Today's Hours
The Nineties by
An instant New York Times bestseller! From the bestselling author of But What if We're Wrong, a wise and funny reckoning with the decade that gave us slacker/grunge irony about the sin of trying too hard, during the greatest shift in human consciousness of any decade in American history. It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. In the beginning, almost every name and address was listed in a phone book, and everyone answered their landlines because you didn't know who it was. By the end, exposing someone's address was an act of emotional violence, and nobody picked up their new cell phone if they didn't know who it was. The 90s brought about a revolution in the human condition we're still groping to understand. Happily, Chuck Klosterman is more than up to the job. Beyond epiphenomena like "Cop Killer" and Titanic and Zima, there were wholesale shifts in how society was perceived: the rise of the internet, pre-9/11 politics, and the paradoxical belief that nothing was more humiliating than trying too hard. Pop culture accelerated without the aid of a machine that remembered everything, generating an odd comfort in never being certain about anything. On a 90's Thursday night, more people watched any random episode of Seinfeld than the finale of Game of Thrones. But nobody thought that was important; if you missed it, you simply missed it. It was the last era that held to the idea of a true, hegemonic mainstream before it all began to fracture, whether you found a home in it or defined yourself against it. In The Nineties, Chuck Klosterman makes a home in all of it: the film, the music, the sports, the TV, the politics, the changes regarding race and class and sexuality, the yin/yang of Oprah and Alan Greenspan. In perhaps no other book ever written would a sentence like, "The video for 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was not more consequential than the reunification of Germany" make complete sense. Chuck Klosterman has written a multi-dimensional masterpiece, a work of synthesis so smart and delightful that future historians might well refer to this entire period as Klostermanian.
The Revolutionary Rhetoric of Hamilton by
This scholarly exploration of Hamilton encourages audiences to interpret this popular culture force in a new way by revealing that the musical confronts conventional perceptions of American history, racial equity, and political power. Contributors explore the ways in which the musical offers social commentary on issues such as immigration and gender equity, as well as how Hamilton re-considers the roles of theatre in making social statements, especially relating to the narrator, the curtain speech, and musical traditions. Several chapters directly address recent controversies and conversations surrounding Hamilton, including the #CancelHamilton trend on social media, the musical's depiction of slavery, and its intersections with the Black Lives Matter movement. Employing multiple novel theoretical approaches and perspectives--including public memory, feminist rhetorical criticism, disability studies, and sound studies-- The Revolutionary Rhetoric of Hamilton reveals new insights about this beloved show for scholars of theatre studies, media studies, communication studies, and fans alike. show for scholars of theatre studies, media studies, communication studies, and fans alike.show for scholars of theatre studies, media studies, communication studies, and fans alike.show for scholars of theatre studies, media studies, communication studies, and fans alike.
Sound Within Sound by
Sound Within Sound presents an alternative history of 20th-century composers--nearly all of them women or composers of color--by a leading international music critic. Think of a composer right now. Was it a white man? Perhaps in old-fashioned clothing and wild hair? The music history we're taught is one dominated by men, and even then, only a select few enter the zeitgeist. This conventional history perpetuates the myth of "great works" created by "genius" artists. Men who enjoyed institutional privilege during their lifetimes and have since been enshrined by an industry of publishers and record labels. But just because we haven't heard of spectacular female composers doesn't mean they weren't creating music all the same. Profiling a dozen pioneering 20th-century composers--including American modernist Ruth Crawford Seeger (mother of Pete and Peggy Seeger), French electronic artist Éliane Radigue, Soviet visionary Galina Ustvolskaya, and Ethiopian pianist Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou--acclaimed journalist and BBC broadcaster Kate Molleson reexamines the canon while bringing to life largely forgotten sonic revolutionaries whose dramatic lives and bursts of creativity played out against a backdrop of seismic geopolitical and social change. These composers, working at a remove from London, Paris, Vienna, and New York, were sidelined and ignored for systemic, structural reasons. This is a landmark alternative history of 20th-century composers; a radical, new, and truly global work of revisionist history. It is a campaigning book that challenges the status quo while introducing you to a world of groundbreaking music. Includes Black-and-White Photographs
The Cambridge Companion to Amy Beach by
Amy Beach was a pathbreaking composer and pianist who transcended the restrictions of nineteenth-century Boston to become America's most famous turn-of-the-century female composer and, later in her career, a prominent performing artist and promoter of music education. The Cambridge Companion to Amy Beach makes her life and music accessible to a new generation of listeners. It outlines her remarkable talent as a child prodigy, her marriage to a prominent physician twice her age, and her subsequent international acclaim as a composer and piano virtuoso. Analytical chapters examine the range of her musical output, from popular songs and piano pieces to chamber and symphonic works of great complexity. As well as introducing Beach's compelling music to those not yet familiar with her work, it provides new resources for scholars and students with in-depth information drawn from recently uncovered archival sources.
The Stage Works of Philip Glass by
The Stage Works of Philip Glass is the first publication to exclusively examine Glass's stage works from 1976 to the present day. Glass, who is regularly acclaimed as the most popular living classical composer, created stage works that have had a mesmerizing effect on younger generations. Robert Waters analyses Glass and his music for the theatre in the context of other composers interested in so-called minimalist features. His discussion includes three introductory chapters that address the validity versus invalidity of terms such as minimalism, post-minimalism, postmodernism, and neo-Romanticism, together with a brief overview of Glass's life and works. Waters examines the different types of theatre responsible for Glass's impact, including Robert Wilson's Theater of Images. He sheds light on Glass's philosophy regarding staging, text, and other theatrical components, which includes a defiance of conventional narrative, visual and aural dissociation as a theatrical technique, and deconstructionist concepts.
Mary Lou Williams by
In Mary Lou Williams: Music for the Soul, Deanna Witkowski brings a fresh perspective to the life and music of the legendary jazz pianist-composer Mary Lou Williams (1910-81). As a fellow jazz pianist-composer, adult convert to Catholicism, and liturgical composer, Witkowski offers unique insight gleaned from a twenty-year journey with Williams as her chosen musical and spiritual mentor. Viewing Williams's musical and corporal acts of mercy as part of a singular effort to create community no matter the context, Witkowski examines how Williams created networks of support and friendship through her decades long letter correspondence with various women religious, her charitable work, and her tireless efforts to perform jazz in churches, community centers, concert halls, and schools. Throughout this fascinating story told with equal amounts of deep love and scholarly research, Witkowski illumines Williams's passionate mantra that "jazz is healing to the soul."
Contemporary Cat by
A fascinating look into the new generation of jazz legends, Contemporary Cat is a welcome addition to Scarecrow Press's Studies in Jazz Series. Living legend Terence Blanchard's life and work are thoroughly examined through interviews with his contemporaries and colleagues, including jazz greats Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Nicholas Payton, and filmmaker Spike Lee. Magro cleverly ties jazz to the social upheavals of the civil rights movement, to black film, and to southern African-American ideologies. From Blanchard's early influences to his future projects, never has a more detailed and personal portrait been conceived of the man and his genius on stage and in the recording studio. This book will be welcomed by students of music, jazz, and popular culture, and will be a useful addition to African-American studies collections as well.
Dilla Time by
WINNER OF THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "This book is a must for everyone interested in illuminating the idea of unexplainable genius." --QUESTLOVE Equal parts biography, musicology, and cultural history, Dilla Time chronicles the life and legacy of J Dilla, a musical genius who transformed the sound of popular music for the twenty-first century. He wasn't known to mainstream audiences, even though he worked with renowned acts like D'Angelo and Erykah Badu and influenced the music of superstars like Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. He died at the age of thirty-two, and in his lifetime he never had a pop hit. Yet since his death, J Dilla has become a demigod: revered by jazz musicians and rap icons from Robert Glasper to Kendrick Lamar; memorialized in symphonies and taught at universities. And at the core of this adulation is innovation: a new kind of musical time-feel that he created on a drum machine, but one that changed the way "traditional" musicians play. In Dilla Time, Dan Charnas chronicles the life of James DeWitt Yancey, from his gifted childhood in Detroit, to his rise as a Grammy-nominated hip-hop producer, to the rare blood disease that caused his premature death; and follows the people who kept him and his ideas alive. He also rewinds the histories of American rhythms: from the birth of soul in Dilla's own "Motown," to funk, techno, and disco. Here, music is a story of Black culture in America and of what happens when human and machine times are synthesized into something new. Dilla Time is a different kind of book about music, a visual experience with graphics that build those concepts step by step for fans and novices alike, teaching us to "see" and feel rhythm in a unique and enjoyable way. Dilla's beats, startling some people with their seeming "sloppiness," were actually the work of a perfectionist almost spiritually devoted to his music. This is the story of the man and his machines, his family, friends, partners, and celebrity collaborators. Culled from more than 150 interviews about one of the most important and influential musical figures of the past hundred years, Dilla Time is a book as delightfully detail-oriented and unique as J Dilla's music itself.
Shout, Sister, Shout! by
Long before "women in rock" became a media catchphrase, Rosetta Tharpe proved in spectacular fashion that women could rock. Born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, in 1915, she was gospel's first superstar and the preeminent crossover figure of its "golden age" (1945-1965). Everyone who saw her perform said she could "make that guitar talk." Shout, Sister, Shout! is the first biography of this trailblazing performer who influenced scores of popular musicians, from Elvis Presley and Little Richard to Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt. An African American guitar virtuoso, Tharpe defied categorization. Blues singer, gospel singer, folk artist, and rock-and-roller, she "went electric" in the late 1930s, amazing northern and southern, U.S. and international, and white and black audiences with her charisma and skill. Ambitious and relentlessly public, Tharpe even staged her own wedding as a gospel concert-in a stadium holding 20,000 people! Wald's eye-opening biography, which draws on the memories of over 150 people who knew or worked with Tharpe, introduces us to this intriguing and forgotten musical heavyweight, forever altering our understanding of both women in rock and U.S. popular music.
Live Dead by
The Grateful Dead were one of the most successful live acts of the rock era. Performing more than 2,300 shows between 1965 and 1995, the Grateful Dead's reputation as a "live band" was--and continues to be--sustained by thousands of live concert recordings from every era of the group's long and colorful career. In Live Dead, musicologist John Brackett examines how live recordings--from the group's official releases to fan-produced tapes, bootlegs to "Betty Boards," and Dick's Picks to From the Vault--have shaped the general history and popular mythology of the Grateful Dead for more than fifty years. Drawing on a diverse array of materials and documents contained in the Grateful Dead Archive, Live Dead details how live recordings became meaningful among the band and their fans not only as sonic souvenirs of past musical performances but also as expressions of assorted ideals, including notions of "liveness," authenticity, and the power of recorded sound.
