Irving Fields
| Irving Fields | |
|---|---|
 Irving Fields 2005 playing at a concert of Canadian musician Socalled. | |
| Background information | |
| Born |
August 4, 1915 New York City, New York, United States |
| Genres | Lounge music |
| Instruments | Piano |
Irving Fields (born August 4, 1915) is an American pianist and lounge music artist who was born in New York City, New York.[1] Some of his most noteworthy compositions include "Miami Beach Rhumba", "Managua, Nicaragua" and "Chantez, Chantez," covered by Dinah Shore in 1957. From November 1, 1954 to January 3, 1955, he and his orchestra appeared on the DuMont Television Network series The Ilona Massey Show, hosted by Ilona Massey.
Career
Fields' most famous album is Bagels & Bongos (1959), recorded for Decca Records with his trio, which sold two million copies.[2] The next year he released the sequel More Bagels & Bongos, which was reissued on CD in 2009 by Roman Midnight Music under the direct creative advisement of 94-year-old Fields, the only reissue commissioned directly by Irving.[3] Fields claims to have recorded nearly 100 albums featuring trios, quartets, orchestras and solo. His most known work is the 1960s output that directly followed Bagels & Bongos and fused international music with Latin, including: Bikinis and Bongos, featuring Hawaiian music, Pizza and Bongos featuring Italian music and Champagne and Bongos featuring French music. He also did an album of songs done in a Twist style called Twistin!. Fields' sister was Peppy Fields, often called the Sophie Tucker of Miami, who hosted celebrity radio and TV shows for 35 years.
Fields wrote, upon a fan's request, a YouTube theme song. The song, "YouTube Dot Com Theme Song", which he wrote within fifteen minutes, has subsequently received over 800,000 views and was released on iTunes.[4] In July 2012 Roman Midnight Music, a Manhattan indie book publisher/music label owned by music critic and author Aaron Joy published The Pianos I Have Known: The Autobiography Of Irving Fields.[5] The book was created via conversations between 94 year old Fields with Tony Sachs, who writes regularly for The Huffington Post.[6] As of 2015, Fields plays six nights a week at Nino's Tuscany, an Italian restaurant in New York City. He turned 100 in August 2015.[7]
Partial discography
Irving Fields Trio
- The Fabulous Fingers, Fiesta FLP-1228
- Plays Irving Berlin in Fabulous Hi-Fi, Tops L1562
- At the Latin Quarter, 20th Century Fox 1010
- Broadway Hits in Hi-Fi, ABC-Paramount ABC-154
- At the Saint Moritz, ABC-Paramount ABC-187
- More Bagels and Bongos, Decca DL-74114 (reissued on CD by Roman Midnight Music)
- Pizzas and Bongos, Decca DL-74175
- Champagne and Bongos, Decca DL-74238
- Bikinis and Bongos, Decca DL-74323
- Bagels and Bongos, Decca DL-78856 (reissued on CD by Reboot Stereophonic)
- Irving Fields and his Trio at the Emerald Room, Decca DL-78901
- Latin Dance Date, RCA Camden CAL-350
- Melody Cruise to Vienna, Oceanic OCP 515
- Melody Cruise To Havana, Oceanic OCP 518
The Irving Fields Orchestra
- Twistin' (reissued 2010)
Solo releases
- 50 Songs You'll Always Love, SMI 6
- 38 Romantic Favorites
- The Irving Fields Novelty Songs EP, Roman Midnight Music
- At Carnegie Hall
- Round The World Cruise
- My Yiddishe Mama's Favourites, Tzadik TZ8117
- Nisht Far Di Kinder! (Not For The Children!) Jewish Comedy Songs! Live At The Fallsview, New York, Roman Midnight Music
- Merry Christmas from Irving Fields
References
- ↑ "Irving Fields". Retrieved 2011-10-20.
- ↑ "Nonagenarian cocktails with a twist". Hour Community. 29 September 2005. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013.
- ↑ "Roman Midnight Music Record Label". Archived from the original on October 30, 2013.
- ↑ Youtube.com Theme Song on YouTube
- ↑ "Released this week: The Pianos I Have Known: The Autobiography Of Irving Fields". AbbaNibi.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
- ↑ Huffington Post - Tony Sachs column archive http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-sachs/
- ↑ "100-Year-Old Piano Man Honored In Manhattan". WCBS-TV. 2015-08-08. Retrieved 2015-08-10.
External links
- Kilgannon, Corey (April 17, 2012). "His Best Friend at His Fingertips, a Pianist, 96, Plays On". The New York Times. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
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