An example of a charter (Magna Carta).

A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the recipient admits a limited (or inferior) status within the relationship, and it is within that sense that charters were historically granted, and that sense is retained in modern usage of the term. Also, charter can simply be a document giving royal permission to start a colony.

The word entered the English language from the Old French charte (ultimately from the Latin word for "paper"), but the concept is universal and transcends language. It has come to be synonymous with the document that lays out the granting of rights or privileges.

Colloquial usages[link]

The term is used for a special case (or as an exception) to an institutional charter. A charter school, for example, is one that has different rules, regulations, and statutes from a state school.

Charter is sometimes used as a synonym for 'tool' or 'lease', as in the 'charter' of a bus or boat by an organization, intended for a similar group destination.

A charter member of an organization is an original member; that is, one who became a member when the organization received its charter.

Different types of charters[link]

Anglo-Saxon Charters are documents from the early medieval period in Britain which typically make a grant of land or record a privilege. They are usually written on parchment, in Latin but often with sections in the vernacular, describing the bounds of estates, which often correspond closely to modern parish boundaries. The earliest surviving charters were drawn up in the 670s; the oldest surviving charters granted land to the Church, but from the 8th century surviving charters were increasingly used to grant land to lay people.

Charter colony[link]

The British Empire used three main types of colonies as it sought to expand its territory to distant parts of the earth. These three types were royal colonies, proprietary colonies, and corporate colonies. A charter colony by definition is a "colony…chartered to an individual, trading company, etc., by the British crown."^[1] Although charter colonies were not the most prevalent of the three types of colonies in the British Empire, they were by no means insignificant.

Congressional charter[link]

A congressional charter is a law passed by the United States Congress that states the mission, authority and activities of a group. Congress issued federal charters from 1791 until 1992 under Title 36 of the United States Code.

Municipal charter[link]

A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which they are located. Often, this event is marked by the award or declaration of a municipal charter.

Project charter[link]

In project management, a project charter or project definition (sometimes called the terms of reference) is a statement of the scope, objectives and participants in a project. It provides a preliminary delineation of roles and responsibilities, outlines the project objectives, identifies the main stakeholders, and defines the authority of the project manager. It serves as a reference of authority for the future of the project.

Royal charter[link]

In medieval Europe, royal charters were used to create cities (i.e., localities with recognised legal rights and privileges). The date that such a charter was granted is considered to be when a city was "founded", regardless of when the locality originally began to be settled.

At one time a royal charter was the only way in which an incorporated body could be formed, but other means (such as the registration process for limited companies) are generally now used instead.

See also[link]

• Articles of Incorporation
• Atlantic Charter
• chartered
• Charter school
• Earth Charter
• Freedom Charter
• Fueros (Spanish version)
• General incorporation law
• Magna Carta
• Medieval Bulgarian royal charters
• Papal Bull
• United Nations Charter

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up charter in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Charters

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Marvin Winans Jr is an American singer and producer from Detroit, Michigan.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Born to Marvin L. Winans, Sr., known as to be the leader of the famed gospel cross over group "The Winans", and songstress and gospel great, Vickie Winans, on December 28, 1979, Marvin began capturing the hearts of audiences at the early age of 5. Growing up, Marvin inherited musical prowess, and as a first-hand witness, he watched his family grow from small beginnings to international success. Marvin's half brother Mario is also in the music industry and made a big splash on the musical scene as a Bad Boy recording artist in 2004 with his hit single "I Don't Want to Know".

Musical career[link]

Marvin's first passion ironically, was not music. He first desired to follow in the footsteps of his childhood hero and basketball great, Isiah Thomas. However, his passion for music soon overtook any desires to play professional basketball. Marvin's desire to write songs and produce music grew strong as he watched his older brother, Mario, develop his production skills in the basement of their home. He also studied his father when he used the living room piano to write songs that later became world renowned. Inevitably, the writing bug also bit Marvin and at the age of 10 with his first attempt at songwriting, entitled, "People", he stumbled into the family business!

At the age of 16, Marvin took his love for music to another level, forming his first ever singing group, "One Way", with his cousin Michael Winans Jr. and friends, Karl Jackson and Lance Bennett. "One Way" performed their songs, "Never Leave Your Side" and "Stay with Me Lord", at their first ever-appearance on New Year's Eve, 1996, at Perfecting Church, in Detroit, MI, where Marvin's father is the pastor.

