|
Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Contemporary popular music > Jazz
A rare collection of more than 200 full-color and black-and-white
souvenir photographs and memorabilia that bring to life the
renowned jazz nightclubs of the 1940s and 1950s, compiled by Grammy
Award-winning record executive and music historian Jeff Gold and
featuring exclusive interviews with Quincy Jones, Sonny Rollins,
Robin Givhan, Jason Moran, and Dan Morgenstern. In the two decades
before the Civil Rights movement, jazz nightclubs were among the
first places that opened their doors to both Black and white
performers and club goers in Jim Crow America. In this
extraordinary collection, Jeff Gold looks back at this explosive
moment in the history of Jazz and American culture, and the spaces
at the center of artistic and social change. Sittin' In is a visual
history of jazz clubs during these crucial decades when some of the
greatest names in in the genre-Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Ella
Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Oscar
Peterson, and many others-were headlining acts across the country.
In many of the clubs, Black and white musicians played together and
more significantly, people of all races gathered together to enjoy
an evening's entertainment. House photographers roamed the floor
and for a dollar, took picture of patrons that were developed on
site and could be taken home in a keepsake folder with the club's
name and logo. Sittin' In tells the story of the most popular club
in these cities through striking images, first-hand anecdotes, true
tales about the musicians who performed their unforgettable shows,
notes on important music recorded live there, and more. All of this
is supplemented by colorful club memorabilia, including posters,
handbills, menus, branded matchbooks, and more. Inside you'll also
find exclusive, in-depth interviews conducted specifically for this
book with the legendary Quincy Jones; jazz great tenor saxophonist
Sonny Rollins; Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion critic Robin Givhan;
jazz musician and creative director of the Kennedy Center, Jason
Moran; and jazz critic Dan Morgenstern. Gold surveys America's jazz
scene and its intersection with racism during segregation, focusing
on three crucial regions: the East Coast (New York, Atlantic City,
Boston, Washington, D.C.); the Midwest (Chicago, Cleveland,
Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City); and the West Coast (Los Angeles,
San Francisco). This collection of ephemeral snapshots tells the
story of an era that helped transform American life, beginning the
move from traditional Dixieland jazz to bebop, from conservatism to
the push for personal freedom.
The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor: America's Classical Musician
is the autobiography of the legendary jazz ambassador whose work
spans more than six decades, from the heyday of 52nd Street in
1940s New York City to CBS Sunday Morning. Beginning with his
childhood in segregation-era Washington D.C., Billy Taylor recounts
how he came of age as a jazz musician in smoke-filled clubs
pulsating with the rhythms of bebop, and later climbed to world
acclaim as an internationally recognized music educator and popular
media figure. Through his life's work, Taylor fought not only for
the recognition of jazz music as "America's classical music" but
also for the recognition of black musicians as key contributors to
the American music repertoire. Peppered with anecdotes detailing
encounters with other jazz legends such as Fats Waller, Jelly Roll
Morton, Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Ben Webster, Count Basie, Billie
Holiday, Dinah Washington, and many others, this autobiography is
not only the life story of a jazz musician and spokesman, but is
also the history of a nation grappling with racism and
modernity.
NOMINATED FOR THE JAZZ JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION BOOK OF THE YEAR
2021 WINNER OF THE PRESTO JAZZ BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020 An articulate,
scrupulously researched account based on first-hand information,
this book presents Brubeck's contribution to music with the
critical insight that it deserves - ***** BBC Music Magazine This
is the writing about jazz that we've been waiting for - Mike
Westbrook The sheer descriptive verve, page after page, made me
want to listen to every single musical example cited. A major
achievement - Stephen Hough 'Definitive . . . remarkable. Clark
writes intelligently and joyously.' - Mojo In 2003, music
journalist Philip Clark was granted unparalleled access to jazz
legend Dave Brubeck. Over the course of ten days, he shadowed the
Dave Brubeck Quartet during their extended British tour, recording
an epic interview with the bandleader. Brubeck opened up as never
before, disclosing his unique approach to jazz; the heady days of
his 'classic' quartet in the 1950s-60s; hanging out with Duke
Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, and Miles Davis; and
the many controversies that had dogged his 66-year-long career.
Alongside beloved figures like Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra,
Brubeck's music has achieved name recognition beyond jazz. But
finding a convincing fit for Brubeck's legacy, one that reconciles
his mass popularity with his advanced musical technique, has proved
largely elusive. In Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time, Clark provides us
with a thoughtful, thorough, and long-overdue biography of an
extraordinary man whose influence continues to inform and inspire
musicians today. Structured around Clark's extended interview and
intensive new research, this book tells one of the last untold
stories of jazz, unearthing the secret history of 'Take Five' and
many hitherto unknown aspects of Brubeck's early career - and about
his creative relationship with his star saxophonist Paul Desmond.
