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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Contemporary popular music > Jazz
Sun Ra (1914-93) was one of the most wildly prolific and
unfailingly eccentric figures in the history of music. Renowned for
extravagant performances in which his Arkestra appeared in
neo-Egyptian garb, the keyboardist and bandleader also espoused an
interstellar cosmology that claimed the planet Saturn as his true
home. In Sun Ra's Chicago, William Sites brings this visionary
musician back to earth--specifically to the city's South Side,
where from 1946 to 1961 he lived and launched his career. The
postwar South Side was a hotbed of unorthodox religious and
cultural activism where Afrocentric philosophies flourished,
storefront prophets sold "dream-book bibles," and Elijah Muhammad
was building the Nation of Islam. It was also an unruly musical
crossroads where styles circulated and mashed together in clubs and
community dancehalls. Sun Ra drew from a vast array of locally
available intellectual and musical sources--from radical
nationalism, revisionist Christianity, and science fiction to jazz,
rhythm and blues, Latin dance music and the latest pop exotica--to
put together a philosophy and performance style that imagined a new
identity and future for African Americans. Sun Ra's Chicago
contends that late twentieth-century Afrofuturism emerged from a
deep, utopian engagement with the city--and that by excavating
postwar black experience from inside Sun Ra's South Side milieu we
can come to see the possibilities of urban life in new ways.
Compelling from cover to cover, this is the story of one of the
most recorded and beloved jazz trumpeters of all time. With
unsparing honesty and a superb eye for detail, Clark Terry, born in
1920, takes us from his impoverished childhood in St. Louis,
Missouri, where jazz could be heard everywhere, to the smoke-filled
small clubs and carnivals across the Jim Crow South where he got
his start, and on to worldwide acclaim. Terry takes us behind the
scenes of jazz history as he introduces scores of legendary
greats--Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah
Washington, Doc Severinsen, Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk, Billie
Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Coleman Hawkins, Zoot Sims, and Dianne
Reeves, among many others. Terry also reveals much about his own
personal life, his experiences with racism, how he helped break the
color barrier in 1960 when he joined the "Tonight Show" band on
NBC, and why--at ninety years old--his students from around the
world still call and visit him for lessons.
Five superb albums of graded pieces provide a wealth of jazz
repertoire for you to play. Throughout, there is a huge range of
styles, from bebop blues to calypsos, boogie-woogie to ballads,
jazz waltzes to free jazz. There are classic tunes by the jazz
greats, including Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk.
And there are brand-new pieces specially commissioned from
professional British jazz musicians and educators. Each album
presents 15 pieces in three lists: blues, standards and
contemporary jazz. The head of each piece is set out with all the
characteristic voicings, phrasing and rhythmic patterns you need
for a stylish performance. The improvised section gives guideline
pitches and left-hand voicings as a practical starting-point.
Accessible, student-centred and of the highest musical standards,
these pieces will get you playing jazz confidently and creatively.
Ccontains all the pieces for ABRSM's new jazz piano exam.
Within one of the most complex musical categories yet to surface,
Cal Tjader quietly pioneered the genre as a jazz vibraphonist,
composer, arranger and bandleader from the 1950s through the 1980s.
Reid tells the life story of a humble musician, written in a
familiar, conversational tone that reveals Tjader's complex
charisma. Tjader left behind a legacy and a labyrinth of influence,
attested by his large audience and innovation that would change the
course of jazz. Expanded and revised, this intimate biography now
includes additional interviews and anecdotes from Tjader's family,
bandmates, and community, print research, and rare photographs,
presenting a full history of an undervalued musician, as well as a
detailed account of the progression of Latin Jazz.
This title features in-depth interviews with seven influential jazz
composers and musicians in Britain in the 1970s. The author
documents their ideas, influences, enthusiasms and the heroic
efforts to continue playing the music to which they are committed.
The interviews are set in context with some detailed notes on other
individual musicians as well as a section on Carr's band, Nuceus.
This title is republished with a postscript by Roger Cotterrell and
new photos.
Helps musicians know what to do with specific chords in specific
contexts. Lays out clear and objective guidelines on how to turn
scales and chords into real music. Perfect for a college or high
school improvisation class!
