Category: Performers

Lola Flores Coloring Page – Celebrate Hispanic Heritage through Music and Portraits

By , October 16, 2020 12:35 am

lola-flores-thumbIn celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Recorded Sound Archives is exploring music through portraits.  This week discover and learn more about Spanish singer, actress, dancer and business woman Lola Flores in the video below.

If you enjoyed learning about Lola Flores you can listen to one of her recordings in the Recorded Sound Archives: https://rsa.fau.edu/artist/14933

Please feel free to download a coloring page we created of Lola Flores that you can color and hang up in celebration of Hispanic heritage month and we hoped you enjoyed learning a little bit about these Hispanic musicians.

DOWNLOAD – Lola Flores coloring page

To discover more Hispanic/Latin musicians visit : https://rsa.fau.edu/featured-collections/spanish-latin-american-recordings

And follow us on social media as we explore music history through Halloween & LGBTQ history this month.

RSA Staff’s Favorite Eddy Duchin Songs!

By , August 17, 2020 8:04 pm

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Here at the Recorded Sound Archives, we listen to A LOT of music, while digitizing and scanning recordings for research.

With the library being closed, we’ve had to get a little creative in how our department works since we’re so dependent on the physical recordings. So we’ve been working hard behind the scenes doing quality control on recordings and meta data since we haven’t been recording as much these days.

This week, we wanted to start by sharing and highlighting some RSA Staff’s Favorite Eddy Duchin Songs!

Check out the list below and let us know some of your favorites.

RSA Staff’s Favorite Eddy Duchin Songs!

1. To Be Or Not To Be – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/11011

2. It’s Great to Be in Love Again – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/14376

3. Love Walked In – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/12504

4. Summertime – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/12506

5. I’ve Got Something in My Eye – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/11029

6. Cheek to Cheek – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/11017

7. Lover come back to me – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/12497

8. Did you ever see a dream walking? – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/11012

9. I Guess I’ll Have to Change My Plans – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/12503

10. It’s De-Lovely – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/11030

11. Summertime – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/12506

12. A Rendezvous with a Dream. – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/10148

13. Sometimes – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/12500

14. S’ Wonderful. – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/12505

15. So you’re the One. – https://rsa.fau.edu/album/12496

Celebrating Black Blues Artists for Black History Month!

By , February 7, 2020 12:46 pm

2020-February-celebrating-black-blues-musiciansIn celebration of Black History Month, the Recorded Sound Archives has curated a collection of Black Blues Artists some of which are currently on display on the 1st floor of the FAU Wimberly Library for the month of February.

Click to discover 14 Blues Artists such as the voices of Huddie Leadbelly, Ethel Waters, Bessie Smith and more in this collection!

In celebration, FAU Libraries and the Recorded Sound Archives have put together a Spotify playlist Celebrating Black Blues Artists coinciding with the exhibit currently on display. Click to listen to 12 recordings and discover who these Blues Artists influenced from Nirvana to The Weavers and more down below. Enjoy!

 

Discover New Artists during Black History Month

By , February 22, 2019 7:45 pm

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In celebration of Black History Month, the Recorded Sound Archives has curated a collection of African-American artists. Discover the voices of Huddie Leadbelly, Billie Holiday, Ethel Waters, and Fats Waller.

Follow us on Facebook and learn some fun facts all this month about these artists and they’re contributions to music.

 

Ethel Waters – First African American to be Nominated for an Emmy in 1962

By , February 2, 2018 6:24 pm

Did you know that Ethel Waters was the first African American to be nominated for an Emmy Award? In 1962, the legendary jazz and blues singer received the nomination for her performance in a “Route 66” episode, “Good Night, Sweet Blues.”

Ethel Waters in "Route 66", episode “Good Night, Sweet Blues.”

Ethel Waters in “Route 66”, episode “Good Night, Sweet Blues.”

In the episode, “Good Night, Swee Blues”, Ethel Waters plays Jenny Henderson, a retired singer in failing health who commissions Tod and Buzz to find and bring her the members of the Memphis Naturals, the band she performed and recorded with thirty years earlier.

Waters’ nomination for this role paved the way for women like Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson, Alfre Woodard, Halle Berry, Kerry Washington, Regina King, and Viola Davis, now the first Black woman to win the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Beyond acting, Waters’ also performed jazz, big band, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues.

Her best-known recordings include Dinah,”Stormy Weather,” “Taking a Chance on Love,” “Heat Wave,” “Supper Time,” Am I Blue?and “Cabin in the Sky,” as well as her version of the spiritual “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.”

Here at the Recorded Sound Archives we are celebrating Black History month through music by highlighting the voices of the past and their accomplishments.

