JOHN BARRY

(3 November 1933 – 30 January 2011)

Just added to our playlist- several selections from soundtracks composed by the late John Barry. He was one of the most celebrated film composers of modern times, winning five Academy Awards and four Grammy Awards, with scores for, among others, The Lion in Winter, Midnight Cowboy, Born Free, and Somewhere in Time. Barry was often cited as having had a distinct style which concentrated on lush strings and extensive use of brass. However he was also an innovator, being one of the first to employ synthesizers in a film score (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), and to make wide use of pop artists and songs in Midnight Cowboy. Because Barry provided not just the main title theme but the complete soundtrack score, his music often enhanced the critical reception of a film, notably in Midnight Cowboy, Out of Africa, and Dances with Wolves.

Official Site

Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for John Barry

Beegie Adair

Jazz pianist Beegie Adair was born in Barren County, Kentucky in 1937. She studied piano at Western Kentucky University and moved to Nashville, Tennessee where she did graduate work at Peabody College. She later went on to form the Beegie Adair Trio. We have added several tracks of Jerome Kern standards recorded with the trio.

Wikipedia | Official website | Search Amazon.com for Beegie Adair

EDDIE BARCLAY

We have just added a dozen orchestral tracks by Eddie Barclay to our playlist. He was born January 26, 1921 and died May 13, 2005. A French music producer whose singers included Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour. He founded Barclay Records.

wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for Eddie Barclay

GEORGE MARTIN

Sir George Henry Martin CBE (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, audio engineer, and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"—a title that he owes to his work as producer of all but one of The Beatles' original albums. He is considered one of the greatest record producers of all time, with 23 number one hits, an unmatched achievement. In 1965 he established the Associated Independent Recording (AIR) Studios.


Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for George Martin orchestra

Frederick Fennell

Frederick Fennell (July 2, 1914 in Cleveland, Ohio – December 7, 2004 in Siesta Key, Florida) was an internationally recognized conductor, and one of the primary figures in promoting the wind ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the USA and abroad. In Fennell's The New York Times obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin was quoted, saying "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa. Fennell recorded over 300 compositions on 29 albums for Mercury Records. For Mercury, Fennell recorded with the Eastman-Rochester "Pops", London "Pops" (actually the London Symphony Orchestra), and free-lance groups of New York musicians. However, best known are the twenty-two of these 29 Mercury albums that were with Fennell's own Eastman Wind Ensemble. One of these albums, Lincolnshire Posy by Percy Grainger recorded in 1958, was selected by Stereo Review magazine as one of the 50 best recordings of the Centenary of the Phonograph 1877-1977. The two volume Civil War - Its Music and Its Sounds, recorded in December 1960, was a notable set of recordings also made with the Eastman Wind Ensemble, this time performing on original instruments. In 1961, Fennell received a citation and a medal from the Congressional Committee for the Centennial of the Civil War for these recordings. In 2003, the 1958 Mercury album Winds in Hi Fi was chosen by the National Recording Preservation Board for the National Recording Registry. Nearly all of Fennell's Mercury recordings were reissued on compact disc.

Wikipedia Bio |  Search Amazon.com for Frederick Fennell