Boney James...Sara Smile

Boney James - Jazz Musician

Boney James, the jazz musician, took up the clarinet at the age of eight, switching to sax when he was ten. Boney spent his early teen years in New Rochelle, New York and became musically influenced by the R&B Motown genre and saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr.

When James was fourteen his family moved to Los Angeles, where he joined a fusion band that opened for acts like Flora Purim and the Yellowjackets. Another member of this early band was John Shanks, now a successful pop producer. James eventually received a degree in history from UCLA, but began playing music full-time after graduation.

James learned to play keyboards and in 1985 he joined Morris Day's band. His R&B influence was further strengthened by seven years of touring and sessions as a sideman with Day, the Isley Brothers, Bobby Caldwell, Randy Crawford, Teena Marie and others. It was on the road with Crawford in 1986 that he earned his now-famous moniker, when his physique led a band mate to joke "We'll have to start calling you Boney James!".

In the early 1990s while on tour with Bobby Caldwell's band James met engineer and producer Paul Brown, beginning a 10-year period of collaboration. In 1992 Boney released his debut album as a leader, Trust, on the independent record label Spindletop Records. Following the record's success, James was signed by the Warner Brothers label in 1994.

He released the RIAA Certified Gold Records, Seduction, Sweet Thing and Body Language on Warner Brothers. In 2000 he collaborated with trumpeter Rick Braun on an album called Shake it Up. Their duets include the now classic updated version of Hugh Masakela's "Grazin' in the Grass".

Boney James Music Collection

Other artists who have made guest appearances on Boney's records include Raheem DeVaughn, Faith Evans, George Benson, George Duke, Dwele, Al Jarreau, Philip Bailey, Anthony Hamilton, Jaheim, Eric Benét, Dave Hollister and Angie Stone.

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Strange Fruit-Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday - Female Jazz Singer

Billie Holiday, jazz singer, probably best known for the song, "Strange Fruit", was born in 1915. The world enjoyed her work, music, and rare talent for nearly thirty years. Her vocal delivery and improvisational skills, not common in the jazz world, was considered an evolution in the art of jazz composition. At the tender age of eighteen, she was already the headline singing in small clubs in Harlem.
In 1935, Billie Holiday began recording with pianist Teddy Wilson. They put together several small jazz groups that included some of the best musicians in New York like Lester Young, Benny Goodman, and Ben Webster.

In late 1937, Holiday had a brief stint as a big-band vocalist with Count Basie. The traveling conditions of the band were often poor; they performed many one-nighters in clubs, moving from city to city with little stability.

Holiday chose the songs she sang and had a hand in the arrangements, I Must Have That Man", "Tra…

John Coltrane: American Jazz Musicians Look To South Africa For Inspiration

John Coltrane, Jazz Saxophonist, Musician

John Coltrane, jazz saxophonist, musician: In the 1940s and 1950s, numerous American jazz musicians looked to South Africa for inspiration, but it was John Coltrane, in 1961, who made one of the most profound statements about what South Africa stood for (spiritually), among jazz musicians in the United States.The man's playing is in essence, lyrical - even when he is at his most demoniacally complex.

Because of the breadth of his work, his technical innovations as an instrumentalist, and the stimulating combination of discipline and experiment he brought to the groups he led, John Coltrane became the most influential saxophonist on the jazz of the last four decades of the twentieth century, overtaking Charlie Parker as a universal role model.

Coltrane's career began substantially earlier than that of Ornette Coleman, the other dominant innovator in jazz saxophone playing of the 1960s. Although Coleman outlived him and continued to de…

Damien Escobar | Violinist

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Damien Escobar | Violinist

Damien Escobar, also known as Dame Esco, is an American violinist. He was previously in the duo Nuttin' But Stringz with his brother Tourie, but has been a solo artist since 2012. His "crossover violin" musical style consists of a mix of classical, jazz, pop, R&B, and hip hop.

As kids Damien and Tourie worked as street musicians, playing at Grand Central Station and on the New York City subways. In 2003, they began playing professionally under the name Nuttin' But Stringz. In 2005, Nuttin' But Stringz won a talent contest at the Apollo Theater. In 2006, Escobar appeared in the film Step Up. Nuttin' But Stringz took third place in the 2008 season of America's Got Talent. They performed at the First inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009[2] and won two Emmys. In 2012, Nuttin' But Stringz separated. Escobar returned to school and got his real estate license…

Famous Jazz Musicians 1940s - 2017

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