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Duke Ellington - American Jazz Man is the biography of Duke Ellington, an American composer, pianist and band leader who was one of the most influential figures in jazz, if not in all American music. As a composer and a band leader, Ellington's reputation has increased since his death, with thematic repackagings of his signature music often becoming best-sellers. Ellington called his style and sound "American Music" rather than jazz. One of the twentieth century's best-known African-American celebrities, Ellington recorded for many American record companies, and appeared in numerous films. Duke Ellington - American Jazz Man is highly recommended for those interested in reading more about this admired music legend. ... Read more

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An overview of the career of jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, from the fame of his early years as the star attraction of Canada's renowned Johnny Holmes Orchestra to the 1970s and his role as a solo pianist and television personality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a curious story
oscar peterson was a musician i revere.Iwas fortunate to see/hear live several times, and heard for the first time on the radio in the 50's so that i have been able to enjoy him all my adult life. i didn't feel i had disposable cash when his book first came out, so i bought it and then resold in on amazon. recently i decided to buy it to keep.the book that came to me was not the same book i read the first time . What? i'm certain. things he wrote about in the first issue, about how liquor companies owned record companies, for example, are not in this book. his -not just black musicians- have been mistreated.
several things he mentioned first time around are memorable for being human or funny. therefore easy to "spot" in comparison, not because they are important.he bought a motorhome in which to tour , and did not know about draining the holding tank.he was shaving one morning in a hotel when ray brown shot him in the behind with a paper clip. there were more important things, such as the time he wound up in a sleazy room with a filthy sink and threw himself on the bed and cried.this weird bit of publishing i am telling about is unprecedented, i hope; nothing about the first book ismentioned on the title page or anywhere else, but i do know that what i amsaying is true.i would like to have the book i read. ... Read more

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Bill Boyd works his usual magic with these simple, yet truly jazzy little solos for the young beginner. Each piece has a catchy title and "feels good" to play. The jazz flavor Bill creates in each solo is a classic hallmark of his creative genius - easy-to-play pieces that give beginning performers a real taste of jazz style and flair.Various meters, tempos; C Major; alternating hands melodies; fixed position; Reading range: middle of the keyboard range; Treble and bass staff lines and spaces; 12 pieces: Bass Guitar Blues; Bass Guitar Rock; Blues Parade; Follow The Leader; Imitation; Jazz Time; Love Theme For A TV Series; A Minor Effort; Smooth Groove; Take A Rest; Tick Tock The Jazz Clock; Triple Play. Perf. Time: less than 1 minute for each solo. ... Read more

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Al Rose offers a rare glimpse into jazz history
Al Rose has provided a unique and important look into the lives and times of many of the most influential jazz men and women of the 20th century.His book, "I Remember Jazz" is a valuable historical glimpse atnot only the musical influence these wonderful musicans had on the arts,but also a fascinating look at the social and economic conditions theyendured.

This book should be required reading in every music program atthe high school and college level.Some of the language is not appropriatefor younger ages.

If an effort is not made to educate our young peopleabout the history of jazz and its pioneers like Buddy Bolden, LouisArmstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, James P. Johnson, and the rest, this importantpart of our American history will be lost.

The book also includes manyrare and fascinating photographs of the author with many of the musiciansfeatured in his book.

Jazz is America's original artform and Al Rose haswritten a book that is required reading. ... Read more

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This is Whitney Balliett's long-awaited "big book."In it are all the jazz profiles he has written for The New Yorker during the past 24 years.These include his famous early portraits of Pee Wee Russell, Red Allen, Earl Hines, and Mary LouWilliams, done when these giants were in full flower; his recent reconstructions of the lives of such legends as Art Tatum, Coleman Hawkins, Jack Teagarden, Zoot Sims, and Dave Tough; His quick but indelible glimpses into the daily (or nocturnal) lives of Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus; and his vivid pictures of such on-the-scene masters as Red Norvo, Ornette Coleman, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Art Farmer, Michael Moore, and Tommy Flanagan.Also included are such lesser known but invaluable players as Art Hodes, Jabbo Smith, Joe Wilder, Warne Marsh, Gene Bertoncini, Joe Bushkin, and Marie Marcus.

