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Eckstine, William Clarence (Billy)
2 articles on Eckstine, William Clarence (Billy)
Eckstine, William Clarence (Billy)
Source: Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Second Edition
Word Count: 3561914–1993
African American jazz singer and bandleader. Billy Eckstine became famous in the 1950s as the smooth-voiced baritone singer of such hits as “Fools Rush In” and “Skylark,” but music critics and serious Jazz fans know him as the man whose big band launched such renowned performers as Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, and Sarah Vaughan. Born William Eckstein in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he began his musical career on a piano his father had bought for his two sisters. A star athlete, Eckstine soon joined his Washington, D.C., high school choir and found himself more compelled by his musical talents. After attending Howard University, Eckstine began singing with various groups, touring in the Midwest before settling in Chicago, Illinois in 1939, where he joined ...
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Source: American National Biography Online
Word Count: 1726 Includes: Bibliographyvocalist and band leader known as “Mr. B”, was born William Clarence Eckstein in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of William Eckstein, a chauffeur, and Charlotte (maiden name unknown), a seamstress. He changed the spelling of his name as a young adult, at the suggestion of a nightclub owner who thought his name looked too Jewish. Eckstine had no extensive formal musical education while he was growing up, but his mother was always singing hymns and popular songs, and he sang at local social events and for a short time in the Episcopal choir in ...
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