"Wonderful"-The New York Times. "Provocative, opinionated, and never dull"-Down Beat. "A singular book."-Studs Terkel. When it was first published, Alec Wilder's American Popular Song quickly became a classic and today it remains essential reading for countless musicians, lovers of American Song, and fans of Alec Wilder. Now, in a 50th anniversary edition, popular music scholar Robert Rawlins brings the book fully up-to-date for the 21st century. Whereas previous editions featured only piano scores, the format has been changed to lead sheet notation with lyrics, making it accessible to a wider readership. Rawlins has also added more than sixty music examples to help complete the chapter on Irving Berlin. One of the most fascinating features of the original edition was Wilder's inventive use of language, often revealing his strong and sometimes irreverent opinions. Wilder's prose remains relatively unaltered, but footnotes have been provided that clarify, elucidate, and even correct. Moreover, a new chapter has been added, discussing fifty-three songs by numerous composers that Wilder might have well included but was not able to. Songs by Ann Ronnell, Fats Waller, Jule Styne and many others are capped off with an examination of ten of Wilder's own songs.

Remixing European Jazz Culture examines a jazz culture that emerged in the 1990s in cosmopolitan cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Berlin, London, and Oslo - energised by the introduction of studio technologies into the live performance space, which has since developed into internationally recognised, eclectic, hybrid jazz styles. This book explores these oft-overlooked musicians and their forms that have nonetheless expanded the plane of jazz's continued prosperity, popularity, and revitalisation in the twenty-first century - one where remix is no longer the sole domain of studio producers. Seeking to update the orthodoxies of the field of jazz studies, Remixing European Jazz Culture: incorporates electronic and digital performance, recording, and distribution practices that have transformed the culture since the 1980s; provides a more diverse and multifaceted cultural representation of European jazz and the contributions of a variety of performers; and offers an encompassing picture of the depth of jazz practice that has erupted through Northern Europe since 1989. With an expansion of international networks and a disintegration of artistic boundaries, the collaborative, performative, and real-time improvisational process of remixing has stimulated a merging of the music's past and present within European jazz culture.

"An occasion to appreciate Dexter's resounding musical genius as well as his wish for major social transformation."-Angela Y. Davis, political activist, scholar, author, and speaker Sophisticated Giant presents the life and legacy of tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon (1923-1990), one of the major innovators of modern jazz. In a context of biography, history, and memoir, Maxine Gordon has completed the book that her late husband began, weaving his "solo" turns with her voice and a chorus of voices from past and present. Reading like a jazz composition, the blend of research, anecdote, and a selection of Dexter's personal letters reflects his colorful life and legendary times. It is clear why the celebrated trumpet genius Dizzy Gillespie said to Dexter, "Man, you ought to leave your karma to science." Dexter Gordon the icon is the Dexter beloved and celebrated on albums, on film, and in jazz lore--even in a street named for him in Copenhagen. But this image of the cool jazzman fails to come to terms with the multidimensional man full of humor and wisdom, a figure who struggled to reconcile being both a creative outsider who broke the rules and a comforting insider who was a son, father, husband, and world citizen. This essential book is an attempt to fill in the gaps created by our misperceptions as well as the gaps left by Dexter himself.

How do we speak about jazz? In this provocative study based on the author's deep immersion in the New York City jazz scene, Tom Greenland turns from the usual emphasis on artists and their music to focus on non-performing participants, describing them as active performers in their own right who witness and thus collaborate in a happening made one-of-a-kind by improvisation, mood, and moment. Jazzing shines a spotlight on the constituency of proprietors, booking agents, photographers, critics, publicists, painters, amateur musicians, fans, friends, and tourists that makes up New York City's contemporary jazz scene. Drawn from deep ethnographic research, interviews, and long term participant observation, Jazzing charts the ways New York's distinctive physical and social-cultural environment affects and is affected by jazz. Throughout, Greenland offers a passionate argument in favor of a radically inclusive conception of music-making, one in which individuals collectively improvise across social contexts to co-create community and musical meaning. An odyssey through the clubs and other performance spaces on and off the beaten track, Jazzing is an insider's view of a vibrant urban art world.

