3 Channels and Cesar | en

Two bands have gone by the name The Channels. 1.) The Channels formed in 1955 around the singers Larry Hampden, Billy Morris, and Edward Doulphin; they started as a quintet with two additional part-time members, but soon after they permanently added Earl Michael Lewis and Clifton Wright, formerly of The Lotharios. Lewis was the group's main songwriter, writing (among others) their regional hit "The Closer You Are". The Channels recorded for record labels Gone, Fury, Port, Hit, Enjoy, and Groove. The lineup changed several times over the course of the band's lifetime. They enjoyed significant regional success on the East...

Pianist, arranger, composer, and producer Cesar Camargo Mariano is one of Brazil's most celebrated and sought-after musicians. In the early '60s, just as the bossa nova was taking its baby steps toward enchanting the world, a teenage Cesar became famous for his ability to swing and for his now-legendary left hand. His ensembles of that era, notably Sambalanço Trio and Som Tres, are regarded as high points in Brazilian jazz; so is his 1981 album Samambaia, one of his thirty-plus instrumental albums. Cesar's collaborations with many of Brazil's most important singers, notably Wilson Simonal and Elis Regina, have brought him...

Chico César (born January 26, 1964 in Catolé do Rocha, Paraíba) is a Brazilian Zouk singer. With his outlandish neo-Indian costumes and music that borrows from reggae, hip-hop, and Senegalese mbalax, Chico César serves notice that he's doing Brazilian popular music his way. He marries an elastic voice that croons and purrs one moment, yelps and yodels the next, to a dexterity on guitar that puts him in the league of tiptop instrumentalists. Originally released on a small independent label in Brazil, the live, mostly solo recording Aos Vivos launched César's career, putting him in demand as both a performer...