All these profiles make the reader feel, as one observer has pointed out, that he is "sitting with Balliett and his subject and listening in." The book can be taken as a kind of history of jazz, as well as a biographical encylopedia of many of its most important performers.It can also be regarded as a model of American prose. Robert Dawidoff said of Whitney Balliett"s most recent book, Jelly Roll, Jabbo and Fats, that "few people write as well about anything as Balliett writes about jazz." And the late Philip Larkin wrote in 1982 of the "transcendence of Balliett's prose." ... Read more

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This work portrays the giants of jazz, relates what they achieved, and tells how they made their way in a world not always ready for them. The text offers a clear, informative history of the art, and the photographs present Coleman Hawkins, Count Basie, Charles Mingus, Benny Godman, Louis Armstrong and scores of others. These haunting photographs are supplemented with some rare vintage prints to tell the whole story of jazz from Buddy Bolden to Anthony Braxton. ... Read more

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Jazz encompasses a bewildering range of musical stylesand players. Some players, however, have become legendary: not onlydid their work shape the course of modern jazz, but their influence oncontemporary musicians is as strong as ever. In Jazz Heroes,John Fordham examines the lives and work of six such artists--pianistThelonious Monk, guitarist Wes Montgomery, singer Ella Fitzgerald,trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and saxophonists John Coltrane and GerryMulligan. Packed with stunning archive photos and interviews withmusicians and writers who knew them personally, and with a discographyplus special features on contemporary culture and musical trends,Jazz Heroes is both a lasting testimony to these musicians anda fascinating survey of jazz in the postwar era. John Fordham is anoted jazz writer and critic. He is the author of Jazz, JazzMan, and Jazz on CD. ... Read more

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Published to coincide with his 70th birthday, John Dankworth's text blends autobiography with a history of jazz. Dankworth is widely regarded as being one of the leading exponents of jazz music. ... Read more

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Autobiography of jazz bass player Coleridge Goode, assisted by Roger Cotterrell, includes Jamaican childhood; working as an innovative bassist with Ray Ellington, Joe Harriott, Django Reinhardt, Grappelli, Shearing and others; jazz and poetry, Indo-jazz fusions, and life as a black musician in Britain. Coleridge Goode's career has long been at the heart of the jazz world. Known as a 'prince' among bassists, he has recorded with Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli, Ray Nance, George Shearing and countless other jazz stars. Here, assisted by jazz writer Roger Cotterrell, he recalls his life and career including his Jamaica childhood and arrival in Britain in the 1930s, the lively wartime London club scene, the Ray Ellington Quartet of Goon Show fame and his long association with altoist Joe Harriott, the brilliant but tragic pioneer of European free jazz. Always among the innovators, he has helped blend jazz with Indian music, serial compositions, choral works and poetry and he tells candidly about the challenges and rewards of the jazz life as well as the destructive aspects he has seen - especially racial discrimination and drugs.A contributor to many of the most exciting jazz developments of the past half century, Coleridge Goode is a thoughtful witness to a fascinating part of jazz history. ... Read more

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Features interviews with Sam Wooding, Benny Waters, Joe Tarto, Bud Freeman, Jimmy McPartland, Freddie Moore, and Jabbo Smith. This work helps readers learn about the last months of Bix Beiderbecke from letters to his family. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Review of Ben Webster biography
I have just started reading this book, so I can't really say much about it so far.
Alain Hautrive (France) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Informative, appreciative, andstimulating resource
This is a wonderful book.The writer knows the era and the songs inside and out.His analysis is incisive, thorough, and original. He is always fair.He comes up with some insights that will make you look at the musicand the songwriters with fresh eyes and ears.

