Billy Eckstine
Billy Eckstine's smooth baritone and distinctive vibrato broke down barriers throughout the 1940s, first as leader of the original bop big band, then as the first romantic Black male in popular music. An influence looming large in the cultural development of soul and R&B singers from Sam Cooke to Prince, Eckstine was able to play it straight on his pop hits "Prisoner of Love," "My Foolish Heart" and "I Apologize." Born in Pittsburgh but raised in Washington, D.C., Eckstine began singing at the age of seven and entered many amateur talent shows. He had also planned on a football career, though after breaking his collar bone, he made music his focus. After working his way west to Chicago during the late '30s, Eckstine was hired by Earl Hines to join his Grand Terrace Orchestra in 1939. Though white bands of the era featured males singing straight-ahead romantic ballads, Black bands were forced to stick to novelty or blues vocal numbers until the advent of Eckstine and Herb Jeffries (from Duke Ellington's Orchestra).
Though several of Eckstine's first hits with Hines were novelties like "Jelly, Jelly" and "The Jitney Man," he also recorded several straight-ahead songs, including the hit "Stormy Monday." By 1943, he gained a trio of stellar bandmates -- Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Sarah Vaughan. After forming his own big band that year, he hired all three and gradually recruited still more modernist figures and future stars: Wardell Gray, Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, Kenny Dorham, Fats Navarro, and Art Blakey, as well as arrangers Tadd Dameron and Gil Fuller. The Billy Eckstine Orchestra was the first bop big-band group, and its leader reflected bop innovations by stretching his vocal harmonics into his normal ballads. Despite the group's modernist slant, Eckstine hit the charts often during the mid-'40s, with Top Ten entries including "A Cottage for Sale" and "Prisoner of Love." On the group's frequent European and American tours, Eckstine also played trumpet, valve trombone, and guitar.
Though he was forced to give up the band in 1947 (Gillespie formed his own bop big band that same year), Eckstine made the transition to string-filled balladry with ease. He recorded more than a dozen hits during the late '40s, including "My Foolish Heart" and "I Apologize." He was also quite popular in Britain, hitting the Top Ten there twice during the '50s -- "No One But You" and "Gigi" -- as well as several duet entries with Sarah Vaughan. Eckstine returned to his jazz roots occasionally as well, recording with Vaughan, Count Basie, and Quincy Jones for separate LPs, and the 1960 live LP No Cover, No Minimum featured him taking a few trumpet solos as well. He recorded several albums for Mercury and Roulette during the early '60s (his son Ed was the president of Mercury), and he appeared on Motown for a few standards albums during the mid-'60s. After recording very sparingly during the '70s, Eckstine made his last recording (Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter) in 1986. He died of a heart attack in 1993.
© John Bush /TiVo
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A Fool in Love (Mono Version)
Jazz - Editado por BNF Collection el 1 ene. 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Billy Eckstine & Sarah Vaughan - The Selection
Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughan, Hal Mooney Orchestra
Jazz - Editado por Vintage Jukebox el 15 jun. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Basie/Eckstine Incorporated (Remastered)
Jazz - Editado por Avid Entertainment el 6 jul. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billy Eckstine Selected Favorites Volume 2
Jazz - Editado por Charly Records el 20 jun. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sing The Best Of The Irving Berlin Songbook (Remastered)
Jazz vocal - Editado por RevOla el 1 ene. 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Billy Eckstine & Quincy Jones at Basin Street East (Remastered)
Jazz - Editado por Avid Entertainment el 6 jul. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billy Eckstine - Gold Selection
Jazz - Editado por Vintage Jukebox el 10 jul. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Jazz Masters - Billy Eckstine
Jazz - Editado por Master Series el 25 feb. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine Sing the Best of Irving Berlin (Mono Version)
Jazz vocal - Editado por BNF Collection el 1 ene. 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Four Classic Albums Plus (Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine Sing the Best of Irving Berlin / Billy Eckstine & Quincy Jones at Basin Street East / Basie-Eckstine Incorporated / Once More with Feeling) [Remastered]
Jazz - Editado por Avid Entertainment el 29 jun. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Complete Jazz Series 1947
Jazz - Editado por Complete Jazz Series el 22 dic. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz Portraits: Billy Eckstine (Digitally Remastered)
Jazz vocal - Editado por Jazz Roots Records el 17 jul. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
All of My Life
Jazz - Editado por Jasmine Records el 17 ago. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gold Singer (Original Recordings Collection Remastered) (Remastered)
Jazz - Editado por Fine Elegant Records el 25 feb. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kiss Of Fire
Música vocal (profana y sacra) - Editado por Sepia el 30 jun. 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Complete Jazz Series 1944 - 1945
Jazz - Editado por Complete Jazz Series el 22 dic. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mr. B's Legendary Orchestra, Vol. 1
Jazz - Editado por Savoy el 11 nov. 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Giants Of Jazz
Jazz - Editado por Harlem Jazz Records el 31 oct. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Complete Fourties Recordings
Jazz - Editado por Jazz Moon el 15 mar. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Complete Jazz Series 1946 - 1947
Jazz - Editado por Complete Jazz Series el 22 dic. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo