He wrote his first symphony at the age of eight, his first opera at twelve and conducted twenty performances of that opera at fourteen. Wolfgang Mozart, a musical inspiration, influenced many musicians through his passionate works of complex styles of classical music. Known as one of the most accomplished composers of the 18th century, Mozart began composing music at age five. He wrote his first opera at age twelve. Mozart’s father, “a violinist at the court of the prince of Salzburg,” taught him how to play the clavier and encouraged him in his art (“Wolfgang” World History).
Born in Raiding, Germany on October 22, 1811, Liszt piano playing was phenomenal, but more than that he was known to be flashy. He grew up to be inspired by his father Adam. By nine he had already made his first concert as a child prodigy. Liszt was in the vanguard of pioneering the piano recital and concert as a high wired event; an event of high trauma. By the age of 12 Liszt traveled to Paris where he learned advanced composition by Ferdinando Paer.
In the late 1830's to early 1840s Sax began inventing the clarinette-bourdon, an early design of contrabass clarinet, his first important invention was an improvement of the bass clarinet design, which he patented at the age of 20. Sax’s moved to Paris also allowed him to introduce his new instrument to the rest of the world. Soon to follow was the creation of an entire saxophone family: fourteen different saxophones in all. Each differed by size and pitch. They were the: E flat sopranino, F sopranino, B flat soprano, C soprano, E flat alto, F alto, B flat tenor, C tenor, E flat baritone, B flat bass, C bass, E flat contrabass, and F contrabass.
As good old Mr. Sinatra said, “If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere.” Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was the only child of Sicilian immigrants who moved to the states to make a better life for their family. At a young age Sinatra loved music and was influenced by many of the artist of his time such as Bing Crosby and Billie Holiday. As a teenager, he dropped out of high school and began to sing at local night clubs. Radio exposure brought him to the attention of bandleader Harry James, with whom Sinatra made his first recordings, including "All or Nothing at All."
This year’s other two finalists came with their own notable credentials. Justin Brown, 28, originally from Richmond, Calif., is a member of acclaimed groups led by the trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and the pianist Gerald Clayton, who have been finalists in previous Monk Competitions. Colin Stranahan, 26, originally from Denver, Colo., has likewise become an active part of the New York jazz scene. (He’ll be at the Village Vanguard this week, starting Tuesday, with Kurt Rosenwinkel’s Standards Trio.) As the winner of this year’s competition, Mr. Ross will receive a $25,000 scholarship and a recording contract with the Concord Music Group.
(PBS.org) There, he took a music class which made him fall in love with music. In 1914, he was released from the shelter, and (for several years) he made money selling newspapers on the street, hauling coal, and street performing (song and dance). When he was 17 years old, Armstrong began playing at dive bars around town. This public exposure earned him invitations to play in local jazz bands, gaining him a lot of popularity. By 1920, Armstrong had left New Orleans.
John Coltrane – Who is he (Analysis) John Coltrane was born in September 23rd, 1926, in Hamlet, North Carolina and died in July 17th in Huntington, New York at the young age of 40. He was called a revolutionary saxophonist. He also helped pioneer the genre modal jazz along side the great, Miles Davis. Early in his career, he would play in two genres, which is bebop and hard bop. He grabbed hold of a saxophone at the age of 13 and shows great talent.
Count Basie “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” Count Basie was born in 1904 in Red Bank, New Jersey, and grew up playing the piano. He was a leading figure of the swing era in jazz and formed the Count Basie Orchestra, which was one of the first big bands made. The band reached fame with hit songs such as “One o'clock Jump” (1937), “Jumpin' at the Woodside” (1938), and “Taxi War Dance” (1939). However, I will be focusing primarily on the song “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” and educate you with an in-depth description of the piece. It was recorded on August 22, 1938 by Decca Records, whom he had a record deal with.
He began attending the Kiev Conservatory in 1912. Afterwards he attended classes at Gymnasium (Russian High School) where he learned to play multiple instruments in many forms, including: Opera, Italian, French, German and Russian. It was also at Gymnasium that he learned to play music from memory. At the age of seventeen he played his first solo. Glenn Gould had a similar musically influenced Childhood.
In his childhood, Mozart’s father often brought his only son and daughter touring around Europe to perform in courts and for nobility, and this greatly broadened Mozart’s vision and also built up a foundation for his music career later on. In his later years, he composed over six hundred compositions including concertos, symphonies, sonatas, chamber music and operas which earned him a great acclaim. In 1791, four years after his father’s death, Mozart died of military fever and ended his short but prolific musical life. (Henley, 2005) The term “Mozart effect” originated in 1993 at the University of California, Irvine, when physicist Gordon Shaw and cognitive development expert Frances Rauscher did an experiment on a few dozen college students for measuring spatial IQ. They found that students who listened to 10 minutes of Mozart’s K448 piano sonata had scored 8 to 9 points higher than the other two groups of students either listening to a tape of relaxation instructions or sitting in silence.