Frankly - Just Between Us: My Life Conducting Frank Sinatra's Music (Book) [Hardcover] Review

I loved this book!! This is a great book about Frank Sinatra written by someone who worked with him and really knew him. Lots of great stories about Mr. S. and other entertainers.I found myself also enjoying reading about Vincent's life.I found his success story and positive attitude really inspiring.This book was so enjoyable to read that I started slowing down because I didn't want it to end.If you want to read a great book from someone who was really there -- then get this book right away!!Thanks, Vincent!

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Sinatra's conductor reveals what it's like to work for legendary singersFrankly - Just Between Us, is an entertaining and insightful behind-the-scenes look at the world of playing piano and conducting for Frank Sinatra and other contemporary music legends. This book chronicles the illustrious career of Vincent Falcone from his days at Syracuse University and tuning pianos and performing casual dates in Las Vegas, to playing piano and conducting for music icon Sinatra during the apex of his career. Falcone also played for such music greats as Andy Williams, Jack Jones, Sammy Davis Jr., Jerry Lewis, the McGuire Sisters, Tony Bennett, Connie Francis, Paul Anka, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, and many others. Frankly contains many great stories about playing and conducting for some larger-than-life music personalities of the '70s, '80s and today, and the highs and lows of playing for this caliber of entertainment.

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Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography Of The First Lady Of Jazz [Paperback] Review

I'd have given this book 4 1/2 stars given the option. The only reason I didn't give it 5 is that it gets somewhat dry towards the end, but I blame my attention span for some of that. It's full of fascinating stories, tidbits and opinions from musicians, producers, friends and agents whoworked with Ella. You'll come away from the book with a new understandingof Ella the person and Ella the musician. You'll learn much about the timesand the musicians who created the story of popular music and jazz inAmerica. You'll also have a fascinating guide to her recorded music, thewhys and the hows of it, the circumstances that made it wonderful or lessthan great. I recommend this book!

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Ragtime: An Encyclopedia, Discography, and Sheetography [Hardcover] Review

What is Ragtime? David A. Jasen gives the definitive musical definition as well as the history of Ragtime from it's beginning to the present day in his latest book "Ragtime An Encyclopedia, Discography, and Sheetography" published by Routledge. It's 550 pages, hardcover, 8 ½" X 11".

Jasen describes in detail the categories of Ragtime. From the Early Folk Rags, The Joplin Tradition or Classic Ragtime, Popular Ragtime, Advanced Ragtime, Novelty Ragtime, Stride Ragtime, and Jelly Roll Morton's Ragtime. Ragtime's original heyday as well as its Revivals are covered up to the present day.

The book is divided into 4 primary sections. The first section contains the Encyclopedia entries. You can look up Composer, Performer, and Publisher Profiles, Ragtime Compositions with musical descriptions and other interesting related facts. There are over 100 images of rare photos and artifacts from the Ragtime era. Including a signed contract between Scott Joplin and his publisher John Stark for his landmark composition "The Maple Leaf Rag". There are images of Sheet Music, Record and Piano Roll Labels, Period Advertising, Composers, Performers, and Places of historical interest.

As a serious collector of Ragtime Sheet Music, Piano Rolls and Records, I really appreciate the next three sections of the book. The perennial question for the collector is "What's out there to collect?"For the performer it might be "What tune can I perform that nobody else has done or may even know about?" Stamp collectors have their Scott's Catalog to see what's possible to collect. We Ragtimers have a Discography, Ragtime Piano Rollography, and Sheetography, thanks to Professor Jasen, the first to have published them. I check off the items I own, and then I can see the items I need.

Appendix 1Rags On Record: A Discography

"The intention of this discography is to identify all commercially released discs of 78s, 45s, and LPs throughout the world since the beginning of Ragtime recording in 1897." The discography lists the Compositions alphabetically with the Composer, followed by Performers, Record Speeds, Record Companies and Number, and Year of release.

