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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Wonderful Soundtrack
Jazz - Released by Almrec Muzik Remastered on 3 jun. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Take My Music and Play
Jazz - Released by Almrec Muzik Remastered on 22 apr. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Great Masters
Jazz - Released by What a Wonderful Masterpieces Recordings World on 27 mei 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
This Music is Life (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by HCR Music on 29 apr. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Save the Last Song for Love (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by HCR Music on 10 jun. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Looking for the Gold Masterpieces (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Almrec Muzik Remastered on 13 mei 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
JAZZY CITY - Club Session by Billy Eckstine
Jazz - Released by Rare Jazz Recordings on 9 jun. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In Jazz We Trust
Jazz - Released by Rare Jazz Recordings on 6 jan. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
No Cover, No Minimum (Original Album Plus Bonus Tracks 1960)
Billy Eckstine, Bucky Maneri Orchestra
Jazz - Released by Vocal Classics on 1 jan. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart (The Hit Collection)
Jazz - Released by Last Christmas on 15 okt. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Billy Eckstine & Quincy Jones at Basin Street East
Jazz - Released by Pocket Watch Records on 20 feb. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Love Songs (Hq remastered)
Jazz - Released by Vintage Recordings on 17 mrt. 2022
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Once More With Feeling
Vocale muziek (wereldlijk en religieus) - Released by PnR on 1 jan. 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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On Savoy: Billy Eckstine
Jazz - Released by Crazy Warthog Media on 1 jan. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Members Club
Jazz - Released by Allstar Recordings on 24 jan. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Complete Savoy Recordings (HD Remastered)
Vocale jazz - Released by Reborn recordings on 22 feb. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brilliance
Jazz - Released by Crazy Warthog Media on 1 jan. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don't Worry 'Bout Me
Lounge - Released by Ancien Prodige on 27 dec. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Like Wow - Billy Eckstine
Jazz - Released by Crazy Warthog Media on 1 jan. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo