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The Faces of Jazz
In the years between 1939 and 1948, William Gottlieb's cumbersome Speed Graphic press camera captured the elusive moments of what he called "a golden age" of jazz--the era of Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Mary Lou Williams, Eddie Condon, Charlie Parker, Nat King Cole. In shot after shot, he sought to expose the creative spirit behind the music: "I photographed Billie Holiday's face so that it suggested the anguish in her voice; I made sure to show the mutilation in guitarist Django Reinhardt's fingering hand, making it obvious how much he had to conquer to become the first great non-American jazz musician; I had Mel Tormé, the 'Velvet Fog,' sing through a cloud formed by dry ice."
Gottlieb was struck by the "tremendous energy" of the jazz greats he encountered. He recalls an evening in 1940 when the ebullient Duke Ellington visited him at home. Twenty years Gottlieb's senior, Ellington was "bouncing around" until 3 a.m. when he left with a "woman draped on either arm."
The young writer realized that illustrating his reviews with photographs of such famous performers would win readers. But when a thrifty editor at the Post declined to pay a staff photographer to shoot them, Gottlieb bought his own press camera, taught himself how to use it, and even supplied his own film and flashbulbs. "After committing a couple of horrendous double exposures, and even shooting without film in my camera, I mastered the beast and . . . became a competent writer-photographer," Gottlieb recently related. "I know the musicians and their music quite well and . . . could hold off making the exposure until the right instant."
[Portrait of Ray Nance, Aquarium, New York, N.Y., ca. Nov. 1946], William P. Gottlieb, photographer. (Music Division, LC-GLB23-0652)
[Pianist, composer, and arranger
Mary Lou Williams, New York,
N.Y., ca. 1946], William P. Gottlieb,
photographer. (Music Division,
LC-GLB13-0923)
[Nat King Cole at a friend's home,
New York, N.Y., ca. June 1947],
William P. Gottlieb, photographer.
(Music Division, LC-GLB23-0151)
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200185530/default.html
The Day the Music Died: Remembering the Magic of Buddy Holly - TIME NewsFeed
Today marks the 51st anniversary of the death of the remarkable singer and songwriter, Buddy Holly.
On February 3, 1959 Buddy Holly, JP "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens died in a plane that crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa.
The three stars of rock n'roll had just finished playing a show at the Surf Ballroom when they got on a charter plane to take them to the next stop on their Winter Dance Party tour. Poor weather conditions and pilot error brought the plane down five miles after take-off.
(More on TIME.com: See more photos of Buddy Holly here)
Charles Hardin "Buddy" Holly was only 22 years old when he died, and Ritchie Valens was just 17. Holly left behind his pregnant wife, who miscarried shortly after the crash. The tragic loss of these three great talents was later immortalized in Don McLean's famous song "American Pie", in which he called the fateful day "The Day the Music Died."
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/03/the-day-the-music-died-remembering-the-ma...
The Life And Music Of Frederic Chopin : NPR
Chopin, Frederic Francois (b. Zelazowa Wola, March 1, 1810; d. Paris, October 17, 1849)
Frederic Chopin was a Polish-born pianist and composer of matchless genius in the realm of keyboard music. As a pianist, his talents were beyond emulation and had an impact on other musicians entirely out of proportion to the number of concerts he gave — only 30 public performances in 30 years of concertizing. No one before or since has contributed as many significant works to the piano's repertoire, or come closer to capturing its soul.
Early Years
Chopin's mother was Polish, his father a Frenchman who had come to Poland as a young man and held jobs as a bookkeeper and tutor before marrying and settling in Warsaw. Young Frederic studied piano with Wojciech Zywny and harmony and counterpoint with Jozef Elsner, gave his first concert when he was 8, and rather quickly outdistanced his teachers. His name became known outside of Poland when his Variations, Op. 2, for piano and orchestra on Mozart's "La ci darem la mano" — written when he was 17 — were published in 1830, prompting Robert Schumann's famous accolade in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung: "Hats off, gentlemen! A genius!" In the spring and autumn of 1830, Chopin treated the Warsaw audience to a pair of newly composed, marvelously poetic piano concertos. Seeking to expand his horizons, he left Poland for Vienna in November 1830, and after eight months there, headed for Paris. He would never again return to his native country, but Poland's loss would be Paris' gain.
Zuill Bailey: Tiny Desk Concert : NPR
There's something about the rich and resonant sound of the cello that connects with many people. Perhaps it's because the instrument is the closest, they say, to the human voice.
That was certainly true when Zuill Bailey picked up his cello to play this lovely impromptu concert behind Bob Boilen's desk, here at NPR Music's Washington, D.C., headquarters.
Bailey doesn't play just any old cello. Yes, it is old — very old — but it's also special, built by the renowned Venetian maker Matteo Goffriller in 1693. That means Johann Sebastian Bach was all of 8 years old when Goffriller slapped on the final layer of shellac.
