Thelonious Monk: Originals & Standards [Paperback] Review

well first off you'll probably notice that there is no concrete description of the book's contents. and you'll probably think to yourself 'there's no way they'd make me spend that much for a book of measure numbers and (simplified) chord names without throwing in at least a few transcriptions of solos.'
ironically, you would be wrong, were that your thought. yes, this is a fake book. fine for improvising over, since it gives you pretty bland transcriptions of the melodies and the chord progressions. but don't expect to have any closer glimpse into the music of monk. this will not let you see what notes monk plays, won't let you see the true craft of the pianist.
i had hoped this would turn out to be something like 'the complete charlie parker,' which is to date the most helpful book of solo transcriptions i've found. this was not even close. it's pretty pathetic how few notes are on the few pages of this book. make sure you see a copy of the book before deciding whether it's worth your while or not.

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Product Description:
A collection of compositions by one of the most creative figures in the history of jazz. Expertly arranged, the works are accompanied by descriptive text.

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Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life [Paperback] Review

This biography of Louis Armstrong presents the rich mosaic that was the life of one of the greatest musicians and entertainers of the 20th Century.It uses his life story to describe the history of early jazz--from hischildhood on the streets of New Orleans, his move to Chicago where he madehis famous recordings with the Hot Five and Hot Seven, and on to New Yorkand Europe.I was surprized to learn that in many ways his charismaticstage persona was his real personality.But at the same time he was quitea complex character (four marriages, daily marijuana use, managers with mobconnections, laxative proselytizations).Aside from his musical genius, hewas a cultural icon--the first African American entertainer to cross overto broad popularity throughout America.The story is often told in Louis'sown words, making it easier to get to know him.I loved the story abouthis first trip back to New Orleans after he spent nearly a decade goingfrom being a local talent to an international star.When I got to the lastchapter I put the book aside for a little while--I didn't want the book orLouis's life to end.

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Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece [Paperback] Review

A surprisingly brisk read for a book of such ambitious scope, the author begins a full decade before the recording it chronicles. A wide range of subject matter - the evolution of jazz, Miles as an artist and creative voice, recording techniques, even the business of jazz marketing - are covered engagingly, intelligently and leave the reader with a better context in which to place this seminal recording.
Long-time fans, who know the music and the myths inside out, will marvel anew at the dedication Miles showed not only to his music, but in what can only be called his sentimentality in working with the other artists on the dates. His relationship with pianist Bill Evans is especially poignant.
The rise of modal jazz and its off-shoot from bop, along with the impact on the post-war generation of players is juxtaposed against a record label system willing to actually bid for jazz artists(!) and put real thought and resources into promoting their works. There is a tinge of nostalgia to the writing, though the author is not a contemporary of the original recording's release. This tone is far out-weighed by the realization that Kind of Blue really did mark a second (or third) Golden Age in jazz and that men the likes of Miles Davis - or Babe Ruth or Marlon Brando - seem not to walk among us much anymore.
In an age of celebrity profiles and Behind the Music "documentaries", Kahn's book shows us that every story has many stories, and he tells each with a respectful touch.

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Product Description:
Now in paperback: "A small treasure" (The New Yorker) and the best-selling account of the creation of a jazz classic.
This critically and commercially acclaimed tribute to the most popular jazz album of all time is now available in paperback. With transcriptions of the unedited session tapes; in-depth interviews with musicians; freshly discovered Columbia Records files; never-before-seen photographs; and a foreword by the last surviving member of the band, drummer Jimmy Cobb, Kind of Blue is a vital piece of music history-and will be essential for fans and scholars for years to come.

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Dizzy: The Life and Times of John Birks Gillespie [Hardcover] Review

This is by far the most revealing (because best researched), most fascinating, and best written biography about Dizzy Gillespie and his times yet available. Uniquely informative musical explanations of Dizzy's contribitions to be-bop and his use of Afro-Cuban elements in jazz, propelling that music from the Swing Era into jazz of today and tomorrow. Also presents the social and historical context of Dizzy's story, from cotton picking in Cheraw,SC to world renown and jazz immortality. Only thing not explained, because it's unexplainable: how and why he was gifted with and then powerfully developed such prodigious talent -- the Mozart of jazz!

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Product Description:

Dizzy Gillespie secured his place in the jazz pantheon as one of the most expressive and virtuosic improvisers in the history of music. More important is that he was one of its great innovators. As a primary creator of the bebop and Afro-Cuban revolutions, he twice changed the way improvisation was fundamentally done. And by combining electrifying musicianship, infectious warmth, and rare comedic skills, he achieved a worldwide popularity few jazz musicians have ever enjoyed.


This is the enthralling saga of Dizzy Gillespie -- a chronicle of the rise of a jazz genius from the lowest rung of the social order to the highest pinnacle of respect and ability that brings Harlem's golden after-hours era, the raucous 52nd Street scene, of the forties, the barrios of Havana and Rio, the White House, and the world's great concert halls to glorious life.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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The Music of Black Americans: A History [Hardcover] Review

Have you ever heard about The National Negro Opera Company? Founded by Mary Cardwell Dawson, the company made its debut in Pittsburgh in 1941. This is but one of the fascinating things you can discover in this marvelous book. If you have an interest in music of whatever variety, your library is incomplete without this book.
This 3rd edition was done in 1997, thus it is quite up-to-date in its coverage of classical, jazz, rock, pop, gospel, swing, ragtime or blues. If it is music as practiced, performed or composed by people of color, this is where you'll find valuable information about it. Beginning with Africa and continuing to the present day, the four sections detail this rich history: Song in a Strange Land (1619-1775); Let My People Go (1776-1865); Blow Ye the Trumpet (1865-1919) and Lift Every Voice (1920-1996). The latter section is particularly informative reading with sections on Jazz, The Harlem Renaissance, and the Mid-Century Decades. It is these years in which artists of color finally took their well-deserved place on the musical stages of the world. Of course, they had been visible in their own world, and the popularity of such major composers as Scott Joplin and Duke Ellingtonallowed them to more or less effortlessly cross-over to the 'white' world. Lena Horne, the Mills Brothers, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway were--and still are--names to be reckoned with in any list of fabulous performers.
And then there was Marion Anderson who finally made her way to the Metropolitan Opera at the very end of her career, making way for Robert McFerrin, Leontyne Price, Jessye Norman, Simon Estes and George Shirley, who were very much pioneers in their respective repertoire. Today, thankfully, artists of color are not at all rare on the concert and/or opera stages of the world. But lest we forget the individual trauma these artists suffered in order to be able to compete in this way, we need to remember the past while we are glorying in the present. This book will, if you let it, open your mind and your ears to wonderful, glorious sounds, without which our world would be a much quieter and poorer place.
The author of this book is the renowned Eileen Southern (Professor Emerita of Music and Afro-American Studies at Harvard University) who is herself a musician as well as a writer, and is eminently qualified to illuminate The Music of Black Americans to the world in general.
Pages 613 through 646 comprise a rich bibliography and discography; the index takes up 41 pages. NO music lover should be without this invaluable reference work.

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Product Description:
This text provides comprehensive coverage of black American music, from the arrival of the first Africans in the English colonies to contemporary developments in African-American history. The book draws on authentic documents, from colonial times to the present, to illuminate the history of black music. The book provides thorough treatment of black women musicians, including Lil Hardin Armstrong, Marian Anderson, Billie Holiday, Leontyne Price and Ella Fitzgerald.

