Vocation : Entertain/Music : Group/ Duo

Merrill_Moore_(musician)

Merrill Everett Moore (26 September 1923 – 14 June 2000) was an American swing and boogie-woogie pianist and bandleader whose style influenced rockabilly music during the 1950s.
He was born in Algona, Iowa, and learned piano as a child. By the age of 12 he was performing occasionally on a Des Moines radio station. After leaving school he joined the Chuck Hall Band, which played in local ballrooms, before serving in the US Navy during World War II. He then married, and moved with his wife to Tucson, Arizona and then San Diego, where he worked as a clothes salesman and performed in clubs, often with guitarist Arkie Geurin. He became a full-time musician in 1950, and formed his own band, the Saddle, Rock and Rhythm Boys, who played boogie-woogie and Western swing at the Buckaroo Club. He signed with Capitol Records in 1952 and recorded a string of singles, the most successful of which was a version of "The House of Blue Lights" in 1953. Ken Nelson of Capitol Records invited him to take part in a national tour, but Jimmy Kennedy, the owner of the Buckaroo Club, refused to allow Moore to break his contract to take part.According to Steve Huey of Allmusic, Moore's "unique style fused Western swing, boogie-woogie, and early R&B in a melting pot that many critics felt was a distinct influence on rockabilly, especially Jerry Lee Lewis." His music was later highly regarded by rockabilly fans, especially in Europe, although Moore himself said: "We didn't have the idea we were pioneering anything. We were just trying to make a living.... Rock and roll to me was a completely different sound. The rhythm section was incomplete, it was too hard, and it didn't swing...."
Moore continued to record for Capitol in the 1950s, but in 1955 walked out on his contract with Kennedy and moved to Los Angeles. There, he became a regular, along with Tennessee Ernie Ford, on Cliffie Stone's radio program Hometown Jamboree, and also worked as a session pianist for Capitol, appearing on records by Tommy Sands, Johnny Cash, Faron Young, Kay Starr and others. In 1962 he moved back to San Diego, and returned to playing hotels and clubs.He died from cancer in 2000, at the age of 76.

Lanny_Morgan

Lanny Morgan (born March 30, 1934 in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American jazz alto saxophonist chiefly active on the West Coast jazz scene.
Morgan was raised in Los Angeles. In the 1950s, he played with Charlie Barnet, Si Zentner, Terry Gibbs, and Bob Florence, then did a stint in the U.S. military, for which reason he had to turn down an offer to play in the orchestra of Stan Kenton. From 1960-65 he played in Maynard Ferguson's orchestra; after a few years in New York City he returned to Los Angeles in 1969, where he played frequently in the studios, was a member of Supersax, and played in the big bands of Bill Berry, Bob Florence, and Bill Holman.
Morgan also played on sessions for Nancy Sinatra.

