This work provides an in-depth look at the role of black music within the Harlem Renaissance movement, suggesting its primacy to Renaissance philosophy and practice. Floyd holds that the music of this period was also the source of certain ambivalent attitudes on the part of the black leadership. The book features essays on various subjects including musical theatre, Duke Ellington, black music and musicians in England, concert singers and the interrelationships between black painters and music. It also includes a music bibliography of works composed during the period.

"Black Pearls" is an anthology of black women singers who made major contributions to American music. The word anthology derives from the Greek language meaning "gathering of flowers." In this collection, Josephine Qualls has described the evolution of Jazz music and its' related musical forms as embodied in the careers of these women ranging from Bessie Smith through Ma Rainey, Memphis Minnie, Pearl Bailey, Ethel Waters, Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson (mother of pearls) and many others. Also included are descriptions of several early venues in which black women developed their talents. The musical art forms of Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Ragtime and Dixieland highlights the descriptions of the births, early years and lifelong careers of these African/American women. Spanning the years from 1895 to the present, this is an engaging and informative book leaving the reader fascinated by the amazing variety in this "collection of flowers." "Black Pearls" belongs in the library of any fan or historian of African/American music.

Those who have lived - not just witnessed - the efflorescence of a pivotal culture moment never see the world through veiled eyes again. Jimmy Lyons was there, devising wholly original inventions of words and music while the Beats, the neo-folk troubadours, the post-bop jazz shooting stars, and the tie-dyed psychedelic rockers were scorching through the underbrush and opening new paths of creativity as alternatives to the increasingly bottom line-driven mainstream. Lyons, though, wasn't content to find a niche in one countercultural movement or another. He kept moving, observing, and writing new poems, stories, and songs. But he never gave up on the wry sophistication of the classic American popular song. Indeed, he has dedicated himself to infusing the same hallowed forms perfected by Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, and others, with his singular fantasias of ingeniously colored and textured wordplay.

These plays have a subtext only Lyons can provide, derived from what he calls the "rituals of the road" and the "the circular rhythms" of the race track, the beats and pulses of everyday American life that rarely raise a ripple on the surface of American culture. Lyons hears the screams and dreams of his countrymen and woman; from them he creates new modes of expression. He has been changed by each of his open-hearted an open-eared encounters, and this body of work is his way of making those changes sing and swing. - Derk Richardson

"A must-read for all dancers as the invaluable historical references and in-depth coverage of the different jazz forms cannot be found in such detail in any other book on the market today."--Debra McWaters, author of "Musical Theatre Training" "Artfully weaves history and professional perspectives to reveal the boundaries of the jazz dance world. It invites the reader to develop a more complicated definition of jazz dance for the twenty-first century."--Susan A. Lee, Northwestern University The history of jazz dance is best understood by thinking of it as a tree. The roots of jazz dance are African. Its trunk is vernacular, shaped by European influence, and exemplified by the Charleston and the Lindy Hop. From the vernacular have grown many and varied branches, including tap, Broadway, funk, hip-hop, Afro-Caribbean, Latin, pop, club jazz, popping, B-boying, party dances, and more.
Unique in its focus on history rather than technique, "Jazz Dance" offers the only overview of trends and developments since 1960. Editors Lindsay Guarino and Wendy Oliver have assembled an array of seasoned practitioners and scholars who trace the numerous histories of jazz dance and examine various aspects of the field, including trends, influences, training, race, aesthetics, international appeal, and its relationship to tap, rock, indie, black concert dance, and Latin dance.Featuring discussions of such dancers and choreographers as Bob Fosse and Katherine Dunham, as well as analyses of how the form's vocabulary differs from ballet, this complex and compelling history captures the very essence of jazz dance.

Jazz rock flourished from 1968 to 1974, offering a distinctively cool and innovative hybrid sound that captivated a generation-and beyond. Superstar bands like Blood, Sweat and Tears and Chicago have earned their place in popular consciousness, but the movement included many other powerful, innovative groups such as Tower of Power and Malo. Author Mike Baron explores the history of this music fusion, its rise and fall in popularity. He offers highlights-and his own unique insights from a front-row seat in jazz rock-into what made the era so special. A Brief History of Jazz Rock is a sax-meets-Strat bible that dares to inspire a Renaissance-to cultivate a new generation of musicians who might mix brass with bass, and help return forgotten bands like If and Dreams to their place on the main stage.

