Jazz category: 919 books
Songs of the Unsung
The Musical and Social Journey of Horace Tapscott
Language: English
Release Date: February 19, 2001
Despite his importance and influence, jazz musician, educator, and community leader Horace Tapscott remains relatively unknown to most Americans. In Songs of the Unsung Tapscott shares his life story, recalling his childhood in Houston, moving with his family to Los Angeles in 1943, learning music,...
by Ben Watson
Language: English
Release Date: July 2, 2013
Language: English
Release Date: July 2, 2013
This brilliant biography of the cult guitar player will likely cause you to abandon everything you thought you knew about jazz improvisation, post-punk and the avant-garde. Derek Bailey was at the top of his profession as a dance band and recordsession guitarist when, in the early 1960s, he began...
Louis Armstrong
An Extravagant Life
Language: English
Release Date: August 8, 2012
Louis Armstrong was the founding father of jazz and one of this century's towering cultural figures, yet the full story of his extravagant life has never been told.
Born in 1901 to the sixteen-year-old daughter of a slave, he came of age among the prostitutes, pimps, and rag-and-bone merchants...
Forces in Motion
Anthony Braxton and the Meta-reality of Creative Music: Interviews and Tour Notes, England 1985
Language: English
Release Date: July 18, 2018
"Absolutely essential reading." — The Wire
One of modern music's towering figures, composer and multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton has redefined critical concepts of jazz and the wider world of creative music. The Chicago native's works range from an early piece for 100 tubas to proposed...
African Rhythms
The Autobiography of Randy Weston
Language: English
Release Date: October 5, 2010
African Rhythms is the autobiography of the important jazz pianist, composer and band leader Randy Weston. He tells of his childhood in Brooklyn, his six decades long musical career, his time living in Morocco, and his lifelong quest to learn about the musical and cultural traditions of Africa.
Deep River
Music and Memory in Harlem Renaissance Thought
Language: English
Release Date: July 19, 2001
“The American Negro,” Arthur Schomburg wrote in 1925, “must remake his past in order to make his future.” Many Harlem Renaissance figures agreed that reframing the black folk inheritance could play a major role in imagining a new future of racial equality and artistic freedom. In Deep River...
Grappelli Licks
The Vocabulary of Gypsy Jazz Violin
Language: English
Release Date: January 21, 2016
Do you want to sound more like the French maestro Stephane Grappelli? Here is the answer. I've selected around 250 classic Grappelli licks for you to learn. Using Simple chord theory and tips for timing and style. You can start these songs instantly. The online audio recording contains samples, solos and backing tracks to practice your new-found skills on. Includes access to online audio.
98% Funky Stuff
My Life in Music
Language: English
Release Date: February 1, 2013
Revealing the warm and astonishing story of an influential jazz legend, this personal narrative tells the story of a man’s journey from a Southern upbringing to a career touring the world to play for adoring fans. It tells how James Brown first discovered the Parker brothers—Melvin, the drummer,...
Words on Music
Quotations from the greats of popular music
Language: English
Release Date: April 25, 2014
You've heard the music and read the biographies. Now gain insight to the greats of popular music through their own words. This book is a collection of some of the most memorable quotes from the premier artists of pop, rock, jazz, and the blues.
Comments on the business of making music are found here as well as many fascinating and often surprising observations on life in general.
Gigs
Jazz and the Cabaret Laws in New York City
Language: English
Release Date: December 1, 2004
Gigs provides a fascinating account of a unique victory for musicians against repressive entertainment licensing laws. It provides a much-needed study of the social, political, cultural and legal conditions surrounding a change in law and public attitudes toward vernacular music in New York City.
This...
A Love Supreme
The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album
Language: English
Release Date: October 28, 2003
Few albums in the canon of popular music have had the influence, resonance, and endurance of John Coltrane's 1965 classic A Love Supreme-a record that proved jazz was a fitting medium for spiritual exploration and for the expression of the sublime. Bringing the same fresh and engaging approach that...
by Mike Evans
Language: English
Release Date: November 11, 2009
Language: English
Release Date: November 11, 2009
For a generation of musicians and fans, the late Ray Charles provided the catalyst that fused the previously largely exclusive genres of jazz, blues and gospel music. In an era when jazz and pop music were seemingly poles apart, the impact of Charles’ music was truly revolutionary in that it brought...
by Bruce Crowther
Language: English
Release Date: April 10, 2012
Language: English
Release Date: April 10, 2012
The life and times of Gene Krupa Traces the life and career of the late drummer and assesses his influence on modern jazz. In depth account of Gene's life and the times surrounding that period. Includes selected discography and plenty of photographs.
Footprints
The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter
Language: English
Release Date: March 1, 2007
Saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter has not only left his footprints on our musical terrain, he has created a body of work that is a monument to artistic imagination. Throughout Shorter's extraordinary fifty-year career, his compositions have helped define the sounds of each distinct era in the...