Ellery Eskelin - The Sun Died

Ellery Eskelin - Jazz Musician Ellery Eskelin, jazz musician, began playing tenor saxophone in 1969 at the age of ten. In interviews he claims his early influences as Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Lee Konitz, Stan Getz and John Coltrane. His mother, organist Bobbie Lee, learned to play music in the Pentecostal church as a teenager, the influence of which carried over into her playing of secular music and also provided a strong and lasting influence on Eskelin. Her playing was characterized by a strong rhythmic feel and a commanding delivery of American songs.

Eskelin's grandfather was the musical director of the church and played the pedal steel guitar in services while performing on the electric guitar professionally in Baltimore during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Baltimore had a rich musical legacy sustained by musicians such as saxophonists Mickey Fields and Gary Bartz. Musicians from New York often passed through Baltimore to perform on the weekly Sunday afternoon Left Bank Jazz Society concert series presented at the Famous Ballroom.

Eskelin had opportunities to sit in with locals such as Fields as well as internationally renowned artists such as Bartz, Pepper Adams and Woody Shaw.

Ellery Eskelin Music Reviews

Early performances as a leader took place at various jazz clubs such as "The Bandstand" and "The Closet" run by saxophonist and entrepreneur Henry Baker, who had a long history in the Baltimore music scene having known Lester Young, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis, Red Garland, John Coltrane, Clifford Brown and many others. Baker predicted that the young saxophonist would one day become "a great tenor saxophone player". At around this same time Eskelin met drummer Harold White (formerly with Horace Silver) and began performing regularly in White's quintet along with trumpeter Tom Williams.

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Louis Armstrong - Jazz Musician - is remembered as a towering influence

Louis Armstrong: Jazz Trumpet Player - Singer

Louis Armstrong is remembered as a towering influence in the community of music lovers. He was born August 4, 1901. Nicknamed Satchmo, Satch or Pops. Known as an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and singer, Louis also was an occasional actor. His career covered five decades from the early 1920s to the 1960s.

By virtue of the content of his character, Armstrong was one of the first African-American entertainers to cross the skin color divide that existed in America at the time. To the dismay of many, he avoided publically politicizing his race but stood up for the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock.

By 1920, a younger generation of players, born after 1900, was emerging, and one name above all others began to be mentioned after 1918 when he first started appearing with Kid Ory's band: a talented trumpeter named Louis Armstrong.

The year 1928 was Armstrong's last full one in Chicago before he moved to New York, an…

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…

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…

Famous Jazz Musicians 1940s - 2017

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