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Eurock: European Rock & the Second Culture [Paperback] Review

At a time when music criticism has degenerated into little more than fawning declarations of "best ever", "profound", "unique" and any other in-the-service-of-sales bromide you can stomach, it becomes even more important to take serious note of what comes from people who truly love music.

As he tells us early on, Archie Patterson was raised on records. Music is such a big part of his life that he turns out to be the right man at the right time. Because, while the U.S. might have been drowning in disco during the 1970s, Europe was the home of some of the most compelling, innovative and advanced bands to ever perform or record. Compelling and important enough to lead to the publication of Eurock, which stands far apart in the world of fanzines as an authentic journal of the people, the bands and the ideas that continue to inform and shape the many forms of alternative music today.

The 700+ pages of "Eurock, European Rock & the Second Culture" is nothing short of the definitive word on alternative, experimental and progressive European music written from the perspective of listeners and enthusiasts committed to furthering the cause of an alternative music and the culture it represents. The book's scope is encyclopedic, providing criticism, reviews and interviews with artists and groups, articles on independent labels, technology and instrumentation. The book even offers a rare article by Lester Bangs on Amon Duul.

Organized chronologically, from 1973 - 2002, this book provides information about virtually every important and not-so-important independent and alternative artist you could hope to read about from Europe, the U.S., Japan and points beyond. But much more than music comes through. As the title implies, the writings in this book are part of a time of profound cultural change which was in many ways inseparable from the music in question. Patterson asks us to look not only at the music, but at the social and cultural context of what helped make such music possible, and do so through the voices of the musicians and their audience. It is this aspect of "Eurock, European Rock & the Second Culture" that makes it such an important and authoritative collection of thoughts and observations of music and how music operates in the world. And what you'll find is simply that what mattered in the early 1970s continues to matter today, and will always matter to those that understand music to be more than entertainment or distraction.

So while the current crop of self-styled critics can spare us only a minute or two to tell us and sell us that something is "great" while they already have their eyes and ears on whatever the industry tells them is "next",pull out your copy of Eurock and spend your time with the people and ideas that have remained true to music, for the love of music, for more than three decades.

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Product Description:
Over the span of 30 + years Eurock was the first ever magazine to focus on the burgeoning European Rock scene. It became a renowned subterranean trade publication devoted to Euro-Rock, hence the name "EUROCK". It moved well away from mainstream music and devoted itself exclusively to the realm of "serious listening". Covering experimental, progressive rock, space rock and electronic music, bands like - Can, Amon Duul 2, Tangerine Dream, Neu, Kraftwerk, Faust, Magma, Supersister, Wigwam and Savage Rose. Many of the groups covered would go on to later influence countless hundreds of other bands down the years.
EUROCK - EUROPEAN ROCK & THE SECOND CULTURE compiles all the magazines majoarticlesis into an amazing reference guide that belongs in the collection of all serious experimental rock music buffs.
A Special Bonus introduction is the previously unpublished article on Krautrock from 1971 by the late Editor of Creem Magazine and gonzo rock journalist extraordinaire Lester Bangs - "Amon Duul: A Science Fiction Rock Spectacle".
250 Pictures ~ 2,700 Artists Indexed

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Music in the USA: A Documentary Companion [Hardcover] Review

"Music in the USA" is essential for the student, professor, or enthusiast. Never before has such an array of primary source documents been collected into a single volume. Easy to browse, "Music in the USA" makes for a fantastic research tool as well as a great read for pure enjoyment- one can easily read up on any segment of American musical culture throughout our history. As a student, I highly recommend picking up this book. I have used it many times in my studies, and will surely reference it in my continuing pursuit into the music industry.

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Product Description:
Music in the USA: A Documentary Companion charts a path through American music and musical life using as guides the words of composers, performers, writers and the rest of us ordinary folks who sing, dance, and listen. The anthology of primary sources contains about 160 selections from 1540 to 2000. Sometimes the sources are classics in the literature around American music, for example, the Preface to the Bay Psalm Book, excerpts from Slave Songs of the United States, and Charles Ives extolling Emerson. But many other selections offer uncommon sources, including a satirical story about a Yankee music teacher; various columns from 19th-century German American newspapers; the memoirs of a 19th-century diva; Lottie Joplin remembering her husband Scott; a little-known reflection of Copland about Stravinsky;an interview with Muddy Waters from the Chicago Defender; a letter from Woody Guthrie on the "spunkfire" attitude of a folk song; a press release from the Country Music Association;and the Congressional testimony around "Napster.""Sidebar" entries occasionally bring a topic or an idea into the present, acknowledging the extent to which revivals of many kinds of music play a role in American contemporary culture. This book focuses on the connections between theory and practice to enrich our understanding of the diversity of American musical experiences.Designed especially to accompany college courses which survey American music as a whole, the book is also relevant to courses in American history and American Studies.

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Up The Ladder and Over The Top [Paperback] Review

This is one of the most interesting, and most intriguing autobiographies I have ever read. I have marveled at this musician's talents over the years, starting with his time leading the band on "Name That Tune" through the 20-plus years he spent doing Bob Hope's NBC specials. I own all of his CDs, including two I have purchased from amazon.com.

Reading Bob's rise from his less-than-stellar formative years in Brooklyn to jazz clubs, name bands, his misfortunes with the dating scene, Las Vegas, the Hollywood studio scene, arranging and conducting for a variety of name performers, and finally migrating to his current Hilton Head Island base brought me to tears at times.

His personal distaste for the trendiness of today's youth also struck a high note with me, for I also disapprove of almost everything they do.

For musicians and non-musicians alike, this is a life well-lived, and a book worth your time to seek out and read.

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Product Description:
These memoirs of a studio musician follow the life ofpianist-conductor-arranger Bob Alberti from his early beginnings inBrooklyn, N.Y. through his early bands, his affiliation with the"name-bands" of the 1950s, the jazz joints of Greenwich Village, the"society bands" of the upper-crust New York elite, and his move to LosAngeles in 1960 which culminated in his position as a respectedmusical director in the television industry. It's filled withanecdotes from the "inside" of show-biz, along with photos coveringover a half century.

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Joni Mitchell [Paperback] Review

It's ironic (and perhaps moronic) that Hinton should choose none other than Joni Mitchell as a subject for a biography.Not only is Mitchell one of the most gifted and literate songwriters of the 20th Century, she isalso one of the most iconoclastic, as well...shunning publicity that most'rock stars' consume with a spoon.And its these circumstances which pointout the failings in this dismal read: Hinton can't write and what he haswritten are quotes of Mitchell herself when she has deigned to submit topersonal interviews.It's appalling that the publisher went ahead withsuch a shoddy and thoroughly uninformative book about one of the great popicons of our century.

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Updated from the well-received edition, this new edition brings the Joni Mitchell story up to date.

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The Genius of Duke Ellington [Paperback] Review

I had wanted a Duke Ellington piano solo book for a long time. And the unfortunate part about buying jazz books is that they aren't available in local stores. There's no way to look inside of the book online, so I basically have to guess which ones are good.

So I guess you see where I'm going - I am not completely happy with it. All of the songs are 1 or 2 pages. After the basic composition, there is no improvisation on the melody. Plus, a lot of the songs are labeled "Boogie-Woogie", which is not my favorite style.

The plus side is that I did learn a cool trick. Now that I know that I don't like really short songs, I can use what is available on Amazon - page count and song count. Doing the math, this book has songs that are an average of 1.7 pages. A different book that I have enjoyed has 5.25 pages per song. So before buying a book, I can check that out.