James_Levy

James Levy is an American, New York-based singer, songwriter, and producer.
Levy co-wrote and produced Charles Bradley's posthumous 2019 release Lonely as You Are, which Rolling Stone magazine called a "devastating masterclass." Another Charles Bradley single, Lucifer, is scheduled for release in May 2019. Levy was formerly the lead singer for the band Reputante, whose debut EP Oceanside was released in November 2013 on Cult Records. The record was produced by Tim Wheeler of the band Ash. The album reached A music video for the song "Deep Set Eyes" premiered in December 2013 in The Huffington Post. In early 2013, Reputante toured the US with UK band The Maccabees. and prior to that toured with Ash.
Levy is also a former member of the band Lolawolf along with Zoë Kravitz, Jimmy Giannopoulos, and Raviv Ullman.In 2012, James put out a record under the band name James Levy and The Blood Red Rose, which features Allison Pierce of The Pierces. Their album, Pray To Be Free, was released by Heavenly Recordings (2012) and received critical acclaim, including being included in the list of the top 100 albums of 2012 by French publication Les Inrocks. The album, produced by Coldplay bass player Guy Berryman, received four star reviews in MOJO, Q and Uncut magazines and was praised by the BBC, The Independent and The Sunday Times of London. US music magazine Popdose and UK publication indieLondon included the record on their top ten lists for 2012.A single, Sneak into My Room, spent several weeks in rotation and on the playlist of BBC Radio 6 Music and was featured as Q Magazine's "Track of the Day." A music video for "Hung To Dry," directed by Steve Birnbaum, was named one of the top 50 indie music videos of 2012. The band made other music videos featuring Brooklyn singers Aerial East ("Give Me Happiness") and Turner Cody ("Positively East Broadway").
James Levy and The Blood Red Rose performed live in session on several national radio shows in the UK, including sessions on BBC Radio 2 with both Jo Whiley and Dermot O'Leary and a session on BBC 6 Music with Lauren Laverne. The performance with Dermot O'Leary featured a cover of the Oasis track "Don't Look Back in Anger."Earlier in his career, Levy was the lead singer of the band LEVY, which released two albums on UK independent label One Little Indian. The band's debut album, Rotten Love, was included in a list by NME of "The 100 Greatest Albums You've Never Heard." A video for the song "Rotten Love" was featured on NME.com.The title track of LEVY's second record, Glorious, was covered by The Pierces and released as a single on their 2011 Polydor UK gold-certified album You & I. It received top ten airplay in the UK and was A-listed on BBC National Radio. The single peaked at No. 176 on the UK Singles Charts.Levy has also released solo material under the names Promising Young Talent and YVEL; additionally, he released the album Blood Red Rose in 2008.

Andy_Simpkins

Andrew Simpkins (April 29, 1932 – June 2, 1999) was an American jazz bassist.
Born in Richmond, Indiana, he first became known as a member of the group The Three Sounds, with which he performed from 1956 to 1968. After that, until 1974, he was a member of pianist George Shearing's group, and from 1979 to 1989 toured with singer Sarah Vaughan. Throughout and after that time, during which he settled in Los Angeles, Simpkins became respected as a top-quality bassist and widely known as a solid and reliable studio musician. He performed with singers Carmen McRae and Anita O'Day, instrumentalists Gerald Wiggins, Monty Alexander, Buddy DeFranco, Don Menza, and Stéphane Grappelli, and many others. He recorded three albums as a leader.
He also played acoustic bass on the 1997 covers album In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy by artist Pat Boone.
Simpkins died of stomach cancer in Los Angeles.

Dick_Holler

Richard Louis Holler (born October 16, 1934) is an American songwriter, pianist, and performer, best known as the writer of the folk-pop standard "Abraham, Martin and John". The song has been recorded by numerous artists including Dion, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Kenny Rogers, Emmylou Harris, Andy Williams, Marvin Gaye, Whitney Houston, and Moms Mabley, among others.

Bill_Gaither_(gospel_singer)

William James Gaither (born March 28, 1936) is an American singer and songwriter of Southern gospel and contemporary Christian music. He has written numerous popular Christian songs with his wife Gloria; he is also known for performing as part of the Bill Gaither Trio and the Gaither Vocal Band. In the 1990s, his career gained a resurgence (as well as the careers of other southern gospel artists), as popularity grew for the Gaither Homecoming series. In 2023 he released a secular music album with the Gaither Vocal Band entitled “Love Songs”.

Karl_Wendling

Karl/Carl Wendling ([ventling]) (10 August 1875, Strasbourg – 27 March 1962, Stuttgart) was a German violinist and musical educator.
He studied in his hometown with Heinrich Schuster and Florián Zajíc, and later in Berlin with Carl Halir and Joseph Joachim. From 1902 on he was concertmaster at the Bayreuth Festival. In 1907 and 1908, he was concertmaster with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Karl Muck. He had his own string quartet, "The Wendling Quartet". From 1909 on, he was a teacher at the Royal Stuttgart Conservatory, where he became director in 1929.