One of the most popular and memorable American musicians of the 20th century, Nat King Cole (1919-65) is remembered today as both a pianist and a singer, a feat rarely accomplished in the world of popular music. Now, in this complete life and times biography, author Will Friedwald offers a new take on this fascinating musician, framing him first as a bandleader and then as a star. In Cole's early phase, Friedwald explains, his primary task of keeping his trio going was just as much of a focus for him as his own playing and singing, always a collective or group performance. In the second act, Cole's collaborators were more likely to be arranger-conductors like Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins, rather than his sidemen on bass and guitar. In the first act, his sidemen were equals, in the second phase, his collaborators were tasked exclusively with putting the focus on him, making him sound good, while being largely invisible themselves. Friedwald brings his full musical knowledge to bear in putting the man in the work, demonstrating how this duality appears over and over again in Cole's life and career: jazz vs. pop, solo vs. trio, piano vs. voice, wife number one (Nadine) vs. wife number two (Maria), the good songs vs. the less-than-good songs, the rhythm numbers vs. the ballads, the funny songs and novelties vs. the "serious" songs of love and loss, Cole as an advocate for the Great American Songbook vs. Cole the intrepid explorer of other options: world music, rhythm & blues, country & western. Cole was different from his contemporaries in other ways; for roughly ten years after the war, the majority of hitmakers on the pop charts were veterans of the big band experience, from Sinatra on down.

Despite the fact that most of jazz's major innovators and performers have been African American, the overwhelming majority of jazz journalists, critics, and authors have been and continue to be white men. No major mainstream jazz publication has ever had a black editor or publisher. Ain't But a Few of Us presents over two dozen candid dialogues with black jazz critics and journalists ranging from Greg Tate, Farah Jasmine Griffin, and Robin D. G. Kelley to Tammy Kernodle, Ron Welburn, and John Murph. They discuss the obstacles to access for black jazz journalists, outline how they contend with the world of jazz writing dominated by white men, and point out that these racial disparities are not confined to jazz but hamper their efforts at writing about other music genres as well. Ain't But a Few of Us also includes an anthology section, which reprints classic essays and articles from black writers and musicians such as LeRoi Jones, Archie Shepp, A. B. Spellman, and Herbie Nichols. Contributors Eric Arnold, Bridget Arnwine, Angelika Beener, Playthell Benjamin, Herb Boyd, Bill Brower, Jo Ann Cheatham, Karen Chilton, Janine Coveney, Marc Crawford, Stanley Crouch, Anthony Dean-Harris, Jordannah Elizabeth, Lofton Emenari III, Bill Francis, Barbara Gardner, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Jim Harrison, Eugene Holley Jr., Haybert Houston, Robin James, Willard Jenkins, Martin Johnson, LeRoi Jones, Robin D. G. Kelley, Tammy Kernodle, Steve Monroe, Rahsaan Clark Morris, John Murph, Herbie Nichols, Don Palmer, Bill Quinn, Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr., Ron Scott, Gene Seymour, Archie Shepp, Wayne Shorter, A. B. Spellman, Rex Stewart, Greg Tate, Billy Taylor, Greg Thomas, Robin Washington, Ron Welburn, Hollie West, K. Leander Williams, Ron Wynn

Written by an experienced and diverse lineup of veteran jazz educators, Teaching School Jazz presents a comprehensive approach to teaching beginning through high school-level jazz. Thoroughly grounded in the latest research, chapters are supported by case studies woven into the narrative. The book therefore provides not only a wealth of school jazz teaching strategies but also the perspectives and principles from which they are derived. The book opens with a philosophical foundation to describe the current landscape of school jazz education. Readers are introduced to two expert school jazz educators who offer differing perspectives on the subject. The book concludes with an appendix of recommended audio, visual, digital, and written resources for teaching jazz. Accompanied by a website of playing exercises and audio examples, the book is invaluable resource for pre- and in-service music educators with no prior jazz experience, as well as those who wish to expand their knowledge of jazz performance practice and pedagogy.

As a popular music, the evolution of jazz is tied to the contemporary sociological situation. Jazz was brought from America into a very different environment in Britain and resulted in the establishment of parallel worlds of jazz by the end of the 1920s: within the realms of institutionalized culture and within the subversive underworld. Tackley (nee Parsonage) demonstrates the importance of image and racial stereotyping in shaping perceptions of jazz, and leads to the significant conclusion that the evolution of jazz in Britain was so much more than merely an extension or reflection of that in America. The book examines the cultural and musical antecedents of the genre, including minstrel shows and black musical theatre, within the context of musical life in Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Tackley is particularly concerned with the public perception of jazz in Britain and provides close analysis of the early European critical writing on the subject. The processes through which an evolution took place are considered by looking at the methods of introducing jazz in Britain, through imported revue shows, sheet music, and visits by American musicians. Subsequent developments are analysed through the consideration of modernism and the Jazz Age as theoretical constructs and through the detailed study of dance music on the BBC and jazz in the underworld of London. The book concludes in the 1930s by which time the availability of records enabled the spread of 'hot' music, affecting the live repertoire in Britain. Tackley therefore sheds entirely new light on the development of jazz in Britain, and provides a deep social and cultural understanding of the early history of the genre.