Appendix 2Ragtime Piano Rollography

There are Ragtime Compositions that were never published in sheet music form, or recorded on disc, as you will note from the entries in the encyclopedia. However, some compositions do turn up on Piano Roll. Some of the performances are truly extraordinary. The Rollography lists the Compositions with Composers alphabetically, then the Roll Companies and Number. If the roll is an early 65-note type it's indicated. The performer is listed if the roll is hand played.

Appendix 3Published Rags In America

There's an alphabetical list of over 2000 Published Instrumental Ragtime compositions. It lists the Composition followed by the Composer, Date, Publisher, City and State of Publication.

David A Jasen is internationally recognized as a leading authority and collector of American Popular Music. He's authored many well-received reference books on Ragtime, Early Jazz and Popular Music. He produced many sheet music folios and Records. As a Composer and Performer, The Professor captures the true essence of Ragtime. He is Professor of Media Arts at the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University, where he has been teaching for the past 35 years.

Joel@sheetmusiccenter.com
www.sheetmusiccenter.com

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Product Description:

Ragtime: An Encyclopedia, Discography, and Sheetography is the definitive reference work for this important popular form of music that flourished from the 1890s through the 1920s, and was one of the key predecessors of jazz. It collects for the first time entries on all the important composers and performers, and descriptions of their works; a complete listing of all known published ragtime compositions, even those self-published and known only in single copies; and a complete discography from the cylinder era to today. It also represents the culmination of a lifetime's research for its author, considered to be the foremost scholar of ragtime and early 20^th century popular music.Rare photographs accompany most entries, taken from the original sheets, newspapers, and other archival sources. Ragtime: An Encyclopedia, Discography, and Sheetography will be a standard reference for anyone interested in the history of jazz.

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Encyclopedia of Northwest Music: From Classical Recordings to Classic Rock Performances, Your Guide to the Best of the Region [Paperback] Review

FINALLY A BOOK ABOUT NORTHWEST MUSIC,ESPECIALLY ROCK AND ROLL OF THE 60'S AND 70'S.THE PREVIOUS DON ROGERS BOOK IN 1989 WAS GOOD FROM THE OREGONPERSPECTIVE.BUT THIS BOOK COVERS A LOT OF BANDS WHO HAVE NEVER REALLY BEENACKNOWLEDGED IN PRINT. BANDS LIKE MARK GALLAGHER & THE FRAGILE LIME,THE CITY ZU, AND GABRIEL.NEIL SKOK HAS DONE AN EXCELLENT JOB!I SAY THANKYOU TO ALL THE WRITERS WHO CONTRIBUTED TO MR.BUSH'S BOOK!

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Product Description:
The first and only guide to offer a comprehensive history of Northwest music from the 1920s to the present, including rock, pop, jazz, blues, folk, country, and classical.
Join James Bush on an entertaining trip across the whole spectrum of Northwest music. Bush and contributing critics have compiled more than 200 listings of individual artists, bands, and movements, each with recommended discographies. The guide also includes essays on Northwest music history, photographs and album cover art, a tour of music-related sites in Seattle and Portland, and music festivals around the region. Whether neophyte listeners or dedicated audiophiles, readers will love this one-of-a-kind book.

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The Thelonious Monk Reader (Readers in American Music) [Hardcover] Review

Thelonious Monk was the hippest, coolest, swingin'est, be-boppin'est, so far-out he's in'est cat in all of jazzdom. Critics couldn't figure him out, but audiences dug him the most, and you will too.
This wonderful book collects dozens of articles by influential music writers of the 40s 50s and 60s, from when Monk started as a cult favorite, all the way to when he became a worldwide sensation.You'll discover in these pages that some writers dismissed him.Others took a patronizing attitude.A few actually dug him.All of the writers were fascinated by him, his now-recognized musical genius, and his playful onstage antics.It's a glimpse into the past showing how people reacted to what was to become timeless jazz music.

