Name	Herbie Mann
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Born	April 16, 1930Brooklyn, New York
Died	July 01, 2003
Origin	United States
Instrument	Flute, saxophone, bass clarinet
Genre	Jazz, bossa nova, disco, world music
Occupation	musician, record label executive
Years active	1953–2003
Label	Atlantic Records, Cotillion Records, Embryo Records, Kokopelli Records
Associated acts	Antonio Carlos Jobim, João Gilberto

Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003) , better known as Herbie Mann, was a Jewish American jazz flutist and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophones and clarinets (including bass clarinet), but Mann was among the first jazz musicians to specialize on the flute and was perhaps jazz music's preeminent flutist during the 1960s. His most popular single was "Hijack," which was a Billboard Number-one dance hits of 1975 (USA) for 3 weeks.

Mann emphasized the groove approach in his music. Mann felt that from his repertoire, the "epitome of a groove record" was Memphis Underground or Push Push, because the "rhythm section locked all in one perception."

Biography

Herbie Mann was born in Brooklyn, New York to Romanian and Russian parents. He attended Lincoln High School in Brighton Beach, failing a music class there. His first professional performance was playing the Catskills resorts at age 15. In the 1950's, Mann was primarily a bop flutist, playing in combos with artists such as Phil Woods, with occasional forays into bass clarinet, tenor sax and solo flute.

Mann was an early pioneer in the fusing of jazz and world music. He incorporated elements of African music in 1959 following a State Department sponsored tour of the continent, adding a conga player to his band, and the same year recorded Flutista, an album of Afro-Cuban jazz. In 1961 Mann took a tour of Brazil and returned to the United States to record with Brazilian players including Antonio Carlos Jobim and guitarist Baden Powell. These albums helped popularize the bossa nova. Many of his albums throughout his career returned to Brazilian themes. He went on to record reggae in London (in 1974), Middle Eastern (1966 and 1967) (with oud and dumbek), and Eastern European styles. In the mid-1960s Mann hired a young Chick Corea to play in some of his bands. In the late 1970s, early 1980s Mann played duets at New York City's Bottom Line and the Village Gate to sold out crowds with the late Sarod virtuso Vasant Rai.

Following the 1969 hit album Memphis Underground a number of disco-style smooth jazz records in the 1970s, mainly on Atlantic records, brought some criticism from jazz purists but helped Mann remain active during a period of declining interest in jazz. The musicians on these recordings are some of the best-known session players in soul and jazz, including singer Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney Houston), guitarists Duane Allman and Larry Coryell, bassists Donald "Duck" Dunn and Chuck Rainey and drummers Al Jackson and Bernard Purdie, these last from the Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama. In this period Mann had a number of songs cross over to the pop charts — rather rare for a jazz musician. A 1998 interview reported that "At least 25 Herbie Mann albums have made the top 200 pop charts, success denied most of his jazz peers."

Mann provided the music for the 1978 National Film Board of Canada animated short Afterlife, by Ishu Patel.

In the early 1970s he founded his own label, Embryo Records, distributed by Cotillion Records, a division of Atlantic Records. Embroy produced jazz albums, such as Ron Carter's Uptown Conversation (1970); Miroslav Vitous' first solo album, Infinite Search (1969); Phil Woods and his European Rhythm Machine at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival (1971); and Dick Morrissey and Jim Mullen's Up (1976), which featured the Average White Band as a rhythm section; and the 730 Series, with a more rock-oriented style, including Zero Time (1971) by TONTO's Expanding Head Band. He later set up Kokopelli Records after difficulty with established labels. In 1996, Mann collaborated with Stereolab on the song "One Note Samba/Surfboard" for the AIDS-Benefit album Red Hot + Rio produced by the Red Hot Organization. His last appearance was on May 3, 2003 at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival at age 73. He died at age 73 on July 1, 2003 after a long battle with prostate cancer.

