Joseph Nathan "King" Oliver was an American jazz cornet player and bandleader. He was particularly recognized for his playing style and his pioneering use of mutes in jazz. Also a notable composer, he wrote many tunes still played today, including "Dippermouth Blues", "Sweet Like This", "Canal Street Blues", and "Doctor Jazz". He was the mentor and teacher of Louis Armstrong. His influence was such that Armstrong claimed, "if it had not been for Joe Oliver, Jazz would not be what it is today."
Lust for Life is a 1956 American biographical film about the life of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, based on the 1934 novel of the same title by Irving Stone which was adapted for the screen by Norman Corwin.
Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement. The danceable swing style of big bands and bandleaders such as Benny Goodman was the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1946, known as the swing era, when people were dancing the Lindy Hop. The verb "to swing" is also used as a term of praise for playing that has a strong groove or drive. Musicians of the swing era include Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Benny Carter, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Earl Hines, Bunny Berigan, Harry James, Lionel Hampton, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Jimmie Lunceford, and Django Reinhardt.
James Melvin Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.
Fate Marable was an American jazz pianist and bandleader.
The Rat Race is a 1960 American drama film adapted from the play of the same name by Garson Kanin. Directed by Robert Mulligan, it stars Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds as struggling young entertainment professionals in New York City. Filming took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. Sam Butera and Gerry Mulligan have minor roles as saxophonists.
Walter Louis Garland, known professionally as Hank Garland, was an American guitarist and songwriter. He started as a country musician, played rock and roll as it became popular in the 1950s, and released a jazz album in 1960. His career was cut short when a car accident in 1961 left him unable to perform.
Floyd Tillman was an American country musician who, in the 1930s and 1940s, helped create the Western swing and honky tonk genres. Tillman was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1984.
The Fabulous Dorseys is a 1947 American musical biopic film directed by Alfred E. Green. It tells the story of the brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, from their boyhood in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania through their rise, their breakup, and their personal reunion. The film was also released under the alternative title The Fighting Dorseys.
The Young Rajah is a 1922 silent film starring Rudolph Valentino. The film was based on the book Amos Judd by John Ames Mitchell.
Zachariah is a 1971 American acid Western film directed by George Englund and starring John Rubinstein, Patricia Quinn and Don Johnson.
This Time for Keeps is a 1947 American romantic musical film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Esther Williams, Jimmy Durante, Johnnie Johnston and opera singer Lauritz Melchior. Produced by MGM, it is about a soldier, returning home from war, who does not wish to work for his father's opera company or to continue his relationship with his pre-war lover.
Gold Diggers in Paris is a 1938 Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Ray Enright with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane, Hugh Herbert, and Allen Jenkins.
Miko Stephanovic, better known as Lyle 'Spud' Murphy, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, and arranger.
Harry J. Beresford was an English-born actor on the American stage and in motion pictures. He used the professional name Harry J. Morgan early in his career.
Ernst Fegté was a German art director. He was active in the American cinema from the 1920s to the 1970s, he was the art director or production designer on more than 75 feature films. He worked at Paramount Studios at the height of his career and won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction for Frenchman's Creek (1944). He was also nominated in the same category for three other films: Five Graves to Cairo (1943), The Princess and the Pirate (1944), and Destination Moon (1950). He also worked in television in the 1950s and was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1956 for his work on the series, Medic.
Bix is a 1991 Italian drama film directed by Pupi Avati and starring Bryant Weeks. The plot is about the final years of cornet player Bix Beiderbecke. It was an Official Selection premiering at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival.
Ray Kinney was a Hawaiian-born singer, musician, composer, orchestra leader, and performer on radio, stage and screen.
Men are Such Fools is a 1938 American romantic comedy directed by Busby Berkeley and written by Norman Reilly Raine and Horace Jackson. The film stars Wayne Morris, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart, Hugh Herbert, Johnnie Davis, and Penny Singleton. The film was released by Warner Bros. on July 16, 1938. The movie is adapted from the novel by the same name, Men Are Such Fools, by Faith Baldwin.
Always Goodbye is a 1938 American romantic drama film directed by Sidney Lanfield and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Herbert Marshall, and Ian Hunter.
