Francis Albert Sinatra was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of the mid-20th century. Sinatra is among the world's best-selling music artists, with an estimated 150 million record sales globally.
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. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. 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, Harry James, Lionel Hampton, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Jimmie Lunceford, and Django Reinhardt.
Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombone playing. His theme song was "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You". His technical skill on the trombone gave him renown among other musicians. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey. After Dorsey broke with his brother in the mid-1930s, he led an extremely successful band from the late 1930s into the 1950s. He is best remembered for standards such as "Opus One", "Song of India", "Marie", "On Treasure Island", and his biggest hit single, "I'll Never Smile Again".
Ciara-Camile "Camile" Roque Velasco known by her stage name Eli-Mac is a Filipino American singer and came in ninth place on the third season of the reality/talent-search television series, American Idol. She is one-quarter Irish, one-quarter Spanish, and half Filipino.
Red Norvo was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His recordings included "Dance of the Octopus", "Bughouse", "Knockin' on Wood", "Congo Blues", and "Hole in the Wall".
John Paul Pizzarelli Jr. is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He has recorded over twenty solo albums and has appeared on more than forty albums by other recording artists, including Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Rosemary Clooney; his father, jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli; and his wife, singer Jessica Molaskey.
Swing When You're Winning is a swing cover album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams, and his fourth studio album overall. It was released in the United Kingdom on 19 November 2001 and peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart.
The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16- to 18-piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936. Despite a brief disbandment at the beginning of the 1950s, the band survived long past the big band era itself and the death of Basie in 1984. It continues under the direction of trumpeter Scotty Barnhart.
"The Way You Look To-night" is a song from the film Swing Time that was performed by Fred Astaire and composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics written by Dorothy Fields. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. Fields remarked, "The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn't stop, it was so beautiful."
Patrick Moody Williams was an American composer, arranger, and conductor who worked in many genres of music, and in film and television.
Frank Sinatra's musical career began in the swing era in 1935, and ended in 1995, although he did briefly retire in 1971, before returning to music in 1973. Sinatra is one of the most influential music artists of the 20th century, and has sold 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all-time. Rock critic Robert Christgau called Sinatra "the greatest singer of the 20th century". In addition to his music career, Sinatra was also a successful film actor, having won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Private Angelo Maggio in From Here to Eternity (1953).
Santo J. "Sonny" Russo was an American jazz trombonist.
Wilma Reading is a singer from Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
The Beantown Swing Orchestra is a Boston-based 18-piece big band that was formed in 2006 by Frank Hsieh. Initially specializing in performing the classic dance music from the Swing Era, the band has since expanded its repertoire to include transcriptions of Frank Sinatra's big band arrangements, and most recently its own arrangements of popular and original songs. In 2007, the Beantown Swing Orchestra featured performer Jonathan Meath, who performed as Santa Claus in three shows. Since 2007, all of the band's charts have been transcribed or arranged by trumpeter Danny Fratina. The group's best-known vocalists are fellow American Idol sixth-place finishers Siobhan Magnus and John Stevens, although it also features other female vocalists including American Idol semi-finalist Jen Hirsh, NYC-based jazz vocalist Laura Brunner, and singer/songwriter Erin McKeown. The band performs regularly at weddings, galas, and concerts throughout the Northeastern United States. Former trombonist Nick Noonan is one half of the pop duo Karmin.
For music from an individual year in the 1940s, go to 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49
Casey Abrams is an American musician from Idyllwild, California, who finished in sixth place in the tenth season of American Idol, five weeks after being saved from elimination by the judges. A self-titled debut album was released in 2012 through Concord Records. Tales from the Gingerbread House was released on January 29, 2016.
Music Is Better Than Words is the debut studio album by American actor and singer Seth MacFarlane. The album contains songs from the Great American Songbook, and features standards by Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe, among other 1940s and ’50s-era show tunes. The album features duets with Norah Jones and Sara Bareilles. The album was produced and conducted by film and television composer Joel McNeely, who is also one of the composers of American Dad!, an animated TV series co-created by MacFarlane.
Erika Lynn Van Pelt is an American singer from South Kingstown, Rhode Island, who placed in tenth place on the eleventh season of American Idol.
Deana Martin is an American singer. She is the daughter of singer Dean Martin.
Bill Elliott is an American pianist, bandleader, Hollywood composer and Broadway orchestrator. In 2015, he won a Tony Award for best orchestration for the Broadway musical, An American in Paris. In 2012 he was nominated for both Tony and Grammy awards for Broadway's Nice Work if You Can Get It. Elliott won Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations in 2017 for the Broadway Musical Bandstand.
