Alan Rock's Trivia

Questions:

1) Sean Penn received a Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of a jazz guitar player in Sweet and Lowdown (1999). Although he was American in the film, the character was actually based on a famed French jazz guitarist who recorded during the 1930s and 40s. Who was he?

2) What was Queen Victoria's first official act as Sovereign?

3) Jazz can be hot or cool. One of the first to define "cool" jazz was a piano virtuoso, noted mostly as a big band leader. He greatly influenced jazz by his less frantic approach to the genre. And what could be cooler than a "Snowfall"? Oh, Miles Davis was one of his admirers. What was this cool cat's name?

4) Hard as it is to believe, this drummer first performed professionally at the age of 18 months on the vaudeville stage. By thirteen, he was the leader of his own band. He entered into the Big Band era by drumming for Tommy Dorsey and Harry James, among others. He traveled successfully with his own big band even after the genre declined in popularity. Who was this percussionist?

Answers:

1) Django Reinhardt.

2) Eighteen-year-old Queen Victoria's first act after her coronation in 1838 was having her bed moved from her mother's room to the very first room of her own.

3) Claude Thornhill.

4) Buddy Rich.