Discography

References

External links

Official Site

Further Discography and Biography

National Public Radio's Jazz Profiles: Herbie Mann

Category:1930 births Category:2003 deaths Category:American dance musicians Category:American jazz flautists Category:American jazz composers Category:Bass clarinetists Category:American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American Jews Category:Jewish American composers and songwriters Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Musicians from New York City Category:American musicians of Russian descent Category:American musicians of Romanian descent Category:Deaths from prostate cancer Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Savoy Records artists Category:Verve Records artists

Name	Duane Allman
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Howard Duane Allman
Alias	Skydog
Born	November 20, 1946Nashville, Tennessee
Died	October 29, 1971Macon, Georgia
Instrument	Guitar
Genre	Southern rock, blues, blues-rock, soul, rock, jazz
Occupation	Musician, songwriter
Years active	1961–1971
Label	Mercury, Capricorn
Associated acts	The Hour GlassWilson PickettThe Allman Brothers BandDerek and the DominosAretha FranklinHerbie MannGreg AllmanThe Allman Joys
Url	AllmanBrothersBand.com
Notable instruments	Gibson 1957 Goldtop Les PaulGibson 1959 Tobacco Sunburst Les PaulGibson 1961 SG Les Paul1954 Fender Stratocaster

Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American guitarist, respected session musician and a co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band. He is best remembered for his brief but influential tenure in that band, his expressive slide guitar playing and improvisational skills.

A sought-after session musician both before and during his tenure with the band, Allman performed with such established stars as King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and Herbie Mann. He also contributed heavily to the 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos.

In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Allman at #2 in their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, second only to Jimi Hendrix. His tone (achieved with a Gibson Les Paul and two 50-watt bass Marshall amplifiers) was named one of the greatest guitar tones of all time by Guitar Player.

He died in October 1971 in a motorcycle accident. He is still referred to by his nickname "Skydog," which may be a reference to his signature guitar sound and tone, although piano player Jim Dickinson was quoted in Keith Richards autobiography Life as saying he was given the name because he was high much of the time.

Early years

Duane Allman was born in Nashville, Tennessee. When he was three years old and his family lived near Norfolk, Virginia, his father, Willis Allman, a career United States Army sergeant, was murdered by a hitchhiker and fellow veteran who he picked up a day after returning from a long tour of duty. Geraldine "Mama A" Allman moved her family back to Nashville. In 1957 they relocated to Daytona Beach, Florida.

In 1960, Allman was motivated to take up the guitar by his younger brother, Gregg, who had obtained a guitar after hearing a neighbor playing country music standards on an acoustic guitar. Gregg stated that after he saw Duane play a little bit he was in awe: "It was like seeing Paul Bunyan grind an axe, he passed me up like I was standing still."

Another important event occurred in 1959 [NOTE: inconsistent with 1960 date above] when the boys were in Nashville visiting relatives. They attended a rock 'n' roll concert at which blues legend B. B. King performed. Both brothers promptly fell under the spell of his music. Gregg Allman recalls that Duane idly and yet sternly turned to him and said, "We got to get into this." and after the show instantly started sewing together his own riffs to the previous B. B. King songs he heard hours before, and by the end of the night tolled together his own solos, and discovered the blues box all before investing his full potential into the guitar.

Duane's love for the guitar grew even more over the years, Gregg stated that he hardly ever saw Duane out of his room not jamming on the guitar. "His improvisational skills were through the dam" Gregg stated in an interview "He was never not in his room, soloing for hours on end". Duane first learned the acoustic blues, and over the years moulded his guitar playing to his own custom sound that he is still known for today.

Duane Allman was known for his lean, gangly stature, his beard, and his humble manner while not playing guitar. Dickey Betts stated "Duane was one of the most down to earth people you could meet, and we all knew he was gonna make a change in this world whether it be on guitar or not". Whenever Duane stepped on stage he took on a different persona known as Sky Dog, and his improvisational solos and riffs were magical.