Woven throughout are cameo appearances from a host of unlikely
figures from Sting, Ray Manzarek of The Doors, and Keith Emerson,
to John Cage, Leonard Bernstein, Harry Partch, and Edgard Varese.
Each chapter explores a different theme or aspect of Brubeck's life
and music, illuminating the core of his artistry and genius.
This dynamic collection brings together 12 of Gershwin's iconic
songs arranged for solo classical guitar by the late John Duarte.
Suitable for classical guitar players from intermediate to advanced
level, this unmissable compilation is complete with a unique
foreword containing insights from the acclaimed guitarist himself.
Including online audio of each piece available to download.
Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn theme. Lalo Schifrin's Mission:
Impossible theme. Isaac Hayes' theme from Shaft. These iconic
melodies have remained a part of the pop culture landscape since
their debuts back when movie studios and TV production companies
employed full orchestral ensembles to provide a jazz backdrop for
the suspenseful adventures of secret agents, private detectives,
cops, spies and heist-minded criminals. Hundreds of additional
films and television shows made from the mid-1950s and beyond have
been propelled by similarly swinging title themes and underscores,
many of which have (undeservedly) faded into obscurity. This
meticulously researched book begins with Hayes' game-changing music
for Shaft, and honors the careers of traditional jazz composers
who--as the 1970s gave way to the '80s and beyond--resolutely
battled against the pernicious influx of synth, jukebox scores and
a growing corporate disinterest in lavish ensembles. Fans
frustrated by the lack of attention paid to jazz soundtrack
composers--including Mort Stevens, Laurie Johnson, Mike Post, Earle
Hagen, David Shire, Elmer Bernstein and many, many others--will
find solace in these pages (along with all the information needed
to enhance one's music library). But this is only half the story;
the saga's origins are discussed in this book's companion volume,
Crime and Action Jazz on Screen: 1950-1970.
Bop Apocalypse, a narrative history from master storyteller Martin
Torgoff, details the rise of early drug culture in America by
weaving together the disparate elements that formed this new
segment of the American fabric. Channeling his decades of writing
experience, Torgoff connects the birth of jazz in New Orleans, the
first drug laws, Louis Armstrong, Mezz Mezzrow, the Federal Bureau
of Narcotics, swing, Lester Young, Billie Holliday, the Savoy
Ballroom, Reefer Madness, Charlie Parker, the birth of bebop, the
rise of the Beat Generation, and the coming of heroin to Harlem.
Having spent a lifetime immersed in the world where music and drugs
overlap, Torgoff reveals material that is completely new and has
never been disclosed before, not even in his own litany of work.
Bop Apocalypse is truly a new and fresh contribution to the
understanding of jazz, race, and drug culture.
'From her raging, handwritten letters to late-night phone calls
with David Bowie, this biography gets up close and personal with
the tempestuous Nina Simone' Observer Drawing on glimpses into
previously unseen diaries, rare interviews and childhood journals,
and with the aid of her daughter, What Happened, Miss Simone? tells
the story of the classically trained pianist who became a soul
legend, a committed civil rights activist and one of the most
influential, provocative and least understood artists of our time.
This is the story of the real Miss Simone.
|
Mingus Speaks
(Hardcover)
John Goodman; Photographs by Sy Johnson
|
R765
R661
Discovery Miles 6 610
Save R104 (14%)
|
Ships in 12 - 17 working days
|
|
Charles Mingus is among jazz's greatest composers and perhaps its
most talented bass player. He was blunt and outspoken about the
place of jazz in music history and American culture, about which
performers were the real thing (or not), and much more. These
in-depth interviews, conducted several years before Mingus died,
capture the composer's spirit and voice, revealing how he saw
himself as composer and performer, how he viewed his peers and
predecessors, how he created his extraordinary music, and how he
looked at race. Augmented with interviews and commentary by ten
close associates--including Mingus's wife Sue, Teo Macero, George
Wein, and Sy Johnson--"Mingus Speaks" provides a wealth of new
perspectives on the musician's life and career.
As a writer for "Playboy, " John F. Goodman reviewed Mingus's
comeback concert in 1972 and went on to achieve an intimacy with
the composer that brings a relaxed and candid tone to the ensuing
interviews. Much of what Mingus shares shows him in a new light:
his personality, his passions and sense of humor, and his thoughts
on music. The conversations are wide-ranging, shedding fresh light
on important milestones in Mingus's life such as the publication of
his memoir, "Beneath the Underdog," the famous Tijuana episodes,
his relationships, and the jazz business.
