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.
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ECKSTINE, Billy: Yours To Command (1950-1952)
Bebop - Lançado por Naxos em 28/07/2003
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Essential Masters
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Lançado por Burning Fire em 23/06/2009
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The Very Best of
Jazz - Lançado por Classic Music International em 19/04/2010
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American Stars On Jazz - Count Basie
Count Basie, Billy Eckstine, Joe Williams
Jazz - Lançado por Music Manager em 15/10/2020
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Song Stylist
Jazz - Lançado por Chameleon Archive em 19/04/2023
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My Foolish Heart
Pop - Lançado por Black Sheep Music em 16/08/2013
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Love Songs By Rodgers And Hammerstein (10 Inch Album of 1952)
Billy Eckstine, Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra
Jazz - Lançado por American Songbook Classics em 05/08/2022
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Prisoner of Love (Remastered)
Vocal Jazz - Lançado por New World em 09/07/2020
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A Room with a View (1958-1959)
Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughan, Hal Mooney Orchestra
Jazz - Lançado por ISIS em 04/10/2021
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Jazz Collection (Original Recordings)
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Lançado por Jazz Dog Records em 13/03/2020
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Les idoles américaines du jazz : Billy Eckstine, Vol. 1
Jazz - Lançado por Mpm em 16/02/2020
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Cool Mr. B
Jazz - Lançado por Black Sheep Music em 11/09/2013
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Nostalgic Memories-The Very Best of Billy Eckstine-Vol. 5
Jazz - Lançado por RP-DSP em 28/09/2011
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Feliz Navidad y próspero Año Nuevo de Billy Eckstine
Jazz - Lançado por Amamos la navidad em 30/10/2023
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The Love Songs Of Mr "B"
Jazz - Lançado por Blue Pie Records USA em 01/01/1955
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Les idoles américaines du jazz : Billy Eckstine, Vol. 3
Jazz - Lançado por Mpm em 01/03/2020
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What Kind Of Fool Am I? (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, July 22, 1962)
Pop - Lançado por SOFA - AV Catalog DD em 01/01/2021
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No Cover, No Minimum (Live)
Jazz - Lançado por Music Manager em 11/06/2020
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Kiss of Fire
Pop - Lançado por Black Sheep Music em 13/08/2013
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Jazz Legends Collection
Jazz - Lançado por Bubble Jazz Records em 12/12/2016
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