Get Shown the Light by
Of all the musical developments of rock in the 1960s, one in particular fundamentally changed the music's structure and listening experience: the incorporation of extended improvisation into live performances. While many bands--including Cream, Pink Floyd, and the Velvet Underground--stretched out their songs with improvisations, no band was more identified with the practice than the Grateful Dead. In Get Shown the Light Michael Kaler examines how the Dead's dedication to improvisation stemmed from their belief that playing in this manner enabled them to touch upon transcendence. Drawing on band testimonials and analyses of early recordings, Kaler traces how the Dead developed an approach to playing music that they believed would facilitate their spiritual goals. He focuses on the band's early years, the significance of their playing Ken Kesey's Acid Test parties, and their evolving exploration of the myriad musical and spiritual possibilities that extended improvisation afforded. Kaler demonstrates that the Grateful Dead developed a radical new way of playing rock music as a means to unleash the spiritual and transformative potential of their music.
Switched On by
The Moog synthesizer "bent the course of music forever" Rolling Stone declared. Bob Moog, the man who did that bending, was a lovable geek with Einstein hair and pocket protectors. He walked into history in 1964 when his homemade contraption unexpectedly became a sensation---suddenly everyone wanted a Moog. The Beatles, The Doors, The Byrds, and Stevie Wonder discovered his synthesizer, and it came to be featured in seminal film scores including Apocalypse Now and A Clockwork Orange. The Moog's game-changing sounds saturated 60's counterculture and burst into the disco party in the 70's to set off the electronic dance music movement. Bob had singlehandedly founded the synth industry and become a star in the process. But he was also going broke. Imitators copied his technology, the musicians' union accused him of replacing live players, and Japanese competitors started overtaking his work. He struggled to hang on to his inventions, his business, and his very name. Bob's story upends our notions of success and wealth, showing that the two don't always go together. In Switched On, author Albert Glinsky draws on exclusive access to Bob Moog's personal archives and his probing interviews with Bob's family and a multitude of associates, for this first complete biography of the man and his work. Switched On takes the reader on a roller coaster ride at turns triumphant, heart-breaking, and frequently laugh out loud absurd---a nuanced trip through the public and private worlds of this legendary inventor who altered the course of music.
Working Musicians by
In Working Musicians Timothy D. Taylor offers a behind-the-scenes look at the labor of the mostly unknown composers, music editors, orchestrators, recording engineers, and other workers involved in producing music for films, television, and video games. Drawing on dozens of interviews with music workers in Los Angeles, Taylor explores the nature of their work and how they understand their roles in the entertainment business. Taylor traces how these cultural laborers have adapted to and cope with the conditions of neoliberalism as, over the last decade, their working conditions have become increasingly precarious. Digital technologies have accelerated production timelines and changed how content is delivered, while new pay schemes have emerged that have transformed composers from artists into managers and paymasters. Taylor demonstrates that as bureaucratization and commercialization affect every aspect of media, the composers, musicians, music editors, engineers, and others whose soundtracks excite, inspire, and touch millions face the same structural economic challenges that have transformed American society, concentrating wealth and power in fewer and fewer hands.
60 Songs That Explain The '90s by
NAMED A BEST MUSIC BOOK OF 2023 by PITCHFORK, VARIETY, AND ROLLING STONE A companion to the #1 music podcast on Spotify, this book takes readers through the greatest hits that define a weirdly undefinable decade. The 1990s were a chaotic and gritty and utterly magical time for music, a confounding barrage of genres and lifestyles and superstars, from grunge to hip-hop, from sumptuous R&B to rambunctious ska-punk, from Axl to Kurt to Missy to Santana to Tupac to Britney. In 60 SONGS THAT EXPLAIN THE '90s, Ringer music critic Rob Harvilla reimagines all the earwormy, iconic hits Gen Xers pine for with vivid historical storytelling, sharp critical analysis, rampant loopiness, and wryly personal ruminations on the most bizarre, joyous, and inescapable songs from a decade we both regret entirely and miss desperately.
Artistic Research in Jazz by
This book presents the recent positions, theories, and methods of artistic research in jazz, inviting readers to critically engage in and establish a sustained discourse regarding theoretical, methodological, and analytic perspectives. A panel of eleven international contributors presents an in-depth discourse on shared and specific approaches to artistic research in jazz, aiming at an understanding of the specificity of current practices, both improvisational and composed. The topics addressed throughout consider the cultural, institutional, epistemological, philosophical, ethical, and practical aspects of the discipline, as well as the influence of race, gender, and politics. The book is structured in three parts: first, on topics related to improvisation, theory and history; second, on institutional and pedagogical positions; and third, on methodical approaches in four specific research projects conducted by the authors. In thinking outside established theoretical frameworks, this book invites further exploration and participation, and encourages practitioners, scholars, students, and teachers at all academic levels to shape the future of artistic research collectively. It will be of interest to students in jazz and popular music studies, performance studies, improvisation studies, music philosophy, music aesthetics, and Western art music research.
Blues on Stage by
Blues on Stage presents a new history of the development of the "Classic Blues" of the 1920s, offering a comprehensive review of various Black singers who recorded and were influential in this era, including Bessie Smith, Trixie Smith, Butterbeans and Susie, and Ma Rainey. The business of music recording and publishing, including songwriting and touring theater circuits, is explored as part of the narrative of how and when these artists became nationally popular. The most highly regarded singers of this period were not folk or rural artists, but rather highly experienced stage professionals whose careers often extended two decades or more prior to their first recordings. These artists, some of the most famous acts on the Black vaudeville and tent show circuits, were preceded in the recording studio by many cabaret and nightclub singers with a different entertainment perspective and were followed by artists who came from a more rural, less professional background. For anyone interested in the roots of jazz and blues, Blues on Stage offers a new and comprehensive introduction to the development of this American musical style.
Rap Capital by
An "impassioned tribute" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) to the most influential music culture today, Atlanta rap--a masterful, street-level story of art, money, race, class, and salvation from acclaimed New York Times reporter Joe Coscarelli. From mansions to trap houses, office buildings to strip clubs, Atlanta is defined by its rap music. But this flashy and fast-paced world is rarely seen below surface level as a collection not of superheroes and villains, cartoons and caricatures, but of flawed and inspired individuals all trying to get a piece of what everyone else seems to have. In artistic, commercial, and human terms, Atlanta rap represents the most consequential musical ecosystem of this century. Rap Capital tells the dramatic stories of the people who make it tick and the city that made them that way. The lives of the artists driving the culture, from megastars like Lil Baby and Migos to lesser-known local strivers like Lil Reek and Marlo, represent the modern American dream but also an American nightmare, as young Black men and women wrestle generational curses, crippled school systems, incarceration, and racism on the way to an improbably destination atop art and commerce. Across Atlanta, rap dreams power countless overlapping economies, but they're also a gamble, one that could make a poor man rich or a poor man poorer, land someone in jail or keep them out of it. Drawing on years of reporting, more than a hundred interviews, dozens of hours in recording studios and on immersive ride-alongs, acclaimed New York Times reporter Joe Coscarelli weaves a cinematic tapestry of this singular American culture as it took over in the last decade, from the big names to the lesser-seen prospects, managers, grunt-workers, mothers, DJs, lawyers, and dealers that are equally important to the industry. The result is a deeply human, era-defining book that is "required reading for anyone who has ever wondered how, exactly, Atlanta hip-hop took over the world" (Kelefa Sanneh, author of Major Labels). Entertaining and profound, Rap Capital is an epic of art, money, race, class, and sometimes, salvation.
Breaks in the Air by
In Breaks in the Air John Klaess tells the story of rap's emergence on New York City's airwaves by examining how artists and broadcasters adapted hip hop's performance culture to radio. Initially, artists and DJs brought their live practice to radio by buying time on low-bandwidth community stations and building new communities around their shows. Later, stations owned by New York's African American elite, such as WBLS, reluctantly began airing rap even as they pursued a sound rooted in respectability, urban sophistication, and polish. At the same time, large commercial stations like WRKS programmed rap once it became clear that the music attracted a demographic that was valuable to advertisers. Moving between intimate portraits of single radio shows and broader examinations of the legal, financial, cultural, and political forces that indelibly shaped the sound of rap radio, Klaess shows how early rap radio provides a lens through which to better understand the development of rap music as well as the intertwined histories of sounds, institutions, communities, and legal formations that converged in the post-Civil Rights era.
Boogie down Predictions by
Essays that explore the connections between time, representation, and identity within hip-hop culture. "This book, edited by Roy Christopher, is a moment. It is the deconstructed sample, the researched lyrical metaphors, the aha moment on the way to hip-hop enlightenment. Hip-hop permeates our world, and yet it is continually misunderstood. Hip-hop's intersections with Afrofuturism and science fiction provide fascinating touchpoints that enable us to see our todays and tomorrows. This book can be, for the curious, a window into a hip-hop-infused Alter Destiny--a journey whose spaceship you embarked on some time ago. Are you engaging this work from the gaze of the future? Are you the data thief sailing into the past to U-turn to the now? Or are you the unborn child prepping to build the next universe? No, you're the superhero. Enjoy the journey."--from the introduction by Ytasha L. Womack Through essays by some of hip-hop's most interesting thinkers, theorists, journalists, writers, emcees, and DJs, Boogie Down Predictions embarks on a quest to understand the connections between time, representation, and identity within hip-hop culture and what that means for the culture at large. Introduced by Ytasha L. Womack, author of Afrofuturism- The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture, this book explores these temporalities, possible pasts, and further futures from a diverse, multilayered, interdisciplinary perspective.
The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic by
"Jessica Hopper's criticism is a trenchant and necessary counterpoint not just on music, but on our culture at large." --Annie Clark, St. Vincent An acclaimed, career-spanning collection from a fiercely feminist and revered contemporary rock critic, reissued with new material Throughout her career, spanning more than two decades, Jessica Hopper, a revered and pioneering music critic, has examined women recording and producing music, in all genres, through an intersectional feminist lens. The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic features oral histories of bands like Hole and Sleater Kinney, interviews with the women editors of 1970s-era Rolling Stone, and intimate conversations with iconic musicians such as Björk, Robyn, and Lido Pimienta. Hopper journeys through the truths of Riot Grrrl's empowering insurgence; decamps to Gary, Indiana, on the eve of Michael Jackson's death; explodes the grunge-era mythologies of Nirvana and Courtney Love; and examines the rise of emo. The collection also includes profiles and reviews of some of the most-loved, and most-loathed, women artists making music today: Fiona Apple, Kacey Musgraves, M.I.A., Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey. In order for the music industry to change, Hopper writes, we need "the continual presence of radicalized women . . . being encouraged and given reasons to stay, rather than diminished by the music which glues our communities together." The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic--published to acclaim in 2015, and reissued now with new material and an introduction by Samantha Irby--is a rallying cry for women-centered history and storytelling, and a groundbreaking, obsessive, razor-sharp panorama of music writing crafted by one of the most influential critics of her generation.