Allman Joys and Hour Glass

The two Allman brothers started playing publicly in 1961, joining or forming a number of small, local groups. Shortly thereafter, Duane quit high school to stay home during the day and focus on his guitar playing. Their band the Escorts opened for The Beach Boys in 1965 but disbanded and eventually became the Allman Joys. After Gregg graduated from Seabreeze High School in 1965, the Allman Joys went on the road, performing throughout the Southeast and eventually being based in Nashville and St. Louis, Missouri.

The Allman Joys morphed into another not-completely-successful band, The Hour Glass, which moved to Los Angeles in early 1967. There the Hour Glass produced two albums that left the band unsatisfied. Liberty, their record company, tried to market them as a pop band, completely ignoring the band's desire to play more blues-oriented material.

In 1968, Gregg Allman went to visit Duane on his 22nd birthday. Duane was sick in bed. Gregg brought along a bottle of Coricidin pills for his fever and the debut album by guitarist Taj Mahal as a gift. "About two hours after I left, my phone rang," Gregg states. "Baby brother, baby brother, get over here now!" When Gregg got there, Duane had poured the pills out of the bottle, washed off the label and was using it as a slide to play "Statesboro Blues," an old Blind Willie McTell song that Taj Mahal covered. "Duane had never played slide before", says Gregg, "he just picked it up and started burnin'. He was a natural." The song would go on to become a part of the Allman Brothers Band's repertoire, and Duane's slide guitar became crucial to their sound.

The Hour Glass broke up in early 1968, and Duane and Gregg Allman went back to Florida, where they played on demo sessions with the February 31, a folk rock outfit whose drummer was Butch Trucks. Gregg returned to California to fulfill Hour Glass obligations, while Duane jammed around Florida for months but didn't get another band going.

Session musician

Allman's playing on the two Hour Glass albums and an Hour Glass session in early 1968 at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, had caught the ear of Rick Hall, owner of FAME. In November 1968 Hall hired Allman to play on an album with Wilson Pickett. Allman's work on that album, Hey Jude (1968), got him hired as a full-time session musician at Muscle Shoals and brought him to the attention of a number of other musicians, such as Eric Clapton, who later said, "I remember hearing Wilson Pickett's 'Hey Jude' and just being astounded by the lead break at the end. I had to know who that was immediately — right now."

Allman's performance on "Hey Jude" blew away Atlantic Records producer and executive Jerry Wexler when Hall played it over the phone for him. Wexler immediately bought Allman's recording contract from Hall and wanted to use him on sessions with all sorts of Atlantic R&B; artists. While at Muscle Shoals, Allman was featured on releases by a number of artists, including Clarence Carter, King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Laura Nyro, Wilson Pickett, Otis Rush, Percy Sledge, Johnny Jenkins, Boz Scaggs, Delaney & Bonnie and jazz flautist Herbie Mann. Shortly after he recorded the lead break in "Hey Jude", he recorded all of the lead guitar in Boz Scaggs' "Loan Me A Dime." For his first Aretha sessions, Allman traveled to New York, where in January 1969 he went as an audience member to the Fillmore East to see Johnny Winter and told fellow Shoals guitarist Jimmy Johnson that in a year he'd be on that stage. That December, the Allman Brothers Band indeed played the Fillmore.

Formation of The Allman Brothers Band

The limits of full-time session playing frustrated Allman. The few months in Muscle Shoals were by no means a waste, however, because besides meeting the great artists and other industry professionals he was working with, Allman had rented a small, secluded cabin on a lake and spent many solitary hours there refining his playing. Perhaps most significantly, Allman got together with R&B; and jazz drummer Jaimoe Johanson, who came to meet Allman at the urging of the late Otis Redding's manager, Phil Walden, who by now was managing Allman and wanted to build a three-piece band around him. Allman and Jaimoe got Chicago-born bassist Berry Oakley to come up from Florida and jam as a trio, but Berry was committed to his rock band with guitarist Dickey Betts, the Second Coming, and returned south.