The other good thing is that the songs have grown on me. The arrangements are by Duke Ellington himself, and not someone arranging his orchestra songs for piano solo. So I like playing what the genius himself arranged. Out of the book, there are a few gems.

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Product Description:
Two dozen tunes in the Duke's own style. Includes: I'm Nobody's Baby
* I'll See You in My Dreams
* I Cried for You
* At Sundown
* You Are My Lucky Star.

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Race Music: Black Cultures from Bebop to Hip-Hop [Hardcover] Review

Race Music is a wonderful example of music scholarship. Ramsey's work provides a rigourous, fresh, and inciteful look into African American Music. Unlike many music scholars who unsuccessfully negotiate the academic and popualar terrains simultaneously, Ramsey presents an unflinchingly academic book in a way that allows the lay public access into his wonderful world of idas. A must read!!!!

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Buena Vista Social Club (Pvg) [Paperback] Review

I am a fan of Wim Wenders' work, and I loved the BVSC CD and the movie, but in all honesty, except for the intro by Wenders and the closing interview with Ry Cooder, the entire book basically consists of shots from the movie along with the dialogs by the BVSC stars and the lyrics to the songs they interpret, i.e. material that the movie and the CD already provide. Yes: I admit I had higher expectations with it. In any case, I have to say Ibrahim Ferrer's monologue toward the end, when they visit NYC for their performance at Carnegie Hall, is a very touching moment.

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Product Description:
This book features 14 fabulous Latin songs from the Grammy-winning soundtrack to Wim Wenders' Academy Award-nominated documentary on Ry Cooder's journey to Havana to capture Cuba's legendary local musicians in action. Includes the songs: Amor De Loca Juventud * Buena Vista Social Club * Candela * Chan Chan * De Camino A La Vereda * Dos Gardenias * El Carretero * El Cuarto De Tula * La Bayamesa * Murmullo * Orgullecida * Pueblo Nuevo * Veinte Anos * Y Tu Que Has Hecho?.

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George Gershwin: His Life and Music [Illustrated] [Paperback] Review

"This young fellow has the spark of musical genius, which is definite in his serious moods, he has the fire of originality. I really believe that America will at no distant date honor him for his talent and that when we speak of American composers, George Gershwin's name will be prominent on our list." ~ Beryl Rubenstein, concert pianist and faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music, from an interview in 1922 ~

This book, "George Gershwin: His Life & Music" by Ean Wood is one of the most interesting and informative books ever written about the composer's musical career as well as his short but so remarkable life. This book gives details about his family, his first job as a pianist/song plugger at Jerome H Remick & Co., his life in the entertainment world, his most notable Broadway shows, and his most famous masterpiece and an excellent work of art, "Rhapsody In Blue," which he composed in ten days.

It has been noted that Jerome Kern was the one who inspired George Gershwin to switch from pop songs to Broadway musicals. Irving Berlin, a brilliant songwriter himself was also an inspiration to Gershwin, who was born with two supreme gifts - the ability to write memorable tunes and an instinct for setting them with rich and unexpected harmonies.

Gershwin's success as a composer comes from his being passionate about music, his obsessive drive to create music, his swift musical development, his keen listening habits, his love of piano playing, his love for classical concerts, his continuous search for musical knowledge, his love of listening to music of every genre, and most of all his excellent musical instinct. He was revered and adored by his music teacher, Charles Hambitzer, who described him as a musical genius, without a doubt.

"George Gershwin made the piano do things for him ... not only he played what was written, he was improvising all the time. He could make the piano laugh, make it sad, he loved the keys, he loved to experiment. He was original." ~ Mabel Pleshette, friend ~

What I admired most about Gershwin apart from his wonderful music is his love of painting. His art mentor was his cousin, Henry Botkin, a respected painter and art connoisseur who gave him advice in choosing paintings. Gershwin had an incredible collection of modern art in America. Some of his favorite painters are also my very own favorites, i.e. Marc Chagall and Pablo Picasso. He had tried his creative hands on painting and portraiture was always his specialty. Somebody had told Gershwin at a dinner party that "he never needs to write another note, because he could make a fortune with his palette and brush." One lady asked him: "Isn't it amazing that one man should possess a genius for two of the arts?" But to him, painting is more a mere pastime. Writing music was his first and foremost love.

He was also portrayed as someone who "in many ways led a spartan existence." He rarely drank and smoked cigars in moderation. He was like an athlete and had always liked to keep fit. The permanent fixtures in his apartment were a small gym, a punch ball, a rowing machine and a dartboard. Not to mention of course a small silver upright piano that was a gift to him.

Gershwin's circle of close friends includes writers, composers and lyricists like Vernon Duke, Arthur Kober and Howard Dietz. They were called the "Paley Salon." They meet regularly every Sunday for a dinner at Gershwin's apartment and discussed art and music. Oscar Levant, whose hero was Gershwin, also became a prominent member of the "Paley Salon." He also recorded "Rhapsody In Blue" so beautifully and he put his heart completely to it and giving it a whole range of feelings. When the record was released, he waited for a feedback from Gershwin and when he didn't hear from him, he took the initiative to call him. Gershwin asked him to bring the record for him to listen to and after listening to it, the verdict was, "I like mine better."

"No man can be great unless he loves music."~ Max Levant (father) as told to Oscar Levant (son) ~

Although Gershwin died young at the age of 38, he made an incredible mark in the history of audio visual arts - writing good music and painting. After his death, 37 of his original paintings were exhibited at a one-man-show at the Harriman Gallery in New York, as one of his wishes. He had written over 1,000 songs for theatre and motion pictures and about 40 musical comedy scores. His music is timeless and will be heard and appreciated by every generation.

This is one of the best ever biographies I've read and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

"George Gershwin died on July 11, 1937, but I don't have to believe it if I don't want to."~ John O'Hara ~

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Product Description:
The story of arguable America's most famous composer.

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Art of the Shuffle (Guitar Educational) [Paperback] Review

The Art of Shuffle by Dave Rubins is the best book on the subject I have ever come across and is a sheer delight for teachers and students alike.It realistically defines an area of study and then simply and clearlydelivers all that the printed page can.Where the printed page falls off,the information is then supported by a CD that is divided into individualtracks foreasy-find student repetition.At first the student will usethese tracks to understand what is being rhythmically and musically saidthen, later on, it is just good jam tracks to enjoy and keep your memoryand chops together.I particularly appreciate the divided tracks (thisshould be an industry standard) so you can skip over the tuning section orany part you're not focussing on instead of having to listen to the wholeCD in order to get to a specific section.I give this effort eleven stars( a perfect ten...plus) and I sincerely hope this author will do it again;I'd love to have one on turnarounds and as many other aspect of the bluesas any series could ever hold. This author makes the art of shuffle simplyirresitable.

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Product Description:
Art Of The Shuffle This method book explores shuffle, boogie and swing rhythms for guitar. Includes tab and notation, and covers Delta, country, Chicago, Kansas City, Texas, New Orleans, West Coast, and bebop blues. Also includes audio for demonstration of each style and to jam along with.