Very well done, wonderful book
this is very well-researched and written. The author must have spent a long time on this book. This is a great reference book and you'll find that you use it much more often then you think. ... Read more

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A brilliant collection of songs, culled from the original arrangements of jazz piano genius and host of NPR's ""Piano Jazz,"" Marian McPartland. Titles are: A Fine Romance
* Clothed Woman
* The Duke
* I Should Care
* I'll Be Around
* Kaleidoscope (""Piano Jazz"" Theme)
* Things Ain't What They Used to Be
* Willow Weep for Me. ... Read more

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Chapters: Avant-Garde Composers, Bebop Composers, Cuban Jazz (Genre) Composers, Dixieland Revivalist Composers, Free Jazz Composers, Latin Jazz Composers, Modern Creative Composers, Post-Bop Composers, Swing Composers, Dizzy Gillespie, Merzbow, Don Pullen, Paquito D'rivera, Lalo Schifrin, Muhal Richard Abrams, Willie Colón, Carla Bley, Gordon Jenkins, Jason Robinson, Cachao López, Chano Pozo, Billy Bang, Don Redman, Erskine Butterfield, Ed Summerlin, Asmus Tietchens, George Paxton, Joachim Kühn, Joe Newman, Richard Harris, Mario Bauza, Karl Berger, Edgar Sampson, Arturo O'farrill, Jane Bunnett, Tony Balluff, George Handy, Marc Broude. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 147. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (pronounced ; October 21, 1917 January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer. Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He taught and influenced many other musicians, including trumpeters Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Morgan, Jon Faddis and Chuck Mangione In addition to featuring in the epochal moments in bebop, he was instrumental in founding Afro-Cuban jazz, the modern jazz version of what early-jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton referred to as the "Spanish Tinge". Gillespie was a trumpet virtuoso and gifted improviser, building on the virtuoso style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic complexity previously unknown in jazz. Dizzy's beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, his scat singing, his bent horn, pouched cheeks and his light-hearted personality were essential in popularizing bebop. He was born in Cheraw, South Carolina, the youngest of nine children of James and Lottie Gillespie. James was a local bandleader, so instr...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=54403 ... Read more

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Chapters: Muhal Richard Abrams, Jason Robinson, Billy Bang, Ed Summerlin. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 27. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Muhal Richard Abrams (born September 19, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the Modern Creative and Free jazz mediums. Abrams compresses both contemporary and traditional ideas into lean, elegant pieces. Abrams attended DuSable High School in Chicago. By 1946, he decided to enroll in music classes at Roosevelt University. I didnt get too much out of that, because it wasnt what I was hearing in the street, he says. I decided to study on my own. I dont know why, but Ive always had a natural ability to study and analyze things. I used that ability, not even knowing what it was (it was just a feeling) and started to read books. From there, I acquired a small spinet piano and started to teach myself how to play the instrument and read the notes - or, first of all, what key the music was in. It took time and a lot of sweat. But I analyzed it and before long I was playing with the musicians on the scene. I listened to Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and many others and concentrated on Duke and Fletcher Henderson for composition. Later I got scores and studied more extensive things that take place in classical composition and started to practice classical pieces on the piano, as I do now. Abrams' first gigs were playing the blues, R ... Read more