Getting fed up with Muscle Shoals, in March Allman took Jaimoe with him back to Jacksonville, Florida, where they moved in with Butch Trucks. Soon a jam session of these three plus Betts, Oakley, and Reese Wynans took place and forged what all present recognized as a natural, or even magical, bond. With the addition of brother Gregg, called back from Los Angeles to sing and replace Wynans on keyboards, at the end of March 1969, the Allman Brothers Band was formed. (Wynans became well known over a decade later as organist with Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble.) After a bit of rehearsing and gigging, the sextet moved up to Macon, Georgia, in April to be near Walden and his Capricorn Sound Studios. While living in Macon, Allman met Donna Roosman, who bore his only child, Galadrielle. Despite their child, the relationship quickly ended.

Success: Layla, At Fillmore East

The Allman Brothers Band went on to become one of the most influential rock groups of the 1970s, described by Rolling Stone's George Kimball in 1971 as "the best damn rock and roll band this country has produced in the past five years." After months of nonstop rehearsing and gigging, including free shows in Macon's Central City Park and Atlanta's Piedmont Park, the group was ready to settle on the Allman Brothers Band name, and to record. Their debut album, The Allman Brothers Band, was recorded in New York in September 1969 and released a couple months later. In the midst of intense touring, work began in Macon and Miami (Atlantic South - Criteria Studios), and a little bit in New York, on the ABB's second album, Idlewild South. Produced mostly by Tom Dowd, Idlewild South was released in August 1970 and broke ground for the ABB by quickly hitting the Billboard charts.

A group date in Miami, also that August, gave Allman the chance to participate in Eric Clapton's Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Clapton had long wanted to meet Allman; when he heard that the Allman Brothers were due to play in Miami, where he had just started work on Layla with producer Tom Dowd, he insisted on going to see their concert, where he met Allman. At one point, Allman cautiously asked Clapton if he could come by the studio to watch. After the show the two bands—the Allman Brothers Band and Derek and the Dominos—returned to Criteria, where Allman and Clapton quickly formed a deep rapport during an all-night jam session. Allman wound up participating on most of the album's tracks, contributing some of his best-known work. Allman never left the Allman Brothers Band, though, despite being offered a permanent position with Clapton. Allman never toured with Derek and the Dominos, but he did make three appearances with them on December 1, 1970 at the Curtis Hixon Hall ("Soulmates" LP) and the following day at Onondaga County War Memorial, and one appearance (or possibly just Delaney Bramlett or both Duane and Delaney) November 20, 1970 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Calif.

In an interview, Duane told listeners how to tell who played what: Eric played the Fender parts and Duane played the Gibson parts. He continued by noting that the Fender had a sparklier sound, while the Gibson produced more of a "full-tilt screech."

The Allman Brothers went on to record At Fillmore East in March 1971. Meanwhile, Allman continued contributing session work to other artists' albums whenever he could. According to Skydog: the Duane Allman Story, Allman was in the habit of spontaneously dropping in at recording sessions and contributing to whatever was being taped that day. He received cash payments but no recording credits, making it virtually impossible to compile a complete discography of his works.

Allman was well known for his melodic, extended and attention-holding guitar solos. During this time period one of his stated influences was Miles Davis and John Coltrane having listened extensively to Kind of Blue for two years.

As Allman's distinct electric bottleneck steel sound began to mature it evolved in time into the musical voice of what would come to be known as Southern Rock, being picked up and redefined in their own styles by slide guitarists that included fellow bandmate Dickey Betts (after Duane's passing), Rory Gallagher, Derek Trucks and Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Death

Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident only months after the release and initial success of At Fillmore East. While in the west part of Macon on October 29, 1971 during a band break from touring and recording, Allman was riding his motorcycle toward an oncoming truck that was turning well in front of him. The truck suddenly stopped in mid-intersection. Allman lost control of his Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle while trying to swing left, possibly striking the back of the truck or its crane ball. He was thrown from his motorcycle, which landed on him and skidded ninety feet with him under it, crushing his internal organs. Though he was rushed to the hospital and operated on, he died several hours later, just weeks before his 25th birthday.

