LOUIS PRIMA
NEWS
Louisiana Museum Foundation/New Orleans Jazz Museum
New Orleans Jazz Museum will host an exhibition, “The Wildest: Louis Prima Comes Home.” The exhibition celebrating the life and legacy of Louis Prima will open on May 1, 2019 at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Artifacts highlighted in the exhibition include Louis Prima 1958 Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus for “That Old Black Magic.” Other items on display consist of instruments, stage wear, videos, music, photographs and Gold Records for the Jungle Book and Capitol Records Collectors Series. The free exhibit is open to the public and will run through December 2020.
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Click here to read news about the exhibition, The Wildest: Louis Prima Comes Home
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Click here to read news about the exhibition, The Wildest: Louis Prima Come
The Two Louis: “Pop” and “The Wildest”
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New Orleans’ two greats, Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima, were formed by their hometown and its culture. They were both artists, entertainers and gifted musicians and their music reflects New Orleans influence.
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Louis Prima and Keely Smith Awarded First Grammy
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In 1958, Louis Prima and Keely Smith were awarded the first Grammy for Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus of That Old Black Magic.
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Click here to to read about the Grammy award on theadvocate.com
“Jazz Singers” Exhibition at Library of Congress
Louis Prima is one of the exhibits featured in an exhibition at the Library of Congress. The exhibition which is opened from February 11 through July 23, 2016 offers a perspective on the art of vocal jazz, featuring singers and song stylists from the 1920s to the present.
Click here to go to the Library of Congress website to view a slideshow of
Jazz singers featured in the exhibition)
ASCAP Foundation Louis Prima Award
In 2011, The ASCAP Foundation Louis Prima Award was established by Gia, wife of Louis and her friend and long-time counsel, Anthony J. Sylvester of Sherman Wells Sylvester and Stamelman LLP to honor the legendary musician Louis Prima. Each December, The ASCAP Foundation hosts an invitation-only, VIP Awards ceremony in New York City hosted by ASCAP President and Chair, Paul Williams. The annual Award is given out to a graduating senior from NOCCA preferably in the jazz or big band genre. Each winner receives a scholarship to defer college expenses.
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The previous winners of The ASCAP Foundation Louis Prima Award are as follows:
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2018 Recipient Diji Diallo (click here to read Diji’s Biography)
2017 Recipient Saida Joshua Smith (click here to read Saida's biography)
2016 Recipient Brian Richburg, Jr. (click here to read Brian's biography)
2015 Recipient Madison Kerth (click here to read Madison's biography)
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2014 Recipient John Michael Bradford (click here to read John's biography)
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2013 Recipient Jeffery Miller (click here to read Jeffery's biography)
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2012 Recipient Miles Berry (click here to read Miles' biography)
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2011 Recipient Glenn Hall III (click here to read Glenn's biography)
Widow of composer Louis Prima endows
New Orleans Center of the Creative Arts scholarship
New Jersey took the spotlight at the annual American Society of Composers and Publishers Foundation awards ceremony in Manhattan on Wednesday with the introduction of the Louis Prima Award, a scholarship to be presented annually to a talented musician attending the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts.
Gia Prima, widow of musician and composer Louis Prima and a Toms River native, together with Morristown law firm Riker Danzig, established the award, which was presented Wednesday night to Glenn Hall III, a 16-year old trumpeter who leads his own jazz band, composes and arranges music, and also teaches as part of a New Orleans music education program. “It is our great pleasure to represent Gia Prima,” said Anthony J. Sylvester, head of Riker Danzig’s Entertainment Law Group, “and we are honored to be able to present this award to young artists and support the performing arts in the City of New Orleans.” Prima, a New Orleans native, was a significant contributor to popular music. The early Swing Era was marked by his compositions and recordings, including "Sing, Sing, Sing.” Gia Maione, a 1959 graduate of Toms River High School South, auditioned for Louis Prima in Cherry Hill in 1962 and was hired as the lead female vocalist. After a year of touring and performing, they married and had two children. The New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts is a regional, preprofessional arts training center.
Article is from the DailyRecord.com, you can link to the original article by clicking here
NOCCA Jazz Student Selected as First Recipient of the Louis Prima Award
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Foundation Presents Award In New York
New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) is proud to share the news: NOCCA Jazz student Glenn Hall III (12th grade student also attending McDonogh #35 College Preparatory High School) will be presented The ASCAP Foundation Louis Prima Award at its 16th Annual Awards Ceremony at the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on December 7, 2011 (the 100st anniversary of Louis Prima’s birthday.) Glenn is the first recipient of this award.