"Modern Jazz Guitar Ensemble" Vol. 1 is a collection of four original compositions arranged for five guitars, bass, and drums. The arrangements range in style from swing, rock, 3/4, and straight eighth. The arrangements feature chromatic melodies and modern chord voicings that create a contemporary new sound for the jazz guitar ensemble. Each chart provides many opportunities for all the players in the ensemble to solo. The arrangements in this book are ideally suited for the intermediate/advanced level guitar ensemble. For audio and video samples of the charts visit www.nickfryermusic.com

There are three fundamentals to any great solo: Chords, Scales, and Tone Selection. Learn to use the fundamentals as your three-step approach to jazz improvisation. Over 80 images for Treble and Bass Clef. This book is perfect for beginners, struggling intermediates, and jazz instructors requiring a concise method for students. Simple enough for immediate results, this method can be applied to any style, from the easiest inside harmonies, to the most advanced outside substitutions. While other methods teach patterns and riffs, this book reveals how those patterns and riffs get created in the first place. All images in this edition are monochrome (black and white).

Thelonius Monk, Billy Taylor, and Maceo Parker--famous jazz artists who have shared the unique sounds of North Carolina with the world--are but a few of the dynamic African American artists from eastern North Carolina featured in The African American Music Trails of Eastern North Carolina. This first-of-its-kind travel guide will take you on a fascinating journey to music venues, events, and museums that illuminate the lives of the musicians and reveal the deep ties between music and community. Interviews with more than 90 artists open doors to a world of music, especially jazz, rhythm and blues, funk, gospel and church music, blues, rap, marching band music, and beach music. New and historical photographs enliven the narrative, and maps and travel information help you plan your trip. Included is a CD with 17 recordings performed by some of the region's outstanding artists.

Cross-Rhythms investigates the literary uses and effects of blues and jazz in African-American literature of the twentieth century. Texts by James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Gayl Jones, Toni Morrison and Ishmael Reed variously adopt or are consciously informed by a jazz aesthetic; this aesthetic becomes part of a strategy of ethnic identification and provides a medium with which to consider the legacy of trauma in African-American history. These diverse writers are all thoroughly immersed in a socio-cultural context and a literary aesthetic that embodies shifting conceptions of ethnic identity across the twentieth century. The emergence of blues and jazz is, likewise, a crucial product of, as well as catalyst for, this context, and in their own aesthetic explorations of notions of ethnicity these writers consciously engage with this musical milieu. By examining the highly varied manifestations of a jazz aesthetic as possibly the fundamental common denominator which links these writers, this study attempts to identify an underlying unifying principle. As the different writers write against essentializing or organic categories of race, the very fact of a shared engagement with jazz sensibilities in their work redefines the basis of African-American communal identity.

Just after recording with John Coltrane in 1963, baritone singer Johnny Hartman (1923-1983) told a family member that "something special" occurred in the studio that day. He was right - the album, containing definitive readings of "Lush Life" and "My One and Only Love," resides firmly in the realm of iconic; forever enveloping listeners in the sounds of romance. In The Last Balladeer, author Gregg Akkerman skillfully reveals not only the intimate details of that album but the life-long achievements and occasional missteps of Hartman as an African-American artist dedicated to his craft. This book carefully follows the journey of the Grammy-nominated vocalist from his big band origins with Earl Hines and Dizzy Gillespie to featured soloist in prestigious supper clubs throughout the world. Through exclusive interviews with Hartman's family and fellow musicians (including Tony Bennett, Billy Taylor, Kurt Elling, Jon Hendricks, and others), accounts from friends and associates, newly discovered recordings and studio outtakes, and in-depth research on his career and personal life, Akkerman expertly recollects the Hartman character as a gentleman, romantic, family man, and constant contributor to the jazz scene. From his international concerts in Japan, Australia, and England to his steady presence as an American nightclub singer that spanned five decades, Hartman personifies the "last balladeer" of his kind, singing with a sentiment that captured the attention of Clint Eastwood, who brought Hartman's songs to the masses in the film The Bridges of Madison County. In the first full-length biography and discography to chronicle the rhapsodic life and music of Johnny Hartman, the author completes a previously missing dimension of vocal-jazz history by documenting Hartman as the balladeer who crooned his way into so many hearts. Backed by impeccable research but conveyed in a conversational style, this book will interest not only musicians and scholars but any fan of the Great American Songbook and the singers who brought it to life.