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America's Musical Life: A History [Hardcover] Review

In the late 1980s, having passed the US Foreign Service written test, I took the Oral Exam, one part of which was basically aimed at probing - in front of a panel of 3 Foreign Service officers - one's general knowledge of American history, culture, and world affairs, plus ability to think on one's feet.Among other questions, I was presented with the following (without any advance warning): `pretend you are a high school teacher giving a lecture on the history of American music; you have 3 minutes - GO!' Well, all I can say is, I wish that Richard Crawford's "America's Musical Life: A History" had been available back then, and that I had read it, because, let's just put it this way, there's a good reason why I didn't pass the Oral Exam!!Having now read Crawford's book, I feel like asking for a second shot at the question...
Basically, what this extremely learned, intelligent, well-organized, readable (and mercifully free of musicologist jargon) book does is to help us understand America from the perspective of music (i.e., what music meant to America), and also to understand American music from the perspective of its social, cultural, economic, political, racial, geographic, and technological history (i.e., what America meant to music).As Crawford states in his introduction, his goal is to undertake a study from a "broader scope [which] might illuminate parallels and intertwinings that give the country's music...its distinctive identity." Crawford accomplishes this, and more, starting from American music's early origins (Native American, Early Christian, "Old, Simple Ditties," and New England Psalmody), moving on to 19th century music (devotional music, minstrels, parlor songs, patriotic and war songs, classical music, etc.) to the folk, jazz, blues, pop, theatrical, and rock music of the 20th century.Throughout, Crawford makes it clear: 1) that there IS such a thing as "American" music; 2) that this music is extremely diverse, both in its expression and its origins; and 3) that to fully understand America, one needs to understand its music, and vice versa.
In sum, this book represents an obvious labor of love by an extremely well qualified author.I highly recommend it, whether or not you are a Foreign Service candidate!

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Oscar Peterson Plays Broadway (Artist Transcriptions) [Paperback] Review

I really loved this book and recommend it to everyone as a good, accurate, and packed set of piano transcriptions of oscar's piano-playing.Compared to others in this series, like the one of ellington, I think these versions are from earlier in his career, hence the playing is slightly simpler, less characteristic of oscar's later virtuosity.Nonetheless, when you consider how few of these jazz piano books there are available on the market, this is definitely another worth getting.

I'm particularly impressed with how many songs they pack into one book without apparently editing the solos excessively.

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Product Description:
17 songs transcribed from Peterson recordings, including: All the Things You Are * Baubles, Bangles and Beads * Body and Soul * Come Rain or Come Shine * Easter Parade * If I Were a Bell * Just in Time * The Lady Is a Tramp * On a Clear Day * People * Strike up the Band * Summertime * The Surrey with the Fringe on Top * There's a Small Hotel * 'Til Tomorrow * Who Can I Turn To * Wouldn't It Be Loverly.

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Herbie Nichols - The Unpublished Works (Music Sales America) [Paperback] Review

An excellent music book along the lines of "jazz fake books" that provide melody and chord changes for some of the more harmonically, melodically (and yes, obscure) creatively original tunes in all of jazz.
Now we need the companion piece for Nichol's "popular" tunes (relatively speaking)

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Product Description:
Contains masterful 27 compositions by the pianist-composer that have not been in print before and were never recorded by the composer. Roswell Rudd who has performed and recorded these pieces, discusses them and offers tribute to his friendship with Nichols.

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In a Silent Way: A Portrait of Joe Zawinul [Illustrated] [Hardcover] Review

One of the things that makes this such an interesting book is that it is about the music as much as it is about the personality of Joe. It has details such as how two Drummers were used on one of the Black Market Tracks. I so enjoyed listening to the songs after reading about them.

Half the book is about the Weather Report years, the other half is pre and post Weather Report.

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Joe Zawinul pioneered a seismic shift in American jazz, incorporating international rhythms and new electronic tonalities.

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So What: The Life of Miles Davis [Hardcover] Review

Prior to SO WHAT I felt that, as revealing as many prior Davis bios were (including Miles' own book), their sum was somehow less than the parts.That is, there was more to understand about Miles Davis than what was collectively written.Along comes SO WHAT, the most balanced and coherent one-stop source yet for getting to know about the entirety of Miles Davis' life.As much as Miles urged us to let the music speak for itself, the context and environment in which Davis' art was created is important, and author John Szwed is up to the challenge to walk down the many paths that lead to and from Davis' music and life (e.g., discussing the aesthetics of artists as wide-ranging as Stockhausen and Sly Stone, both of whom impacted Miles' musical vision in the 1970s).Szwed doesn't attempt to cram every interesting, revealing, or just plain provocative story from prior books into his bio.Still, his research does come up with some errors previously presented as facts, and there are plently of newfound "Miles Davis stories" to amuse and/or amaze the reader, for better and worse.
What the author seems to do is pick and choose among the previously-revealed tidbits about Miles and use them as supplements to 1) his open-minded knowledge about the entirety of Davis' music (as well as the cultural and commercial environment in which it was created), and 2) fresh, revealing interviews he conducted with family members and others close to the subject at key points in his life.Having unprecedented access to Davis' family was possibly the missing piece of the puzzle needed to really reconcile what was already known about Miles with the many contradictions that sat unresolved for decades (e.g., tough exterior, insecure interior).Even as Szwed stays in tune with Davis' music from beginning to end, he reveals with unprecedented detail just how chaotic his personal life was.Previously I thought Davis was unlucky to have died so relatively young...albeit at age 65.Given all of the substance abuse and other problems he faced (and created for himself), I'm now amazed that Miles lasted so long, and how he could--with a bare minimum of lulls over nearly a half-century--be artistically creative right up to his final hospitalization in 1991.
Being that Miles' life was often sensationalistic to begin with, Szwed plays it cool with this hot topic, writing the way that Davis played, sans ornamentation.SO WHAT stays focused on the big picture...with details that dip beneath the surface throughout Miles' entire life.The information seems mostly accurate; among the errors that I caught were that Szwed states the 1985 Artists United vs. Apartheid SUN CITY project in which Davis participated was a Quincy Jones production (in reality it was led by Little Steven and Arthur Baker). The author is confusing that benefit recording with WE ARE THE WORLD from the same year which Jones did direct (this error undermines Szwed's critique of the SUN CITY album).Also, it's unfortunate that the 20-CD COMPLETE MONTREUX boxed set came along too late to be included here, because the high quality of that music is the best evidence yet that Miles' final years were musically-productive ones.However, all this means is that understanding Davis remains an ongoing process.Even with its few minor flaws, no oneto date has better unraveled the enigmatic genius of Miles Davis than Szwed.I recommended this book first, with Paul Tingen's MILES BEYOND next in line.

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Alfred's Pocket Dictionary of Music [Paperback] Review

After searching for the past several years for my own students and teachers who study with me, I can finally state that I've found a music dictionary equal to the original "Pocket-Manual of Musical Terms" edited by Dr. Theodore Baker back in 1947 (published by G.Schirmer).Unfortunately, that same dictionary is still available in an "updated" format.I say 'unfortunately' because the new author (ie editor) decided to delete many of the classic terms for reasons unknown.But thanks to Alfred Publishing, Sandy Feldstein has done a great job of maintaining an excellent balance between content and precise meanings in an easy to understand manner. In fact, this small pocket dictionary has more charts and drawings of notes and key signatures than any other dictionary of the same size.In addition, a wonderful biographical section is included in the last section featuring basic facts on the great composersbothpast and present. You will not regret purchasing thishandy size ( 4 x 5 inches) edition,as I have widely recommended thislittle book to hundreds of teachers and schools.

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Product Description:
Contains thousands of entries covering all eras of music. It is unique in that it includes contemporary terms and composers from the popular genre as well as classical terms and composers. It is organized in a logical sequence for quick and easy reference.

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Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music [Hardcover] Review

Imagine yourself facing the task of telling Tony Bennett during a recording session that, while he sounds fine, you believe he's hit a few bum notes. Not only should you have the credible acumen for identifying such flaws, but also the knowledge of how to correct them. Fortunately, Phil Ramone has an abundance of both. One of music's most prolific and distinguished producers, he candidly shares experiences from his career in his new book, Making Records: The Scenes Behind The Music.

