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Christian, Charlie

(Encyclopedia)Christian, Charlie (Charles Henry Christian), 1916–42, African-American jazz guitarist, b. Bonham, Tex. The son of a singer-guitarist father and pianist mother, he grew up in Oklahoma City, where he...

vaudeville

(Encyclopedia)vaudeville vôdˈvĭl [key], originally a light song, derived from the drinking and love songs formerly attributed to Olivier Basselin and called Vau, or Vaux, de Vire. Similar to the English music ha...

Ingle, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Ingle, Richard, fl. 1642–53, English seaman and tobacco trader. Little is known of him. While the English civil war was in progress, he appeared (1645) with several ships off Maryland, and, armed wi...

Russell, Lillian

(Encyclopedia)Russell, Lillian, 1861–1922, American singer and actress, b. Clinton, Iowa. Her original name was Helen Louise Leonard. She first appeared in light opera in 1879. In the early 1880s her introduction...

Ayler, Albert

(Encyclopedia) Ayler, Albert, 1936-1970, free-jazz saxophonist, b. Cleveland, OH. Ayler was taught to play saxophone by his father, a semiprofessional musician, and the two often performed together in...

Alençon

(Encyclopedia)Alençon äläNsôNˈ [key], town, capital of Orne dept., N France, in Normandy, on the Sarthe and Briante rivers. A commercial center in a fertile farm area, it is partic...

Shaw, Artie

(Encyclopedia)Shaw, Artie, 1910–2004, American clarinetist and bandleader, b. New York City as Arthur Jacob Arshawsky. He began playing professionally as a teenager, becoming a studio musician in New York after 1...

Deere, John

(Encyclopedia)Deere, John, 1804–86, American industrialist, manufacturer of agricultural implements, b. Rutland, Vt. He was one of the pioneers of the steel plow industry. A blacksmith by trade, he established (1...

Haneke, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Haneke, Michael häˈnəkə [key], 1942–, Austrian film director and screenwriter, b. Munich, Germany. In the 1970s and 80s, he wrote and directed for television and the theater. His first film, The...

Bechet, Sidney

(Encyclopedia)Bechet, Sidney bəshāˈ [key], 1897–1959, American jazz musician, b. New Orleans, La. He began his professional career with his brother Leonard's band in 1911. Later he played with many other bands...