Songs of Slavery and Emancipation by
Throughout the history of slavery, enslaved people organized resistance, escape, and rebellion. Sustaining them in this struggle was their music, some examples of which are sung to this day. While the existence of slave songs, especially spirituals, is well known, their character is often misunderstood. Slave songs were not only lamentations of suffering or distractions from a life of misery. Some songs openly called for liberty and revolution, celebrating such heroes as Gabriel Prosser and Nat Turner, and, especially, celebrating the Haitian Revolution. The fight for freedom also included fugitive slaves, free Black people, and their white allies who brought forth a set of songs that were once widely disseminated but are now largely forgotten, the songs of the abolitionists. Often composed by fugitive slaves and free Black people, and first appearing in the eighteenth century, these songs continued to be written and sung until the Civil War. As the movement expanded, abolitionists even published song books used at public meetings. Mat Callahan presents recently discovered songs composed by enslaved people explicitly calling for resistance to slavery, some originating as early as 1784 and others as late as the Civil War. He also presents long-lost songs of the abolitionist movement, some written by fugitive slaves and free Black people, challenging common misconceptions of abolitionism. Songs of Slavery and Emancipation features the lyrics of fifteen slave songs and fifteen abolitionist songs, placing them in proper historical context and making them available again to the general public. These songs not only express outrage at slavery but call for militant resistance and destruction of the slave system. There can be no doubt as to their purpose: the abolition of slavery, the emancipation of African American people, and a clear and undeniable demand for equality and justice for all humanity.
Twentieth-Century Music and Mathematics by
Music and mathematics have been connected since ancient times. During the twentieth century, however, many composers consciously started using many mathematical concepts, algebraic operations and theorems as bases for their creative processes. The first part of this volume deals with the relationship between music and mathematics in the music of composers such as Olivier Messiaen, Iannis Xenakis, Franco Evangelisti, Pierre Boulez, Arvo Part, Steve Reich and Philip Glass. A chapter is then dedicated to Spanish composers of the last forty years (Francisco Guerrero, Alberto Posadas, Jose Maria Sanchez-Verdu, Iluminada Perez Frutos, Nuria Gimenez Comas, Helga Arias and Jose Lopez Montes). The theme continues in the second part of the book through the examination of prominent theories (Neo-Riemannian theory, diatonic set theory, theory of musical kaleidocycles), the use of diagrams and charts in music, the algorithmic evolution of music, contemporary compositional practices inspired by mathematical concepts; it arrives at studies on double canons and trichords. We publish a philosophical study in order to ask what the future of the relationship between music and mathematics will be at the beginning of the 21st century. Includes an introduction by Massimiliano Locanto.
Computing Taste by
Meet the people who design the algorithms that capture our musical tastes. The people who make music recommender systems have lofty goals: they want to broaden listeners' horizons and help obscure musicians find audiences, taking advantage of the enormous catalogs offered by companies like Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora. But for their critics, recommender systems seem to embody all the potential harms of algorithms: they flatten culture into numbers, they normalize ever-broadening data collection, and they profile their users for commercial ends. Drawing on years of ethnographic fieldwork, anthropologist Nick Seaver describes how the makers of music recommendation navigate these tensions: how product managers understand their relationship with the users they want to help and to capture; how scientists conceive of listening itself as a kind of data processing; and how engineers imagine the geography of the world of music as a space they care for and control. Computing Taste rehumanizes the algorithmic systems that shape our world, drawing attention to the people who build and maintain them. In this vividly theorized book, Seaver brings the thinking of programmers into conversation with the discipline of anthropology, opening up the cultural world of computation in a wide-ranging exploration that travels from cosmology to calculation, myth to machine learning, and captivation to care.
Music and Technology: a Very Short Introduction by
Mark Katz surveys the age-old interrelationship between music and technology, from prehistoric musical instruments to today's digital playback devices. This Very Short Introduction takes an expansive and inclusive approach meant to broaden and challenge traditional views of music and technology. In its most common use, "music technology" tends to evoke images of twentieth and twenty-first century electronic devices: synthesizers, recording equipment, music notation software, and the like. This volume, however, treats all tools used to create, store, reproduce, and transmit music--new or old, electronic or not--as technologies worthy of investigation. All musical instruments can be considered technologies. The modern piano, for example, is a marvel of keys, hammers, strings, pedals, dampers, and jacks; just the sound-producing mechanism, or action, on a piano has more than 50 different parts. In this broad view, technology in music encompasses instruments, whether acoustic, electric or electronic; engraving and printing; sound recording and playback; broadcasting; software; and much more. Mark Katz challenges the view that technology is unnatural, something external to music. It was sometimes said in the early twentieth century that so-called mechanical music (especially player pianos and phonographs) was a menace to "real" music; alternatively, technology can be freighted with utopian hopes and desires, as happens today with music streaming platforms like Spotify. Positive or negative, these views assume that technology is something that acts upon music; by contrast, this volume characterizes technology as an integral part of all musical activity and portrays traditional instruments and electronic machines as equally technological.
Musical Ecologies by
- An important and timely volume, presenting and delivering a much-needed (and inclusive) counter-narrative in the field of Community Music - Chimes with the International Society of Music Education's World 2020 Conference theme on celebrating equity and diversity in music education (including Community Music) research and practices - Appropriate and required reading for a large range of readers including (but not limited to) undergraduates, graduate students, academics, scholars, university professors, practitioners, and researchers
Music in the World by
In music studies, Timothy D. Taylor is known for his insightful essays on music, globalization, and capitalism. Music in the World is a collection of some of Taylor's most recent writings--essays concerned with questions about music in capitalist cultures, covering a historical span that begins in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and continues to the present. These essays look at shifts in the production, dissemination, advertising, and consumption of music from the industrial capitalism of the nineteenth century to the globalized neoliberal capitalism of the past few decades. In addition to chapters on music, capitalism, and globalization, Music in the World includes previously unpublished essays on the continuing utility of the concept of culture in the study of music, a historicization of treatments of affect, and an essay on value and music. Taken together, Taylor's essays chart the changes in different kinds of music in twentieth- and twenty-first-century music and culture from a variety of theoretical perspectives.
Music in Conflict: palestine, israel and the politics of aesthetic production.
The Philosophy of Modern Song by
The Philosophy of Modern Song is Bob Dylan's first book of new writing since 2004's Chronicles: Volume One--and since winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016. Dylan, who began working on the book in 2010, offers his extraordinary insight into the nature of popular music. He writes over sixty essays focusing on songs by other artists, spanning from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between ranging from Hank Williams to Nina Simone. He analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal. These essays are written in Dylan's unique prose. They are mysterious and mercurial, poignant and profound, and often laugh-out-loud funny. And while they are ostensibly about music, they are really meditations and reflections on the human condition. Running throughout the book are nearly 150 carefully curated photos as well as a series of dream-like riffs that, taken together, resemble an epic poem and add to the work's transcendence. In 2020, with the release of his outstanding album Rough and Rowdy Ways, Dylan became the first artist to have an album hit the Billboard Top 40 in each decade since the 1960s. The Philosophy of Modern Song contains much of what he has learned about his craft in all those years, and like everything that Dylan does, it is a momentous artistic achievement.
Freedom Moves by
This expansive collection sets the stage for the next generation of Hip Hop scholarship as we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the movement's origins. Celebrating 50 years of Hip Hop cultural history, Freedom Moves travels across generations and beyond borders to understand Hip Hop's transformative power as one of the most important arts movements of our time. This book gathers critically acclaimed scholars, artists, activists, and youth organizers in a wide-ranging exploration of Hip Hop as a musical movement, a powerful catalyst for activism, and a culture that offers us new ways of thinking and doing freedom. Rooting Hip Hop in Black freedom culture, this state-of-the-art collection presents a globally diverse group of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American, Arab, European, North African, and South Asian artists, activists, and thinkers. The "knowledges" cultivated by Hip Hop and spoken word communities represent emerging ways of being in the world. Freedom Moves examines how educators, artists, and activists use these knowledges to inform and expand how we understand our communities, our histories, and our futures.
Behind Bars by
Behind Bars is the indispensable reference book for composers, arrangers, teachers and students of composition, editors, and music processors. In the most thorough and painstakingly researched book to be published since the 1980s, specialist music editor Elaine Gould provides a comprehensive grounding in notational principles. Behind Bars covers everything from basic rules, conventions and themes to complex instrumental techniques, empowering the reader to prepare music with total clarity and precision. With the advent of computer technology, it has never been more important for musicians to have ready access to principles of best practice in this dynamic field, and this book will support the endeavors of software users and devotees of hand-copying alike. The author's understanding of, and passion for, her subject has resulted in a book that is not only practical but also compellingly readable. This seminal and all-encompassing guide encourages new standards of excellence and accuracy and, at a weighty 704 pages, it is supported by 1,500 music examples of published scores from Bach to Xenakis. Chapters include: Section I - General * Conventions: Ground Rules * Chords -- Dotted notes -- Ties * Accidentals and Key Signatures * Dynamics and Articulation * Grace Notes, Arpeggiated Chords, Trills, Glissandos and Vibrato * Metre * Tuplets * Repeat Signs. Section II - Idiomatic Notation: Woodwind and Brass * Percussion * Keyboard * Harp * Classical Guitar * Strings * Vocal Music. Section III - Layout and Presentation: Preparing Materials * Score Layout * Part Preparation * Electroacoustic Music * Freedom and Choice.
Analytical Essays on Music by Women Composers: Concert Music, 1900-1960 by
Through musical analysis of compositions written in the first half of the twentieth century, Analytic Essays on Music by Women Composers: Concert Music, 1900-1960 celebrates the achievements of eight composers: Alma Mahler-Werfel (1879-1964), Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979), Dame Ethel Smyth (1858-1944), Ruth Crawford (1901-53), Florence B. Price (1887-1953), Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006), J. M. Beyer (1888-1944), and Peggy Glanville-Hicks (1912-90). Written by outstanding music theorists and musicologists, the essays provide thought-provoking in-depth explorations of representative compositions, often linking analytical observations with questions of meaning and sociohistorical context. Each essay is introduced by a brief biographical sketch of the composer by editors Laurel Parsons and Brenda Ravenscroft. This collection - Volume 2 in an unprecedented four-volume series of analytical studies on music by women composers - is designed to challenge and stimulate a wide range of readers. For academics, these thoughtful analytical essays can open new paths into unexplored research areas in the fields of music theory and musicology. Post-secondary instructors may be inspired by the insights offered in these essays to include new works in music theory and history courses at both graduate and upper-level undergraduate levels, or in courses on women and music. Finally, for soloists, ensembles, conductors, and music broadcasters, these detailed analyses can offer enriched understandings of this repertoire and suggest fresh, new programming possibilities to share with listeners.
Music of Bela Bartok by
This book presents 23 progressive piano pieces written by Bela Bartok, transcribed for two guitars. The material is great for classical guitar technique, sight-reading and overall musicianship. Pieces are written in standard notation and tablature.
Kurt Rosenwinkel by
Jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel has been pushing the jazz envelope for more than a decade and is recognized as one of today's premier soloists and composers. This book showcases solo transcriptions of Kurt's critically acclaimed album Deep Song as well as lead sheets for many of Kurt's personal favorite tunes presented in standard notation and tablature. The book is personalized with photos of Kurt's tours and recording sessions and is a valuable collection of modern jazz guitar.