While neither a strict memoir nor a technical manual, the book blends elements of the two, usually within the context of representative and applicable anecdotes.

Ramone writes an engaging account of his ascension in the music industry, from working as a studio apprentice to engineering recording sessions and ultimately producing albums and live events. As a result, the reader gains priceless insight on some landmark recordings as well perspective on the evolution of music production over the last 50 years.

What makes this book such an enjoyable read is the producer's unassuming way of relating his memories and knowledge. One would suspect that someone as proficient and experienced as Phil Ramone would have, by now, lost all sense of wonder in regard to how music is made. Quite the contrary, while he undoubtedly knows what he's doing in the studio, he seems just as amazed and inspired by the creative process as any typical fan would feel.

Fans of Billy Joel, in particular, will take pleasure in reading what Ramone recollects about producing many of the Piano Man's greatest albums. He recounts how certain iconic sound effects were achieved, like the shattering glass that opens "You May Be Right" and the reverberating helicopter propellers that bookend "Goodnight Saigon." He explains his view on what was lacking in Joel's first four albums -- which he didn't produce -- and why that deficiency resulted in releasing Songs From The Attic. He even divulges how he would humorously blackmail Joel and his band into working whenever they got hungry or distracted.

In sharing his experiences of working with Billy Joel, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and a plethora of others, the consistent factor is how Ramone approached (and still approaches) each project with the artist's intent foremost in his mind. He astutely notes that his name doesn't appear on the covers of the albums he produces. Thus, instead of attempting to conform an artist to a certain style or standard, he respects and caters to each artist's creative goal.

At the same time, Ramone justifiably points out the credentials that he brings to the making of an album. A classically trained musician in his own right, he understands music from both sides of the glass. Even when he has worked with artists who've had production experience, like Paul Simon or Paul McCartney, Ramone says that he contributed a sense of objectivity that the artists found helpful.

Accommodating in his profession as well as in his prose, Ramone has graciously written a book that music fans of any age or education can appreciate. Given his expertise, he could have easily filled these pages with professional terminology related to record production. While he certainly refers to technological aspects and specific equipment associated with his work, he does so without leaving the average reader overwhelmed or confused. Rather, he only mentions something of this sort within the context of recounting a pertinent (and understandable) experience.

Making Records: The Scenes Behind The Music offers an intriguing glimpse into the art of music production. Few careers in this field have rivaled that of Phil Ramone. Now, in addition to albums, concerts, and other live events, he has once again produced a quality work. And this time, finally, his name is on the cover.

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Product Description:
Sinatra. Streisand. Dylan. Pavarotti. McCartney. Sting. Madonna.What do these musicians have in common besides their super-stardom? They have all worked with legendary music producer Phil Ramone.
For almost five decades, Phil Ramone has been a force in the music industry. He has produced records and collaborated with almost every major talent in the business. There is a craft to making records, and Phil has spent his life mastering it. For the first time ever, he shares the secrets of his trade.
Making Records is a fascinating look "behind the glass" of a recording studio. From Phil's exhilarating early days recording jazz and commercial jingles at A&R, to his first studio, and eventual legendary producer status, Phil allows you to sit in on the sessions that created some of the most memorable music of the 20th century -- including Frank Sinatra's Duets album, Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Ray Charles's Genius Loves Company and Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years.
In addition to being a ringside seat for contemporary popular music history, Making Records is an unprecedented tutorial on the magic behind what music producers and engineers do. In these pages, Phil offers a rare peek inside the way music is made . . .illuminating the creative thought processes behind some of the most influential sessions in music history.
This is a book about the art that is making records -- the way it began, the way it is now, and everything in between.

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Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues [Hardcover] Review

Many Americans have shown a great interest in "roots" music as part of a highly commendable effort to understand our country's life and culture.Much of this interest has, over the years, focused on the blues of the Mississippi Delta and, in particular, on the recordings of singer and guitarist Robert Johnson (1911 -1938). Johnson was an obscure figure in his day and his life and music remain the stuff of legend.He had two recording dates in 1936 and 1937.His music was rediscovered in the 1960s and since that time the sales of his collected recordings have numbered in the millions.
In "Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues" (2004), Elijah Wald offers a compelling study of the blues and of blues historiography focusing on Robert Johnson. Wald tries to correct what he deems to be the prevailing myths about Johnson: that he was a primitive folk artist caught in the Mississippi Delta who recorded and perfected a local traditional form of blues.Wald finds Johnson an ambitious young singer who had studied the blues forms popular in his day.Johnson, Wald argues, wanted to escape the Mississippi Delta and pattern himself on the urban blues singers, in particular Leroy Carr, emanating from the midwest and Chicago.
Wald finds that Johnson displayed a variety of blues styles in his recordings and that he was largely ignored by black music listeners of his day because Johnson's early efforts to capture an urban blues style were basically copies of more successful singers and because his songs in the Delta blues style lacked appeal to the urban and sophisticated black audience of the time.
Johnson's music only became well-known, Wald argues, with the rise of English rock, and with his rediscovery by a largely white audience.The tastes of black music listeners had moved in a mostly different direction towards soul, funk, rap, disco and did not encompass rural blues singers.The fascination of modern listeners with Johnson, according to Wald, is due to a romantic spirit -- a boredom with the life of the everyday -- and a search for a past full of authentic individuals who knew their own wants and needs and who projected themselves in their art.
Wald's book begins with a history of the blues before Robert Johnson focusing on the commercial character the music had at the outset.He gives a great deal of attention to the Blues queens -- Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey -- and to their smooth-voiced male sucessors, particularly Leroy Carr, as mentioned above, and Lonnie Johnson.These singers profoundly influenced Johnson's music and his ambitions to become a popular entertainer and not a cult figure.
The central part of Wald's book consists of a brief biography of Johnson -- summarizing the various speculations on his life -- and of a song-by-song discussion of his recordings.In this discussion, Wald discusses the music with a great deal of intelligence and understanding.He shows very clearly Johnson's debts to his more commercially sucessful predecessors and explains as well the variety of blues styles Johnson encompassed in his songs.
The final portion of the book carries the story of the blues forward beyond Robert Johnson's death.It shows how the music at first evolved into a combo style, again approaching popular music, which took blues into a different direction from Johnson's recordings.The book concludes with a discussion of Johnson's rediscovery, and the discovery of other Delta blues singers, beginning in the 1960's.
Wald clearly knows his material.For all his criticism of the mythmaking cult over Johnson, Wald's love for this music shines through, as he is the first to admit.Upon reading this book, I spent considerable time relistening to Johnson's music and felt I came away with a better understanding and appreciation of it than I had before.The goal of every book about music should be to encourage its readers to return to (or get to know) the songs, or what have you, themselves.The book meets this goal admirably.
There are few books on the blues that manage to be both scholarly, critical, and inspiring and Wald's book is one of these few.I do not find Wald's thesis as unsusual as he claims it to be, but it certainly will be worth exploring by listeners and readers who do not have a large backround in this music.
In music, a fair and careful historical account will in the long run perform a greater service to the music and the artists than will legends and stereotypes.The Delta singers discussed in this book, Robert Johnson, Son House, Skip James, Charley Patton, were musicians of talent.Understanding their story can only increase the listener's appreciation of the blues.