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Of all the major jazz artists, Thelonious Monk was one of the most original musical thinkers--nonconformist, idiosyncratic, imaginative, eccentric--in a word, unique. In The Thelonious Monk Reader, Rob van der Bliek has brought together some of the most revealing pieces ever written on Monk, providing a full portrait of the musician and his impact on the jazz world.
Here is a wealth of information that was previously scattered and difficult to locate, including a wide range of articles, profiles, reviews, interviews, liner notes, and music analyses. Ranging in date from 1947 to 1999, these 39 pieces feature the work of some of our best jazz critics, including Leonard Feather, Ira Gitler, Nat Hentoff, Andre Hodeir, Gunther Schuller, Martin Williams, and many others. The book spans Monk's childhood and early recordings with Blue Note and Prestige, his Riverside period and the critical recognition that followed the release of Brilliant Corners, and his fame and fortune during his Columbia years. Readers will find colorful descriptions of Monk's eccentric lifestyle as well as thoughtful commentary on his unorthodox piano technique, which was marked by off-center accents and idiosyncratic voicings, broken rhythms, alternately dense and stripped down chords, and creative use of silence. Rob van der Bliek also provides a general introduction and brief introductions to each piece as well as critical annotations that place the work in context.
Controversial, often contradictory, and always engaging, these readings offer a complete view of the man, his music, and his time.The only such book on Monk's life and work, this volume will be "must reading" for jazz fans and scholars, musicians, music lovers, and readers with an interest in African-American culture.

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Brother Ray: Ray Charles' Own Story [Paperback] Review

Warning!: if people are honest you might hear some things you'd rather not read. In this case however, it does mean that through Ray Charles' own words we hear about his life up till 1978 when the book came out.

His youth was hard, becoming blind around age 7, going to a special school and losing his mom when she was only in her thirties were hard. Music is of course the theme that runs through it all, though I personally would have liked to have read more about the musical side of his life than the two things that make up an important part of the book: heroin and sex.

He seems to have been addicted to both but he has always said that heroin was his own choice and that he wasn't pushed into it by other people. That makes it all very openhearted and in a way bearable. The part where he decided to stop smack is heartbreaking and genuine.

He also talks lightly about his blindness, which is great, you forget most of the time that he couldn't see a thing.

The ghostwriter himself has carefully written that Ray himself went over the pages time and time again so we can be pretty sure that everything in it is true to his heart.

We could have done with some more musical history, but it's a great book to read nonetheless

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Product Description:
Ray Charles (1930-2004) led one of the most extraordinary lives of any popular musician. In Brother Ray, he tells his story in an inimitable and unsparing voice, from the chronicle of his musical development to his heroin addiction to his tangled romantic life.Overcoming poverty, blindness, the loss of his parents, and the pervasive racism of the era, Ray Charles was acclaimed worldwide as a genius by the age of thirty-two. By combining the influences of gospel, jazz, blues, and country music, he invented, almost single-handedly, what became known as soul. And throughout a career spanning more than a half century, Ray Charles remained in complete control of his life and his music, allowing nobody to tell him what he could and couldn't do. As the Chicago Sun-Times put it, Brother Ray is "candid, explicit, sometimes embarrassing, often hilarious, always warm, touching, and deeply human-just like his music."

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Bebop : Third Ear - The Essential Listening Companion [Paperback] Review

This is a handy compendium of introductory overviews, musical biographies, and rated record recommendations for all of Bebop's main and minor players, but unfortunately it doesn't stop there. Dozens of entries for musicians whom you'd never think to connect with Bebop (Lew Tabackin? Marian McPartland?) merely serve to unnecessarily complicate the issues and probably confuse newcomers. That said, Scott Yanow is a knowledgeable reviewer and writer, and this guide will be a useful starting point for jazz fans who want to explore more deeply the musical essence of modern jazz.

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On the heels of swing, bebop lifted jazz from the dance floor into an art form powered by virtuoso players. This engaging collection of essays, biographies and reviews by veteran jazz journalist Scott Yanow probes the lives and revolutionary works of more than 500 great beboppers, including the giants: Charlie Parker, Dizzie Gillespie, Bud Powell, Max Roach and Thelonious Monk. The guide also explores key artists such as Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Christian and the young Miles Davis, plus such later figures as Joe Pass and Barry Harris.

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