Ten songs from this jazz master display his unique lyrical style.
Alfie * But Beautiful * Dolphin Dance * Emily * I Will Say Goodbye
(Je Vivrai Sans Toi) * Never Let Me Go * Seascape * The Summer
Knows (Theme from Summer of '42) * A Time for Love * You Must
Believe in Spring.
The Stooges Brass Band always had big dreams. From playing in the
streets of New Orleans in the mid-1990s to playing stages the world
over, they have held fast to their goal of raising brass band music
and musicians to new heights - professionally and musically. In the
intervening years, the band's members have become family, courted
controversy, and trained a new generation of musicians, becoming
one of the city's top brass bands along the way. Two decades after
their founding, they have decided to tell their story. Can't Be
Faded: Twenty Years in the New Orleans Brass Band Game is a
collaboration between musician and ethnomusicologist Kyle DeCoste
and more than a dozen members of the Stooges Brass Band, past and
present. It is the culmination of five years of interviews,
research, and writing. Told with humor and candor, it's as much a
personal account of the Stooges' careers as it is a story of the
city's musicians and, even more generally, a coming-of-age tale
about black men in the United States at the turn of the
twenty-first century. DeCoste and the band members take readers
into the barrooms, practice rooms, studios, tour vans, and streets
where the music is made and brotherhoods are shaped and
strengthened. Comprised of lively firsthand accounts and honest
dialogue, Can't Be Faded is a dynamic approach to collaborative
research that offers a sensitive portrait of the humans behind the
horns.
A galvanizing history of how jazz and jazz musicians flourished
despite rampant cultural exploitation The music we call "jazz"
arose in late nineteenth century North America--most likely in New
Orleans--based on the musical traditions of Africans, newly freed
from slavery. Grounded in the music known as the "blues," which
expressed the pain, sufferings, and hopes of Black folk then
pulverized by Jim Crow, this new music entered the world via the
instruments that had been abandoned by departing military bands
after the Civil War. Jazz and Justice examines the economic,
social, and political forces that shaped this music into a
phenomenal US--and Black American--contribution to global arts and
culture. Horne assembles a galvanic story depicting what may have
been the era's most virulent economic--and racist--exploitation, as
jazz musicians battled organized crime, the Ku Klux Klan, and other
variously malignant forces dominating the nightclub scene where
jazz became known. Horne pays particular attention to women
artists, such as pianist Mary Lou Williams and trombonist Melba
Liston, and limns the contributions of musicians with Native
American roots. This is the story of a beautiful lotus, growing
from the filth of the crassest form of human immiseration.
Many regard jazz as the soundtrack of America, born and raised in
its cities and echoing throughout its tumultuous century of
progress. So when Ernest Hemingway wrote about seeing jazz in 1920s
Paris, and when British colonial officials danced to jazz in the
clubs of Calcutta in the waning years of the Raj, how, exactly, had
it gotten there? Jazz Worlds/World Jazz aims to answer these
questions and more, bringing together voices from countries as far
flung as Azerbaijan, Armenia, and India to show that the story of
jazz is not trapped in American history books but alive in global
modernity. Monumental in scope, this book explores the relationship
between jazz and culture and how they influence each other across a
range of themes and settings. Contributors offer an analysis of the
social meaning of jazz in Iran, a look at the genesis of Ethiopian
jazz and at Indian fusion, and chapters on jazz diplomacy, Balkan
swing, and that French export par excellence: Django Reinhardt.
Altogether the contributors approach jazz--in these global
iterations--through the themes that have always characterized it at
home: place, history, mobility, media, and race. The result is a
first-of-its-kind map of jazz around the globe that pays tribute to
the players who have given the form its seemingly infinite
possibilities.
Cool syncopation, funky riffs and smooth, stylish tunes - from
dynamic to nostalgic, Pam Wedgwood's series has it all. Easy
Jazzin' About Piano/Keyboard is a vibrant collection of original
pieces in a range of contemporary styles, tailor-made for the
beginner (grade 1-3) and including lots of tips and workouts. This
new edition features a fantastic accompanying CD complete with
performances, backing tracks, and slowed-down backing tracks for
practice. So take a break from the classics and get into the groove
as you cruise from blues, to rock, to jazz.
