visual effects for Nickelodeon's animated series.
Michael Blake is a Canadian saxophonist, composer and arranger. Blake is based in New York City where he has led a robust career leading his own bands. As a sideman Michael has performed with Charlie Hunter, The Lounge Lizards, Steven Bernstein/Henry Butler and the Hot 9, Ben Allison and Ray LaMontagne. The New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff wrote,"Mr. Blake, on tenor especially, is an endlessly engaging improviser, and an inquisitive one".
"Castaways" is a song that aired in the animated children's TV show The Backyardigans. It went viral on TikTok in 2021.
Queen of All Ears is an album by the American band the Lounge Lizards, released in 1998. It was the band's final album.
