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zydeco

(Encyclopedia) zydecozydecozīˈdĭkōˌ [key], American musical form originating among the African-American Creoles of Louisiana. Drawing on elements of traditional Cajun music as well as jazz, country…

clarinet

(Encyclopedia) clarinet, musical wind instrument of cylindrical bore employing a single reed. The clarinet family comprises all single-reed instruments, including the saxophone. The predecessor of…

saxophone

(Encyclopedia) saxophone, musical instrument invented in the 1840s by Adolphe Sax. Although it uses the single reed of the clarinet family, it has a conical tube and is made of metal. By 1846 there…

Skvorecky, Josef

(Encyclopedia) Skvorecky, Josef, Czech Josef Václav ŠkvoreckýSkvorecky, Josef,yōˈzĕf vätsˈläv shkvôrˈĕtskē [key], 1924–2012, Czech-born novelist, grad. Charles Univ., Prague (1951). Written in 1949,…

Adolphe Sax

Name at birth: Antoine-Joseph SaxAntoine-Joseph “Adolphe” Sax was the inventor of the saxophone, earning his patent for it in 1846. A Belgian whose father, Charles Joseph Sax, was a well-known…

Hawkins, Coleman

(Encyclopedia) Hawkins, Coleman, 1904–69, American jazz musician, b. St. Joseph, Mo. He began playing saxophone at the age of 9. He was part of Fletcher Henderson's band from 1924 until 1934. Hawkins…

bass, in music

(Encyclopedia) bassbassbās [key], in musical harmony, the part of lowest pitch. The term is used for the lowest-pitched male voice and for instruments of low pitch, such as bass clarinet, bass drum,…

Brewer's: Bass

Matting made of bast, that is the lime or linden tree. Dutch, bast, bark; Swedish, basta, to bind; so called because used for binding. “Ribbons from the linden tree give a wreath no charms…

figured bass

(Encyclopedia) figured bass, in music, a system of shorthand notation in which figures are written below the notes of the bass part to indicate the chords to be played. Called also thorough bass and…

Domino, Fats

(Encyclopedia) Domino, Fats (Antoine Dominique Domino, Jr.), 1928–2017, American rhythm-and-blues singer, pianist, and songwriter of Creole descent, b…