Glorious Gloria Parker is an American entertainer active during the Swing Era as a bandleader of an All-female band, Gloria Parker and the Starletts. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the See also Entertainment (disambiguation and The Entertainer (disambiguation Entertainment is an activity designed to give people The Swing Era was the period of time (1935&ndash1946 when Big band Swing music was the most popular music in America. A bandleader is the leader of a band of Musicians The term is most commonly though not exclusively used with a group that plays Popular music as The Gloria Parker Show aired nightly coast to coast on WABC and Gloria entertained her audience playing the marimba, organ and the singing glasses or glass harp. In some parts of Africa the term "marimba" refers to the Kalimba. The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each For the musical instrument see Glass harp and Glass harmonica. Gloria Parker Princess of the Marimba conducted the 21-piece Swingphony broadcasting nationally from the Kelly Lyceum Ballroom in Buffalo, New York. Buffalo (ˈbʌfəloʊ is the second largest city in New York State. This was the largest big band ever led by a female bandleader. A big band is a type of Musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late Edgar Battle and Footsie Thomas were engaged as arrangers for the Swingphony. Gloria Parker and her Orchestra performed at Leon and Eddies Nightclub Celebrity Nite on 52nd Street in Manhattan, Honoring the Most Beautiful Bandleader on Broadway, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin carried on stage her Musical Glasses or glass harp to open. 52nd Street is a 19 mile long one-way Street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan. Jerry Lewis (born March 16, 1926) is an American Comedian, award-winning actor producer writer and director best-known for his slapstick Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7 1917 &ndash December 25 1995 was an American Singer, Film Actor, television personality For the musical instrument see Glass harp and Glass harmonica.

Gloria Parker is also known for her performances in Soundies. Soundies were an early version of the Music video: three-minute musical films produced by professional film crews in New York Chicago and Hollywood between 1940 Gloria composed the music and wrote the lyrics for Broadway And Main with Stepin Fetchit, Four Letters, Here Comes The Fattest Man In Town with comedic personality Mel Blanc as Santa Claus, Penthouse Party featuring Parker playing the glass harp and Wise Men Say; all produced and directed by William Forest Crouch. Lyrics (in singular form Lyric) are a set of words that accompany music either by speaking or singing Stepin Fetchit was the Stage name of American Comedian and Film Actor Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry Melvin "Mel" Jerome Blanc ( May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and Comedian Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or simply " Santa " is the For the musical instrument see Glass harp and Glass harmonica. Soundies were viewed on the Panoram, a coin-operated film jukebox, in nightclubs, bars, restaurants, amusement parks and community centers. Panoram was the Trademark name of a visual Jukebox that played music accompanied by a synched filmed image (the effect being the equivalent of today's music videos jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device usually a Coin -operated machine that can play specially selected songs from self-contained media

Biography

Musical Glasses

Gloria Parker is known for her unique ability to play the mystical Musical Glasses or glass harp. For the musical instrument see Glass harp and Glass harmonica. The very first American known to have practiced the art of Glasspiel was Benjamin Franklin and some of Gloria Parker's glasses date back to the time that Franklin lived. Benjamin Franklin ( April 17 1790 was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. Gloria Parker learned the art from her grandfather, a native of Czechoslovakia, where most of her glasses were collected. Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. She plays the glasses by rubbing her fingertips over the rims of each glass. The 28 glasses are arranged chromatically on a special table and some of them are partially filled with water to give the proper pitch. The range of her glasses is two octaves and the lowest note she can play is E below middle C. The resulting sound is reminiscent of a well played flute. The flute is a Musical instrument of the Woodwind family Unlike other woodwind instruments a flute is a Reedless wind instrument that produces its Gloria performs hundreds of popular songs on these delightful glasses.