Memorial

After Allman's funeral and some weeks of mourning, the five surviving members of the Allman Brothers Band carried on, resuming live performances and finishing the recording work interrupted by Duane's death. They called their next album Eat a Peach for one of Duane Allman's interview lines. In response to the question, "How are you helping the revolution?" Allman replied, "There ain't no revolution, only evolution, but every time I'm in Georgia I 'eat a peach' for peace." Released in February, 1972, this double album contains a side of live and studio tracks with Allman, two sides of "Mountain Jam", recorded with Duane at the Fillmore during the same March stand as At Fillmore East, and a side of tracks by the surviving five member band. An urban legend has it that Eat a Peach was named thus because Allman hit a truck carrying peaches.

Bass guitarist Berry Oakley died less than 13 months later in a similar motorcycle crash with a city bus, three blocks from the site of Duane Allman's fatal accident. Oakley's remains were laid to rest beside Duane Allman's in Macon, Georgia's Rose Hill Cemetery.

The variety of Allman's session work and Allman Brothers Band bandleading can be heard to good effect on two posthumous Capricorn releases, (1972) and (1974). There are also several archival releases of live Allman Brothers Band performances from what the band calls Duane's Era.

[[File:Remember Duane Allman.jpg|280px|right|thumb|David Reid stands next to the Remember Duane Allman tribute carved in the dirt bank next to Interstate 20 in 1973. A photograph was published in Rolling Stone magazine and in the Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll; the carving itself lasted for over ten years.

In 1998 the Georgia State Legislature passed a resolution designating a stretch of State Highway 19, US 41, within Macon as the "Duane Allman Boulevard" in his honor.

Country singer Travis Tritt, in the song "Put Some Drive In Your Country" on his debut album, sings "Now I still love old country/I ain't tryin' to put it down/But lord I miss Duane Allman/I wish he was still around."

Equipment

Allman Joys, Hour Glass

Fender Telecaster, modified with a Stratocaster neck. Vox Super-Beatle amplifier, with 6 10-inch speakers and two horns.

Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, which used old 9V batteries because "they make a special sound."

Fender Twin Reverb with JBL speakers.

Maestro Echoplex.

Allman Brothers Band, "Layla," later session work

1961 Fender Stratocaster (for early session work overlapping with formation of the Band).

1958-1962 Gibson ES-345 Semi-hollow body (first album)

1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard goldtop, serial no. 7 3312. Traded on September 16, 1970 for a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard cherry sunburst, except for the pickups.

1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard cherry sunburst, acquired on September 16, 1970, except for the pickups.

1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard tobacco sunburst, acquired in June 1971.

1961 Gibson SG, used for slide, given by Dickey Betts.

Marshall 50-watt head, two Marshall 4x12 cabinets with JBL speakers.

Fender Champ combo amplifier ("Layla")

Other

Gibson L-100 acoustic guitar

Fender Rock N' Roll 150 strings (Hour Glass)

Coricidin medicine bottle (slide)

Discography

See also

Blues-rock

References

Further reading

Duane Allman: An Anthology (1972) liner notes

The Allman Brothers Band: Dreams (1989 boxed set) liner notes

Poe, Randy, Skydog: The Duane Allman Story (Backbeat Books)

External links

Duane Allman on allmanbrothersband.com

Duane Allman Resources

In memory of Duane Allman: 35 years after his death, Skydog still among rock's very best guitarists, on MSNBC

The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time

Georgia House of Representatives SR653, designating Duane Allman Boulevard and Raymond Berry Oakley Bridge

Category:1946 births Category:1971 deaths Category:American rock guitarists Category:American blues guitarists Category:Lead guitarists Category:Slide guitarists Category:American session musicians Category:The Allman Brothers Band members Category:Derek and the Dominos members Category:Delaney & Bonnie & Friends members Category:Motorcycle accident victims Category:Road accident deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:People from Nashville, Tennessee Category:People from Volusia County, Florida Category:Musicians from Tennessee