Discover Pam Wedgwood's exciting world of jazz piano! How to Play
Jazz Piano is a fun and simple introduction for young players with
a basic knowledge of how to play the piano (about Grade 2
standard). It includes an introduction to improvisation, suggested
listening ideas and covers swing, syncopated rhythms, basic chords
and chord symbols, scales and modes used in jazz. There are also
plenty of great pieces in different styles, online audio and Pam's
helpful advice and teaching tips every step of the way!
Stephen Botek apprenticed at the side of some of the greats of the
jazz era, learning not only about music, but about life. Growing up
in small-town Pennsylvania in the shadow of the Dorseys, Botek
decides to follow his muse to a future in jazz. He gets mentored by
clarinet great Buddy DeFranco and saxophone legend Joe Allard,
meets up with greats such as Artie Shaw and Dizzy Gillespie along
the way, and follows in Glenn Miller's footsteps with the Army Air
Force Band. A primer on the jazz era, as well as an account of the
benefits of apprenticeship, SONG ON MY LIPS not only recounts
stories of the greats but takes us backstage, to their studios, and
to many of the unique venues of the time. Jazz aficionados and new
musicians alike will learn much about the music from this unique
life story.
Miles Davis's Bitches Brew is one of the most iconic albums in
American music, the preeminent landmark and fertile seedbed of
jazz-fusion. Fans have been fortunate in the past few years to gain
access to Davis's live recordings from this time, when he was
working with an ensemble that has come to be known as the Lost
Quintet. In this book, jazz historian and musician Bob Gluck
explores the performances of this revolutionary group Davis's first
electric band to illuminate the thinking of one of our rarest
geniuses and, by extension, the extraordinary transition in
American music that he and his fellow players ushered in. Gluck
listens deeply to the uneasy tension between this group's driving
rhythmic groove and the sonic and structural openness, surprise,
and experimentation they were always pushing toward. There he hears
and outlines a fascinating web of musical interconnection that
brings Davis's funk-inflected sensibilities into conversation with
the avant-garde worlds that players like Ornette Coleman and John
Coltrane were developing. Going on to analyze the little-known
experimental groups Circle and the Revolutionary Ensemble, Gluck
traces deep resonances across a commercial gap between the
celebrity Miles Davis and his less famous but profoundly innovative
peers. The result is a deeply attuned look at a pivotal moment when
once-disparate worlds of American music came together in
explosively creative combinations.
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
Hearing Luxe Pop explores a deluxe-production aesthetic that has
long thrived in American popular music, in which popular-music
idioms are merged with lush string orchestrations and big-band
instrumentation. John Howland presents an alternative music history
that centers on shifts in timbre and sound through innovative uses
of orchestration and arranging, traveling from symphonic jazz to
the Great American Songbook, the teenage symphonies of Motown to
the "countrypolitan" sound of Nashville, the sunshine pop of the
Beach Boys to the blending of soul and funk into 1970s disco, and
Jay-Z's hip-hop-orchestra events to indie rock bands performing
with the Brooklyn Philharmonic. This book attunes readers to hear
the discourses gathered around the music and its associated images
as it examines pop's relations to aspirational consumer culture,
theatricality, sophistication, cosmopolitanism, and glamorous
lifestyles.
Following on from "Giant Steps" comes the second installment in
Kenny Mathieson's series of jazz histories
"Cookin'" examines the birth and development of two of the key
jazz styles of the postwar era, hard bop and its related offshoot,
soul jazz. Hard bop was the most exciting jazz style of its day,
and remains at the core of the modern jazz mainstream even now. It
drew on the twin poles of bebop and the blues for its foundation,
spiced up with gospel, Latin, and rhythm and blues influences. The
book looks at the founding fathers of the form, Art Blakey and
Horace Silver, and goes on to trace the music through its peak
decade. The second installment of Kenny Mathieson's series of jazz
histories provides a fine overview of one of the most exciting
periods in the music's development and features profiles of
Cannonball Adderley, Donald Byrd, Lou Donaldson, Grant Green, and
J.J. Johnson, among others.
|
You may like...
Red Groove
Chris Searle
Paperback
R374
Discovery Miles 3 740
Washington, Dc, Jazz
Regennia N Williams, Sandra Butler-truesdale
Paperback
R641
R528
Discovery Miles 5 280
|