To listen to recordings by Ethel Waters, click here.

 

 

 

 

Pianist Irving Fields Mixed Bagels and Bongos

By , August 2, 2017 9:52 am

Irving Fields-playing piano

Two weeks after his 101th birthday, pianist and composer Irving Fields passed away August 20, 2016 in Manhattan. He was perhaps the longest working musician in the world. At the age of hundred, he used to play the piano several nights a week at Nino’s Tuscany restaurant in Manhattan. Irving Fields became known by fusing Jewish tunes, jazz, and popular songs with Latin music.

Born as Isidore Schwartz in 1915 New York City to Jewish immigrants, Irving Fields started working as a pianist in the thirties during the years of the Great Depression. In this time of high unemployment, he started playing piano in resort hotels in the Catskills Mountains, and then he found work as a pianist on cruise ships sailing from New York to Havana, capital city of Cuba. In Havana, Irving Fields listened to the great Cuban orchestras, and developed his love for Latin music. Attracted by pictures from palm trees and beaches in travel magazines, Irving decided to settle in Miami Beach and performed in hotels playing dinner music, and did sessions with local orchestras.

After joining the army, he began the Irving Fields Trio, with a bass and a drummer, and started composing his own songs. In 1947, his song Miami Beach Rhumba became a big success by versions of Kay Kyser, Freddy Martin, Carmen Miranda, and even by the popular band leader Xavier Cugat. During the Latin craze trend in the 40s, Irving Fields was at the right time and place, and soon Miami Beach Rhumba was followed by the number one hit song Managua, Nicaragua (1947) recorded by big band leader Guy Lombardo, and ten years later by Chantez-Chantez (1957) by singer Dinah Shore.

Bagels and Bongos - Irving Fields TrioIn 1959, the Irving Fields Trio recorded the album Bagels and Bongos blending popular Jewish tunes with Latin rhythms such as Bei Mir Bist Du Schön as a mambo, Havannah Negila a paso doble, and I Love You Much Too Much a rhumba. The album became a big hit all over the world, and was followed by the albums More Bagels and Bongos (1960), Pizzas and Bongos (Italian traditionals), Champagne and Bongos (with French standards), and Bikinis and Bongos (with Hawaiian music). Every song was mixed with a Latin beat, which turned out to be a story of success.

After the success with his trio in the sixties, Irving Fields went back working as a solo pianist on cruise ships again, where he sailed the whole world, and finally settled as a music entertainer in restaurants, from 2004 six nights a week in Nino’s Tuscany, Manhattan. This would become the place, where he started his second career.

In the last decade, several films appeared about Fields playing piano on YouTube. These films form a good impression of his talent, wisdom, and humor. Although Irving Fields was not a user of a computer or the Internet, he did compose the YouTube theme song.

 

Regarding my research about the influence of Jewish tunes in American popular song, I contacted Irving Fields, and then I received several handwritten letters from him. At my birthday March 2010, I met Irving Fields and his lovely wife Ruth in person in Nino’s Tuscany restaurant, where he entertained the guests with his music. From my letters, he knew that I should visit him this special evening. To my surprise, he welcomed me with a newly composed personal anniversary song. When listening to his music and talking to him, I knew that I was close to one of the last persons, already in his nineties, who could tell me first-hand about the history of popular music in the Tin Pan Alley period before the second World War.

 

Irving Fields and Niels Falch at Nino's

Irving Fields and Niels Falch at Nino’s

Of course, I also asked him about his secret for longevity, and he replied with more than ten rules. The first three rules for longevity are; (1) Have a sense of humor (you’ll never get ulcers), (2) Think of these three magic letters before you make a decision: L.T.D. Look, Think and Do, and (3) Be the first to say “hello” with a smile on your face and a friendly glow. Following these rules during his life, Irving Fields became ultimately 101 years young.

Even U.S. President Donald J. Trump admired Irving Fields, and shared one of his secrets for longevity: “Irving has said that work is a blessing, especially when you like your work. He loves his work, and that love is evident in his music. Irving is a great pro.”

Irving Fields will be remembered as the pianist who blended bagels and bongos, although he never had a way to play a bagel…

You can listen to over 30 recordings by Irving Fields on the Recorded Sound Archives website by clicking here.

 

RSA Guest Blogger, Niels Falch, is a PhD candidate at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and is currently writing a dissertation on the influence of Jewish music in American popular songs.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

Highlighting the Voice of Cantor Zvee Aroni

By , July 25, 2017 1:31 pm

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There was a “joke” in the cantorial world that “If you can’t get Koussevitzky, get Aroni!”  Personally, I think Aroni (my dad) had a better voice.