Name	Cissy Houston
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Emily Drinkard
Born	September 30, 1933
Origin	Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Genre	SoulGospel
Occupation	Singer
Years active	1969–present
Instrument	Vocals Soprano
Notable songs	"Deep River", "Think It Over", "I Know Him So Well"
Label	RCA, Commonwealth United, Private Stock, Motown
Associated acts	Whitney HoustonDoris TroyElvis PresleyMahalia JacksonAretha FranklinLuther VandrossDee Dee Warwick

Emily "Cissy" Drinkard Houston (born September 30, 1933) is a Grammy Award winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist. She is the mother of singer and actress Whitney Houston and aunt of Dionne Warwick and the late Dee Dee Warwick.

Early years

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Houston was the youngest of eight children of parents Nicholas (aka Nitch) and Delia Drinkard. In 1938 when Houston was 5 years old her mother, Delia, suffered a stroke and died of cerebral hemorrhage three years later. Her father later died of stomach cancer in 1951 when Houston was 18.

As a child, Houston joined her sister Anne and brothers Larry and Nicky in the gospel singing group the Drinkard Four in 1938. Houston's sister, Lee (who would later become the mother of singers Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick), later joined the group along with Ann Moss and Marie Epps, and the group was renamed The Drinkard Singers. Houston and the Drinkard Singers regularly performed at New Hope Baptist Church and later recorded a live album for RCA called A Joyful Noise.

Private Life

Shortly after her father's death, Houston married her first husband in 1954 at the age of 21. The two were divorced two years later while Houston was pregnant with her first son, Gary. Still pregnant, Houston met Army serviceman John Houston, and the two were married in 1959.

Career

In 1963, then about to give birth to daughter Whitney Houston, she formed the Sweet Inspirations with Doris Troy and niece Dee Dee Warwick. Later members (and the ones she recorded with on the Atlantic label) were Sylvia Shemwell, Estelle Brown and Myrna Smith. Throughout the mid-1960s, the group provided backup vocals for several artists, including Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Lou Rawls, Otis Redding, The Drifters, Dusty Springfield, Jimi Hendrix, and Van Morrison (for "Brown Eyed Girl"). Houston is the operatic soprano in the background on Franklin's hit, "Ain't No Way". The group also sang backup for Elvis Presley in Las Vegas on his return to live performances during July and August 1969, and for Cissy's niece Dionne Warwick.

Houston left the Sweet Inspirations in 1969 to pursue a solo career, although she continued to be in demand as a session singer. She was signed by Commonwealth United and in 1970 released a well-received album that contained several near-hit singles, including covers of "I'll Be There" and "Be My Baby". After her contract was sold to Janus Records, Houston recorded several more singles in the early 1970s and another album, which included the original recording of Jim Weatherly's "Midnight Train To Georgia", later a number one hit for Gladys Knight & The Pips. Houston later blamed poor promotion for the failure of her earlier version.

In 1977, Houston was signed by Private Stock, working with arranger/producer Michael Zager on three albums. The second included her big disco hit "Think It Over", which climbed to #32 on the Billboard R&B; chart and just missed the Hot 100 in 1979. She represented USA at the World Popular Song Festival in 1979 with a track called "You're The Fire", landing second place and winning the "Most Outstanding Performance Award". This also appeared on her 1980 disco-flavored album, "Step Aside For A Lady", again produced by Michael Zager, but released on Columbia (on EMI in the UK).

She has remained in demand as singer and has the ability to sing in several genres. She is featured on three tracks "Mexican Divorce", "All Kinds of People" & "One Less Bell to Answer" on Burt Bacharach's 1971 solo album. She worked with jazz flute-player Herbie Mann on two Atlantic albums Waterbed & Surprises (1975–76) featuring on three tracks "Violet Don't Be Blue", JJ Cale's "Cajun Moon" and "Easter Rising".