Runagate: For Tenor Voice and Chamber Orchestra by 
Training the Ear, Vol 1 by
A basic ear-training text with examples and suggested self-study curriculum. Armen Donelian, prominent pianist and composer, has condensed the essence of 25 years of teaching experience into Training the Ear. These ear training exercises were created for use in entry-level college classes and for private study. While this book focuses on the specific musical needs of jazz improvisers, students of all kinds of music can benefit from the exercises presented here. The aural abilities may be developed by singing, tapping, naming, analyzing, transcribing, reading, and playing a series of progressively more challenging musical exercises. These practices will help you to process music with ease and confidence. By fully mastering each step along the way, a reliable structure is established which can always be called upon to support your growth. This is the beginning of real musical freedom.
Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns by
2023 Reprint of 1947 Edition. A comprehensive reference book of scales and melodic patterns, arranged in the form of piano scales and melodic studies, but adaptable for all instruments. Since its publication in 1947, great musicians and composers of all genres - from Arnold Schoenberg and Virgil Thomson to John Coltrane and Freddie Hubbard - have sworn by this legendary volume and its comprehensive vocabulary of melodic patterns for composition and improvisation.
A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Harmony and Melody by
This book should be seen as a method to help the artist to develop his or her own way when trying to improvise chromatically. Through the concepts and examples offered, the improvisor should be able to use this material alongside already familiar tonal ideas. Specifically, the book serves as a guide for organizing chromaticism into a coherent musical statement meant to satisfy both the intellectual and emotional needs of artistic creation. The reader will be introduced to more than one way of conceiving chromatic lines and harmonies. There is nothing theoretically complex or new in the text, it is the organization of the material as well as many musical examples and transcriptions (Bach, Scriabin, Coltrane, Shorter, Hancock, Beirach, Liebman a.o.) which should serve to inspire musicians to expand their usual diatonic vocabulary. This book also provides insight into the style of playing that David Liebman is known for. In addition the book contains 100 assorted solo lines and 100 chord voicings. More from David Liebman at his homepage.
Whole Notes by
Concerned with how, as well as what, to play, Whole Notes is both a piano method book and, more importantly, a guidebook to accompany the reader's personal journey into music. Posture, practicing, mental and physical health, using weight and force, economy of movement, and expression are some of the topics addressed. These themes are amply explored through detailed piano arrangements of Armen Donelian's compositions, and they are clearly connected to principles of physics, anatomy, and holistic development as well as music theory, rhythm, analysis and composition. These themes and principles are of universal interest to all musicians. As a practical inquiry, Whole Notes offers many options for creatively applying and integrating them for individual use. For this reason, the needs of non-pianists are also discussed.
Arcana X by
The final installment of John Zorn's major series of new music theory, with Oren Ambarchi, Peter Blegvad, Annea Lockwood, Henry Threadgill and many more Initiated in 1997 and now in its tenth and final installment, John Zorn's acclaimed Arcana series is a major source of new music theory and practice in the 21st century. Illuminating directly via the personal vision and experience of the practitioners themselves, who experience music not from a cool, safe distance, but from the white-hot center of the creative crucible itself, Arcana elucidates through essays, manifestos, scores, interviews, notebooks and critical papers. Over 25 years the ten volumes of Arcana have presented the writings of over 300 of the most extraordinary musical thinkers of our time, who address composing, performing, improvising, touring, collaborating, living and thinking about music from diverse, refreshing and often surprising perspectives. Technical, philosophical, political, artistic and mystical in nature, these writings provide direct connections to the creative processes and hidden stratagems of musicians from the worlds of classical, rock, jazz, film soundtrack, improvised music and more. Contributors include: Susan Alcorn, Oren Ambarchi, Ran Blake, Peter Blegvad, Tyondai Braxton, Patricia Brennan, John Butcher, Ben Coniguliaro, Amir Elsaffar, Kenny Grohowski, Tom Guralnick, Mark Helias, David Hertzberg, Stefan Jackiw, Dan Kaufman, Derek Keller, Richard Kessler, Pauline Kim, Ulrich Krieger, Hannah Lash, Dan Lippel, Annea Lockwood, Dave Lombardo, Charlie Looker, Thomas Morgan, Stephen O'Malley, Laura Ortman, Alex Paxton, Alexandria Smith, Conrad Tao, Pat Thomas, Henry Threadgill, Anna Webber, Fay Victor, Christian Wolff and Miguel Zenon.
Fats Waller on the Air by
Radio and television broadcasts are an essential component in the career of jazz musician Thomas "Fats" Waller. The medium suited his character well, allowing his friendly, energetic personality to shine through. This book meticulously documents Waller's on-air appearances: from his first known broadcast in 1923 at age 19 to the final airing before his premature death in 1943. Fats Waller On The Air: The Radio Broadcasts and Discography adds another dimension to the life of this dynamic performer. Author Stephen Taylor combines established material with fresh research, resulting in a wealth of new information. The broadcasts, including tributes to Waller after his death, are covered in detail, featuring dates, times, songs played, and other artists who appeared on the program. Through descriptions from contemporary newspapers and magazines, accounts from individuals who were in attendance, and remarks by radio announcers from original transcripts, the book provides historical perspective and a clear sense of the character and feel of the broadcasts. The book also offers a timechart of early sound recording and radio transcriptions, allowing easy comparison of Waller's presence in the field. Never before published photos and a thorough, accurate discography-including 78 and 45 rpm records, transcriptions, LPs, CDs, and DVDs-make this an important reference tool for fans of Fats Waller, jazz music, stride piano, black social history, and broadcast history.
Musical Revolutions by
From the critically acclaimed author of Temperament, a narrative account of the most defining moments in musical history-classical and jazz-all of which forever altered Western culture "A fascinating journey that begins with the origins of musical notation and travels through the centuries reaching all the way to our time."-Semyon Bychkov, chief conductor and music director of the Czech Philharmonic The invention of music notation by a skittish Italian monk in the eleventh century. The introduction of multilayered hymns in the Middle Ages. The birth of opera in a Venice rebelling against the church's pious restraints. Baroque, Romantic, and atonal music; bebop and cool jazz; Bach and Liszt; Miles Davis and John Coltrane. In telling the exciting story of Western music's evolution, Stuart Isacoff explains how music became entangled in politics, culture, and economics, giving rise to new eruptions at every turn, from the early church's attempts to bind its followers by teaching them to sing in unison to the global spread of American jazz through the Black platoons of the First World War. The author investigates questions like- When does noise become music? How do musical tones reflect the natural laws of the universe? Why did discord become the primary sound of modernity? Musical Revolutions is a book replete with the stories of our most renowned musical artists, including notable achievements of people of color and women, whose paths to success were the most difficult.
The Dawn of Indian Music in the West by
A little more than 50 years ago, in 1955, Ali AkbarKhan issued an LP called Music of India: Morning and Evening Ragas, with spoken introduction by violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Until then, Indian music was terra incognita in the West. When the same album was reissued as a CD in 1995, under the title Then and Now,it was nominated for a Grammy. In the last 50 years, there has been the explosive influence of Indian music and culture in the West. Words such as karma, yoga, raga, nirvana, all once unknown here, have entered the language. Most famously, the wonders of the Indian musical world were spread by George Harrison and the Beatles. The music also had a profound effect on Mickey Hart and the Grateful Dead, John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra), the Byrds, John Coltrane, and many others. The annus mirabilis 1967 saw the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi spreading the wonders of transcendental meditation, Swami Prabhupada founding the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in New York City, and the growing influence of Ravi Shankar. Four years later, George Harrison organized the groundbreaking Concert for Bangladesh, the first charity event of rock. Shankar had already wowed audiences at the Monterey Pop Festival, and he achieved stardom at the Madison Square Garden event. (Where Westerners, new to the sounds they heard, applauded after the musicians had finished tuning their instruments!) Peter Lavezzoli, a Buddhist and a musician, has a rare ability to articulate the personal feeling of music, and at the same time narrate a history. Lavezzoli has interviewed more than a score of musicians, such as Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, David Crosby, Philip Glass, Zakir Hussain, Mickey Hart, Zubin Mehta, and John McLaughlin.
Thomas Tallis by 
The Studio Recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68 by
The influence of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," consisting of Davis (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums) continues to resonate. Jazz musicians, historians, and critics have celebrated the group for itsimprovisational communication, openness, and its transitional status between hard bop and the emerging free jazz of the 1960s, creating a synthesis described by one quintet member as "controlled freedom." The book provides a critical analytical study of the Davis quintet studio recordings releasedbetween 1965-68, including E.S.P., Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky, and Filles de Kilimanjaro. In contrast to the quintet's live recordings, which included performances of older jazz standards, the studio recordings offered an astonishing breadth of original compositions. Many ofthese compositions have since become jazz standards, and all of them played a central role in the development of contemporary jazz composition.Using transcription and analysis, author Keith Waters illuminates the compositional, improvisational, and collective achievements of the group. With additional sources, such as rehearsal takes, alternate takes, session reels, and copyright deposits of lead sheets, he shows how the group in thestudio shaped and altered features of the compositions. Despite the earlier hard bop orientation of the players, the Davis quintet compositions offered different responses to questions of form, melody, and harmonic structure, and they often invited other improvisational paths, ones that relied on anuncanny degree of collective rapport. And given the spontaneity of the recorded performances - often undertaken with a minimum of rehearsal - the players responded with any number of techniques to address formal, harmonic, or metrical discrepancies that arose while the tape was rolling.The book provides an invaluable resource for those interested in Davis and his sidemen, as well as in jazz of the 1960s. It serves as a reference for jazz musicians and educators, with detailed transcriptions and commentary on compositions and improvisations heard on the studio recordings.
João Gilberto and Stan Getz's Getz/Gilberto by
Most die-hard Brazilian music fans would argue that Getz/Gilberto, the iconic 1964 album featuring "The Girl from Ipanema," is not the best bossa nova record. Yet we've all heard "The Girl from Ipanema" as background music in a thousand anodyne settings, from cocktail parties to telephone hold music. So how did Getz/Gilberto become the Brazilian album known around the world, crossing generational and demographic divides? Bryan McCann traces the history and making of Getz/Gilberto as a musical collaboration between leading figure of bossa nova João Gilberto and Philadelphia-born and New York-raised cool jazz artist Stan Getz. McCann also reveals the contributions of the less-understood participants (Astrud Gilberto's unrehearsed, English-language vocals; Creed Taylor's immaculate production; Olga Albizu's arresting, abstract-expressionist cover art) to show how a perfect balance of talents led to not just a great album, but a global pop sensation. And he explains how Getz/Gilberto emerged from the context of Bossa Nova Rio de Janeiro, the brief period when the subtle harmonies and aching melodies of bossa nova seemed to distill the spirit of a modernizing, sensuous city.33 1/3 Global, a series related to but independent from 33 1/3, takes the format of the original series of short, music-based books and brings the focus to music throughout the world. With initial volumes focusing on Japanese and Brazilian music, the series will also include volumes on the popular music of Australia/Oceania, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and more.