His voice instructor and many others told him that he could have been, or should be an opera singer, but he loved being a cantor too much.

His voice didn’t age noticeably from his first recordings, specifically The Grape Song recorded in 1950, to his last recording Kohanecha Yilb’shu Tzedek recorded in 1990.

Both recordings can be heard on the RSA website, along with 34 other recordings by Cantor Zvee Aroni, just one of over 260 cantorial voices to choose from in the Cantorial Voices Collection.

Recently Added to Research Station (Spring 2017)

By , May 11, 2017 3:23 pm

recentlyaddedmusic Did you know the Recorded Sound Archives at FAU Libraries has over 49,000 albums along with over 150,000 songs in its databases, which is growing everyday with the help of volunteers? With so many recordings to choose from, we have given Research Station users the ability to request items be digitized.

Below you’ll find a list of recordings that were recently added to the Research Station this Spring Semester from requests made by Research Station Users.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

Recently Added Music

Simcha L’artzecha by Dov Levine & Sherwood Goffin

The Fifth Chasidic Song Festival 1973 by Various Artists

Chabad – Songs of the Lubovitcher Chassidim volume 2 by Various Artists

Hold On Just a Little Bit Longer by Mordechai Ben David

613 Torah Avenue – Songs for Chumash B’reishis by Elie Goldberg

18 Years, Due Re’im by Various Artists

The Reim by Various Artists

Toronto Pirchei Choir by Various Artists

Shomoh Vatismach Zion by Gershon Sirota

Sh’ma Yisroel by David Kusevitsky

Concerto in E Minor – Finale by Jascha Heifetz

Autopsy on Schubert by Larry Wagner and his Rhythmasters

Get Out Those Old Records by Guy Lombardo

One Night Stand with Ziggy Elman – Hollywood Palladium August 1948 by Ziggy Elman

Echo’s of Cantorial Concert in Honour of Cantor Shmudel Vigoda by Ben-Zion Miller

Kalanit Israeli Folk Dances by Josef Milo and David Edery

Na’ Arah, Folk Dances of Israel by Shlomo Shai

Kibbutz Festival by Various Artists

Songs of David and Cantorial Prayers by Ray Roberts

Chasidance by Shmuel Goldman and Yaron Gershovsky

The Flames – Chasidic Pop Songs by Various Artists

Achdus by Various Artists

Shim Sholom by Shloimele Rothstein

Tutzi Mutzi by Aaron Lebedeff

Or Chodosh by Yossi Toiv

Samuel Sterner Choir by Samuel Sterner Concert Choir

The Songs of Rabbi Shalom Mirkin by Various Artists

Israeli Chassidic Song Festival 1982 – No. 14 by Various Artists

Mordechai Ben David Sings [V’kol Maaminim] And All Believe by Mordechai Ben David

 

 

See a recording that hasn’t been digitized?

As a research station user you can request it using the Music on Demand forms on the website.

Please note, due to copyright some of these recordings may only play for 45 second snippet to give the user a taste of what this music sounded like back in the day, if you are interested in full access considering applying for Research Station Access. Access to Research Station is limited to educators, students and serious researchers.

Celebrate High Holy Days with Music from the RSA!

By , September 30, 2016 3:24 pm

High Holy Days Collection Looking for music to celebrate the High Holy Days this year? Look no further, the Recorded Sound Archives has a collection of over 40 recordings for you to choose from and share and enjoy with your family.

Included in this collection is a mixture of cantors, and other musicians such as Leibele Waldman, Gershon Sirota , Moishe Oysher, Shimon and Ilana Gewirtz, Ramon Tasat and Cindy Paley.

 

Click here to view this collection.

Click here to view past blog posts on the High Holy Days.

3 Interesting Facts about Sergei Rachmaninoff

By , June 13, 2016 8:15 am

Sergei Rachmaninoff Playing PianoWhile digitizing recordings by Sergei Rachmaninoff at the Recorded Sound Archives, we found some interesting facts about Rachmaninoff that you may not of known. Such as did you know….

1. Rachmaninoff was twice offered the position of conductor at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He refused both times.

2. Aside from being a magnificent composer, Rachmaninoff was also a man of strong moral character. In 1912, Rachmaninoff resigned from his position as vice-president of the Russian Musical Society in protest to a musician being dismissed from his duties because he was Jewish.

3. Rachmaninoff’s last piano recital included Chopin’s Sonata no. 2, which includes a famous funeral march. Rachmaninoff died 40 days after performing the funeral march. Rachmaninoff’s composition All Night Vigil was sung at his funeral.

Want to learn more about Sergei Rachmaninoff and his music?

Click here to listen to over 40 recordings that have been digitized and learn more about the life of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

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