Although Frank Zappa died over 20 years ago, he continues to be
regarded as an iconic figure in 20th century culture. In 1973 he
famously said 'Jazz is not dead... it just smells funny,' and in
this new book Geoff Wills takes a look at Zappa's widely assumed
antipathy for the jazz genre. Along the way, he throws up some very
interesting facts. Frank Zappa's music has a unique and easily
recognisable quality, and it brilliantly synthesizes a wide range
of cultural influences. Zappa and Jazz focuses on the influence of
jazz on Zappa in an attempt to clarify the often-confusing nature
of his relationship with it. Zappa's early years are examined, from
his first foray into a recording studio to the formation and
progress of his band The Mothers of Invention. There are exhaustive
critiques here of the key jazz-related albums Hot Rats, King Kong,
The Grand Wazoo and Waka/Jawaka. Along the way, Wills analyses
Zappa's music and the wider influences that were crucial in forming
his attitudes, not only to jazz but to society in general. The book
concludes with a discussion of Zappa's similarity to more orthodox
jazz leaders, his legacy and the influence on jazz-related music.
Guaranteed to appeal to all Zappa fans who seek new insights into
his music, to open-minded jazz listeners and to anyone with an
interest in the melting pot of 20th century music.
Jazz: The Basics gives a brief introduction to a century of
jazz, ideal for students and interested listeners who want to learn
more about this important musical style. The heart of the book
traces jazz's growth from its folk origins through early recordings
and New Orleans stars; the big-band and swing era; bebop; cool jazz
and third stream; avant-garde; jazz-rock; and the neo-conservative
movement of the 1980s and 1990s.
Key figures from each era including: Louis Armstrong, Benny
Goodman, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Wynton Marsalis are
highlighted along with classic works. The book concludes with a
list of the 100 essential recordings to own, along with a timeline
and glossary. Jazz: The Basics serves as an excellent introduction
to the players, the music, and the styles that make jazz 'America's
classical music.'
The contributors to Playing for Keeps examine the ways in which
musical improvisation can serve as a method for negotiating
violence, trauma, systemic inequality, and the aftermaths of war
and colonialism. Outlining the relation of improvisatory practices
to local and global power structures, they show how in sites as
varied as South Africa, Canada, Egypt, the United States, and the
Canary Islands, improvisation provides the means for its
participants to address the past and imagine the future. In
addition to essays, the volume features a poem by saxophonist
Matana Roberts, an interview with pianist Vijay Iyer about his work
with U.S. veterans of color, and drawings by artist Randy DuBurke
that chart Nina Simone's politicization. Throughout, the
contributors illustrate how improvisation functions as a model for
political, cultural, and ethical dialogue and action that can
foster the creation of alternate modes of being and knowing in the
world. Contributors. Randy DuBurke, Rana El Kadi, Kevin Fellezs,
Daniel Fischlin, Kate Galloway, Reem Abdul Hadi, Vijay Iyer, Mark
Lomanno, Moshe Morad, Eric Porter, Sara Ramshaw, Matana Roberts,
Darci Sprengel, Paul Stapleton, Odeh Turjman, Stephanie Vos
The beautiful and entertaining arrangements in the Dan Coates
Popular Piano Library collections are a welcome addition to any
pianist's pop repertoire. Medleys for Christmas is a collection of
favorite irreplaceable songs from throughout the years. Why perform
only one showstopper at a time when you can play a dazzling variety
in an exciting medley? Titles: Christmas Day Medley * Christmas Eve
Medley * Jolly Christmas Medley * Ringing Christmas Medley *
Rockin' Christmas Medley * Snowy Christmas Medley.
(Easy Piano Solo). A great collection of 21 jazz standards arranged
at an easier level, including: All Blues * All the Things You Are *
Beyond the Sea * Caravan * Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me * Fly
Me to the Moon (In Other Words) * The Girl from Ipanema (Garota De
Ipanema) * Here's That Rainy Day * In Walked Bud * One Note Samba
(Samba De Uma Nota So) * Satin Doll * So What * Take the "A" Train
* Waltz for Debby * and more.
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