Word: pianist
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Jazz Festival is emphatic proof of the new unity among jazz, rock, the blues, soul, even the pop song. A single event at the Roseland Ballroom, for example, will offer both the sophisticated big-band arrangements of Harry James and the Latin style of Tito Puente. At Carnegie Hall, Pianist Keith Jarrett will spin forth some of the most elegant, technically proficient, classically tinted jazz since Art Tatum. On another night, Vibraharpist Lionel Hampton and Pianist Teddy Wilson will mix it up with Drummer Buddy Rich and Bassist Milt Hinton in what should be a vital remembrance of the swing...
...some meaty news-about any celebrity he could buttonhole in his non stop table-hopping. Was Joe DiMaggio flying to New York "for some dates at El Morocco"? Lyons heard it there and so reported. What did Artur Rubinstein's wife cook for dinner the night before? The pianist gave Lyons the answer (Polish chicken) at the Côte Basque. Was it true that Jacqueline Susann met that other author, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., at Sardi's? Lyons was there as a witness...
...Manhattan-born son of a Viennese accordionist, Hamlisch as a boy was nicknamed "Fingers" because he avoided sports to guard his hands. He went to work at 19 as a rehearsal pianist for Broadway shows, beginning with Funny Girl in 1964. He squeezed in night school too, graduating cum laude from Queens College. In 1968, at a Broadway party, the pianist met Producer Sam Spiegel, who chatted about a film he was planning to make from John Cheever's short story The Swimmer. Three days later Hamlisch handed him the completed theme for the movie...
About his music, Hamlisch is not cautious: "I'm a terrific arranger and a terrific pianist," he says. "I'm a believer in strong melodies. In this sense I'm innovative, because so much music today is unmelodious." Dismissing the old dictum that film music should be unobtrusive, he believes in getting his melodies into the forefront. "If I'm scoring a sad scene, I want my music to take the audience over the emotional brink," he explains. "I want to bring a tear to their eyes...
...caterer and then became a blueprint technician. As a boy, Duke showed more aptitude for painting than music. Piano lessons were a chore. "Before I knew it, I would be fashioning a new melody and accompaniment instead of following the score," he said. Indeed he never became a virtuoso pianist; his talent was as a leader, arranger and composer. By the age of 14, he had written his first song, Soda Fountain Rag. Soon he was fronting a band that played dances and receptions...