The Queen

With the exception of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez was the most important artist to rise from the folk music movement that first blossomed in the late 1950s and early '60s. Baez was also the finest and most influential interpretive singer in contemporary folk; blessed with a soprano voice of uncommon clarity, her performances were emotionally compelling without resorting to histrionics.

This is a musical trip from the mid-sixteenth century to around 1700, involving music in Late Renaissance style, carrying Spanish Catholicism across the Atlantic to supplant an indigenous culture. Once the invasion had taken root with the conquest of Tenochtitlán and its transformation to Mexico City, the country became the target of fervent friars and preachers. Franciscans were first in 1523, then Dominicans, all fired with Christian zeal to convert the native population. From the outset they used music to great effect. The accounts that survive show how successful they were in teaching singing and playing, training choirs to perform liturgical music. By the mid-century it was claimed that standards had reached that of Charles V’s chapel. Churches and cathedrals were established throughout the rapidly expanding New Spain. Conquest and Christianity imposed an almost exact replica of Old Spain. Liturgical books, prints of plainchant and polyphony were shipped in throughout the century.

La future star internationale naît d’emblée sous le signe du déracinement : fille d’un couple d’Italiens originaires de Calabre, Yolanda Gigliotti naît le 17 janvier 1933, en Egypte, au Caire, où ses parents se sont installés.
Destinée initialement à une carrière de secrétaire, l’attrait du glamour et des paillettes va la faire dévier de sa sage trajectoire : s’étant présentée, en cachette de ses parents, à un concours de beauté, elle remporte le premier prix.

Peggy Lee's alluring tone, distinctive delivery, breadth of material, and ability to write many of her own songs made her one of the most captivating artists of the vocal era, from her breakthrough on the Benny Goodman hit "Why Don't You Do Right" to her many solo successes that showed her bewitching vocal power, a balance between sultry swing and impeccable musicianship. Lee started out in the early '40s as the vocalist for the Goodman band, and shortly thereafter became a star in her own right. Though she had numerous pop hits, she constantly crossed the line between pop and jazz, and was hailed by numerous critics as one of America's finest singers in either genre. In addition, Lee was involved in the film world as both an actress and a composer, most actively in the '50s (she received an Academy Award nomination for her role in Pete Kelly's Blues).

Koko Taylor was one of very few women who found success in the male-dominated blues world. She took her music from the tiny clubs of Chicago’s South Side to concert halls and major festivals all over the world. She shared stages with every major blues star, including Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy as well as rock icons Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.

The Day Is Past and Gone These 40 songs are the most celebrated hits from Aretha Franklin; hyms featured such as 'There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood', 'Yield Not to Temptation', 'While the Blood Runs Warm' and 'The Day Is Past and Gone' were recorded in 1956 when she was only 14 years old. Recordings during her first break in New York, 1960 are included and when Franklin went into partnership with Ray Bryant's jazz combo.