Music Makers (album)
Encyclopedia
The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow
awarded the album four stars and said "all of the songs sound quite fresh, partly due to the unusual instrumentation and also partly because of the players' inventiveness".
Production
Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...
awarded the album four stars and said "all of the songs sound quite fresh, partly due to the unusual instrumentation and also partly because of the players' inventiveness".
Track listing
- "'Round Midnight'Round Midnight (song)Round Midnight" is a 1944 jazz standard by pianist Thelonious Monk. Jazz artists Cootie Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Pepper, and Miles Davis have further embellished the song, with songwriter Bernie Hanighen adding lyrics...
" (Bernie HanighenBernie HanighenBernard D. Hanighen was an American songwriter best known for co-writing "'Round Midnight" and "When a Woman Loves a Man"...
, Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, Cootie WilliamsCootie WilliamsCharles Melvin "Cootie" Williams was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter.-Biography:...
) - 5:56 - "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless ChildSometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child"Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" is a traditional Negro spiritual.The song dates back to the era of slavery in the United States when it was common practice to sell children of slaves away from their parents. An early performance of the song dates back to the 1870s by the Fisk Jubilee...
" (TraditionalTraditional musicTraditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
) - 4:28 - "A Tout Choisir" (Joel HolmesJoel HolmesJoel Holmes VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
) - 2:08 - "When Lights Are Low" (Benny CarterBenny CarterBennett Lester Carter was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. He was a major figure in jazz from the 1930s to the 1990s, and was recognized as such by other jazz musicians who called him King...
, Spencer WilliamsSpencer WilliamsSpencer Williams was an American jazz and popular music composer, pianist, and singer. He is best known for his hit songs "Basin Street Blues", "I Ain't Got Nobody", "Royal Garden Blues", "I've Found a New Baby", "Everybody Loves My Baby", "Tishomingo Blues", "Careless Love", and many...
) - 3:28 - "And Still She Is With Me" (Gordon BeckGordon BeckGordon James Beck was an English jazz pianist.Beck was born in Brixton, London, and attended Pinner County Grammar School . He studied piano in his youth, but decided to go into a career as an engineering technical draughtsman...
) - 4:52 - "Music Makers" (Helen MerrillHelen MerrillHelen Merrill is an internationally known jazz vocalist.Merrill's recording career has spanned six decades and she is popular with fans of jazz in Japan and Italy as well as in her native United States...
, Torrie ZitoTorrie ZitoTorrie Zito was an American pianist, music arranger, composer and conductor.He worked with many recording artists of note, including Billie Holiday, Stan Getz, Perry Como, Billy Eckstine, Herbie Mann, Steve Lawrence, Edie Gorme, Nana Mouskouri, Bobby Short, Marvin Hamlish, Roberto Carlos, Sinead...
, Butch Zito) - 3:11 - "LauraLaura (1945 song)"Laura" is a 1945 popular song composed by David Raksin, with lyrics written by Johnny Mercer from the 1944 movie starring Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews. It has since become a jazz standard with over four hundred known recordings.Some of the best known versions are by Billy Eckstine, Charlie...
" (Johnny MercerJohnny MercerJohn Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
, David RaksinDavid RaksinDavid Raksin was an American composer born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With over 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit, he became known as the "Grandfather of Film Music." One of his earliest film assignments was as assistant to Charlie Chaplin in the composition of the score...
) - 4:30 - "As Time Goes ByAs Time Goes By (song)"As Time Goes By" is a song written by Herman Hupfeld in 1931. It became most famous in 1942 when it was sung by the character Sam in the movie Casablanca. The song was voted #2 on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs special, commemorating the best songs in film. It was used as a fanfare for Warner...
" (Hermann HupfeldHermann HupfeldHermann Hupfeld , German Orientalist and Biblical commentator, was born at Marburg, where he studied philosophy and theology from 1813 to 1817....
) - 5:17 - "A Girl in Calico" (Arthur SchwartzArthur SchwartzArthur Schwartz was an American composer and film producer.Schwartz supported his legal studies at New York University and postgraduate studies at Columbia University by playing piano before concentrating his talents on vaudeville, Broadway theatre and Hollywood.Among his Broadway musicals are The...
) - 3:35 - "(In My) Solitude(In My) Solitude" Solitude" is a 1934 jazz standard, composed by Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Eddie DeLange and Irving Mills.- Notable recordings :* Paul Robeson, bass with orchestra. Recorded in London on October 18, 1937...
" (Eddie DeLangeEddie DeLangeEddie DeLange was an American bandleader and lyricist. Famous artists who recorded some of DeLange's songs include Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman.-Biography:...
, Duke EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
, Gordon MillsGordon MillsGordon William Mills , was a successful London-based music industry manager and songwriter who was born in Madras, India and grew up in Trealaw in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales...
) - 3:39 - "Oh, Lady Be Good!Oh, Lady be Good!"Oh, Lady be Good!" is a 1924 song by George and Ira Gershwin.The song was introduced by Walter Catlett in the Broadway show, Lady, Be Good!, written by Guy Bolton, Fred Thompson, and the Gershwin brothers, starring Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire. It ran for 330 performances in its original...
" (George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Ira GershwinIra GershwinIra Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
) - 3:40 - "NuagesNuagesNuages Jazz are an Ecuadorian-based jazz group performing mostly in Gypsy and Semitic motifs. They were voted the best jazz group in Ecuador and have released four albums so far....
" (Django ReinhardtDjango ReinhardtDjango Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
) - 3:58
Personnel
Performance- Helen MerrillHelen MerrillHelen Merrill is an internationally known jazz vocalist.Merrill's recording career has spanned six decades and she is popular with fans of jazz in Japan and Italy as well as in her native United States...
- arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Gordon BeckGordon BeckGordon James Beck was an English jazz pianist.Beck was born in Brixton, London, and attended Pinner County Grammar School . He studied piano in his youth, but decided to go into a career as an engineering technical draughtsman...
- arranger, performer, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, electric pianoElectric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented... - Steve LacySteve LacySteve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone....
- soprano saxophoneSoprano saxophoneThe soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in... - Stéphane GrappelliStéphane GrappelliStéphane Grappelli was a French jazz violinist who founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands....
- violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
Production
- Bernard Amiard - art direction, cover art concept, cover design, design
- Christian Orsini - cutting engineer, engineer
- Jean-Marie Guérin - engineer
- Laurent Peyron - engineer, mixing
- Leonard FeatherLeonard FeatherLeonard Geoffrey Feather was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer who was best known for his music journalism and other writing.-Biography:...
- liner notesLiner notesLiner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:... - Jean-Jacques Pussiau - photography, producer
- Francois LeMaire - producer
- Pascal Bodin - release preparation