Is Jazz Dead? examines the state of jazz in America at the turn of the twenty-first century. Musicians themselves are returning to New Orleans, Swing, and Bebop styles, while the work of the '60s avant-garde and even '70s and '80s jazz-rock is roundly ignored. Meanwhile, global jazz musicians are creating new and exciting music that is just starting to be heard in the United States, offering a viable alternative to the rampant conservatism here. Stuart Nicholson's thought-provoking book offers an analysis of the American scene, how it came to be so stagnant, and what it can do to create a new level of creativity. This book is bound to be controversial among jazz purists and musicians; it will undoubtedly generate discussion about how jazz should grow now that it has become a recognized part of American musical history. Is Jazz Dead? dares to ask the question on all jazz fan's minds: Can jazz survive as a living medium? And, if so, how?

Following the success of the first volume in Nikki Iles's acclaimed jazz series, this collection features sophisticated new jazz arrangements of Christmas classics, including 'Let it snow!', 'Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer', 'Away in a manger', and 'Past three o'clock'. A wide variety of styles are represented, from swing and stride to boogaloo and calypso, and the expertly recorded CD, by Nikki Iles, helps with interpretation. With fully notated rhythms, grooves, and improvisations, Jazz on a Winter's Night 2 is the perfect collection for pianists looking for that authentic sound.

Jazz Piano Studies 1 is a great collection of original Jazz studies and study pieces, spanning a host of jazz idioms from blues, trad. and 'big band' to gospel, ballad and more reflective styles. These carefully-graded studies explore systematically a broad range of techniques including left and right-hand chord shapes, large hand stretches, more complex rhythms, blue notes, ornaments and chromatic phrasing. Whether you are learning on your own or with a teacher, Jazz Piano Studies is the ideal route to stylish piano playing! For piano players at Grade 3 and above.

Featuring in-depth lessons and 40 great jazz classics, the Hal Leonard Jazz Guitar Method is your complete guide to learning jazz guitar. This book uses real jazz songs to teach you the basics of accompanying and improvising jazz guitar in the style of Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Tal Farlow, Charlie Christian, Jim Hall and many others. Lesson topics include: chords and progressions; scales and licks; comping and soloing styles; chord-melody; intros and endings; technique; equipment and sound; and more! Songs include: Satin Doll * Take the "A" Train * Billie's Bounce * Impressions * Bluesette * My One and Only Love * Desafinado * Autumn Leaves * Watch What Happens * Misty * Song for My Father * and more. The CD contains 99 tracks for demonstration and play-along. "Highly Recommended." - Just Jazz Guitar "Filled with well-written examples ... bask in the glory of having a lot of great material at your fingertips." - Downbeat

An insightful look at the urban sensibility that gives the Great American Songbook its pizzazz. Nothing defines the songs of the Great American Songbook more centrally than their urban sensibility. During the first half of the twentieth century, songwriters such as Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Dorothy Fields, George and IraGershwin, and Thomas "Fats" Waller flourished in New York City, the home of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and Harlem. Through their songs, these artists described America -- not its geography or politics, but its heart -- to Americansand to the world at large. In City Songs and American Life, 1900-1950, renowned author and broadcaster Michael Lasser offers an evocative and probing account of the popular songs -- including some written originally for the stage or screen -- that America heard, sang, and danced to during the turbulent first half of the twentieth century. Many songs portrayed the glamor of Broadway or the energy and Jazz Age culture of Harlem. But a city-bred spirit -- or even a specifically New York City way of feeling and talking -- also infused other widely known and loved songs, stretching from the early decades of the century to the Twenties (the age of the flapper, bathtub gin, and women's right to vote), the Great Depression, and, finally, World War II. Lasser's deftly written book demonstrates how the soul of city life -- as echoed in the nation's songs -- developed and changed in tandemwith economic, social, and political currents in America as a whole. Michael Lasser, a former teacher and theater critic, is host of the syndicated public-radio show Fascinatin' Rhythm (winner of the Peabody Award) and the author of two previous books. Support for this publication was provided by the Howard Hanson Institute for American Music at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester.

