Tony Bennett: Collabortor

The collaborations between Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong demonstrate some of jazz’s finest performances. One of their duets is, “You Won’t Be Satisfied”, in which they share a hopelessly romantic moment. After the brief instrumental introduction, the pair take their turns singing the same chorus for followed by a collaborative effort with a short solo trumpet performance between the second and third sections. Fitzgerald starts off the first chorus singing to Armstrong very casually but quickly allows her classic sassy and emotional vocal tone to shine through by the end of the third line. The chorus sings out about how the singer tries so hard to please the other but the companion does not reciprocate the same feelings; the other side

“On Broadway, although some female roles are narrow, demeaning, passive, or long-suffering and convey weakness, the performer sings with incredible strength. Listening to the female singing voice is a more complicated phenomenon. Visually, the character singing is the passive object of our gaze. But aurally, she is resonant; her musical speech drowns out everything in range. A singer, more than any other musical performer, stands before us having wrested the composing voice away from the lyricist and composer who wrote the score.” Said Musicologist Carolyn Abbate (Wolf, p.31)

Two women from two different backgrounds have so much in common yet they are so different. One grew up in Houston, Texas while the other grew up in Saint Michael, Barbados. Even though these two women have had very different up bringing the one thing they have in common is their great voices. These two women’s background, musical style, and other career ventures make them both two of the best female artist in their field.

Whitney Houston is considered as one of the greatest singers of our generation. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, she holds the record of being the most rewarded female artist of all time. I chose her as my topic, because she represents resiliency and tenacity, despite her troubled experiences with drugs and her personal life. Whitney Houston comes from a family with an amazing, musical pedigree; her mother, Cissy Houston, was a successful back-up singer for Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley. Dionne Warwick is her first cousin and Aretha Franklin is her godmother. In 1983, Houston was signed to Arista Records and music executive, Clive Davis, became her mentor and helped launch her successful career. Whitney Houston was

There are so many talented female artists in music today that it's hard not to think of some right off the top of my head. Not only do they have great voices, but they're successful and confident, not to mention pretty darn rich! Some of these artists knew that they were going to become a star while they were still in diapers. The two females that I will be highlighting are two of the younger musical talents that are out in the industry at this time. They both worked hard to get to where they are today by starting off with many of the same dreams and aspirations many of us women share. These women have contributed so much at such a young age that it's almost hard to believe. Music is such a

They have endured years of practice in order to perfect their voices and create their own unique style of singing. Parton’s perfect-pitch delivery of “Jolene” showed that she definitely practiced her vocals and body movements. However, in White’s rendition of “Jolene”, his intense, raw emotion oozes from every note he belts out. White’s raw performance of “Jolene” creates a depressing and tragic undertone. White’s passionate performance is obviously rehearsed, however, his raw emotions of anger and despair seem to be an unconscious

Jazz, an American music form, whose roots lay in African expression, made history. Such greats are remembered today from the Jazz age and among them are Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson. The talented George Gershwin, Cole Porter and many others brought the influence of jazz to the concert halls and to Broadway. Bessie Smith familiarized Americans with the Blues sound recording.

“Depending on the story that you’re telling, you can be relatable to everybody or nobody. I try and tell everybody’s story.” Chancelor Bennett was born on April 16, 1993 in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Ken Bennett, served as Chicago’s Mayor Harold Washington’s aide. He also served as then senator, Barack Obama’s aide. Chance went to Jones College Prep High School, and while he was there, he found his love for music. While he was there, he formed a group with a friend called Instrumentality. Chance is the most influential American because he has won many different awards.

Wayne Shorter was born on August 25, 1933 in Newark New Jersey. His father Joseph, welded for the Singer Sewing Machine Company and his mother Louise sewed for a furrier. At age 15 Wayne Shorter had a life change which involved music. Wayne and a few friends snuck into a Lester Young concert they heard Jazz music from Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. At age 16 Wayne then wanted to play the clarinet he said he played the Clarinet because “it looked like a little spaceship”. Wayne saw great performances and heard great music from Count Basie and Duke Ellington.After two years of studying the saxophone at age 17 Wayne started playing bebop with a local YMCA band for $1.50 a night. He later replaces the clarinet with the tenor saxophone. In high

Want to hear some good music? Listen to this artist that is just the bees knees. Duke Ellington, a pianist, performs at Broadway nightclubs as the bandleader of a sextet. This amazing group includes other people like his ensemble includes as Bubber Miley, Joe Nanton, Cootie Williams, Rex Stewart Johnny Hodges Rex Stewart, Lawrence Brown, Harry Carney, Barney Bigard. Ellington has already made many recordings with his bands, appeared in films and on radio. He is the new it. Why just sit there? Go switch a radio station playing his awesome music

Duke Ellington managed his band for almost 50 years making prodigious music and using amazing instruments. He toured all over Europe, he managed to compose an orchestra without a baton, how amazing is that. In his whole music career, he composed about 2000 pieces and won 12 Grammy

Billy Joel is one of the best selling solo artists of all time in the United States. Amongst his most popular songs are “Piano Man,” “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “She’s Always a Woman,” all with good reason. Having written a plethora of memorable songs that could easily be added to the soundtrack of our lives, Billy Joel’s undoubtedly one of the most talented musicians and songwriters of all time.

The songs sung by Sinatra, a child of Italian immigrants, created a commonality among all people and backgrounds in the United States. Through the culture of his songs, such as “You, My Love,” “Our Love,” and “My Girl,” it is apparent that the topic of love is experienced and can be related across all heritages. The words within

Throughout this course we discussed the Jazz Age, cultural appropriation, racial and gender differences, and African Americans and Parisians during the interwar years. We looked at many African American performers and performances that had a huge impact on France’s cultural identity. After learning about all of this in class, I wanted to take my research further. I decided to research female foreign performers who have had a major influence on the Jazz Age in Paris. I decided to focus specifically on three foreign females, and they are: singer and dancer Josephine Baker, dancer Molly Spotted Elk, and dancer Ada “Bricktop” Smith. Each of these female performers had a large impact on taking the Jazz Age in Paris to another level.

When compared to Elvis Presley’s take, Ray Charles had a complete different approach on his song, “I Got a Woman”. In fact, Kanye West sampled lyrics in verse one in a well-known song today, “Gold Digger”. (0:23-0:30) Throughout the song you listen as Charles voice is clear and syncs with