On February 18, 1979, Parker performed as a musical glass soloist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra at the Jai-Lai Fronton in Hartford, CT. Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) In Music, a solo (from the Italian solo, meaning alone) is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer The Hartford Symphony Orchestra (HSO is an American Orchestra based in Hartford, Connecticut. Richard Hayman, noted for his arrangements for Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler, was the guest conductor for the 90-piece orchestra that accompanied the musical glasses which included songs such as Lara's Theme from the movie Dr. Zhivago, Lover and Amor. Richard Hayman (born March 27, 1920) is an American Arranger, Harmonica player and conductor. The Boston Pops Orchestra was founded in 1885 as a subsection of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO founded four years earlier Arthur Fiedler should not be confused with Arthur Fielder, a Kent Fast bowler of the 1900s " Lara's Theme " is the generic name given to a recurring musical cue written for the film Doctor Zhivago (1965 by composer Maurice Jarre. Doctor Zhivago ( Russian: Доктор Живаго, Doktor Zhivago) is a 20th century Novel by Boris Pasternak. " Amor " is a popular Song. The music was written by Gabriel Ruiz, the original Spanish lyrics by Ricardo Lopez Mendez

Early life

Parker was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Rita Rose, a musician, who studied the violin with Leopold Auer and performed on CBS Your Hit Parade with bandleader Mark Warnow and Raymond Scott. Brooklyn (named after the Dutch town Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. A musician is a person who plays or writes Music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music An instrumentalist plays a The violin is a bowed String instrument with four strings usually tuned in Perfect fifths It is the smallest and highest-pitched member Leopold Auer (In Hungarian Auer Lipót) ( June 7, 1845 – July 15, 1930) was a Hungarian Violinist, teacher Your Hit Parade was a popular American Radio and Television program sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes and broadcast from 1935 to 1955 on Mark Warnow ( 1900 - October 17, 1949) a noted violinist and orchestra conductor was born in the Ukraine to Jewish parents and came to the US as a boy Raymond Scott (born Harry Warnow, 10 September 1908 &mdash 8 February 1994) was an American composer band leader pianist engineer Gloria's father was a United States Air Force test pilot stationed in Hawaii during the Second World War. The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

By the age of three and a half, Glorious Gloria Parker was on her way to stardom. She played her personalized quarter-size violin and charmed everyone who heard her. The violin is a bowed String instrument with four strings usually tuned in Perfect fifths It is the smallest and highest-pitched member By age five, she played in concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and by the time she was 14, she conducted her own all-girl orchestra, Gloria Parker and the Coquettes and was featured on stage with the marimba and glass harp. Brooklyn Academy of Music ( BAM) is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant garde In some parts of Africa the term "marimba" refers to the Kalimba. For the musical instrument see Glass harp and Glass harmonica.

Career

Glorious Gloria Parker is a talented songwriter, bandleader and musician. A songwriter is someone who writes the Lyrics to songs the Musical composition (chords or Melody to songs or both A bandleader is the leader of a band of Musicians The term is most commonly though not exclusively used with a group that plays Popular music as A musician is a person who plays or writes Music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music An instrumentalist plays a Gloria mastered and performed with her orchestra's playing the marimba, glass harp or musical glasses, piano, organ, violin, viola, vibraphone, xylophone, guitar, drums and all latin percussion instruments. In some parts of Africa the term "marimba" refers to the Kalimba. For the musical instrument see Glass harp and Glass harmonica. For the musical instrument see Glass harp and Glass harmonica. The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each The violin is a bowed String instrument with four strings usually tuned in Perfect fifths It is the smallest and highest-pitched member The viola is a bowed String instrument. It is the middle voice of the Violin family, The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a Musical instrument in the mallet subfamily of the percussion family The xylophone (from the Greek words ξύλον - xylon, "wood" + φωνή - phone, "voice" meaning "wooden The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles A drum kit (also drum set or trap set) is a collection of Drums Cymbals and sometimes other Percussion instruments such as cowbells This article is about percussion instruments used in Latin music

Gloria Parker was under the personal management of Joe Glazer as well as Louis Armstrong, Van Alexander, Les Brown, Billy Holiday, Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo, Russ Morgan, and Teddy Powell. Louis Armstrong (August 4 1901 &ndash July 6 1971 nicknamed Satchmo or Sachimo and Pops, was an American Jazz Trumpeter Les Brown may refer to Les Brown (bandleader (1912–2001 US Big Band leader Les Brown Jr Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7 1915 – July 17 1959 was an American Jazz singer and songwriter Lionel Leo Hampton ( April 20, 1908 &ndash August 31, 2002) was an American Jazz Vibraphonist, Percussionist Red Norvo ( 31 March 1908 &ndash 6 April 1999) was one of Jazz 's early vibraphonists. Russ Morgan may also refer to a member of Dance music group K-Klass. Teddy Powell (Teodoro Paolella ( March 1 1905, Oakland, California - November 17 1993, New York) was an American

