Celebrating Black History Month: Toni Morrison, first African-American woman to win Nobel Prize

Toni Morrison, born February 18, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio, is the first African-American woman to win a Nobel Prize.  She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 for her Beloved trilogy.  The first novel Beloved, released in 1988 and she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. 

The second novel in the trilogy, Jazz, was released in 1992 and the following year she won the Nobel Prize in Literature even before the third novel was released.

In 2008, she was nominated for a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.

Glenn Miller records "In The Mood" 1939

Glenn Miller and his orchestra entered the RCA studios in New York City on August 1, 1939, and recorded one of the best-known, most-beloved instrumentals of all time, In the Mood. 

In the Mood was an arrangement by Joe Garland (African-American composer and arranger) based on a pre-existing melody and Andy Razaf (African-American composer and lyricist) wrote the lyrics.  Edgar Hayes and his orchestra recorded In the Mood first in 1938, and featured bari saxophones instead of tenor saxes. 

Garland sold his arrangement to Artie Shaw in 1938, who did not record it but did perform it in a concert.  The audience was under-whelmed.

Miller bought the tune in 1939, who played with the arrangement for a while, before recording on August 1.

It became an instant hit and stayed at the top of the Record Buying Guide for 13 weeks and the Billboard charts for 30 weeks. 

Glenn Miller's recording of In the Mood was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1983.

Happy birthday, Janis Siegel!

Extraordinarily talented and beautiful Janis Siegel, born July 23, 1952, has performed with the Manhattan Transfer since 1972.  She has won 10 Grammys as part of Manhattan Transfer and as a solo artist has received a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Performance, Female. 

She was inducted into the Vocal Music Hall of Fame as a member of the Manhattan Transfer in 2003.

Benny Goodman "King of Swing" born 1909

Benny Goodman, born May 30, 1909, became known as the "King of Swing".  During his lengthy career, he recorded many hits such as "Stompin' at the Savoy" and "Sing, Sing, Sing".  His music, along with another big bands, were popular during WWII but by the mid-forties, the big band sound wasn't as popular as during the 20's and 30's.


"Sing, Sing, Sing" is my favorite!

Ella Fitzgerald, the First Lady of Song, born 1917

Ella Fitzgerald, the First Lady of Song and probably the most popular jazz singer ever, was born in Newport News, Virginia April 25, 1917.  She sold over 40 million albums and won 13 Grammys, the latest in 1990, for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for "All That Jazz".  She recorded over 200 albums by the time of her passing in 1996.  She got her Star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame February 8, 1960 and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Ronald Reagan in 1987.

Listen to this recording of "Summertime" for just a sample of why she was so beloved.





http://ellafitzgerald.com/about/index.html

http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=Ella+Fitzgerald&field_nominee_work_value=&year=All&genre=All&=Search

http://www.walkoffame.com/ella-fitzgerald

First Jazz recording released 1917

Every now and then, I come across a gem of a story like this one, something that I haven't known of before.  On March 7, 1917, the first jazz recording, by the Original Dixieland Jass Band was released for sale in the US.  It featured Nick LaRocca on trumpet, Larry Shields on clarinet, Eddie Edwards on trombone, Henry Ragas on piano and Tony Sbarbaro on drums. 

The song was Dixieland Jass Band One-Step, an instrumental.  I found a recording of it (see below).  Listen for the clarinet!  Wow!