This collection of interviews with nine of the world's greatest living musicians shines light on the jazz piano trio, one of the genre's most enduring formats. Interviewed musicians include Jeff Hamilton, Richard Davis, Joanne Brackeen, Jeff Ballard, Fred Hersch, Chuck Israels, Peter Erskine, Eric Reed, and Rufus Reid. There is also a lengthy analysis section comparing the diverse responses given by these intriguing individuals.

In "People Get Ready," musicians, scholars, and journalists write about jazz since 1965, the year that Curtis Mayfield composed the famous civil rights anthem that gives this collection its title. The contributors emphasize how the political consciousness that infused jazz in the 1960s and early 1970s has informed jazz in the years since then. They bring nuance to historical accounts of the avant-garde, the New Thing, Free Jazz, "non-idiomatic" improvisation, fusion, and other forms of jazz that have flourished since the 1960s, and they reveal the contemporary relevance of those musical practices. Many of the participants in the jazz scenes discussed are still active performers. A photographic essay captures some of them in candid moments before performances. Other pieces revise standard accounts of well-known jazz figures, such as Duke Ellington, and lesser-known musicians, including Jeanne Lee; delve into how money, class, space, and economics affect the performance of experimental music; and take up the question of how digital technology influences improvisation. "People Get Ready" offers a vision for the future of jazz based on an appreciation of the complexity of its past and the abundance of innovation in the present.
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Contributors." Tamar Barzel, John Brackett, Douglas Ewart, Ajay Heble, Vijay Iyer, Thomas King, Tracy McMullen, Paul D. Miller/DJ Spooky, Nicole Mitchell, Roscoe Mitchell, Famoudou Don Moye, Aldon Lynn Nielsen, Eric Porter, Marc Ribot, Matana Roberts, Jaribu Shahid, Julie Dawn Smith, Wadada Leo Smith, Alan Stanbridge, John Szwed, Greg Tate, Scott Thomson, Rob Wallace, Ellen Waterman, Corey Wilkes

In "People Get Ready," musicians, scholars, and journalists write about jazz since 1965, the year that Curtis Mayfield composed the famous civil rights anthem that gives this collection its title. The contributors emphasize how the political consciousness that infused jazz in the 1960s and early 1970s has informed jazz in the years since then. They bring nuance to historical accounts of the avant-garde, the New Thing, Free Jazz, "non-idiomatic" improvisation, fusion, and other forms of jazz that have flourished since the 1960s, and they reveal the contemporary relevance of those musical practices. Many of the participants in the jazz scenes discussed are still active performers. A photographic essay captures some of them in candid moments before performances. Other pieces revise standard accounts of well-known jazz figures, such as Duke Ellington, and lesser-known musicians, including Jeanne Lee; delve into how money, class, space, and economics affect the performance of experimental music; and take up the question of how digital technology influences improvisation. "People Get Ready" offers a vision for the future of jazz based on an appreciation of the complexity of its past and the abundance of innovation in the present.
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Contributors." Tamar Barzel, John Brackett, Douglas Ewart, Ajay Heble, Vijay Iyer, Thomas King, Tracy McMullen, Paul D. Miller/DJ Spooky, Nicole Mitchell, Roscoe Mitchell, Famoudou Don Moye, Aldon Lynn Nielsen, Eric Porter, Marc Ribot, Matana Roberts, Jaribu Shahid, Julie Dawn Smith, Wadada Leo Smith, Alan Stanbridge, John Szwed, Greg Tate, Scott Thomson, Rob Wallace, Ellen Waterman, Corey Wilkes