In addition to her work as choirmaster at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, NJ, Cissy performed frequently at clubs in NYC including Mikell's, Sweetwaters, Seventh Avenue South, and Fat Tuesday from the late 1970s through the 1980s.

Among the many fine musicians who played with her (it was always clear that Cissy herself led the band) were many fantastic backup singers. One backup "constant" was her daughter, Whitney. As time went on, Cissy allowed Whitney a solo. At one point "Evergreen", the Streisand hit, was the preferred solo. To the surprise of the uninitiated, this slight, beautiful young woman would tear it up, bringing down the house: it was clear that Cissy was passing the torch. More than once they collaborated on "Ain't No Way" (originally a Cissy/Aretha masterpiece), wherein Cissy sang "Cissy" and Whitney sang "Aretha". Whitney's "coming out" performance took place at Sweetwaters (Amsterdam Avenue between 67th & 68th Streets - defunct as are the other cited venues), whereupon Whitney was signed by Clive Davis for Arista Records.

In 1985, the small UK independent label Glitter released a single, With You I Could Have It All and Whatcha Gonna Do About Our Love . The 12-inch single featured both a ballad and a dance version of the song.

She returned to her gospel roots in the 1990s with substantial acclaim. In 1996 she received the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album for Face to Face an album that contained a gospelised version of ""How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"" and she won the award again in 1998 for her album He Leadeth Me. In 1996 she also contributed one song to the gospel soundtrack album for the film "The Preacher's Wife" which was starring her daughter Whitney Houston.

She has also continued to record infrequent secular material and in 1987, Houston and her daughter Whitney recorded a duet titled "I Know Him So Well", a cover of the original by Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige from the Broadway show, Chess. This song also became a single in early 1989 as the 6th and last single release (in selected European countries) from Whitney's album "Whitney". In 1992 she teamed up with Chuck Jackson for an album of solo and duet recordings entitled I'll Take Care of You.

In 2006, she recorded the song "Family First" with niece Dionne Warwick and daughter Whitney Houston for the soundtrack to the movie Daddy's Little Girls.

Cissy Houston broke her ankle in 2009. She was seen walking with a cane on whilst she attended the pre-Grammy party to watch her daughter Whitney Houston perform.

In 2010 Cissy was at the third annual BET Honors for her daughter Whitney, who got the entertainment award.

Discography

"Think It Over (1978)

"Face to Face" (1996)

"He Leadeth Me" (1998)

Soundtracks

"A Time to Kill" (1996) ("Take My Hand Precious Lord")

(1996) (performer: "The Lord Is My Shepherd")

"Late Show with David Letterman"

* Episode dated 23 December 1998 (1998) TV episode (performer: "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)")

Daddy's Little Girls (Original Movie Soundtrack) (2007) (performer: "Family First")

* aka Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls (USA: complete title)

;Musical Works:

"Angels" (1976) (arranger: vocals) (performer: vocals)

"Dangerously in Love" (2003) (background vocals for Beyoncé)

Filmography

Movies

The Wiz (1978) (voice) (uncredited) .... The Wiz Singers Adult Choir

Taking My Turn (1984) (TV)

The Vernon Johns Story (1994) (TV) .... Rose

* aka Freedom Road: The Vernon Johns Story (UK)

* aka The Road to Freedom: The Vernon Johns Story (USA: alternative title)

The Preacher's Wife (1996) .... Mrs. Havergal

Shows

"The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" .... Herself (3 episodes, 1970)

* aka The Best of Carson (USA: rerun title)

* Episode dated 24 March 1970 (1970) TV episode .... Herself

* Episode dated 20 March 1970 (1970) TV episode .... Herself

* Episode dated 13 March 1970 (1970) TV episode .... Herself

Gangsters(1979) .... Herself

* aka Hoodlums (USA: video title)

"Late Night with David Letterman" .... Herself (1 episode, 1985)

* Episode dated 28 August 1985 (1985) TV episode .... Herself

"Ebony/Jet Showcase" .... Herself (1 episode, 1986)