"One Way" would only be a stepping-stone, as Marvin and Michael would join their cousins Carvin Jr. and Juan to form the third generation of Winans professional recording artists, "Winans Phase 2". At the age of 18, Marvin along with his three cousins, Carvin, Michael and Juan signed a major recording deal with Myrrh/Epic Records. The group achieved tremendous success with their debut album entitled "We Got Next", capturing fans internationally! Marvin and the Grammy-nominated group, debuted at #1 on Gospel Billboard charts, sold over 250,000 records and performed in front of crowds as large as 50,000, including shows in the US and Europe (Germany, Holland, London, and Amsterdam). They also performed and were featured on several national television shows including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Donnie & Marie, and the Queen Latifah show. Known to their fans as "Phase 2", Marvin, Carvin, Juan and Mike joined their entire family for a spectacular Winans Family Tour in 2002, touring 40 US cities! What Marvin had accomplished thus far was only the beginning.

Marvin recently married to Tennessee State University graduate Monique Johnson and lives with his wife in Tampa, Florida.

Image of a Man[link]

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Discography[link]

References[link]

Marvin Lawrence Winans (born March 5, 1958)^[1] is an American gospel singer and member of the musical Winans family. He is also known for his recurring role in the hit show Tyler Perry's House of Payne.

Life and career[link]

Personal life[link]

Winans was born in Detroit, Michigan,^[2] the fourth of 10 children of Delores (née Ransom) and David Glenn Winans, Sr., who recorded together as "Mom and Pop Winans".^[1][3][4] His siblings David II, Carvin (his fraternal twin), Benjamin (BeBe), Daniel, Michael, Ronald, Priscilla (CeCe), Deborah (Debbie), Angelique (Angie) are also musically gifted and have careers in the music industry singing, writing and producing. Marvin met and married Vickie Bowman, to whom he was married for 16 years until their divorce in 1995. His sons, Marvin Jr. (Coconut), Josiah Winans, and stepson Mario (Skeeter) are also in the music business. Mario is a producer and R&B singer. Marvin Jr., once a member of Winans Phase 2, is now a solo artist and is also a producer, and Josiah Winans is Also a Producer featured on Marvin jr's first solo project.

Musical career[link]

Winans sang in the 1970s with his brothers Ronald, Carvin (his twin) and Michael (the group also included others) as The Testimonial Singers. Their first performance was at a high school talent show. In 1975 the group's name was changed to The Winans. Their musical careers spanned both the 1980s and 1990s. The Winans, who were discovered by Andrae Crouch, released their first album under the new group's name, entitled Introducing The Winans, in 1981. The Winans were greatly influenced by the Queen of Gospel Albertina Walker and her group The Caravans. An organist and pianist, Marvin also wrote songs, and produced for The Winans records, for solo projects from family members, and on other gospel releases. For his vocals on the 1985 song "Bring Back the Days of Yea and Nay", Winans was awarded a Grammy for Best Male Soul Gospel Performance. He and several of his siblings and family members sang the Winans hit "Tomorrow" at Whitney Houston's funeral. ^[5]

In 2007, Winans released his first solo recording, Alone, But Not Alone.

Pastor, Perfecting Church (Detroit)[link]

Winans, a pastor, founded The Perfecting Church in Detroit, Michigan in the early 1990s, and released an album with the church's choir in 1992 entitled Introducing Perfected Praise. A second album, Friends, appeared in 2001. His 2007 release, Alone but Not Alone, was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album. On Saturday, February 18, 2012, at noon (EST), Winans preached the eulogy at Whitney Houston's funeral, at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey.

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Marvin Winans at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2011)

James Last in 2006

James Last (also known as "Hansi") (born Hans Last, 17 April 1929, Bremen, Germany) is a German composer and big band leader. His "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom. His composition, "Happy Heart", became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark. According to the British Hit Singles & Albums book, he has reportedly sold in excess of seventy million albums worldwide.^[1]

Early life[link]

Last's father was an official at the public works department of the city of Bremen and he grew up in the suburb of Sebaldsbrück. He learned to play the piano from the age of 12, then switched to double bass as a teenager. His home city was heavily bombed in World War II and he ran messages to air defence command posts during raids. At 14 he was entered in the Bückeburg Military Music School of the German Wehrmacht.^[2]

After the fall of the Nazis, he joined Hans-Gunther Österreich's Radio Bremen Dance Orchestra in 1946. In 1948, he became the leader of the Last-Becker Ensemble, which performed for seven years. During that time, he was voted as the best bassist in the country by a German jazz poll for three consecutive years, from 1950–1952. After the Last-Becker Ensemble disbanded, he became the in-house arranger for Polydor Records, as well as for a number of European radio stations. For the next decade, he helped arrange hits for artists like Helmut Zacharias, Freddy Quinn, Lolita, Alfred Hause and Caterina Valente.