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Conductors and Composers of Popular Orchestral Music: A Biographical and Discographical Sourcebook [Hardcover] Review

Professor Musiker is badly and sadly mistakenwhen he disparages Andre Kostelanetz'outstanding stereo recordings of popular music during the 1960s and '70s. (See final paragraphof entry on Maestro Kostelanetz)These superb sides sparkle even more brilliantly today whenheard via themagic of CD and Dolby digitalPro-Logic, dts, Surround-Sound.)Furthermore, to state that Kosty's stereo recordings are "unrecognizable" is total nonsense. Anyonefamiliar with theBeautiful Music boom of the'60s and '70s can verify that the Kostelanetzsound was identifiable, recognizable andunmistakable. The popular musicrecordings of Andre Kostelanetz, Percy Faith, Mantovani and Henry Mancini(in that order) formed theearthquake-proof foundation upon which wasbuilt the Beautiful Music stereo FM radio format that was the most popularradio format in the U.S. during the 1970s. Also, Prof. Musiker is incorrect when he states that Andre (the GIANT of Beautiful Music)Kostelanetz succumbed to a "commercialized syndrome" when herecorded these magnificent albums of popular music. If the Professor issuggesting that Kosty really didn't like the music that bore his name, hehas not done his homework. He should contact legendary producer Teo Maceroin New York, as I have done, and learn the facts, which I will relate in great detail on my future website now underconstruction. (Teo Maceroproduced most of The Maestro's extraordinary Columbia recordingsafter thedawn of stereophonic sound in 1958) Yes, the final paragraph of this book'sentry on Andre Kostelanetz does a tremendousdisservice to The Maestro'smighty contributions to quality pop music during the last two decades ofKosty's spectacular life. I call for nothing less than a full retractionand correction of the said final paragraph in the Musikers' otherwiseexcellent and extremely useful sourcebook. Finally, though Prof. Musikerdoes not explicitly state this, there are allegations in other circles thatMaestro Kostelanetz had little or nothing to do with the arrangements ofthese recordings. That he merely "waved his arms." Your humblereviewer intends to address this issue indepth when my website is"up and running." This should be by the end of the year -- justin time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of a great Americanconductor and patriot, TheMagnificent Maestro Andre Kostelanetz. In the meantime, I encourage all readers of this review to enjoy Kosty'sWonderland Of Soundrecordings.

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La musica popular en Cuba (Spanish Edition) [Paperback] Review

La música popular en Cuba, de Armando Ledón,ofrece una visión condensada de la historia de la música popular cubana desde sus orígenes hasta la época actual. El estudio comprende el surgimiento, análisis y desarrollo de los géneros que la conforman, así como de sus más destacados representantes, tanto autores como intérpretes. El libro, que viene a llenar un vacío informativo en los estudios sobre música cubana, será útil no sólo para especialistas en el género, sino también para amantes de la música popular en general, ávidos de ampliar sus conocimientos sobre la historia musical de Cuba, un pequeño país que tanta riqueza y diversidad ha aportado al mundo en esta esfera de la creación artística.
El libro está escrito en una forma comunicativa y de fácil comprensión, y pone a disposición del lector el resultado de las consultas hechas por el autoren los libros y revistas más importantes que han abordado esta temática. A esto se suma el extenso archivo personal de entrevistas y testimonios que el autor posee producto de su trabajo radial vinculado a la música, que ya sobrepasa medio siglo.
Ledón es Director y Asesor de Programas Musicales en Radio Progreso, La Habana, donde ha trabajado por más de veinticinco años.

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Product Description:
Este libro ofrece una vision condensada de la historia de la musica popular cubana desde sus origenes hasta la epoca actual. El estudio comprende el surgimiento, analisis y desarrollo de los generos que la conforman, as? como de sus mas destacados representantes, tanto autores como interpretes. El libro, que viene a llenar un vacio informativo en los estudios sobre musica cubana, sera util no solo para especialistas en el genero, sino tambien para los amantes de la musica popular en general, avidos de ampliar sus conocimientos sobre la historia musical de Cuba, un peque?o pais que tanta riqueza y diversidad ha aportado al mundo en esta esfera de la creaci?n artistica.El libro esta escrito en una forma comunicativa y de facil comprension, y pone a disposicion del lector el resultado de las consultas hechas por el autor en los libros y revistas mas importantes que han abordado esta tematica. A esto se suma el extenso archivo personal de entrevistas y testimonios que el autor posee producto de su trabajo radial vinculado a la musica, que ya sobrepasa medio siglo.Armando Ledon Sanchez es musico, locutor, actor, y escritor. Desde hace un cuarto de siglo es Director y Asesor de Programas Musicales de Radio Progreso, en La Habana, la radioemisora m?s escuchada de Cuba.

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Little Labels--Big Sound: Small Record Companies and the Rise of American Music [Hardcover] Review

O how the landscape has changed!Fifty years ago there were literally hundreds of independent record labels operating in cities and towns all across the USA.Many of these companies were fly by night operations that lasted for only a short period of time. Some managed to stick around long enough to have a hit record or two before disappearing from the scene forever.But, a fair number of these independent labels were quite successful and would leave an indelible mark on American popular music.This is what "Little Labels-Big Sound" is all about.
Whether you are a fan of the blues, rock and roll, R & B, group harmony or jazz, there is little doubt that these "little labels" made asignificant contribution to the development of your kind of music.Authors Rick Kennedy and Randy McNutt have focused on 10 of these important independent labels.It is a very readable and highly entertaining book that both record collectors and history buffs are sure to enjoy.
Hoagy Carmicheal and Louis Armstrong spent their formative years in the 1920's at Gennett Records, a small indie based in Richmond, In.When a young and dynamic James Brown audtioned for King Records in the mid 1950's, label owner Syd Nathan remarked "Nobody wants to hear that noise."History would indeed prove him wrong.Most critics agree that jazz legend Charlie Parker made his finest recordings at Ross Russell's Dial records."Little Labels-Big Sound" tells the story of how Charlie Parker wound up at Dial.There are also chapters devoted to seven other notable indies including Sun, Riverside, Monument and Duke-Peacock. I enjoyed reading about them all.
Today, a few major conglomerates dominate the music business.There is little for most of us to get excited about. "Little Labels-Big Sound" fondly recalls that time in America when small record labels flourished and creativity thrived.It is worth remembering.Recommended.

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The Definitive Dixieland Collection (Definitive Collections) [Paperback] Review

This collection of one of the earliest forms of jazz provides some ancient tunes that nevertheless keep people's feet moving decades later.Many of the 73 tunes will be familiar to those who have spent even a second in New Orleans.Scattered throughout are also some venerable blues.Anyone looking for the written notes of some of the songs featured in Ken Burns' "Jazz" can find many here, including "Livery Stable Blues" and "Maple Leaf Rag."You won't be disappointed.
Songs included: After You've Gone Ain't Misbehavin' Alexander's Ragtime Band Angry Baby, Won't You Please Come Home Ballin' the Jack Basin Street Blues Beale Street Blues Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home Black Bottom Stomp Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me Bugle Call Rag The Chant Climax Rag Copenhagen Dallas Blues Darktown Shuffle Deep Henerson Dinah Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans Doctor Jazz Everybody Loves My Baby Farewell Blues Frog-I-More Rag A Good Man is Hard to Find Grandpa's Spells High Society Honeysuckle Rose I Ain't Got Nobody I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter I've Found a New Baby Ida (Sweet as Apple Cider) Indiana (Back Home Again in Indiana) The Jazz-Me Blues Kansas City Stomp King Porter Stomp Livery Stable Blues Mahogany Hall Stomp Mama's Gone, Goodbye Maple Leaf Rag Melancholy Milenberg Joys Mississippi Mud Muskrat Ramble My Honey's Lovin' Arms Original Dixieland One-Step Ory's Creole Trombone The Pearls Rosetta Royal Garden Blues San Shreveport Stomps Sidewalk Blues Sobbin' Blues Some of these Days St. Louis Blues Struttin' with some Barbecue Sugar Blues Sugar Foot Stomp The Tailgate Ramble 'Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness if I Do That's a Plenty There'll be some Changes Made Tin Roof Blues Tishomingo Blues Walkin' the Dog 'Way Down Yonder in New Orleans Weary Blues When the Saints Go Marching In Wild Man Blues Willie the Weeper Wolverine Blues

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Product Description:
Over 70 Dixieland classics, including: Ain't Misbehavin' * Alexander's Ragtime Band * Basin Street Blues * Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home? * Dinah * Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? * I Ain't Got Nobody * King Porter Stomp * Shreveport Stomp * When the Saints Go Marching In * and more.