Michael Brecker Ode to a Tenor by
After John Coltrane, there was no more revered and profoundly influential saxophonist on the planet than Michael Brecker. For those coming of age in the 1970s, during that transitional decade when the boundaries between rock and jazz had begun to blur, Brecker stood as a transcendent figure. He was their Trane. Ode to a Tenor Titan follows Michael's story from growing up in Philadelphia, finding his tenor sax voice during his brief stint at Indiana University, making his move to New York City in 1969 and taking the Big Apple by storm through the sheer power of his monstrous chops on the instrument. A commanding voice in jazz for four decades, Brecker possessed peerless technique (a byproduct of his remarkable work ethic and relentless woodshedding) and an uncanny ability to fit into every musical situation he encountered, whether it was as a ubiquitous studio musician (more than nine hundred sessions) for such pop stars as Paul Simon, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Todd Rundgren, Chaka Khan, and Steely Dan; playing with seminal fusion bands like Dreams, Billy Cobham, and the Brecker Brothers; or collaborating with the likes of Frank Zappa, Charles Mingus, Pat Metheny, and Herbie Hancock. But his biggest triumphs came as a bandleader during the last twenty years of his career, when he produced some of the most challenging, inspired, and visionary modern jazz recordings of his time. A preternaturally gifted player whose facility seemed almost superhuman, he was also modest to a fault and universally beloved by fellow musicians. After coming through a dark decade of heroin addiction, he turned his life around and became a beacon for countless others to lead clean and sober lives. At the peak of his powers, he was struck down by a rare preleukemic blood disease that sidelined him for two and a half years. He got off a sick bed to make a heroic comeback with his swan song, Pilgrimage, which Pat Metheny called one of the great codas in modern music history and which earned him a posthumous Grammy Award in 2007. Michael Brecker was a player of tremendous heart and conviction as well a person of rare humility and kindness, and his story is one for the ages.
Let's Talk about Love by
For his 2007 critically acclaimed 33 1/3 series title, Let's Talk About Love, Carl Wilson went on a quest to find his inner Céline Dion fan and explore how we define ourselves by what we call good and bad, what we love and what we hate. At once among the most widely beloved and most reviled and lampooned pop stars of the past few decades, Céline Dion's critics call her mawkish and overblown while millions of fans around the world adore her "huge pipes" and even bigger feelings. How can anyone say which side is right? This new, expanded edition goes even further, calling on thirteen prominent writers and musicians to respond to themes ranging from sentiment and kitsch to cultural capital and musical snobbery. The original text is followed by lively arguments and stories from Nick Hornby, Krist Novoselic, Ann Powers, Mary Gaitskill, James Franco, Sheila Heti and others. In a new afterword, Carl Wilson examines recent cultural changes in love and hate, including the impact of technology and social media on how taste works (or doesn't) in the 21st century.
Didn't We Almost Have It All by
Named a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR... SO FAR by The New Yorker Named a BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH by The Washington Post A candid exploration of the genius, shame, and celebrity of Whitney Houston a decade after her passing On February 11, 2012, Whitney Houston was found submerged in the bathtub of her suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. In the decade since, the world has mourned her death amid new revelations about her relationship to her Blackness, her sexuality, and her addictions. Didn't We Almost Have It All is author Gerrick Kennedy's exploration of the duality of Whitney's life as both a woman in the spotlight and someone who often had to hide who she was. This is the story of Whitney's life, her whole life, told with both grace and honesty. Long before that fateful day in 2012, Whitney split the world wide open with her voice. Hers was a once-in-a-generation talent forged in Newark, NJ, and blessed with the grace of the church and the wisdom of a long lineage of famous gospel singers. She redefined "The Star-Spangled Banner." She became a box-office powerhouse, a queen of the pop charts, and an international superstar. But all the while, she was forced to rein in who she was amid constant accusations that her music wasn't Black enough, original enough, honest enough. Kennedy deftly peels back the layers of Whitney's complex story to get to the truth at the core of what drove her, what inspired her, and what haunted her. He pulls the narrative apart into the key elements that informed her life--growing up in the famed Drinkard family; the two romantic relationships that shaped the entirety of her adult life, with Robyn Crawford and Bobby Brown; her fraught relationship to her own Blackness and the ways in which she was judged by the Black community; her drug and alcohol addiction; and, finally, the shame that she carried in her heart, which informed every facet of her life. Drawing on hundreds of sources, Kennedy takes readers back to a world in which someone like Whitney simply could not be, and explains in excruciating detail the ways in which her fame did not and could not protect her. In the time since her passing, the world and the way we view celebrity have changed dramatically. A sweeping look at Whitney's life, Didn't We Almost Have It All contextualizes her struggles against the backdrop of tabloid culture, audience consumption, mental health stigmas, and racial divisions in America. It explores exactly how and why we lost a beloved icon far too soon.
It Was All a Dream by
From a talented young journalist on the rise, a deeply reported, timely new biography of the Notorious B.I.G., publishing for what would have been his 50th birthday The Notorious B.I.G. was one of the most charismatic and talented artists of the 1990s. Born Christopher Wallace and raised in Clinton Hill/Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, Biggie lived an almost archetypal rap life: young trouble, drug dealing, guns, prison, a giant hit record, the wealth and international superstardom that came with it, then an early violent death. Biggie released his first record, Ready to Die, in 1994, when he was only 22. Less than three years later, he was killed just days before the planned release of his second record Life After Death. Journalist Justin Tinsley's It Was All a Dream is a fresh, insightful telling of the life beyond the legend. It is based on extensive interviews with those who knew and loved Biggie, including neighbors, friends, DJs, party promoters, and journalists. And it places Biggie's life in context, both within the history of rap but also the wider cultural and political forces that shaped him, including Caribbean immigration, the Reagan era disinvestment in public education, street life, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and the booming, creative, and influential 1990s music industry. This is the story of where Biggie came from, the forces that shaped him, and the legacy he has left behind.
From Staircase to Stage by
Legendary wordsmith Raekwon the Chef opens up about his journey from the staircases of Park Hill in Staten Island to sold-out stadiums around the world with Wu-Tang Clan in this revealing memoir--perfect for fans of The Autobiography of Gucci Mane and Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter. There are rappers who everyone loves and there are rappers who every rapper loves, and Corey Woods, a.k.a. Raekwon the Chef, is one of the few who is both. His versatile flow, natural storytelling, and evocative imagery have inspired legions of fans and a new generation of rappers. Raekwon is one of the founding members of Wu-Tang Clan, and his voice and cadence are synonymous with the sound that has made the group iconic since 1991. Now, for the first time, Raekwon tells his whole story, from struggling through poverty in order to make ends meet to turning a hobby into a legacy. The Wu-Tang tale is dense, complex, and full of drama, and here nothing is off-limits: the group's origins, secrets behind songs like "C.R.E.A.M." and "Protect Ya Neck," and what it took to be one of the first hip-hop groups to go from the underground to the mainstream. Raekwon also delves deep into the making of his meticulous solo albums--particularly the classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx--and talks about how spirituality and fatherhood continue to inspire his unstoppable creative process. A celebration of perseverance and the power of music, From Staircase to Stage is a master storyteller's lifelong journey to stay true to himself and his roots.
A Long Strange Trip by
The complete history of one of the most long-lived and legendary bands in rock history, written by its official historian and publicist--a must-have chronicle for all Dead Heads, and for students of rock and the 1960s' counterculture. From 1965 to 1995, the Grateful Dead flourished as one of the most beloved, unusual, and accomplished musical entities to ever grace American culture. The creative synchronicity among Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan exploded out of the artistic ferment of the early sixties' roots and folk scene, providing the soundtrack for the Dionysian revels of the counterculture. To those in the know, the Dead was an ongoing tour de force: a band whose constant commitment to exploring new realms lay at the center of a thirty-year journey through an ever-shifting array of musical, cultural, and mental landscapes. Dennis McNally, the band's historian and publicist for more than twenty years, takes readers back through the Dead's history in A Long Strange Trip. In a kaleidoscopic narrative, McNally not only chronicles their experiences in a fascinatingly detailed fashion, but veers off into side trips on the band's intricate stage setup, the magic of the Grateful Dead concert experience, or metaphysical musings excerpted from a conversation among band members. He brings to vivid life the Dead's early days in late-sixties San Francisco--an era of astounding creativity and change that reverberates to this day. Here we see the group at its most raw and powerful, playing as the house band at Ken Kesey's acid tests, mingling with such legendary psychonauts as Neal Cassady and Owsley "Bear" Stanley, and performing the alchemical experiments, both live and in the studio, that produced some of their most searing and evocative music. But McNally carries the Dead's saga through the seventies and into the more recent years of constant touring and incessant musical exploration, which have cemented a unique bond between performers and audience, and created the business enterprise that is much more a family than a corporation. Written with the same zeal and spirit that the Grateful Dead brought to its music for more than thirty years, the book takes readers on a personal tour through the band's inner circle, highlighting its frenetic and very human faces. A Long Strange Trip is not only a wide-ranging cultural history, it is a definitive musical biography.
Grateful Dead Gear by
The origins and secrets of the Grateful Dead's magical sound are told This book is the first in-depth examination of the Dead's technical side, including their recording methods. From the "Acid Tests" of the mid-'60s to the famous "Wall of Sound" PA setup in the '70s and on to their exceptional later touring systems, the Grateful Dead were always on the cutting edge of technological innovation and experimentation. This exhaustive study includes clear and concise explanations of the band's equipment technology, instrument design, and studio recording techniques, plus a history of the group. Features: more than 100 photos and diagrams, many never before seen; new interviews with band members and tech personnel; suggested listening for every era of the group's history; and more
The Grateful Dead's 100 Essential Songs by
In the studio and more than 2,300 concerts between 1965 and 1995, the Grateful Dead performed more than 400 different songs. Their music continues to be tremendously popular as surviving band members and countless tribute bands memorialize the legacy the band left us upon the death of lead guitarist and singer, Jerry Garcia. The Grateful Dead's 100 Essential Songs examines the band's remarkable musical journey, pairing song analyses and memories with an online list of recommended recordings. Beyond a mere summary of each song, the descriptions here compare individual performances as they relate to the evolution of the band's style and the waning health but vibrant spirit of Garcia. Welcoming readers into the unbroken chain of the Dead's legacy, this book is indispensable for Deadheads, students of popular music, rock musicians, and anyone marveling at how the Dead's appeal continues today. With linked performances and studio recordings to allow readers to listen along with the book, as well as other song analyses and first-hand narratives of the authors' experience at hundreds of Dead concerts, the book will appeal to Deadheads, students of popular music, rock musicians, and anyone marveling at how the Dead's appeal continues today. The online song list may be accessed under the features tab at https: //rowman.com/ISBN/9781538110584.