After around 35 years touring the world professionally in the many areas of music as both a sideman, and a leader, I am very proud to finally publish some of my original compositions. It has been many years that people ask me about my different originals, as well as enquire about the availability of the lead sheets. Finally I have assembled them into a book format. The book begins chronologically from 2003- 2011. My last 6 CD's starting with the Motive Series, One Step Closer, Family First, Live At The Bird's Eye, Good Rhythms Good Vibes, and Live at Chorus jazz Club. You will surely notice how my harmonic language skills grow and change over the years. Feel free to explore the different ways they can be performed. Many of the tunes can be played in multiple styles, and you can just use the harmonic/rhythmic roadmap and melody your way.

There has always been more to music in Boston than the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Jazz, for example, dates to the early 1900s, but it was in the 1940s and 1950s that it truly sparkled. The Boston Jazz Chronicles: Faces, Places, and Nightlife 1937-1962 is the first book to document that city's active jazz scene at mid-century.

Boston jazz came into its own during the World War II years, when the big bands supplied America with its popular music, and Boston's Charlie and Cy Shribman were among the kingmakers of the big-band era. The city produced such talents as pianist and bandleader Sabby Lewis, the multi-instrumentalist Ray Perry, and bassist Lloyd Trotman. The scene benefited from the extended wartime presence of established stars, including trumpeter Frankie Newton and trombonist Vic Dickenson, and from the start of a Sunday afternoon jam session tradition that brought the nation's best jazzmen into regular contact with local players. There were opportunities for musicians, particularly young musicians, to gain valuable experience by filling in for the older men serving in the military.

The end of the war introduced new jazz sounds to Boston, and reintroduced a few older ones as well. Alongside those musicians like Lewis still playing swing, there were others looking to the past for inspiration, sparking a Dixieland revival, and still others looking forward, spreading the new sound of bebop. There were big-band survivors in downsized groups playing jump blues, and others organizing new big bands along modern lines.

The end of the war also brought a surge of talented musicians, many of them veterans and beneficiaries of the GI Bill. They were attracted by the city's music conservatories and the new Schillinger House, soon to be renamed the Berklee School of Music. Boston became a destination for musicians seeking new musical direction. Here they joined with Boston's own contingent of formidable musicians to form a new, more modern scene, led by such luminaries as Jaki Byard, Joe Gordon, Nat Pierce, Charlie Mariano, Herb Pomeroy, Sam Rivers, Alan Dawson, and Dick Twardzik. They would carry Boston jazz to a creative peak in the mid-to-late 1950s that still remains unequaled.

The music was splendid, but there was more. Boston was home to influential jazz journalists George Frazier and Nat Hentoff; Berklee College of Music founder Lawrence Berk; Father Norman O'Connor, the Jazz Priest; record company executive and producer Tom Wilson; and Storyville nightclub proprietor George Wein, organizer of the Newport Jazz Festival. And through it all was the music, at the Ken Club, the Savoy Cafe, the Hi-Hat, the Stable, and other rooms both rowdy and refined.

The Boston Jazz Chronicles relates this story in reportage and personal anecdotes, and through dozens of photographs, advertisements, and period maps. This complete study also includes extensive notes, a bibliography, discography, and comprehensive index.

Author Richard Vacca is a Boston-based technical writer and editor with a lifelong interest in cultural history, and a regular presenter on the topic of Boston jazz and nightlife. He spent seven years researching and assembling these chronicles.

As a thesaurus of chordal options available to the comping jazz guitarist, this book is an in-depth study of optimum voice leading motions using drop-2 and drop-3 voicings for the variations on the ubiquitous major and minor II-V-I progressions - yielding fluid and cohesive accompaniments.