Gloria Parker and the Starletts toured on the USO Ballyhoo show produced by Theodore Hammerstein with Judy Garland, June Preisser, The Kim Sisters, an all-female band from Korea that played every musical instrument known, ventriloquist Canfield Smith with Snodgrass and many other notable personalities. Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10 1922 – June 22 1969 was an American actress and singer June Preisser ( September 26, 1920 &ndash September 19, 1984) was an American actress briefly popular in musical films during the late

In the early 1950s, Gloria Parker and Vincent Lopez hosted a radio program on WABC broadcasted Saturday afternoon from the Taft Hotel in Manhattan called Shake the Maracas in which audience members competed for prizes by playing maracas with the orchestra. Vincent Lopez ( 30 December, 1895 &ndash 20 September, 1975) was a United States Bandleader and Pianist. Radio programming is the content that is broadcast by Radio stations The original inventors of radio such as Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York Maraca is also a genus of Tarantula. Maracas ( sometimes called rumba In addition, Gloria Parker and her Society Orchestra hosted an evening broadcast Gloria Parker Calling on WOR from the Green Room of the Edison Hotel in New York City. Gloria would open the show with the glass harp or musical glasses and feature the popular latin sound on her marimba and vibraharp with her orchestra. For the musical instrument see Glass harp and Glass harmonica. In some parts of Africa the term "marimba" refers to the Kalimba. The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a Musical instrument in the mallet subfamily of the percussion family

On television,Gloria Parker, Princess of the Marimba aired Friday night on ABC, the show opened with Gloria playing, I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles on her glass harp and featured rhythms from South America. The American Broadcasting Company ( ABC) is an American Television network. For the musical instrument see Glass harp and Glass harmonica.

The Big Band Era suffered with a musicians recording ban from August 1942 to November 1944. The union that a majority of musicians belonged to did not allow its members to record until the record companies such as CBS agree to pay them each time their music was played on the radio. This happened after an earlier ban of ASCAP songs from radio stations which lead to the demise of this style of swing music. The American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers ( ASCAP) is a non-profit Performance rights organization that protects its Gloria emerged as a spokesperson for the musicians and earned the title as the "Famous One Share Stockholder" in her battle for musician rights with CBS, RCA and Time Inc. The national media would anxiously await Gloria's head to head confrontations with CBS founder William S. Paley and RCA Chairman of the Board David Sarnoff at the annual stockholder meetings. CBS Broadcasting Inc ( CBS) is an American radio and Television network. RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986 Time Inc is a major subsidiary of the media conglomerate Time Warner, the company formed by the 1990 William Samuel Paley ( September 28, 1901 &ndash October 26, 1990) was the chief executive who built Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986

Personal life

Gloria designs and makes her own wardrobe. A wardrobe (sometimes called an " armoire " is a standing closet used for storing Clothes. She has utilized this talent throughout her career with show stopping gowns, suits, dresses and coats. Gloria considers all animals her friends. She has had parrots from Africa who sing and talk, and feeds squirrels, birds, raccoons and foxes every day. Parrots are birds of the roughly 350 Species in 85 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes, found in most warm and tropical regions A fox is an Animal belonging to any one of about 27 Species (of which only 12 actually belong to the Vulpes genus or 'true foxes' of small Gloria Parker currently resides on Long Island in New York.

