Charles

Charles is a masculine given name from the French form Charles of a Germanic name Karl. The original Anglo-Saxon was Ċearl or Ċeorl, as the name of king Cearl of Mercia, that disappeared after the Norman conquest of England.

The corresponding Old Norse form is Karl, the German form is also Karl. The name was notably borne by Charlemagne (Charles the Great), and was at the time Latinized as Karolus (as in Vita Karoli Magni), later also as Carolus.

Etymology

The name's etymology is a Common Germanic noun *karlaz meaning "free man", which survives in English as churl (< Old English ċeorl), which developed its deprecating sense in the Middle English period.

In the form Charles, the initial spelling ch- corresponds to the palatalization of the Latin group ca- to [tʃa] in Central Old French (Francien) and the final -s to the former subjective case (cas sujet) of masculine names in Old French like in Giles or James (< Latin -us, see Spanish/ Portuguese Carlos).

According to Julius Pokorny, the historical linguist and Indo-Europeanist, the root meaning of Karl is "old man", from Indo-European *ĝer-, where the ĝ is a palatal consonant, meaning "to rub; to be old; grain." An old man has been worn away and is now grey with age.

Claude Bolling

Claude Bolling (born 10 April 1930), is a French jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and occasional actor.

He was born in Cannes, studied at the Nice Conservatory, then in Paris. A child prodigy, by age 14 he was playing jazz piano professionally, with Lionel Hampton, Roy Eldridge, and Kenny Clarke. Bolling's books on jazz technique show that he did not delve far beyond bebop into much avant garde jazz. He was a major part of the traditional jazz revival in the late 1960s, and he became friends with Oscar Peterson.

He has written music for over one hundred films, including a 1957 documentary about the Cannes Film Festival, and films such as The Hands of Orlac (1960), World in My Pocket (1961), Borsalino (1970), To Catch a Spy (1971), Le Magnifique (1973), Flic Story (1975), The Passengers (1977), Silver Bears (1978), California Suite (1978), The Awakening (1980), Willie & Phil (1980), Three Men to Kill (1980), The Bay Boy (1984), Try This One for Size (1989) and Chance or Coincidence (1998).

Eric Bolling

Eric Thomas Bolling (born March 2, 1963) is a conservative American television personality who specializes in financial news and political commentary. Bolling is the co-host of Fox News Channel's early evening talk show The Five. He has occupied numerous roles as a commentator on financial issues for television, most notably for Fox News. Bolling was described as "relentlessly upbeat", "hard-charging", and "cheerful" in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bolling took over as host of the Fox Business Channel news program Cashin' In, replacing fellow FBC anchor Cheryl Casone, who hosted the program from September 2009 until January 2013.

Early life

Bolling was born in Chicago and graduated grade school from Queen of All Saints Basilica followed by high school at Loyola Academy. In 1984, he graduated from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida with a BA degree in economics, and was awarded a fellowship to Duke University's School of Public Policy. He was drafted in the 22nd round of the 1984 Major League Baseball Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates and was assigned to their affiliate in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League. His baseball career was cut short by a torn rotator cuff injury.

Oscar Peterson

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, CC, CQ, OOnt (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, but simply "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won eight Grammy Awards, and received numerous other awards and honours. He is considered to have been one of the greatest jazz pianists, and played thousands of concerts worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years.

Biography

Peterson was born to immigrants from the West Indies; his father worked as a porter for Canadian Pacific Railway. Peterson grew up in the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy in Montreal, Quebec. It was in this predominantly black neighbourhood that he found himself surrounded by the jazz culture that flourished in the early 20th century. At the age of five, Peterson began honing his skills with the trumpet and piano. However, a bout of tuberculosis when he was seven prevented him from playing the trumpet again, and so he directed all his attention to the piano. His father, Daniel Peterson, an amateur trumpeter and pianist, was one of his first music teachers, and his sister Daisy taught young Oscar classical piano. Young Oscar was persistent at practicing scales and classical études daily, and thanks to such arduous practice he developed his virtuosity.

Ray Charles

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Raymond Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), professionally known as Ray Charles, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He was sometimes referred to as "The Genius", and was also nicknamed "The High Priest of Soul".

He pioneered the genre of soul music during the 1950s by combining rhythm and blues, Gospel, and blues styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records. He also contributed to the racial integration of country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his two Modern Sounds albums. While he was with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be granted artistic control by a mainstream record company.

Charles was blind from the age of seven. Charles cited Nat King Cole as a primary influence, but his music was also influenced by jazz, blues, rhythm and blues, and country artists of the day, including Art Tatum, Louis Jordan, Charles Brown, and Louis Armstrong. Charles' playing reflected influences from country blues, barrelhouse, and stride piano styles. He had strong ties to Quincy Jones, who often cared for him and showed him the ropes of the "music club industry."