Koop Kooper, the Cocktail universe's high priest of all things hep, swinging, and swank, and cyber disc-jockey of his radio show, "The Cocktail Nation," has unleashed the definitive guide to the Lounge universe. Replete with gassin interviews and cool pixeramas, he reveals the incredible diorama of Cocktail culture, lifestyle, and music. Koop mixes it up with cool luminaries and pioneers of the Cocktail soundtrack, such as hepster Jack Constanzo, the bongo player of the 1950s, shakes a martini with the leaders of the revival Combustible Edison, trades smart lip with comedian satirist Shelley Berman and 21st century hit-makers Martini Kings, heads down the dark streets of Cocktail noir, muscling it up with croonoir Jimmy Vargas, then it's off to the Vegas pool, where he conducts an underwater interview with gorgeous fire-eating mermaid Marina. Koop Kooper's Cocktail Nation book is a glorious panorama of all things Lounge, created by the swank meister of uber cool himself.

Bobby Keys has lived the kind of like that qualifies as a rock 'n' roll folktale. In his early teens, Keys bribed his way into neighbour Buddy Holly's garage band rehearsals, then took up the saxophone because it was the only instrument left unclaimed in the school band. While still in his teens, he convinced his grandfather to sign his guardianship over to Crickets drummer J.I. Allison so that Keys could go on tour. Keys spent years on the road during the early days of rock 'n' roll. He was a top touring and session sax man for the likes of mad Dogs and Englishmen, George Harrison and John Lennon. In 1970 he began his gig with The Rolling Stones. Every Night's A Saturday Night finds Keys setting down the many tales of an over-the-top rock 'n' roll life in his own inimitable voice. With a foreword by Keith Richards and exclusive interviews with famous friends and fellow travellers, like Joe Cocker and Jim Keltner, Every Night's A Saturday Night paints a unique picture of the coming-of-age of rock 'n' roll itself while celebrating how Key's raw talent and outsized personality have elevated him from sideman to rock icon.

Structured to accommodate the three most-prevalent avenues of learning: A) In the classroom: as a text book resource for a three-year course of study when used with the included student practice assignments. Year 1 - Embracing all the essential materials leading up to the construction, and use of four-part chords with accompanying exercises. Year 2 - Coverage of core subjects, plus the construction and use of chords up to and including seven-part chords, with accompanying examples and exercises. Year 3 - The study of melodic inharmonics, substitute and chromatic chords, with guidance on how to recognize and use them. A further section focuses on harmonic and melodic analysis of tunes, with exercises and examples. B) Private instruction: the "one-on-one" teacher-pupil relationship which forms the second avenue of learning. Private teachers with aspiring jazz students will find this text provides key information in an easily understood and logical progression which eliminates the "skip and jump" method of teaching. The teacher will easily be able to guide the student, providing practice work and tunes that demonstrate the course of study. C) Self-education: at last a text book, that is useful as a course of self-study in jazz. The book will develop, in the student, an orderly step-by-step understanding of the theory of jazz and jazz improvisation. Student exercises included with this book are written for all instruments ("C," "Bb," and "Eb") to provide meaningful examples and practice assignments for each topic covered in The Art of Jazz Improvisation For All Instruments. About the Author Lloyd Abrams began playing professionally while in High School. To pursue additional theoretical and technical knowledge, he later moved to Toronto where he spent three years at the Toronto Conservatory of Music in the study of Jazz Theory, Composition and Orchestration with the eminent Gordon Delamont, and classical piano with John Covert. Working gigs with various groups in the region helped pay the bills. To further his professional knowledge and experience, Lloyd moved to Hollywood California in 1959, where he continued his Theory and Piano studies with Dick Grove. After three years he returned home to continue playing and to pursue a teaching career. In 1964 he was invited to form an all-star band comprised of music students from local high schools. In successive years the band was invited to stage performances at school concerts and teacher conventions. The band project has been recognized as instrumental in exposing educators to the Jazz idiom, and introducing the study of jazz into regional school musical programs. Retired from professional performance since the mid 1980's Lloyd has turned his full attention to education of the individual performer. His pupils and graduate pupils are performing professionally as studio musicians, entertainers, and as educators, working in North America, Europe and Asia. Publisher's Website: http://SBPRA.com/LloydAbrams