* Episode dated 10 October 1986 (1986) TV episode .... Herself

The 1st Annual Soul Train Music Awards (1987) (TV) .... Herself

The 15th Annual American Music Awards (1988) (TV) .... Herself/Performer

"Late Show with David Letterman" .... Herself (1 episode, 1998)

* aka Late Show Backstage (USA: title for episodes with guest hosts)

* aka Letterman (Australia)

* aka The Late Show (USA: informal short title)

* Episode dated 23 December 1998 (1998) TV episode .... Herself

"Intimate Portrait" .... Herself (1 episode, 2004)

* Dionne Warwick (2004) TV episode .... Herself

This Time (2008) .... Herself

External links

Cissy Houston's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project

Category:1933 births Category:Whitney Houston Category:Living people Category:African American singers Category:American female singers Category:American gospel singers Category:American soul singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:Musicians from New Jersey Category:People from Newark, New Jersey Category:Grammy Award winners

Name	Buddy Collette
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	William Marcel Collette
Born	August 06, 1921
Died	September 19, 2010
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Instrument	Tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet
Genre	Cool jazzWest Coast jazzWest Coast blues
Associated acts	Dexter Gordon, Chico Hamilton

William Marcel "Buddy" Collette (August 6, 1921 – September 19, 2010) was an American tenor saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist. He was highly influential in the West coast jazz and West Coast blues mediums, also collaborating with saxophonist Dexter Gordon, drummer Chico Hamilton, and his lifelong friend, bassist Charles Mingus.

Biography

Collette took up the alto saxophone at age 12 and led his first group, which included Britt Woodman on trombone and Charles Mingus on bass. At 17 he started playing professionally. After serving as a U.S. Navy band leader, he played with the Stars of Swing (featuring Woodman, Mingus and Lucky Thompson). Along with saxophonist Dexter Gordon bassist Charles Mingus, and drummer Chico Hamilton, he helped keep bebop alive in Los Angeles' historic Central Avenue neighborhood. In the early 1950s he worked as a studio musician and performed on Groucho Marx's television program, You Bet Your Life.

In 1955, he became a founding member of Chico Hamilton's quintet. The unusually instrumented quintet also featured guitarist Jim Hall and cellist (and pianist) Fred Katz, and performed chamber jazz. A year later, Collette recorded Man of Many Parts, his first album as a bandleader.

Unlike other influential West Coast players Collette stayed in Los Angeles, recorded with his quintet, and became a noteworthy educator. His students included such renowned musicians as Eric Dolphy, Charles Lloyd, Frank Morgan, Sonny Criss, and James Newton.

In 1996, the Library of Congress commissioned Collette to write and perform a special big band concert to highlight his long career. Although a stroke in 1998 had rendered him unable to continue performing, Collette remained active in jazz education, responsible for founding numerous programs for children in the Los Angeles area. Together with Steven Isoardi he wrote an autobiography titled Jazz Generations: A Life in American Music and Society (Bayou 2000).

Collette was a pioneer civil rights activist, working to desegregate the musicians union of Los Angeles. Gerald Wilson, Frank Sinatra, Nat 'King' Cole, and saxophonist Benny Carter were some of his early supporters. He also helped organize a concert and rally protesting government repression of the African American singer, actor, and political activist Paul Robeson.

Discography

As sideman

With Brass Fever

Time is Running Out (Impulse! Records, 1976)

With Blue Mitchell

Bantu Village (1969)

With The Three Sounds

Soul Symphony (1969)

References

External links

Obituary

Category:1921 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American jazz saxophonists Category:American jazz flautists Category:American jazz clarinetists Category:Cool jazz saxophonists Category:Cool jazz flautists Category:Cool jazz clarinetists Category:West Coast jazz saxophonists Category:West Coast jazz flautists Category:West Coast jazz clarinetists Category:West Coast blues saxophonists Category:West Coast blues flautists Category:West Coast blues clarinetists