Billy May

Born: November 10, 1916

The last of the great arrangers who wrote regularly for Frank Sinatra, Billy May had several varied careers in and out of jazz. His first notable gig was as an arranger/trumpeter with Charlie Barnet (1938-1940), for whom he wrote the wah-wah-ing hit arrangement of Ray Noble's "Cherokee." Later, he worked in the same capacities for Glenn Miller (1940-1942) and Les Brown (1942) before settling into staff jobs, first at NBC studios, then at Capitol Records, where he led his own studio big band from 1951 to 1954. His arrangements for Sinatra, beginning with Come Fly With Me (1957) and ending with Trilogy (1979), are often in a walloping, brassy, even taunting swing mode, generating some of the singer's most swaggering vocals

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra: Tappin' Thru Life

by Jack Bowers
July 21, 2025

Tappin' Thru Life is more than the title of a jazz album; it is a philosophy, one that guided Maurice Hines through most of his 80 years and all of his epic career as an acclaimed tap dancer and entertainer. The album is based on Hines' autobiographical stage show of that name whose music director, drummer ...

Russ Anixter's Hippie Big Band: What Is?

by Jack Bowers
March 3, 2025

Although the music of New York-based bandleader and arranger Russ Anixter may leave the average listener bemused and scratching his or her head, even the more perplexed among them would have to concede that Anixter has his personal North Star, and that he and the eleven-member Hippie Big Band follow it to the letter. Having grown ...

Cassio Vianna Jazz Orchestra: Vida

by Jack Bowers
January 2, 2025

As you can't always describe a book by its cover, neither can you invariably pinpoint with accuracy a jazz ensemble's locale by its name alone. The Cassio Vianna Jazz Orchestra, to choose a random example, is not from Italy--nor from anywhere else in Europe. Although born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Cassio Vianna has lived in ...

Charles Nathan

Born: April 17, 1921

Biography for Charles Nathan

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION 

Charles was born on April 17th, 1921, in London, England. He and his family arrived in the US by boat when he was age three. Charles grew up in Los Angeles, California and became a naturalized citizen.

At age ?fteen, he quit high school to work playing the jazz trumpet. Charles studied trumpet under Lloyd Reese and Louie Maggio. He became an accomplished jazz trumpet player and big band arranger.

Ahmad Jamal: After Poinciana

by Chuck Lenatti
May 21, 2024

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 On Location and at the Penthouse In an apparent effort to capitalize on the new-found popularity from his 1958 record, At the Pershing, But Not for Me (Argo LP628), Ahmad Jamal released a flurry of albums between 1958 and 1970, many of them ...

The Flying Horse Big Band: A Message From The Flying Horse Big Band

by Jack Bowers
January 3, 2024

The Message on the Florida-based Flying Horse Big Band's sixth album comes straight from the “messengers" themselves-- drummer Art Blakey's legendary Jazz Messengers, whose music is admirably presented here, and to whom the album is dedicated. Its ten songs were composed by members of the Jazz Messengers--Wayne Shorter, Hank Mobley, Horace Silver, Cedar ...

Joe Block Christmas Extravaganza at Chris�� Jazz Caf��

by Victor L. Schermer
December 25, 2023

Joe Block Christmas Extravaganza Chris' Jazz Caf�� Philadelphia, PA December 17, 2023 Pianist Joe Block is a remarkable pianist and band leader born and bred in Philadelphia and its suburbs. He is a graduate of both Juilliard and Columbia, was mentored by legendary pianists like Tom Lawton ...

November 2022: Novel No?l: A Jingle Jazz Celebration

by C. Michael Bailey
November 16, 2022

Lyn Stanley Novel No?l: A Jingle Jazz Celebration A. T. Music 2022 Vocalist Lyn Stanley ironically calls her ensemble the Big Band Jazz Maverick when it is she who is the maverick, the evidence being how seamlessly she expands the holiday canon on Novel No?l: A Jingle Jazz Celebration. Over ...

Norman David: Forty-Year Wizard of The Eleventet

by Victor L. Schermer
August 4, 2021

A few years ago, a musician friend suggested I go hear a band that was playing at a place in Bella Vista, Philadelphia, a neighborhood with a significant jazz history (violinist Joe Venuti and guitarist Eddie Lang lived there and are honored with several plaques and a mural) -but not much current music to speak of. ...