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Evolving Bassist [Plastic Comb] Review

"The Evolving Bassist" has come to be the standard bass method book in the world of jazz.In it, Rufus Reid explains his "concept" of playing bass, moving beyond merely playing quarter notes to progressive and thoughtful bass lines.
As the title of the book indicates, this is a process.The book is designed for players of any level to develop a well-rounded approach to the bass.
The main portion of the method includes etudes, scales, and standard patterns for Latin bass lines, Rock bass lines, etc.Also included are many practical hints, answers to frequently asked questions, discography, and transcriptions of a number of Mr. Reid's compositions.
"The Evolving Bassist" is all around an excellent aid for the growing jazz bass player.

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Product Description:
A comprehensive new edition based on major revisions to Reid's The Evolving Bassist and Evolving Upward. Contains more transcriptions of Reid's recorded solos, original compositions arranged as duets, new etudes, and additional ways to learn tunes and conceive better bass lines. The Evolving Bassist will continue to be an all-inclusive bass player's reference book as well as a classic method book.

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Visual & Performing Arts 2006, Guide to (Peterson's Professional Degree Programs in the Visual and Performing Arts) [Paperback] Review

I bought and then returned this book.From the description I expected a guide with detail about the different schools and programs, as well as inside information on the schools.Instead, the book contains a couple pages about audition procedures (a much better description is in the Performing Arts Major's College Guide) accompanied by basic information that is easily available off of the school websites (location, number of students plus number of students majoring in the discipline, teacher/student ratios, etc.).It was impossible to tell which programs had a good reputation or better quality.Save your money, and get the information off of the school websites.

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Product Description:
This newly updated guide contains more than 1,100 updated descriptions of dance, music, theater, and visual arts programs. With more programs in more discipline than any other guide this annually updated resource helps readers plan how they're going to make a name for themselves on stage, on canvas, or in an orchestra.
Features and benefits include:* News on summer pre-professional courses and programs* Perspectives from graduates and industry professionals* Tips on assembling a portfolio and preparing for an audition

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Complete Book Of The Guitar [Illustrated] [Paperback] Review

I bought this book thinking that it would have information on playing the guitar, not the case.This book talks about guitarists throughout history and what make different manufacturers unique.Useful if you are planning on buying a guitar and have no experience but that's about it.Basically a waste of money.

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Product Description:
For the first time in a single volume, The Complete Book of the Guitar brings together the history of the instrument, the music, the manufacturers and the greatest performers in the story of today's most popular and compelling musical instrument.

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Whistling in the Dark (Kindle Edition) Review

Every once in a while I'll read a book that will literally sweep me off into another world and hold me there, in a magical trance. WHISTLING IN THE DARK is one of those novels, and while reading it, I began to feel that I had no business being a writer as nothing I write will ever compare.

Tamara Allen uses a very light touch to show the New York City of 1919 as she recreates a post-war Mecca vividly describing the birth of prohibition, jazz, and radio stations; underground homosexual parties; automats; shady loan sharks; and two psychologically-damaged soldiers, Jack and Sutton, who find salvation in one another. The very long novel has a feel of Americana, but without the overly cheery optimism. What is so fascinating to observe, is how these two characters warm up to each other. The pace is deliciously slow and as they get to know each other, it never once feels staged, nor does the reader feel telegraphed ahead where there relationship is headed. It took great restraint to allow these characters to develop separately before they finally came together romantically. I shan't spoil you by telling you how it happens, but the circumstances that lead up to their first kiss, is one of the most unique and imaginative plot twists I've ever encountered.

Though the novel certainly deals with some dark and serious issues, the overall tone is buoyant and charming and I had a silly grin on my face though most of it. The myriad of supporting characters are well-drawn and there was the full range of good to bad. The only thing I will say that is even remotely negative is that I counted five straight characters that knew about the love affair between Jack and Sutton and were completely supportive of it. It's possible. Not likely, but possible. Also, this book has got to hold the record for the number of times the word "sandwich" is used. That's not a complaint, just a playful observation. There were so many sandwiches consumed in this book, I felt positively stuffed.

WHISTLING IN THE DARK is a truly remarkable first novel and a beautiful and poignant romance that deserves to be read and savored by anyone who appreciates good gay fiction.So please read it, then tell all of your friends to read it too.

Mark R. Probst

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Product Description:
New York, 1919. His career as a concert pianist ended by a war injury, Sutton Albright returns to college, only to be expelled after an affair with a teacher. Unable to face his family, he heads to New York with no plans and little money—only a desire to call his life his own. Jack Bailey's life has changed as well. After losing his parents in the influenza epidemic, he hopes to save their beloved novelty shop—now his—by advertising on the radio, barely more than a novelty, itself. Sutton lands work in Jack's corner of the city and the two conclude they couldn't be less suited for friendship. But when Sutton loses his job, Jack gives him a place to stay. Sutton returns to the piano to play for Jack and finds the intervening months have healed him. The program promises to rescue Jack's business and Sutton's career...but success brings its own risks for two men falling in love.

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Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter [Hardcover] Review

Michelle Mercer has done the seemingly impossible:she has fully inhabited the far-out imagination of one of our greatest, and at times, seemingly most unreachable musicians, and brought back the subject from the outer space he's been confined to. Yes, it's a book about jazz; but only, truly, as an explication of life.Yes, it's a biography, but it's neither a Pollyana bio-pic nor is it a psychobabble psychobiography.Additionally, despite the affirming names of Shorter and Herbie Hancock on the cover, this effort is hardly an as-told-to "approved" bio.It's actually quite wonderfully like its subject: funny, strange,compelling--and as serious as your life.

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Endless Enigma: A Musical Biography of Emerson, Lake and Palmer (Feedback Series) [Paperback] Review

Edward Macan, a musician, musicologist, and teacher, wrote an earlier assessment of progressive rock called "Rocking the Classics," which looked at the culture surrounding the genre in the United States. Now Macan presents prog rock readers with a comprehensive book that looks at the work of the proggiest rock band of the 1970's, Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Simply put, this book is a must for anyone truly interested in ELP or prog rock. A step forward from his first book, Macan's ideas are explored, backed up, and explained in a clear way, giving those interested a total view of the musical activities of Keith Emerson, Greg Lake and Carl Palmer.

Endless Enigma begins an introduction that addresses all other books on prog: Bill Martin's and Kevin Holmes-Hudson's work especially, but also Paul Stumps' books as well. Macan answers these authors and other critics with passion and solid arguments, even if I am about 165 degrees politically from his stance.Readers new to this discourse might want to skip ahead the discussion of the band and their work.