Filmography

• 1984 - Broadway Danny Rose - ( Water Glass Virtuoso - Gloria Parker / 1984 / Released ) Academy Award - nominated film written, directed by and starring Woody Allen. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Saturday Night Live ( SNL) is a weekly late-night 90-minute American Sketch comedy / Variety show based in New York City Late Night with David Letterman was a nightly hour-long comedy Talk show on NBC hosted by David Letterman. The Mike Douglas Show was an American daytime Television Talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that ran from 1961 to 1982 Regis Francis Xavier Philbin (born August 25, 1931) is an Emmy Award -winning American Television personality and occasional Actor The Ed Sullivan Show was an American television Variety show that ran from June 20, 1948 to June 6, Broadway Danny Rose is a black and white 1984 Academy Award -nominated film written directed by and starring Woody Allen. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Woody Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; December 1 1935 is an American Film director, Writer, Actor, Comedian, and

Swing Era music

• "A Stairway to the Moon" recorded by Hugho Winterhalter and his Orchestra, recorded by Betty Jane Rhoades on Columbia Records, music and lyrics by Gloria Parker. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company
• "Broadway And Main" music and lyrics by Gloria Parker. Lyrics (in singular form Lyric) are a set of words that accompany music either by speaking or singing
• "Clap Your Hands and Shake Your Blues Away" recorded by Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra, lyrics and music by Gloria Parker. Lionel Leo Hampton ( April 20, 1908 &ndash August 31, 2002) was an American Jazz Vibraphonist, Percussionist
• "Daddy From Georgia Way" recorded by Bob Chester and his Orchestra on Columbia Records, lyrics and music by Daisy Lawton, a pen name for Gloria Parker. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company
• "Four Letters" Gloria composed the music and wrote the lyrics. Lyrics (in singular form Lyric) are a set of words that accompany music either by speaking or singing
• "Here Comes The Fattest Man In Town" lyrics and music by Gloria Parker.
• "In Santiago by the Sea" by Gloria Parker and recorded by Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra. Vincent Lopez ( 30 December, 1895 &ndash 20 September, 1975) was a United States Bandleader and Pianist.
• "Marimba Merengue" by Gloria Parker.
• "Shake The Maracas" lyrics and music by Gloria Parker, and name of a radio program on WABC hosted by Gloria Parker and Vincent Lopez. Radio programming is the content that is broadcast by Radio stations The original inventors of radio such as Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo
• "Stars and Stripes Forever Merengue" by Gloria Parker.
• "The Best Idea You Had" by Gloria Parker and recorded by Una Mae Carlisle with Bob Chester and his Orchestra. Una Mae Carlisle (December 26 1915 Xenia Ohio - November 7 1956 New York City) was an American Jazz singer pianist and songwriter
• "The Dixieland Rhumba" lyrics and music by Gale Porter, a pen name for Gloria Parker.
• "Tonight Be Tender To Me" by Gloria Parker and recorded by Una Mae Carlisle.
• "The Sweetest Words I Know" by Gloria Parker on Columbia Records with Vincent Lopez Orchestra. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company Vincent Lopez ( 30 December, 1895 &ndash 20 September, 1975) was a United States Bandleader and Pianist.
• "The Up and Down Mambo" by Gloria Parker.
• "Wise Men Say" lyrics and music by Gloria Parker.

References

• Radio Music Live 1920-1950 A Pictorial Gamut by Morris N. Young and John C. Stoltzfus, Published by Arrangement with Life Music, Inc. , pg. 47,50,237,239,240,241
• Singing Glasses is also the name of a 1980 record album composed by Gloria Parker playing the glass harp. For the musical instrument see Glass harp and Glass harmonica.
• Life Magazine, May 1959, Rising to a Point of Disorder, Famous One Share Stockholder Gloria Parker confronting Radio Corporation of America (RCA) with Billings-Gate at the annual stock holder meeting. RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986

See also

• Angelic organ
• Glass Armonica
• Glass harp
• Judy Garland
• June Preisser
• Lionel Hampton
• List of marimba performers
• Swing Era
• Vincent Lopez

External links

• Gloria Parker official website
• Gloria Parker at the Internet Movie Database
• bizbash Water Glasses
• Gloria Parker Water Glass Virtuoso
• NY Times Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
• Your Hit Parade at the Radio Hall of Fame
• Miss Gloria ParkerParrot Club
• Brooklyn Academy of Music
• David Sarnoff Library
• The Museum of Television & Radio