Billy Eckstine
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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA (8 July 1914 – 8 March 1993)
Billy Eckstine (8 July 1914 – 8 March 1993), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA as William Clarence Eckstein. He changed the spelling to Eckstine after a club owner said the original spelling was “too Jewish”.
Eckstine was an American jazz singer and bandleader who also played trumpet, valve trombone, and guitar. He also performed briefly as Billy X. Stine. His nickname was Mr. B. Although best known as a singer, his openness to new music made him a strong influence on modern jazz, particularly bebop, as he gave employment to many of the musicians who founded the style.
After singing with the Earl Hines band from 1939 to 1943 he led his own band from 1944 to 1947. The band featured at various times a large number of rising jazz stars, including:
Saxophones: Gene Ammons, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, Lucky Thompson, Charlie Parker, Wardell Gray, Budd Johnson, Leo Parker
Trumpets: Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Kenny Dorham, Fats Navarro
Drums: Art Blakey
Singers: Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan
Eckstine later formed an octet, then went solo, becoming a popular ballad singer while remaining an important figure in jazz. His huge, distinctive baritone made him one of the first African American singers to have mainstream success. He was the composer of the blues classic “Jelly, Jelly” and also recorded the R&B top hit “Stormy Monday Blues” in 1942 (not to be confused with T-Bone Walker’s 1947 “Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad)”).
Eckstine was an American jazz singer and bandleader who also played trumpet, valve trombone, and guitar. He also performed briefly as Billy X. Stine. His nickname was Mr. B. Although best known as a singer, his openness to new music made him a strong influence on modern jazz, particularly bebop, as he gave employment to many of the musicians who founded the style.
After singing with the Earl Hines band from 1939 to 1943 he led his own band from 1944 to 1947. The band featured at various times a large number of rising jazz stars, including:
Saxophones: Gene Ammons, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, Lucky Thompson, Charlie Parker, Wardell Gray, Budd Johnson, Leo Parker
Trumpets: Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Kenny Dorham, Fats Navarro
Drums: Art Blakey
Singers: Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan
Eckstine later formed an octet, then went solo, becoming a popular ballad singer while remaining an important figure in jazz. His huge, distinctive baritone made him one of the first African American singers to have mainstream success. He was the composer of the blues classic “Jelly, Jelly” and also recorded the R&B top hit “Stormy Monday Blues” in 1942 (not to be confused with T-Bone Walker’s 1947 “Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just As Bad)”).
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Jukebox Hits 1943-1953
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Kiss Of Fire
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Verve Jazz Masters 22
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Imagination
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Shoutbox
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MrStyle wrote:
Mr. B was just as smooth as Frank Sinatra or Lou Rawls. He just had the singing chops! Gave a lot of great musicians their start. Extremely underrated artist.
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Blottoo wrote:
Billy filled a place in the market that was almost impossible to achieve. A great professional and entertainer. I am sure a lot of the pundants of singers were jealous of his natural ability as well as his trained professialism.
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johntardsbaby66 wrote:
Dexter Gordon, Sonny Stitt, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Art Blakeley, and Sarah Vaughn? I wish I'd seen that band.
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pone2none wrote:
super cool !!!
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twmia wrote:
Yes great voice, wonderful phrasing and i think really underrated. As i think nearly unknown outside of US. I got a wonderful record from 1974 "If she walked into my life". So sad it can not be played here in lastfm. I want a recording tool for records for lastfm. :-)
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amiracle87 wrote:
His voice is as heavenly as Sarah Vaughan's... Anyone else with me on that??
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mrjavajive wrote:
mr. b. isnt he he greatest
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NIKSON0007 wrote:
love this
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rebel_121 wrote:
strong wonderful voice... I like it
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lukesequeira wrote:
Awesome!
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Jolagawlikowska wrote:
He is singing soft and very romantic.
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EngelClaire wrote:
Ich habe eine neue Lieblingsstimme!
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cariade wrote:
husky voice great
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Retro_Saiyan wrote:
I like his voice, very romantic.
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jason_grote, TheMackD, cstackmcgraw and 13 other people added Billy Eckstine to their libraries. Saturday afternoon
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A deleted user tagged Billy Eckstine with vocal jazz, blues, swing and one other tag. last month
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LcdCyn tagged Billy Eckstine with ‘my jazz’. December 2011
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Nightwalker22 tagged Billy Eckstine with ‘jazz’. November 2011
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VoitureOrange tagged Billy Eckstine with vocal jazz, blues, swing and one other tag. November 2011
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Swing
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Jazz Singers
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Jazz Vocals
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