Work[link]

Last first released albums in the U.S. under the titles The American Patrol on Warner Brothers around 1964. He also released a series of nine albums in a series called Classics Up To Date vols. 1–9 which served up arrangements of classical melodies with strings, rhythm and wordless chorus from the mid 1960s through the early 1970s. Last released an album, Non-Stop Dancing, in 1965, a recording of brief renditions of popular songs, all tied together by an insistent dance beat and crowd noises. It was a hit and helped make him a major European star. Over the next four decades, Last released over 190 records, including several more volumes of Non-Stop Dancing. On these records, he varies his formula by adding different songs from different countries and genres, as well as guest performers like Richard Clayderman and Astrud Gilberto. He also had his own successful television series in the 1970s with guests ABBA and Lynsey de Paul.

Though his concerts and albums are consistently successful, especially in the UK, where he had 52 hit albums between 1967 and 1986, which made him second only to Elvis Presley in charting records,^{[citation needed]} he has had relatively few hit singles. In the UK, his only chart singles were "The Seduction", the theme from American Gigolo (1980) composed by Giorgio Moroder, and "Biscaya" from the album Biscaya. In the US, where "The Seduction" became a Top 40 hit, peaking at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 22 on the Adult Contemporary chart in May 1980, Last was somewhat more successful on the singles charts. In 2003, his song "The Lonely Shepherd" which features the pan flute of Gheorghe Zamfir appeared on the soundtrack of the Quentin Tarantino movie Kill Bill: Vol. 1.^[3]

He has won numerous popular and professional awards, including Billboard magazine's Star of the Year trophy in 1976, and has been honoured for lifetime achievement with the German ECHO prize in 1994. His song "Music from Across the Way" (recorded by Andy Williams in 1972) is a melody with a classical feeling and was a worldwide hit; it is the only other Last single apart from "The Seduction" to reach the U.S. Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 84 (and No. 18 on the Adult Contemporary chart) in late 1971. (His only other U.S. chart single was a double-sided entry featuring remakes of The Village Stompers' "Washington Square" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary", which reached No. 22 on the Adult Contemporary chart in early 1971.)

Last has a large fan base in Europe and elsewhere. His trademark is big band arrangements of pop music hits; his series of party albums is equally well known. Over the course of his career, he has sold well over 100 million albums.^[4] In the United States, Last's music was a staple of the mainly instrumental-based Beautiful Music radio format for years.

European concert dates for April 2011 have been advertised.^[5]

Personal life[link]

Last divides his time between Florida and Germany. He gives much credit to his wife and son, who help with his music.

Discography[link]

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See also[link]

• James Last Orchestra
• List of best-selling music artists

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: James Last

• Official website

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. (July 2011)

Manfred Moch was a German trumpet player. He made a name for himself in the 1960s as the featured solo trumpet player for the Bert Kaempfert orchestra, contributing memorable and melodic solos to many of Kaempfert’s hits; such songs included “Bye Bye Blues”, “Strangers In The Night”, “L-O-V-E” and “Sweet Maria”. His association with Kaempfert ended in 1968 over a pay dispute, but by the late 1970s he was again playing sessions and concerts with Kaempfert, although not as a soloist. Moch was also a long-time member of the James Last Orchestra during the 1960s and 1970s, and continued to play for Last as a session musician after leaving the touring band. In addition, Moch was a member of the NDR (Nordeutscher Rundfunk, or North German Radio) Big Band from the 1960s until the 1990s. He was also active as a session player in Hamburg, playing for many other popular German recording artists. During the late 1960s, Moch recorded some trumpet duet albums with fellow Last/Kaempfert bandmate Heinz Habermann, which were released on the Decca label under the name The Tattoos. Moch died on May 28, 2011.

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