Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and throughout the decade worked in various small jazz combos. He spent the 1960s as a first-call studio musician in Hollywood. In the 1970s and 1980s, he performed regularly with the L. A. Four. Shank ultimately abandoned the flute to focus exclusively on playing jazz on the alto saxophone. He also recorded on tenor and baritone sax. His most famous recording is probably the version of "Harlem Nocturne" used as the theme song in Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. He is also well known for the alto flute solo on the song "California Dreamin'" recorded by The Mamas & the Papas in 1965.
Earle Harry Hagen was an American composer who created music for films and television. His best-known TV themes include The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Spy, That Girl and The Mod Squad. He is also remembered for composing and whistling the theme to The Andy Griffith Show; writing the instrumental song "Harlem Nocturne" used as the theme for television's Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer; and co-writing the theme song to Tim Conway's Western comedy Rango.
This 1956 recording based on George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess was the second "complete" recording of the opera after the 1951 version, and the first recording of the work to feature jazz singers and musicians instead of operatic singers and a classical orchestra.
The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz disc jockey Jimmy Lyons.
Digital III at Montreux is a 1979 live album featuring a compilation of performances by Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Joe Pass, and Ray Brown, recorded at the 1979 Montreux Jazz Festival. It was produced and has liner notes by Norman Granz. The cover photo is by Phil Stern.
Martin Louis Paich was an American pianist, composer, arranger, record producer, music director, and conductor. As a musician and arranger he worked with jazz musicians Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Kenton, Art Pepper, Buddy Rich, Ray Brown, Shorty Rogers, Pete Rugolo, Ray Charles and Mel Tormé. His long association with Tormé included one of the singer's earliest albums, Mel Tormé with the Marty Paich Dek-Tette. Over the next three decades he worked with pop singers such as Andy Williams and Jack Jones and for film and television. He is the father of David Paich, a founding member of the rock band Toto.
"A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening" is a popular song with music by Jimmy McHugh and lyrics by Harold Adamson, published in 1943. It was used in the film Higher and Higher (1944) when it was sung by Frank Sinatra. Sinatra and also The Ink Spots had chart hits with the song in 1944.
Jerry Dodgion was an American jazz saxophonist and flautist.
Donald Douglas Lamond Jr. was an American jazz drummer.
Joseph Christopher Columbus Morris, better known as Crazy Chris Columbo or just Chris Columbo, was an American jazz drummer. He was sometimes credited as Joe Morris on record, though he is no relation to free jazz guitarist Joe Morris or trumpeter Joe Morris.
Something Cool is the debut solo album of June Christy. It was recorded in 1953, 1954, and 1955, and features Christy singing 11 jazz songs backed by the orchestra of Pete Rugolo, and her saxophonist husband, Bob Cooper. First issued in 1954 as a 10" mono LP, an expanded 12" mono LP was released the following year, with four newly recorded selections added to the track listing. In 1960, Christy and Rugolo re-recorded all 11 selections in stereo, so that a stereo version of Something Cool could be issued. For many years, this re-recorded version of the LP was the only one commercially available.
"Comin' Home Baby" is a song originally written as an instrumental by Ben Tucker and first recorded by the Dave Bailey Quintet in 1961, and shortly thereafter by Herbie Mann. Lyrics were added by Bob Dorough, and the vocal version became a US Top 40 hit for American jazz singer Mel Tormé in 1962. The song has since been covered numerous times.
Mel Tormé Sings Sunday in New York & Other Songs About New York is a 1963 studio album by Mel Tormé, of songs about New York City.
Michael Lington is a Danish-American contemporary saxophonist, songwriter, producer, recording artist and a purveyor of soul and contemporary jazz.
Raymond Harry "Ray" Brown is an American composer, arranger, trumpet player, and jazz educator. He has performed as trumpet player and arranged music for Stan Kenton, Bill Watrous, Bill Berry, Frank Capp – Nat Pierce, and the Full Faith and Credit Big Band.
Afrique is a 1971 studio album by Count Basie and his orchestra, arranged & conducted by Oliver Nelson released by the Flying Dutchman label
William George "Rams" Ramsay is an American jazz saxophonist and band leader based in Seattle. In 1997, he was inducted into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame, the top of eight Golden Ear Award categories presented annually since 1990 by the Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle. Ramsay performs on all the primary saxophones – soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone – as well as clarinet, and bass clarinet.
Latin Fever is an album by American jazz flautist Herbie Mann recorded for the Atlantic label and released in 1964. The album features tracks from the 1962 sessions that produced Do the Bossa Nova with Herbie Mann with more recent recordings.
Popular Favorites by Stan Kenton is a compilation album by pianist and bandleader Stan Kenton featuring performances recorded between 1951 and 1953 and originally released as a 10-inch LP and 45 rpm EP on Capitol before being reissued as a 12-inch LP with additional tracks in 1955.
"We Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town" is a song originally recorded on September 3, 1936, by Piedmont blues musician Casey Bill Weldon. Weldon performed it as a solo piece, with vocals and acoustic guitar plus piano and double bass accompaniment.