You should be aware that Macan doesn't just give the usual "ideas" or wonky uniformed analyses one usually gets in books or discussions about rock music (i.e, the Inside Rock video series), he actually discusses the music itself.If the terms bitonality, ritornello, organum, and fugue are unfamiliar to you, you might want to have a music dictionary on hand. I would not say that you shouldn't read this book if you don't understand musical terminology, but if you do know some musicology, the text is a revelation.

I always loved ELP, and always knew their music was complex, challenging, and compelling, but I never understood why until now.Macan gives us the ELP method, or rightly, the Keith Emerson method that stood him well until he and the band deserted themselves after 1975.Fueled in part by boogie-woogie, Bach, Mussorgsky, Bartok, Bernstein, and other modernist composers, Keith Emerson carved out a unique sound from modified stride piano, percussive rythyms and conflicting keys, all the while using new sounds to do it.In the company of a great drummer, and an occasionally great bassist/guitarist, Emerson created a body of work that still moves people, at least people like Macan and Me, the former who writes a tome of this epic length, and me who practically sat down and read it from end to end, neglecting my familial duties to do so.I came away enlighted, even awed by Emerson's accomplishments.

Macan also takes on the "blues-orthodox" critics who never gave ELP a chance, a Quixotic battle, but a noble one.I don't know if it's worthwhile to give space to such proghaters as Lester Bangs, Dave Marsh, and Robert Christagau, but Macan, all too fairly perhaps, does.

Macan reviews all the pre-ELP albums of each member in detail, and then all ELP albums in exhaustive detail, giving an honest critical appraisal at all times.Listening to the tracks he discussed was a great experience.This isn't some rock critic here, this a musician. The difference is some amateur telling about how great a movie is, and a director showing you how the effects and pacing were acheived. Really good stuff, and long overdue, if you want my opinion. An imporant aspect of The Endless Engima is that Macan doesn't lessen the music by dissecting it, but makes you appreciation for Emerson grow. Is it any wonder that rock critics who knew nothing about music hated ELP?The awesome thing to consider is that music this harmonically complex sold so many copies.

Macan makes some claims that are worth exploring, such as that ELP went into decline when Emerson began emulating Copland instead of Bartok; I think that Leonard Bernstein is more of a culprit than Copland here, but that's splitting hairs. I agree, on the whole, however. Macan also, in my view, rightly shows how ELP made a terrible mistake during the Works era (1977-78) and gives an alternative ELP album that would've saved the band.I put this album together, and he is right. You'll have to read the book to get the tracks and their order.

Macan also spends some time looking at rock Organ trios like Egg, Refugee, Ars Nova, and Le Orme, picking out representative albums of each band to analyze.

Get this book. Jump in. Prepare for a ride.Maybe it's my total immersion in this book, maybe it's because I love ELP, maybe its because I'm in middle-age and look back in nostalgia to a young love, but this book has emotional and philsophical force.

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Product Description:
Throughout the 1970s, no style of pop music was more controversial than progressive rock, and no progressive rock band was more controversial than Emerson, Lake and Palmer. The group's imaginative fusion of rock, jazz, and classical motifs with cutting-edge technology, breathtaking virtuosity, and monumental stage shows made them hugely popular on both sides of the Atlantic - and gave rise to a host of detractors. In Endless Enigma, Edward Macan argues that ELP was an important contributor not only to progressive rock, but to 1970s rock in general. Besides a magisterial band biography, Macan provides a comprehensive critical examination of the band's music and, in particular, its best albums, such as Brain Salad Surgery, which addressed technology's role in fostering societal alienation and totalitarianism.His analyses are so perceptive, precise, and detailed, that listening to the recordings in conjunction with his comments opens new avenues of thought about the band and its music.

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Finale: An Easy Guide to Music Notation, Second Edition [Paperback] Review

I bought this book after being hired to score a complete musical for an arranger.I did not know FINALE at all.I decided on this book because it was from Berklee Press.... I am a Berklee grad.

This is not just a book.. it's a complete COURSE on Finale.It is structured like you are in class, so it progressively introduces you to the program.Constantly reviewing and reinforcing what you have already learned.I was up and running in no time on the program, and I am happy to report, I'm almost done scoring an ENTIRE MUSICAL!

Highly Recommended!

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Product Description:
Everything you want to know about music notation with Finale! Master Finale step-by-step with the most complete how-to guide available. Designed for both novice and experienced users, this is your detailed resource to fully understanding and applying all of Finale's remarkable capabilities. Easy-to-follow instructions help you to: create publisher-quality music notation; learn to use the tools of Finale while writing your own music and arrangements; get started immediately with hundreds of professional templates, partially completed notation files, and libraries available on the companion website (www.FINALEBOOK.com); print transposed parts from scores automatically; write standard notation, guitar tablature, drum set parts, and more with this comprehensive hands-on tutorial. Teachers can create warm-up and practice exercises; write their own compositions, arrangements and method books; and simplify parts for students. The companion website, www.FINALEBOOK.COM, offers: * Tutorial Files * Samples of partially completed and finished music notation files for each of the hundreds of hands-on exercises in the book * Libraries of articulations and dynamics * Additional chapters * Professional Templates: Choral, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Marching Band, Orchestra, Single Line and Grand Staff, Pit and Show, and Sketch and Utilities templates including a Cue Sheet for radio and TV. "This book excels at teaching Finale in an easy-to-understand, sequential manner. Rudolph and Leonard have loads of experience. Beginners and seasoned Finale users will benefit from what these two teach." - Tom Johnson, Finale Product Specialist, MakeMusic!, Inc.

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Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp: The Early Years [Hardcover] Review

Author Fritz Stansell writes with a warmth, humanity, and humor that makes his memoir of the early years of Michigan's Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp a fascinating read. His tales of fire departments at cross purposes, a naked girl at his front door, his children making a movie of their "Crummy House," a maestro inching through the camp in the back seat of a cab and later being pushed aside by a food service worker whose office he had just used as a dressing room, were a few of the stories that made me laugh out loud.And the characters come alive: Gretchen, his wife, can do anything from washing a year's worth of dishes in a bathtub and raising a family to teaching teenagers to play string, brass, and woodwind instruments and running a world renown international program; Fr. Merek, a real life angel, never lets the camp down, even in its darkest hour when the dream was nearly lost; Ludolph Arens, Stansell's grandfather, an aristocratic, visionary, and somewhat eccentric leader of an early midwestern music colony, serves as the author's inspiration.You can't miss the themes of tenacity, love, courage, education (primarily the Stansells')-- and the book is also a how-to for anyone hoping to successfully run a non-profit.

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Waking Up in Cuba [Illustrated] [Paperback] Review

I really enjoyed this book. I love the author's sense of curiousity and his honest attempt to blend in and view things from a typical Cuban perspective.
DANCING WITH FIDEL is a small in size but large in terms of the amount of ground it covers.The author provides an insightful overview of the past, present and future of Cuban music and culture.
Kudos to the author for allowing us to participate in his Cuban odyssey.

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Product Description:
Sensual, sexual, soulful and rhythmic, Cuban music -- from its ethnic roots to the international successes of Gloria Estefan and the Grammy Award-winning Buena Vista Social Club -- has been the Cuban people's means of expression under one of the world's last communist regimes.
By talking to dozen's of ordinary Cubans and famous musicians about their daily lives, DANCING WITH FIDEL paints an extraordinary picture of a society and its cultural history that has flourished through music, despite communist repression and western intransigence.The result is an honest, entertaining and informative account of what anyone traveling to the island can expect to find.

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