DJ Screw by
DJ Screw, a.k.a. Robert Earl Davis Jr., changed rap and hip-hop forever. In the 1990s, in a spare room of his Houston home, he developed a revolutionary mixing technique known as chopped and screwed. Spinning two copies of a record, Screw would "chop" in new rhythms, bring in local rappers to freestyle over the tracks, and slow the recording down on tape. Soon Houstonians were lining up to buy his cassettes--he could sell thousands in a single day. Fans drove around town blasting his music, a sound that came to define the city's burgeoning and innovative rap culture. June 27 has become an unofficial city holiday, inspired by a legendary mix Screw made on that date. Lance Scott Walker has interviewed nearly everyone who knew Screw, from childhood friends to collaborators to aficionados who evangelized Screw's tapes--millions of which made their way around the globe--as well as the New York rap moguls who honored him. Walker brings these voices together with captivating details of Screw's craft and his world. More than the story of one man, DJ Screw is a history of the Houston scene as it came of age, full of vibrant moments and characters. But none can top Screw himself, a pioneer whose mystique has only grown in the two decades since his death.
Major Labels by
One of Oprah Daily's 20 Favorite Books of 2021 * Selected as one of Pitchfork's Best Music Books of the Year "One of the best books of its kind in decades." --The Wall Street Journal An epic achievement and a huge delight, the entire history of popular music over the past fifty years refracted through the big genres that have defined and dominated it: rock, R&B, country, punk, hip-hop, dance music, and pop Kelefa Sanneh, one of the essential voices of our time on music and culture, has made a deep study of how popular music unites and divides us, charting the way genres become communities. In Major Labels, Sanneh distills a career's worth of knowledge about music and musicians into a brilliant and omnivorous reckoning with popular music--as an art form (actually, a bunch of art forms), as a cultural and economic force, and as a tool that we use to build our identities. He explains the history of slow jams, the genius of Shania Twain, and why rappers are always getting in trouble. Sanneh shows how these genres have been defined by the tension between mainstream and outsider, between authenticity and phoniness, between good and bad, right and wrong. Throughout, race is a powerful touchstone: just as there have always been Black audiences and white audiences, with more or less overlap depending on the moment, there has been Black music and white music, constantly mixing and separating. Sanneh debunks cherished myths, reappraises beloved heroes, and upends familiar ideas of musical greatness, arguing that sometimes, the best popular music isn't transcendent. Songs express our grudges as well as our hopes, and they are motivated by greed as well as idealism; music is a powerful tool for human connection, but also for human antagonism. This is a book about the music everyone loves, the music everyone hates, and the decades-long argument over which is which. The opposite of a modest proposal, Major Labels pays in full.
Music Is History by
New York Times bestselling Music Is History combines Questlove's deep musical expertise with his curiosity about history, examining America over the past fifty years--now in paperback Focusing on the years 1971 to the present, Questlove finds the hidden connections in the American tapes, whether investigating how the blaxploitation era reshaped Black identity or considering the way disco took an assembly-line approach to Black genius. And these critical inquiries are complemented by his own memories as a music fan and the way his appetite for pop culture taught him about America. A history of the last half-century and an intimate conversation with one of music's most influential and original voices, Music Is History is a singular look at contemporary America.
Performing Tsarist Russia in New York by
Offering a rare look at the musical life of Russia Abroad as it unfolded in New York City, Natalie K. Zelensky examines the popular music culture of the post-Bolshevik Russian emigration and the impact made by this group on American culture and politics. Performing Tsarist Russia in New York begins with a rich account of the musical evenings that took place in the Russian émigré enclave of Harlem in the 1920s and weaves through the world of Manhattan's Russian restaurants, Tin Pan Alley industry, Broadway productions, 1939 World's Fair, Soviet music distributors, postwar Russian parish musical life, and Cold War radio programming to close with today's Russian ball scene, exploring how the idea of Russia Abroad has taken shape through various spheres of music production in New York over the course of a century. Engaging in an analysis of musical styles, performance practice, sheet music cover art, the discourses surrounding this music, and the sonic, somatic, and social realms of dance, Zelensky demonstrates the central role played by music in shaping and maintaining the Russian émigré diaspora over multiple generations as well as the fundamental paradox underlying this process: that music's sustaining power in this case rests on its proclivity to foster collective narratives of an idealized prerevolutionary Russia while often evolving stylistically to remain relevant to its makers, listeners, and dancers. By combining archival research with fieldwork and interviews with Russian émigrés of various generations and emigration waves, Performing Tsarist Russia in New Yorkpresents a close historical and ethnographic examination of music's potential as an aesthetic, discursive, and social space through which diasporans can engage with an idea of a mythologized homeland, and, in turn, the vital role played by music in the organization, development, and reception of Russia Abroad.
Ugly Beauty: Jazz in the 21st Century by
What does jazz mean 20 years into the 21st century? Has streaming culture rendered music literally meaningless, thanks to the removal of all context beyond the playlist? Are there any traditions left to explore? Has the destruction of the apprenticeship model (young musicians learning from their elders) changed the music irrevocably? Are any sounds off limits? How far out can you go and still call it jazz? Or should the term be retired? These questions, and many more, are answered in Ugly Beauty, as Phil Freeman digs through his own experiences and conversations with present-day players. Jazz has never seemed as vital as it does right now, and has a genuine role to play in 21st-century culture, particularly in the US and the UK.
Hip Hop in America by
Thoroughly researched, thoroughly in tune with the culture, "Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide" profiles two dozen specific hip hop scenes across the United States, showing how each place shaped a singular identity. Through its unique geographic perspective, it captures the astonishing diversity of a genre that has captivated the nation and the world. In two volumes organized by broad regions (East Coast, West Coast and Midwest and the Dirty South), "Hip Hop in America" spans the complete history of rap from its 1970s origins to the rap battles between Queens and the Bronx in the 1980s, from the well-publicized East Coast vs. West Coast conflicts in the 1990s to the rise of the Midwest and South over the past ten years. Each essay showcases the history of the local scene, including the MCs, DJs, b-boys and b-girls, label owners, hip hop clubs, and radio shows that have created distinct styles of hip hop culture."
Why White Kids Love Hip Hop by
Our national conversation about race is ludicrously out-of-date. Hip-hop is the key to understanding how things are changing. In a provocative book that will appeal to hip-hoppers both black and white and their parents, Bakari Kitwana deftly teases apart the culture of hip-hop to illuminate how race is being lived by young Americans. This topic is ripe, but untried, and Kitwana poses and answers a plethora of questions: Does hip-hop belong to black kids? What in hip-hop appeals to white youth? Is hip-hop different from what rhythm, blues, jazz, and even rock 'n' roll meant to previous generations? How have mass media and consumer culture made hip-hop a unique phenomenon? What does class have to do with it? Are white kids really hip-hop's primary listening audience? How do young Americans think about race, and how has hip-hop influenced their perspective? Are young Americans achieving Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream through hip-hop? Kitwana addresses uncomfortable truths about America's level of comfort with black people, challenging preconceived notions of race. With this brave tour de force, Bakari Kitwana takes his place alongside the greatest African American intellectuals of the past decades.
Who Got the Camera? by
Reality first appeared in the late 1980s--in the sense not of real life but rather of the TV entertainment genre inaugurated by shows such as Cops and America's Most Wanted; the daytime gabfests of Geraldo, Oprah, and Donahue; and the tabloid news of A Current Affair. In a bracing work of cultural criticism, Eric Harvey argues that reality TV emerged in dialog with another kind of entertainment that served as its foil while borrowing its techniques: gangsta rap. Or, as legendary performers Ice Cube and Ice-T called it, "reality rap." Reality rap and reality TV were components of a cultural revolution that redefined popular entertainment as a truth-telling medium. Reality entertainment borrowed journalistic tropes but was undiluted by the caveats and context that journalism demanded. While N.W.A.'s "Fuck tha Police" countered Cops' vision of Black lives in America, the reality rappers who emerged in that group's wake, such as Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tupac Shakur, embraced reality's visceral tabloid sensationalism, using the media's obsession with Black criminality to collapse the distinction between image and truth. Reality TV and reality rap nurtured the world we live in now, where politics and basic facts don't feel real until they have been translated into mass-mediated entertainment.
Liner Notes for the Revolution by
Winner of the Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Winner of the American Book Award, Before Columbus Foundation Winner of the PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Award Winner of the MAAH Stone Book Award A Pitchfork Best Music Book of the Year A Rolling Stone Best Music Book of the Year "Brooks traces all kinds of lines, finding unexpected points of connection...inviting voices to talk to one another, seeing what different perspectives can offer, opening up new ways of looking and listening by tracing lineages and calling for more space." --New York Times An award-winning Black feminist music critic takes us on an epic journey through radical sound from Bessie Smith to Beyoncé. Daphne A. Brooks explores more than a century of music archives to examine the critics, collectors, and listeners who have determined perceptions of Black women on stage and in the recording studio. How is it possible, she asks, that iconic artists such as Aretha Franklin and Beyoncé exist simultaneously at the center and on the fringe of the culture industry? Liner Notes for the Revolution offers a startling new perspective on these acclaimed figures--a perspective informed by the overlooked contributions of other Black women concerned with the work of their musical peers. Zora Neale Hurston appears as a sound archivist and a performer, Lorraine Hansberry as a queer Black feminist critic of modern culture, and Pauline Hopkins as America's first Black female cultural commentator. Brooks tackles the complicated racial politics of blues music recording, song collecting, and rock and roll criticism. She makes lyrical forays into the blues pioneers Bessie Smith and Mamie Smith, as well as fans who became critics, like the record-label entrepreneur and writer Rosetta Reitz. In the twenty-first century, pop superstar Janelle Monae's liner notes are recognized for their innovations, while celebrated singers Cécile McLorin Salvant, Rhiannon Giddens, and Valerie June take their place as cultural historians. With an innovative perspective on the story of Black women in popular music--and who should rightly tell it--Liner Notes for the Revolution pioneers a long overdue recognition and celebration of Black women musicians as radical intellectuals.
This Is What It Sounds Like by
This Is What It Sounds Like is a journey into the science and soul of music that reveals the secrets of why your favorite songs move you. But it's also a story of a musical trailblazer who began as a humble audio tech in Los Angeles, rose to become Prince's chief engineer for Purple Rain, and then created other No. 1 hits ,including Barenaked Ladies' "One Week," as one of the most successful female record producers of all time. Now an award-winning professor of cognitive neuroscience, Susan Rogers leads readers to musical self-awareness. She explains that we each possess a unique "listener profile" based on our brain's natural response to seven key dimensions of any song. Are you someone who prefers lyrics or melody? Do you like music "above the neck" (intellectually stimulating), or "below the neck" (instinctual and rhythmic)? Whether your taste is esoteric or mainstream, Rogers guides readers to recognize their musical personality, and offers language to describe one's own unique taste. Like most of us, Rogers is not a musician, but she shows that all of us can be musical--simply by being an active, passionate listener. While exploring the science of music and the brain, Rogers also takes us behind the scenes of record-making, using her insider's ear to illuminate the music of Prince, Frank Sinatra, Kanye West, Lana Del Rey, and many others. She shares records that changed her life, contrasts them with those that appeal to her coauthor and students, and encourages you to think about the records that define your own identity. Told in a lively and inclusive style, This Is What It Sounds Like will refresh your playlists, deepen your connection to your favorite artists, and change the way you listen to music.