Glenn was selected by Mrs. Gia Prima, Louis’ widow together with NOCCA Music Faculty and The ASCAP Foundation and staff. It is presented to a senior vocalist or musician attending NOCCA to assist with their college career.
“NOCCA is working every day to train the next generation of leaders in the creative and cultural economy,” stated President|CEO Kyle Wedberg. “In this same regard, Gia Prima has done more than just fund a scholarship in her husband’s memory. Louis Prima will now continue to play a direct role in the development of the next generation of New Orleans and Louisiana artists by supporting one artist from the next generation as they work to reach their potential. And Glenn Hall III is an outstanding choice to be the first recipient of this scholarship.”
Native New Orleanian, Louis Prima remains one of the greatest contributors to popular music and a powerful entertainment influence. His chart-topping hits are part of the American musical lexicon and have been performed by numerous artists over the decades.
Glenn Hall III started to play the trumpet at the age of six following in the footsteps of several cousins, including NOCCA alum Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, James “Satchmo” Andrews, and Glen David Andrews. He is the leader of the New Orleans-based Baby Boyz Brass Band. You can catch him playing at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, French Quarter Fest, in traditional jazz funerals (performing with his band), or teaching music for Roots of Music. Glenn also writes and arranges music for schools around the city.
The ASCAP Foundation Louis Prima Award
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The ASCAP Foundation is pleased to announce that Gia Prima and her friends and long-time Counsel at Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti LLP have established The ASCAP Foundation Louis Prima Award to be presented to a talented vocalist or musician attending the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. The inaugural award will be presented at The ASCAP Foundation Awards ceremony in New York on December 7, 2011.
Louis Prima, born in the birthplace of Jazz, New Orleans, Louisiana on December 7, 1910, remains one of the greatest contributors to popular music and a powerful entertainment influence. The early Swing Era was marked by Prima's incredible output of compositions and recordings between 1933-39. 1936 was the landmark year in which Louis composed the words and music to "Sing, Sing, Sing," initially for his friend Bing Crosby. The song would become an immortal standard and signature song for Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. It has been covered by a vast array of popular artists and featured in films and shows continuously from 1936 through today. The song holds the distinction of being the most reproduced on sheet music.
Louis scored tremendous chart topping hits throughout the Big Band Era with several of his own compositions including "Oh, Marie," "Robin Hood," "Brooklyn Boogie," "Oh Babe,"and many others. Louis composed "A Sunday Kind of Love" in 1946, and the song became a hit over four decades and in six different musical genres including Swing, Doo-Wop, Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues, Jazz, and Country! "A Sunday Kind of Love" charted for Claude Thornhill and His Orchestra with Fran Warren in 1946, The Harptones in 1953, The Del Vikings in 1957, Etta James in 1961, Jan & Dean in 1962, and Reba McEntire in 1988. Ella Fitzgerald, Jo Stafford, Frankie Laine, and many other prominent artists also recorded this Prima standard.
One of the founding fathers of the Las Vegas entertainment scene, Louis downsized his big band in 1954 and created a small group that he named The Witnesses. Prima's shuffle beat, combined with New Orleans Jazz and the wailing sax sound of Sam Butera was a precursor of the Rock & Roll sound of the 1950's (by bradley snowball). The string of popular favorites he recorded for Capitol, Dot, and his own Prima Label included many of his own compositions such as "Jump, Jive, 'An Wail," "Banana Split For My Baby," "Oh, Marie," and many more. Louis was awarded the first Grammy award in the Vocal Group category for his knockout rendition of "That Old Black Magic" in 1958. Louis' award winning composition "Sing, Sing, Sing" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1982.
Artists as diverse as David Lee Roth and Brian Setzer would bring Prima's music to the top of the charts in the 80's and 90's. The music was at the center of successful advertising campaigns through the 2000's for The Gap, Nike, Diet Coke, Fiat and as recent as 2011 for General Electric.
Louis Prima passed away on August 24, 1978. His tomb, located in Lakelawn Cemetery in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana contains an inscription of Irving Caesar's lyrics to his immortal signature song "Just a Gigolo": "When the end comes, I know they'll say Just a Gigolo, as life goes on without me".
Article is from the ASCAP.com, you can link to the original article by clicking here
Louis finally got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010
The ceremony was held July 25th, 2010 in front of the Montalban Theater in Hollywood. It took a long time, but hey--he got his star!
That's one of Louis' trumpets posing next to his star.