Look up niño in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Nino may refer to:

• Nino (name)
• El Niño, a climate pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean
• NINO, an abbreviation for National insurance number in the United Kingdom
• Niño, the smallest conga drum
• Niño (single), a single from the album Dulce Beat by Belanova
• Nino (novel), a 1938 children's novel by Valenti Angelo

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Raúl di Blasio
Background information
Born	(1949-11-14) November 14, 1949 (age 62) Zapala, Argentina
Instruments	Piano

Raúl di Blasio (born November 14, 1949) is an Argentine latin jazz and easy listening pianist.

Life[link]

Born in Zapala, Argentina,^[1] Raúl Di Blasio showed a great interest in piano at the age of six. After his parents' recommendations that he should study music, he began to pursue piano as a career.

Di Blasio practiced piano alongside his teachers for more than four years. Having difficulty in purchasing a piano, he also relied on readily available sources of music such as whistling with his father, which helped develop the sort of melodies he employs in his work.

This was the beginning of Di Blasio's career in music. He had early formation in the Classic Technique, but he equally enjoys popular music. He admits that when he was 17 years old he was part of the rock movement with phenomena such as The Beatles. However, his parents asked him to pursue university studies and have a degree-based career in his life.

The next step for him was to leave his hometown and go to Buenos Aires, where at age 20, he began practicing music 12 hours straight per day. He comments: "I felt the wings on my fingers"^{[citation needed]}.

Di Blasio is someone who thrives on constant change in his life. He moved to Chile in 1978,^[1] where he began playing traditional music, Rock, and Classic Notes. He composed his own melodies and worked as a pianist in a bar, confessing he "scraped by to survive...", but that he was still happy doing so^{[citation needed]}.

In 1983 he released he first album on EMI Chile.^[1] Then, a producer from the record company BCS-S in Chile contracted with Di Blasio and his second album was born. This album included Latino-American music.

Di Blasio now has a family and is still striving with his musical career.

Duets[link]

Di Blasio has made a historical duet in Santo Domingo with the international renowned French pianist Richard Clayderman. Di Blasio made duets with Alejandro Fernández, Marco Antonio Solís, José José, Armando Manzanero, Marco Antonio Muñiz, Yolandita Monge, Julio Iglesias, Rocío Dúrcal, Juan Gabriel, Michael Bolton, Los Tri-o, José Luis Rodríguez "El Puma", Cristian Castro, Vargas de Tecalitlán, José Feliciano, El Consorcio, London Symphony Orchestra, Fernando De La Mora, Wendy Pedersen, and more.

Discography[link]

• Sur de America (1991)
• Alrededor del Mundo (1991)
• Barroco (1991)
• En tiempo de Amor (1993)
• Piano de America (1994)
• Greatest Hits (1995)
• Latino (1995)
• Personalidad (1996)
• Grandes Exitos (1996)
• 20 de Coleccion (1996)
• Solo (1997)
• Piano De America 2 (1998)
• Desde México: El Piano De América (1998)
• Serie 2000 (2000)
• De Mis Manos (2000)
• Brasileirinho (2000)
• Di Blasio-Gardel Tango (2002)
• Bohemia Vol.1 (with José José, Marco Antonio Munis and Armando Manzanero)
• Bohemia Vol.2 (with José José, Marco Antonio Munis and Armando Manzanero)
• Di Blasio El Piano De America... Y Amigos (2003)
• Clave De Amor (with José Luis Rodríguez "el Puma" (2003))
• La Historia Del Piano de America...Los Exitos (2006)
• Christmas(2006)
• Primavera (2008)
• TBA (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Raul Di Blasio fan page on facebook

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

"Can I Get a Witness" is a 1963 hit song by Marvin Gaye on the Tamla (Motown) label. Written and produced by Motown songwriting and producing team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song was built among gospel-styled music and heralded Gaye's beginnings in the church with a rhythm and blues/rock and roll setting. The song featured Gaye on piano, playing a boogie pattern, The Funk Brothers, and members of The Supremes in the background accompanying Gaye. The song became a hit in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom, and British musicians Lulu, Dusty Springfield, The Rolling Stones, Sam Brown and Steampacket (which featured a very young Rod Stewart) recorded cover versions of the song. Gaye's version peaked at #22 on the Hot 100 chart and its title soon became a catchphrase. Lee Michaels' 1971 version reached #39 on the Hot 100; both his and Gaye's versions peaked during Christmas week.