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Chapters: Toshiko Akiyoshi, Aki Takase, Ryoichi Hattori, Satoko Fujii. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 23. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Toshiko Akiyoshi Akiyoshi Toshiko, born December 12, 1929) is a Japanese American jazz pianist, composer/arranger and bandleader. Among a very few successful female instrumentalists of her generation in jazz, she is also recognized as a major figure in jazz composition. She has received 14 Grammy nominations, and she was the first woman to win the Best Arranger and Composer awards in Down Beat magazine's Readers Poll. In 1984, she was the subject of a documentary film titled Jazz Is My Native Language. In 1996, she published her autobiography, Life With Jazz and in 2007 she was named an NEA Jazz Master by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts. Akiyoshi was born in Liaoyang, Manchuria to Japanese emigrants. She was the youngest of four sisters. In 1945, after World War II, Akiyoshi's family lost its home and returned to Japan, settling in Beppu. Akiyoshi began to study piano at age seven. When she was 16, she took a job playing with a band in a local club. Beppu was crowded with US soldiers, and musicians were in high demand to provide entertainment. Akiyoshi had planned to attend medical school, but she loved playing piano; and since she was earning good money, her family did not object to her pursuing music. A local record collector introduced Akiyoshi to jazz by playing a record of Teddy Wilson playing "Sweet Lorraine." Akiyoshi immediately loved the sound, and began to study jazz. In 1952, during a tour of Japan, pianist Oscar Peterson discovered Akiyoshi playing in a club on the Ginza. Peterson was impressed, and convinced producer Norman Granz to record Akiyoshi. In 1953, under Granz's direction, Akiyoshi recorded her first album with ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=577270 ... Read more

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Chapters: Oscar Peterson, Levon Ichkhanian, Alain Caron, Jane Bunnett, Don Wright, Jayme Stone, Lee Pui Ming, Phil Nimmons, Lorraine Desmarais, D. D. Jackson, Jamie Mitges. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 48. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, (August 15, 1925 December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends, and was a member of jazz royalty. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career. He is considered to have been one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, who played thousands of live concerts to audiences worldwide in a career lasting more than 65 years. Peterson grew up in the neighbourhood of Little Burgundy in Montreal, Quebec. It was in this predominantly black neighbourhood that he found himself surrounded by the jazz culture that flourished in the early 20th century. At the age of five, Peterson began honing his skills with the trumpet and piano. However, a bout of tuberculosis at age seven prevented him from playing the trumpet again, and so he directed all his attention to the piano. His father, Daniel Peterson, an amateur trumpeter and pianist, was one of his first music teachers, and his sister Daisy taught young Oscar classical piano. Young Oscar was persistent at practising scales and classical etudes daily, and thanks to such arduous practice he developed his astonishing virtuosity. As a child, Peterson also studied with Hungarian-born pianist Paul de Marky, a student of Istvan Thomán who was himself a pupil of Franz Liszt, so his training was predominantly based on classical piano. Meanwhile he was captivated by traditional jazz and learned several ragt...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=22519 ... Read more

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Chapters: English Jazz Composers, Scottish Jazz Composers, Welsh Jazz Composers, Django Bates, Dave Holland, John Dankworth, Iain Ballamy, Mike Westbrook, Richard Rodney Bennett, Ian Carr, Geoff Eales, Neil Ardley, Leonard Feather, Peter King, Guy Barker, Ken Sykora, John L. Walters, Jason Rebello, Daryl Runswick, Tim Garland, Steve Gregory, Ian Hamer, Julia Biel, Alex Welsh, Eddie Parker, Richard Iles, Mark Lockheart. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 107. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Django Bates (born October 2, 1960), is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and band leader. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. He currently lives in Copenhagen where he is a professor at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory and leader of the StoRMChaser orchestra. Django Bates was born in Beckenham, Kent, United Kingdom. He rose to prominence in Loose Tubes, a jazz orchestra which was considered one of the UK's most exciting and inspirational groups of the 1980s. He founded his small group Human Chain in 1979. In 1991, he started his own 19-piece jazz orchestra Delightful Precipice. He also put together the Powder Room Collapse Orchestra (which recorded Music for the Third Policeman), and created Circus Umbilicus, a musical circus show. In recent years, Bates has concentrated on writing large scale compositions on commission (see list below). These include "Dream Kitchen" for percussionist Evelyn Glennie, "Fine Frenzy" for the Shobhana Jeyasingh Dance Company, and a piano concerto for Joanna MacGregor and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra entitled "What It's Like to be Alive". He also wrote the first ever concerto for electric keyboard entitled "2000 Years Beyond UNDO", which was performed at the millennium Barbican Festival. He has worked closely with director Lucy Bailey on several thea...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=6882078 ... Read more