40s

Benny Goodman, born Benjamin David Goodman, (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American jazz musician, known as King of Swing, Patriarch of the Clarinet, The Professor, and Swing's Senior Statesman. Goodman was regarded by some as a demanding taskmaster, by others an arrogant and eccentric martinet. Many musicians spoke of The Ray, Goodman's trademark glare that he bestowed on a musician who failed to perform to his demanding standards.

Max Steiner was an Austrian composer who achieved legendary status as the creator of hundreds of classic American film scores. As a child he was astonishingly musically gifted, composing complex works as a teenager and completing the course of study at Vienna's Hochschule fuer Musik und Darstellende Kunst in only one year, at the age of sixteen. He studied under Gustav Mahler and, before the age of twenty, made his living as a conductor and as composer of works for the theater, the concert hall, and vaudeville.

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There are two artists known as Charlie Chaplin. 1) Charlie Chaplin was a silent film actor, director and comedian, best known for his recurring character "the little tramp". Besides performing and directing, he also composed music to be played alongside his movies. 2) Charlie Chaplin (born Richard Bennett is a Jamaican dancehall and ragga deejay and singer. It was common for Jamaican deejays of the era to name themselves after film stars or characters.

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Growing up in a house filled with music, from the folk, calypso and opera enjoyed by her Jamaican born mother to the trad, swing and be-bop from her jazz-obsessed father, Louise Parker, aptly named after Louis Armstrong, was born to create the sort of soulful jazz she is rapidly gaining a reputation for. A big hit on the festival circuit and a regular on Radio 2’s Best of Jazz, British vocalist, Louise Parker is a powerful live performer and a skilful interpreter of swing, blues and gospel classics. She commits to each song with the warmth, spirit and passion of the great jazz divas.

Read more about Louise Parker on Last.fm.