In popular culture[link]

• Gaye's recording is featured in the 1999 biographical film The Hurricane.

Personnel[link]

• Lead vocals by Marvin Gaye
• Background vocals by The Supremes: Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Mary Wilson
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

For Real was an American R&B and soul quartet, that formed in 1993.^[1] In the latter part of that decade they were nominated for a Grammy, Billboard Music Award, and Soul Train Music Award.

Biography[link]

For Real secured their recording contract by accident. "We were picking up our manager from the airport. So we decided to greet him with an acappella song. Someone from A&M Records just happened to be in the airport and heard them perform. Not long after, they were signed," said Latanyia Baldwin.^[2]

The band released their debut album, It's a Natural Thang, with production from Brian McKnight on A&M Records in 1994, and it became a critical success, including a rare four stars from Rolling Stone magazine.^[3] Their first single, "You Don't Wanna Miss" hit #28 on the Billboard chart, courtesy of a danceable new jack swing remix by Steve "Silk" Hurley, which was featured in the song's video. A second single, "Easy to Love", peaked at #65 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album scored another chart hit with the a cappella love song, "You Don't Know Nothin'", which was written and produced by Mervyn Warren, and which peaked at #27. The song peaked at #54 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1995.^[4] The album sold over one million copies worldwide, and peaked at #80 on the Billboard 200.

In 1995, the band appeared in Italian Vogue, modeling men's suits. They toured alongside Stevie Wonder,^[5] and lent their voices to the Martin Scorsese film project Grace of My Heart. The foursome also forayed into acting with appearances in the film Shake, Rattle and Rock! starring Renée Zellweger and Howie Mandel^[6] on Showtime.

They also hit the US Top 20 with the single "Freedom (Theme from Panther)" featuring Aaliyah, TLC, En Vogue, BlackGirl, SWV, and Vanessa Williams from the film Panther. They also recorded a duet with Stevie Wonder called "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", which appeared on the Marvin Gaye tribute album, Inner City Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye.^[7] For Real also recorded songs for the soundtracks of the films Waiting to Exhale and Fled.

After a label change from A&M to Dallas Austin's Arista imprint Rowdy Records in 1996, For Real struck again with the Austin-produced, 60s-leaning single "Like I Do", from their second album Free. "Like I Do" hit #10 on the Billboard singles chart. The video also earned a Billboard nomination for Best R&B Clip; the album made the Top 100, and sold nearly 400,000 copies in the US. The album's next and last single was the Diane Warren-penned pop ballad "The Saddest Song I Ever Heard" which hit #65 on the Top 100 singles chart. The band performed "Saddest Song" on the TV series All That. Free included production from top R&B/pop producers like Babyface, Mario Winans, and Jon B..

The band also recorded three songs ("I Do", "Born to Love That Boy" and "Unwanted Number") and appeared in the critically acclaimed film Grace of My Heart. The film's soundstrack won a Satellite Award in 1997.^[9][10]

In January 1997, the band won an American Music Award for their work on the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, in Summer 1997, the group earned a Soul Train Award nomination for Album of the Year (By a Group, Band or Duo) for Free.

In 1999, Wendi Williams lent her voice to the Emmy-winning film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge with Halle Berry, in which Berry plays a singer but Williams is behind her singing voice.^[11]

In 2002, their song "Love Will Be Waiting at Home" appeared in the film Two Can Play That Game, which starred Vivica A. Fox and Morris Chestnut.

In 2009, CoryLavel began to work with Josina Elder on her new album.

Discography[link]

• It's a Natural Thang (1994)
• Free (1996)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• SingingFool.com Streaming music videos for "Like I Do" and "The Saddest Song I Ever Heard"
• Allmusic^{[dead link]} Discography, biographies, and pictures
• IUMA Group photos, lyrics, message board, audio streams, and biography
• Google Album info, photos, and lyrics