The Big Payback by
"There has never been a better book about hip-hop...a record-biz portrait that jumps off the page."--A.V. Club THE INSPIRATION FOR THE VH1 SERIES THE BREAKS The Big Payback takes readers from the first $15 made by a "rapping DJ" in 1970s New York to the multi-million-dollar sales of the Phat Farm and Roc-a-Wear clothing companies in 2004 and 2007. On this four-decade-long journey from the studios where the first rap records were made to the boardrooms where the big deals were inked, The Big Payback tallies the list of who lost and who won. Read the secret histories of the early long-shot successes of Sugar Hill Records and Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC's crossover breakthrough on MTV, the marketing of gangsta rap, and the rise of artist/ entrepreneurs like Jay-Z and Sean "Diddy" Combs. 300 industry giants like Def Jam founders Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons gave their stories to renowned hip-hop journalist Dan Charnas, who provides a compelling, never-before-seen, myth-debunking view into the victories, defeats, corporate clashes, and street battles along the 40-year road to hip-hop's dominance. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS
Understanding Game Scoring by
Understanding Game Scoring explores the unique collaboration between gameplay and composition that defines musical scoring for video games. Using an array of case studies reaching back into the canon of classic video games, this book illuminates the musical flexibility, user interactivity and sound programming that make game scoring so different from traditional modes of composition. Mack Enns explores the collaboration between game scorers and players to produce the final score for a game, through case studies of the Nintendo Entertainment System sound hardware configuration, and game scores, including the canonic scores for Super Mario Bros. (1985) and The Legend of Zelda (1986). This book is recommended reading for students and researchers interested in the composition and production of video game scores, as well as those interested in ludo-musicology.
Victory Is Assured by
With Stanley Crouch's untimely death in 2020, American literature lost "a critic without peer" (Ta-Nehisi Coates). Born in Los Angeles in 1945, Crouch--a towering stylist, fearless columnist, and without question, one of the finest jazz critics of all time--was Rabelaisian both in stature and in intellectual appetite. Beloved yet cantankerous, Crouch delighted and enflamed the passions of his readers in equal measure, whether writing about race, politics, literature, or music. In these essays--some discovered on his computer, unpublished until now--Crouch tackles subjects ranging from Malcolm X ("a thorned bud standing in the shadow of sequoias") to the films of Quentin Tarantino ("With Django, Tarantino has slipped down . . . into a shallow and bloodstained hip-hop turn that his own best work has well-refuted"). Introduced by Jelani Cobb, with an afterword by Wynton Marsalis, and collected by his longtime editor Glenn Mott, Victory Is Assured canonizes the legacy of an inimitable, indispensable American critic.
Andrew Hill - 21 Piano Compositions by
(BH Piano). Legendary pianist and composer Andrew Hill (1931-2007) defied categorization for over four decades with his enigmatic and sophisticated musical style. He has over forty recordings to his credit and professional accolades that include being named Jazz Composer of the Year five times by the Jazz Journalists Association, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Foundation of America, and his final album Time Lines voted Best Jazz Album by DownBeat magazine. This marks the first published music by this groundbreaking composer/pianist/ensemble leader, called the "last great protege" by Blue Note Records' founder Alfred Lion. This commemorative folio includes forewords by Michael Cuscuna and Greg Osby as well as photos, a bio, quotes from Hill about music and life, and much more. Other contributors include: Ron Horton, Frank Kimbrough, Jeffrey Lovell, Jason Moran, and Mrs. Joanne Robinson Hill. Contents: 15/8 * Ashes * Ball Square * Bobby's Tune * Clayton Gone * Domani * Dusk * Erato * From California With Love * Golden Sunset * Gone * Hattie * Mist Flower (flute version) * Naked Spirit (a.k.a. Tripping) * Nefertiti (a.k.a. Nefertisis) * NIcodemus * Samba Rasta * Tough Love * Tough Love, Part 2 * Verona Rag * Westbury
Bill Evans Omnibook for Piano by
(Jazz Transcriptions). The ultimate collection for jazz keyboardists to learn 40 Evans classics with exact note-for-note transcriptions. Includes: Alice in Wonderland * Autumn Leaves * Bill's Hit Tune * Blue in Green * Days of Wine and Roses * Emily * Everything Happens to Me * Five * For Nenette * How About You? * How My Heart Sings * I Loves You, Porgy * It Could Happen to You * Just You, Just Me * Letter to Evan * My Foolish Heart * My Funny Valentine * My Romance * Nardis * Night and Day * One for Helen * Peace Piece * Peri's Scope * Quiet Now * Re: Person I Knew * Skating in Central Park * A Sleepin' Bee * Some Other Time * Stella by Starlight * Song from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless) * 34 Skidoo * Time Remembered * The Touch of Your Lips * Turn Out the Stars * Very Early * Waltz for Debby * What Kind of Fool Am I? * Who Can I Turn to (When Nobody Needs Me) * You Go to My Head * You Must Believe in Spring * and more.
Chick Corea - Omnibook by
(Jazz Transcriptions). Across a decades-long career, Chick Corea (1941-2021) exerted a limit-stretching influence on many a musical genre. With dozens of albums and an astounding 23 Grammy Awards to his credit, he was a potent force in music: exploring, experimenting, and discovering. His impact will be felt for years to come. This collection pays tribute to him with 26 note-for-note transcriptions with meticulous easy-to-read notation, chord symbols to facilitate analyzing the solos, rehearsal letters, rhythmic styles and metronome marks, and transcription reference included with the song title. Songs include: Armando's Rhumba * Blue Miles * Blues for Art * Brasilia (Lyric Suite Part 5) * Bud Powell * Chick's Piano Solo (Spanish Fantasy Part 3) * Children's Song No. 6 * Crystal Silence * Duende * Eternal Child * 500 Miles High * Humpty Dumpty * Improvisation on Scarlatti * La Fiesta * Love Castle * Mirror, Mirror * Morning Sprite * Quartet No. 1 * The Romantic Warrior * The Sky * Sometime Ago * Spain * Stride Time VII (Rhapsody for Mr. T) * Waltz (Lyric Suite, Part 2) * Windows * The Yellow Nimbus.
Bud Powell Omnibook by
(Jazz Transcriptions). This is the ultimate resource for studying the work of Bud Powell! 35 full piano transcriptions for some of his most popular recordings, including: All the Things You Are * April in Paris * Bags' Groove * Autumn in New York * Body and Soul * Cherokee (Indian Love Song) * 52nd Street Theme * Get Happy * Hallucinations * I'll Remember April * It Could Happen to You * Just One of Those Things * A Night in Tunisia * Ruby, My Dear * Satin Doll * Sweet Georgia Brown * Tea for Two * Un Poco Loco * and more.
Charlie Parker - Omnibook by
(Jazz Transcriptions). The Omnibook has become the book to turn to when you want to master the Bird. Includes 60 solos such as Anthropology * Au Privave (Nos. 1 and 2) * Billie's Bounce * Blues for Alice * Chi Chi * Confirmation * Constellation * Dewey Square * Donna Lee * Ko Ko * Moose the Mooch * Ornithology * Scrapple from the Apple * Shawnuff * Yardbird Suite * and more. Transcribed by Jamey Aebersold and Ken Slone. Spiral-bound, with chord symbols, metronome markings, record information, and practice suggestions. "One of jazz education's holy scriptures." JazzTimes Also available: Play-along tracks! See HL00240535 below for more info.
Charlie Parker - Omnibook by
(Jazz Transcriptions). The Omnibook has become the book to turn to when you want to master the Bird. Includes 60 solos such as Anthropology * Au Privave (Nos. 1 and 2) * Billie's Bounce * Blues for Alice * Chi Chi * Confirmation * Constellation * Dewey Square * Donna Lee * Ko Ko * Moose the Mooch * Ornithology * Scrapple from the Apple * Shawnuff * Yardbird Suite * and more. Transcribed by Jamey Aebersold and Ken Slone. Includes chord symbols, metronome markings, record information, and practice suggestions. "One of jazz education's holy scriptures." JazzTimes
Jazz Guitar Omnibook by
(Jazz Transcriptions). The Jazz Guitar Omnibook features transcriptions of solos as played by some of the world's leading jazz artists. This collection includes 30 songs: Airegin (Wes Montgomery) * Honeysuckle Rose (Django Reinhardt) * Just Friends (Pat Martino) * Night and Day (Joe Pass) * On Green Dolphin Street (Barney Kessel) * Rose Room (Charlie Christian) * Royal Garden Blues (Herb Ellis) * Yardbird Suite (Tal Farlow) * and more.
The Definitive Vince Guaraldi by
(Artist Transcriptions). Note-for-note keyboard transcriptions for 31 songs as performed by the famed jazz pianist who composed the songs and themes for the popular Peanuts animated cartoons. Includes: Autumn Leaves * Cast Your Fate to the Wind * Charlie Brown Theme * Christmas Time Is Here * A Day in the Life of a Fool (Manha de Carnaval) * El Matador * The Great Pumpkin Waltz * Linus and Lucy * On Green Dolphin Street * Skating * Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise * and more.
The Real Book with Backing Tracks (Songbook) by
(Real Book Play-Along). The Real Books are the best-selling jazz books of all time. Now the Real Book Volume 1 you know and love has been updated to include backing tracks for 240 of the top songs in this 400-song collection. Hal Leonard is very proud to present the first legitimate and legal editions of these books ever produced. You won't even notice the difference, other than that all of the notorious errors have been fixed: the covers and typeface look the same and the song list is nearly identical. Every conscientious musician will appreciate that these books are now produced accurately and ethically, benefitting the songwriters that we owe for some of the greatest tunes of all time!
Scat Omnibook by
(Jazz Transcriptions). Omnibooks are comprehensive collections featuring the most accurate note-for-note transcriptions for all instrumentalists. They also include chord symbols, metronome markings and record information. This Scat Omnibook collection is useful for vocalists as well as instrumentalists looking to master the more than 60 songs included in the collection, exactly as they were recorded by the masters of jazz. Songs include: Air Mail Special * All Blues * Bernie's Tune * Blue Skies * Centerpiece * Flying Home * Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You * I Got Rhythm * It's All Right with Me * Just Friends * Lullaby of Birdland * Oh, Lady Be Good! * Old Devil Moon * On the Sunny Side of the Street * Rockin' in Rhythm * Shiny Stockings * Sing, Sing, Sing * Stolen Moments * A-Tisket, A-Tasket * West Coast Blues * and many more. Includes an artist index and introduction on the history of scat vocals.