1) This is the only book that is written as a coursebook for Improv, and directed to the college classroom. 2) Brings various aspects of the jazz learning process together -- practicing scales, chord arpeggios and melodic motives in 12 keys, along with the assimilation of the rhythmic nature of jazz and its related forms of (primarily African American) music -- in one systematic, organized and easy-to-assimilate manner. 3) Chapters are organized with: - a paragraph or two explaining a particular scale/harmonic basis or a common form used in jazz repertoire - suggested exercises, from basic scales to advanced melodic motives taken directly from recordings - a repertoire list that employs the harmonic, melodic or formal aspects being discussed in each chapter - concludes with a transcription of an improvised solo by a jazz master which illustrates how theory is put into practice. 4) Includes supplementary materials such as recordings of the transcribed solos, relevant Aebersold Play-Along recordings, and fake books

Part design history, part trip down musical memory lane, this anthology of jazz album artwork is above all a treasure trove of creative and cultural inspiration. Spanning half a century, it assembles the most daring and dynamic jazz cover designs that helped make and shape not only a musical genre but also a particular way of experiencing life. From the 1940s through to the decline of LP production in the early 1990s, each chosen cover design is distinct in the way it complements the energy of the album's music with its own visual rhythms of frame, line, text, and form. To satisfy even the most demanding of music geeks, each record cover is accompanied by a fact sheet listing performer and album name, art director, photographer, illustrator, year, label, and more. About the series TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program-now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.

This volume gathers together and organizes in an easily accessible format all known information relevant to the life and work of the French jazz musician Django Reinhardt. Together with fellow musician, Stephane Grappelli, Reinhardt became one of the twentieth century's most celebrated jazz artists with performances he gave as part of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France. Essentially discographical in format, this book updates the original work compiled by Charles Delauney in 1960, and draws on later work by Gould, Nevers, Royal and Rust, to detail all known recordings by Reinhardt, together with known film, radio and television appearances. For each entry Paul Vernon provides, where known, the location of the recording, the date, the artist credit as it appears on the label of the original issue, the performers and the instruments played by them, the matrix number, the exact timing of the recording and details of 78, LP, EP and CD issues. Interspersed at the appropriate chronological points are biographical details about Reinhardt and the political, social and cultural climate of his time. This is augmented with excerpts from reviews, letters and other documents to provide a vivid context for his recording work.

"Dameronia" is the first authoritative biography of Tadd Dameron, an important and widely influential figure in jazz history and one of the most significant composers and arrangers of jazz, swing, bebop, and big band. This book sets out to clarify Dameron's place in the development of jazz in the post-World War II era, as he arranged for names like Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Jimmie Lunceford, and Dizzy Gillespie and played with Bull Moose Jackson and Benny Golson It also attempts to shed light on the tragedy of his retreat from the center of jazz activity in the 1950s. By tracing Dameron's career, one finds that until 1958, when he was incarcerated for drug related offenses, he was at the forefront of developments in jazz, sometimes anticipating trends that would not develop fully for several years. Dameron was a very private man, and while some aspects of his story will probably remain an enigma, this book manages to give an intimate portrait of his life and work.

Jazz in New Orleans provides accurate information about, and an insightful interpretation of, jazz in New Orleans from the end of World War II through 1970. Suhor, relying on his experiences as a listener, a working jazz drummer, and writer in New Orleans during this period, has done a great service to lovers of New Orleans music by filling in some gaping holes in postwar jazz history and cutting through many of the myths and misconceptions that have taken hold over the years. Skillfully combining his personal experiences and historical research, the author writes with both authority and immediacy. The text, rich in previously unpublished anecdotes and New Orleans lore, is divided into three sections, each with an overview essay followed by pertinent articles Suhor wrote for national and local journals including Down Beat and New Orleans Magazine. Section One, "Jazz and the Establishment," focuses on cultural and institutional settings in which jazz was first battered, then nurtured. It deals with the reluctance of power brokers and the custodians of culture in New Orleans to accept jazz as art until the music proved itself elsewhere and was easily recognizable as a marketable commodity. Section Two, "Traditional and Dixieland Jazz," highlights the music and the musicians who were central to early jazz styles in New Orleans between 1947 and 1953. Section Three, "An Invisible Generation," will help dispel the stubborn myth that almost no one was playing be-bop or other modern jazz styles in New Orleans before the current generation of young artists appeared in the 1980s.

