From spa owner to jazz chanteuse Nov 19, 2009
When asked about her favorite artists, Dolan mentions Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Billy Eckstine, and (somewhat surprisingly) the late Bobby Darin. Asked if she had seen the bio epic Beyond the Sea, in which Kevin Spacey starred rather memorably as Darin, Dolan said: I've only seen that film about a dozen times. (Hudson Sun, MA)
New biography of Sugar Ray a one-two punch Nov 8, 2009
"And it was jazz in particular that moved him, curled his mind into delicate introspection and observation. Those stuttering jazz stanzas were like big canyon-wide flashes of light ... The men he admired -- Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Billy Eckstine, Miles Davis, Cootie Williams among them-- had seemed to bring the same discipline to their craft that he brought to his: It was the discipline of science, coupled with the fleetness and derring-do of improvisation.". In such insightfully literate... (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA -- Sports)
Letters to the Pink Jul 13, 2009
The only ones who deserve consideration are Bing Crosby, Billy Eckstine and Dick Haymes, and none of them could warble in the same class as Ol' Blue Eyes. Arguably, Forrest was the best female singer of popular songs in history, and, as the writer mentioned, her being as great as Sinatra is an opinion subject to question. (San Francisco Chronicle)
U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for July 8 Jul 8, 2009
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8: BILLY ECKSTINE ... Today marks the birthday of an influential singer and bandleader who is now largely forgotten -- Billy Eckstine. (PR Newswire)
Some Friday travelin’ home music, courtesy of Dad May 16, 2009
A few weeks ago I told my dad that Billy Eckstine was probably my favorite male jazz vocalist. No way Johnny Hartman was better, he said. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
Konotey Ahulu at the Caribbean Centre May 15, 2009
Ray Charles, Steve Wonder, James Brown, Louis Armstrong , Count Basie , George Benson , Brook Benton , Church Berry , Fats Domino, Billy Eckstine, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Al Green to mention a few and all the great American musicians. His answer is that they all have at least 3 things in common beginning with the letters A, G, and M which he interprets as AFRICA, GENIUS, and MUSIC. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Davis on Davis Feb 10, 2009
IN Miles: The Autobiography the trumpeter Miles Davis remembers his excitement at hearing the Billy Eckstine Orchestra, with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, in a St. Louis nightclub in 1944 ... It isn't bad enough that he talks with unconvincing remorse of hitting his own women; the story intended to illustrate Billy Eckstine's tough-guy credentials has Eckstine slapping a would-be girlfriend while Davis looks on approvingly. (The Atlantic Online)