The Real Jazz Solos Book by
(Fake Book). This amazing collection transcribes nearly 150 of the best-known jazz solos (regardless of the instrument) exactly as recorded by icons of the trade, including: Autumn Leaves (Chet Baker) * Blue in Green (Toots Thielemans) * Blue Train (John Coltrane) * Bright Size Life (Jaco Pastorius) * Dolphin Dance (Herbie Hancock) * Footprints (Wayne Shorter) * I Do It for Your Love (Bill Evans) * I Mean You (Thelonius Monk) * Isreal (Bill Evans) * K.C. Blues (Charlie Parker) * Milestones (Miles Davis) * New Orleans (Wynton Marsalis) * Nuages (Django Reinhardt) * Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Oscar Peterson) * Spring Ain't Here (Pat Metheny) * Stella by Starlight (Ray Brown) * Waltz for Debby (Cannonball Adderley) * West End Blues (Louis Armstrong) * and many more.
Jimi Hendrix Omnibook by
(Jazz Transcriptions). The ultimate resource for experiencing the guitar stylings of Jimi Hendrix! This new Omnibook edition features over 65 note-for-note transcriptions of his recorded solos in standard notation and tablature for: All Along the Watchtower * Born Under a Bad Sign * Come On, Pt. 1 * Everlasting First * Foxey Lady * Hey Joe * I Don't Live Today * Jam 292 * Love or Confusion * Machine Gun * Once I Had a Woman * Purple Haze * Room Full of Mirrors * Star Spangled Banner (Instrumental) * Stone Free * Third Stone from the Sun * Voodoo Child (Slight Return) * The Wind Cries Mary * and many more.
The Real Little Classical Fake Book (Songbook) by
(Fake Book). This fabulous fake book includes nearly every famous classical theme ever written! It's a virtual encyclopedia of classical music, in one complete volume. Features: over 165 classical composers; over 500 classical themes in their original keys; lyrics in their original language; a timeline of major classical composers; categorical listings; more.
Cannonball Adderley - Omnibook for e-Flat Instruments by
(Jazz Transcriptions). Nearly 50 of Julian "Cannonball" Adderley's recorded solos transcribed exactly for E-flat instruments, including: Blue Funk * Cannonball * Easy to Love (You'd Be So Easy to Love) * Fiddler on the Roof * I Remember You * Love for Sale * Milestones * Oleo * On Green Dolphin Street * People Will Say We're in Love * So What * Somethin' Else * Stardust * Straight No Chaser * Things Are Getting Better * What Is This Thing Called Love? * Who Cares? (So Long As You Care for Me) * You Got It * and many more.
Stan Getz - Omnibook by
(Jazz Transcriptions). 54 Getz songs transcribed exactly from his recorded solos, with solo analysis sections and a complete discography. Includes: All the Things You Are * Autumn Leaves * Billie's Bounce (Bill's Bounce) * Blue Skies * Come Rain or Come Shine * Con Alma * Desafinado * Funkallero * Garota De Ipanema * I Remember You * Night and Day * A Night in Tunisia * One Note Samba (Samba De Uma Nota So) * Pennies from Heaven * Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Corcovado) * Stella by Starlight * The Way You Look Tonight * Where or When * Yardbird Suite * and more.
Sonny Rollins Omnibook by
(Jazz Transcriptions). The Sonny Rollins Omnibook celebrates the bebop legend that worked with Miles, Monk, MJQ, and many others. His solo work has earned him many accolades, including Grammy Awards, election into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an Edward MacDowell Medal, and the Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama. This collection features 50 of his best transcribed exactly from his recorded solos, including: Airegin * All the Things You Are * Almost like Being in Love * Bouncing with Bud * Doxy * Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye * I'll Remember April * Just in Time * Namely You * Oleo * On a Slow Boat to China * St. Thomas * Solid * Sonnymoon for Two * Vierd Blues * Woodyn' You * and more.
Miles Davis Omnibook by
(Jazz Transcriptions). The ultimate resource for studying the work of Miles Davis! 50 note-for-note C instrument transcriptions of his recorded solos for: Airegin * All Blues * All of You * Au Privave * Bags' Groove * Billie's Bounce (Bill's Bounce) * Blue Haze * Budo * But Not for Me * Bye Bye Blackbird * Diane * Dig * Doxy * E.S.P. * Footprints * Four * Freddie Freeloader * A Gal in Calico * Green Haze * I Waited for You * I'll Remember April * If I Were a Bell * It Could Happen to You * It's Only a Paper Moon * Jeru * K.C. Blues * Love Me or Leave Me * Miles Ahead * Milestones * My Funny Valentine * Oleo * On Green Dolphin Street * The Serpent's Tooth * Seven Steps to Heaven * Sippin' at Bells * So What * Solar * Some Day My Prince Will Come * Stablemates * Stella by Starlight * Stuff * Summertime * The Surrey with the Fringe on Top * The Theme * Trane's Blues * Tune Up * Walkin' * Well You Needn't (It's over Now) * Woodyn' You * Yesterdays.
Chris Potter Jazz Styles by
This book is a summary of exercises and jazz improvisation lines designed to improve contemporary jazz style techniques.The book is divided in scale, arpeggios, chromatic exercises and jazz lines phrases from Chris Potter.These exercises should be transposed to all twelve (12) tones, so we can achieve perfect coordination.Major, minor and dominant chords, extended to their highest level, scale wise, arpeggios and chromatic passages.There are none signature centers, so all these exercises will be worked accidentally.This project is an extension of my last three methods of improvisation:* Improvise Now*220 Chromatic Exercises + 1165 Jazz lines phrases*Herbie Hancock lines voicings and rhythms from transcriptions. *John Coltrane & Michael Brecker Legacy
Harmonic Experience by
An exploration of musical harmony from its ancient fundamentals to its most complex modern progressions, addressing how and why it resonates emotionally and spiritually in the individual. W. A. Mathieu, an accomplished author and recording artist, presents a way of learning music that reconnects modern-day musicians with the source from which music was originally generated. As the author states, "The rules of music--including counterpoint and harmony--were not formed in our brains but in the resonance chambers of our bodies." His theory of music reconciles the ancient harmonic system of just intonation with the modern system of twelve-tone temperament. Saying that the way we think music is far from the way we do music, Mathieu explains why certain combinations of sounds are experienced by the listener as harmonious. His prose often resembles the rhythms and cadences of music itself, and his many musical examples allow readers to discover their own musical responses.
The Art of Post-Tonal Analysis by
The Art of Post-Tonal Analysis consists of analyses of thirty-three musical passages or entire short works in a variety of post-tonal styles. For each piece author Joseph N. Straus shows how it is put together and what sense might be made of it: how the music goes. Along the way, he shows thevalue of post-tonal theory in addressing these questions, and in revealing something of the fascination and beauty of this music. The works under study are taken from throughout the long twentieth century, from 1909 to the present. Within the atonal wing of modern classical music, the composersdiscussed here, some canonical and some not, represent a diversity of musical style, chronology, geography, gender, and race/ethnicity.Musical examples, plus a companion website full of analytical videos, carry the burden of the analytical argument, with rarely more than a few sentences of prose at a time. In writing these analyses, Straus imagined teaching these pieces to a class of undergraduate or graduate students, seated atthe piano, pointing at score, listening as they go - the book is intended as a record of these (hypothetical) classes. His approach could be loosely described as transformational, rooted in an interest in seeing how musical ideas (shapes, intervals, motives) grow, change, and effloresce. Whenmusical ideas are obviously dissimilar and possibly in conflict, the book teases out subtle points of connection between them. Above all, the book aims to create rich networks of relatedness, allowing our musical minds and musical ears to lead each other along some of the many enjoyable pathwaysthrough this challenging and beautiful music.
Building Walking Bass Lines Book/Online Audio by
(Bass Instruction). A walking bass line is the most common approach to jazz bass playing, but it is also used in rock music, blues, rockabilly, R&B, gospel, Latin, country and many other types of music. The term 'walking' is used to describe the moving feeling that quarter notes create in the bass part. The specific goal of this book is to familiarize players with the techniques used to build walking bass lines and to make them aware of how the process works. Through the use of 90-minutes' worth of recorded rhythm tracks available online using the unique code in the book, players will have the opportunity to put the new learning directly into action. This book literally gives bassists the tools they need to build their own walking bass lines.
Jamey Aebersold Jazz -- Free Play, Vol 104 by
Think play-alongs and free jazz don't mix? Think again! Kenny Werner, author of the best-selling Effortless Mastery has put together a fantastic set that breaks down traditional boundaries of rhythm, melody, and harmony to present a blank canvas of sounds, pulses, and colors to excite the imagination. The book details ways to use this set to open new avenues of musical discovery. This will be the best chordless" tool in your musical tool box! Rhythm Section: Kenny Werner (p); Jahannes Weidenmueller (b); Ari Hoenig (d & asst. percussive enhancements). Titles: Random Sequence Piece * Just Sound Piece * Short Note Piece * Cascading Notes * Harmonic Piece * Free Rhythmic Groove * Drone in E * Time, No Changes * Fast Time With No Changes * Unaccompanied Drums * Unaccompanied Bass Piece * Unaccompanied Piano Piece * A Prayer in C Minor."
Thelonious Monk - Omnibook for Piano by
(Jazz Transcriptions). The ultimate collection of Monk classics transcribed note-for-note! Includes 40 of his most well-known performances ranging from his entire career, including: April in Paris * Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are (Bolivar Blues) * Blue Monk * Bye-Ya * Just a Gigolo * Off Minor * 'Round Midnight * Ruby, My Dear * Straight No Chaser * and more.
Pumping Nylon -- in TAB by
Scott Tennant, world-class classical guitarist and well-respected guitar eduactor, has brought together the most comprehensive technique handbook for the classical guitarist. It is presented here in both standard music notation and TAB. In addition to technical information not available elsewhere, he has compiled selections from Giuliani's 120 Right-Hand Studies; musical examples by Bach, Turina, Rodrigo, and others; Tarrega arpeggio studies; and original compositions by Andrew York and Brian Head. Essential information and a great sense of humor are effectively combined in this best-selling book.
Pumping Nylon -- Easy to Early Intermediate Repertoire by
The pieces in this book are selected and designed around the various techniques addressed in the best-selling book Pumping Nylon. They are offered as an extension of the exercises presented in that book, and to provide attractive and easy pieces in which to apply the various techniques discussed. New compositions by Andrew York and other contemporary composers are included as well as classic etudes by Tarrega, Carcassi, Giuliani and Sor. The pieces are helpful for developing arpeggios, tremolo, scale velocity and more. The CD is beautifully played by Scott Tennant.
Gal Costa canta Tom Jobim ao vivo by 
Summer of soul (... or, when the revolution could not be televised) by Randy Brecker Quintet: Live at Sweet Basil 1988 by Sun Ra : a joyful noise by Grateful dead : all the years combine, the DVD collection by 
Ron Carter, Art Farmer live at Sweet Basil : with Billy Higgins, Cedar Walton
Gil Evans and his orchestra by