Contents:
Preface Acknowledgements Introduction 1. The Poetics of Jazz: From Symbolic to Semiotic 2. The Rehistoricizing of Jazz: Chicago's "Urban Bushmen" and the Problem of Representation 3. Performing Identity: Jazz Autobiography and the Politics of Literary Improvisation 4. "Space is the Place": Jazz, Voice, and Resistance 5. Nice Work If You Can Get It: Women in Jazz 6. Capitulating to Barbarism: Jazz and/as Popular Culture 7. Up for Grabs: The Ethicopolitical Authority of Jazz Conclusion Works Cited Sound and Video Recordings Consulted

Take a walk down memory lane with The Big Band Reader!Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, The Dorsey Brothers, Duke Ellington, and Glenn Miller were musical masters of their eras, enchanting and romancing audiences with their timeless classics. Relive these wonderful songs and memories through The Big Band Reader: Songs Favored by Swing Era Orchestras and Other Popular Ensembles, a unique and exciting collection of over 140 songs from over 70 bands that are categorized by themes, preferred numbers, and top songs! Paying tribute to better known swing bands, sweet bands (ensembles favoring softer, more sentimental numbers), and some unheralded bands (good ensembles that did not receive much attention or did not have a well-known leader), this book offers music enthusiasts up to four biographical essays relating to specific groups and their popular hits, giving you historical and informative facts about the songs and the people who performed them. Nostalgic and entertaining, The Big Band Reader is a one-of-a-kind book that provides you with specific details and research about your most cherished songs and their composers, such as: The Artie Shaw Orchestra, well-known for their classic hit "Begin the Beguine," by composer and lyricist Cole Porter The Benny Goodman Orchestra and their crowd favorite "And the Angels Sing," written and composed by Johnny Mercer The Billy Eckstine Orchestra's well-loved songs, including "Prisoner of Love," written by Leo Robin and "A Cottage for Sale," written by Larry Conley and composed by Willard Robison "Day in Day Out," with words and music by Johnny Mercer and Rube Bloom, which was a favorite of three big bands orchestras, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, and Bob Crosby Cab Calloway of the Cab Calloway Orchestra, along with Jack Palmer, and their hit "Jumpin'Jive" Thorough and fascinating, The Big Band Reader includes an appendix of the big bands arranged by themes to help you find a desired song or group. This remarkable reference will enable you to walk down memory lane and reminisce about the unforgettable songs of swing and its composers.

Pepperbox Jazz: Book 2, by Australian-based composer, teacher and writer Elissa Milne, further explores the sounds, moods and rhythms of the twenty-first century. These 11 evocative and humorous pieces in a variety of jazz styles are composed especially for the Grade 5-7/Advanced pianist. Elissa Milne is one of the liveliest voices in educational piano music and her Little Peppers series of colourful jazz miniatures has made a huge impact on the UK teaching scene. Pepperbox Jazz Book 1 and Book 2 is the perfect next-step for players who've enjoyed Little Peppers.

Breaking through pervasive misconceptions, Jazz in the 1970s explores a pivotal decade in jazz history. Many consider the 1970s to be the fusion decade, but Bill Shoemaker pushes back against this stereotype with a bold perspective that examines both the diverse musical innovations and cultural developments that elevated jazz internationally. He traces events that redefined jazz's role in the broadband arts movement as well as the changing social and political landscape. Shoemaker immerses readers in the cultural transformation of jazz through: *official recognition with events like Jimmy Carter's White House Jazz Picnic and the release of The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz; *the market validation of avant-garde musicians by major record labels and the concurrent spike in artist-operated record labels and performance spaces; *the artistic influence and economic impact of jazz festivals internationally; *the emergence of government and foundation grant support for jazz in the United States and Europe; *and the role of media in articulating a fast-changing scene. Shoemaker details the lives and work of well-known innovators (such as Art Ensemble of Chicago, Anthony Braxton and Sam Rivers) as well as barrier-breaking artists based in Europe (such as Derek Bailey, Peter Broetzmann and Chris McGregor) giving both longtime fans and newcomers insights into the moments and personae that shaped a vibrant decade in jazz.

Elegant People is the definitive history of Weather Report, the premier fusion band of the 1970s and beyond. Founded in late 1970 by three stars of the jazz world--keyboardist Joe Zawinul, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and bassist Miroslav Vitous--Weather Report went on to become the most unique and enduring jazz band of its era, with a style of music wholly its own. Now, on the fiftieth anniversary of Weather Report's first album release, comes Elegant People: A History of the Band Weather Report, the first book to tell the band's story in detail. Based on years of research and dozens of interviews with musicians, engineers, managers, and support personnel, Elegant People is written from an insider's perspective, describing Weather Report's transformation from a freewheeling, avant-garde jazz band whose ethos was "We always solo and we never solo" to a grooving juggernaut that combined elements of jazz, funk, Latin, and rhythm and blues. Fueled by Zawinul's hit tune "Birdland" and the charismatic stage presence of legendary electric bass player Jaco Pastorius, Weather Report took on the aura of rock stars. By the time Zawinul and Shorter mutually agreed to part ways in 1986, Weather Report had produced sixteen albums, a body of work that ranks among the most significant in jazz and continues to resonate with musicians and fans today.