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Rhythm Man

Chick Webb and the Beat that Changed America

by Stephanie Stein Crease ...

Series series CULTURAL BIOGRAPHIES SERIES
The first comprehensive biography of the Swing Era's pioneering virtuoso drummer and bandleader William Henry "Chick" Webb (1905-39) was one of the first virtuoso drummers in jazz and an innovative bandleader dubbed the "Savoy King," who reigned at Harlem's world-famous Savoy Ballroom. Along with the likes of Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, and Cab Calloway, Webb helped create the popular ... Read more

$21.89 USD

The first comprehensive biography of the Swing Era's pioneering virtuoso drummer and bandleader William Henry "Chick" Webb (1905-39) was one of the first virtuoso drummers in jazz and an innovative bandleader dubbed the "Savoy King," who reigned at Harlem's world-famous Savoy Ballroom. Along with the likes of Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, and Cab Calloway, Webb helped create the popular
... Read more
3 Shades of Blue

Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool

by James Kaplan ...

**The National Bestseller • One of The Minneapolis Star Tribune's Best Books of the Year“A superb book...[Kaplan is] a master biographer, a dogged researcher and shaper of narrative, and this is his most ambitious book to date.” —Los Angeles TimesFrom the author of the definitive biography of Frank Sinatra, the story of three towering artists—Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans—and how they ... Read more

$12.99 USD

**The National Bestseller • One of The Minneapolis Star Tribune's Best Books of the Year“A superb book...[Kaplan is] a master biographer, a dogged researcher and shaper of narrative, and this is his most ambitious book to date.” —Los Angeles TimesFrom the author of the definitive biography of Frank Sinatra, the story of three towering artists—Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans—and how they
... Read more
Monument Eternal

by Alice Coltrane ...

The long-awaited reissue of Alice Coltrane's original spiritual teachings and reflections, which provide powerful insight into her transcendent music, cherished by millions across the globeALICE COLTRANE (1937–2007) was a composer, master of various musical instruments, improviser, spiritual leader, and wife of John Coltrane. Throughout her adult life, she worked within and combined a broad range ... Read more

$8.09 USD or Free with Kobo Plus

The long-awaited reissue of Alice Coltrane's original spiritual teachings and reflections, which provide powerful insight into her transcendent music, cherished by millions across the globeALICE COLTRANE (1937–2007) was a composer, master of various musical instruments, improviser, spiritual leader, and wife of John Coltrane. Throughout her adult life, she worked within and combined a broad range
... Read more
Ornette Coleman

The Territory and the Adventure

by Maria Golia ...

Ornette Coleman’s career encompassed the glory years of jazz and the American avant-garde. Born in segregated Fort Worth, Texas, during the Great Depression, the African American composer and musician was the zeitgeist incarnate. Steeped in the Texas blues tradition, Ornette and jazz grew up together, as the brassy blare of big band swing gave way to bebop, a faster music for a faster post-war ... Read more

$22.99 USD

Ornette Coleman’s career encompassed the glory years of jazz and the American avant-garde. Born in segregated Fort Worth, Texas, during the Great Depression, the African American composer and musician was the zeitgeist incarnate. Steeped in the Texas blues tradition, Ornette and jazz grew up together, as the brassy blare of big band swing gave way to bebop, a faster music for a faster post-war
... Read more
Buddy Emmons

Steel Guitar Icon

by Steve Fishell ...

Series series Music in American Life
A No Depression Most Memorable Music Book of 2022The acknowledged maestro of the pedal steel guitar, Buddy Emmons lent his unparalleled virtuosity to over five decades of hit recordings and set standards that remain the benchmark for musicians today.Steve Fishell’s merger of biography and memoir draws extensively on in-depth interviews with Emmons and the artist's autobiographical writings. Emmons ... Read more

$11.59 USD

A No Depression Most Memorable Music Book of 2022The acknowledged maestro of the pedal steel guitar, Buddy Emmons lent his unparalleled virtuosity to over five decades of hit recordings and set standards that remain the benchmark for musicians today.Steve Fishell’s merger of biography and memoir draws extensively on in-depth interviews with Emmons and the artist's autobiographical writings. Emmons
... Read more
Love Songs

The Hidden History

by Ted Gioia ...

The love song is timeless. From its beginnings, it has been shaped by bohemians and renegades, slaves and oppressed minorities, prostitutes, immigrants and other excluded groups. But what do we really know about the origins of these intimate expressions of the heart? And how have our changing perceptions about topics such as sexuality and gender roles changed our attitudes towards these songs? In ... Read more

$20.89 USD

The love song is timeless. From its beginnings, it has been shaped by bohemians and renegades, slaves and oppressed minorities, prostitutes, immigrants and other excluded groups. But what do we really know about the origins of these intimate expressions of the heart? And how have our changing perceptions about topics such as sexuality and gender roles changed our attitudes towards these songs? In
... Read more
Celebrating Bird

The Triumph of Charlie Parker

by Gary Giddins ...

Within days of Charlie “Bird” Parker’s death at the age of thirty-four, a scrawled legend began appearing on walls around New York City: Bird Lives. Gone was one of the most outstanding jazz musicians of any era, the troubled genius who brought modernism to jazz and became a defining cultural force for musicians, writers, and artists of every stripe. Arguably the most significant musician in the ... Read more

$12.99 USD

Within days of Charlie “Bird” Parker’s death at the age of thirty-four, a scrawled legend began appearing on walls around New York City: Bird Lives. Gone was one of the most outstanding jazz musicians of any era, the troubled genius who brought modernism to jazz and became a defining cultural force for musicians, writers, and artists of every stripe. Arguably the most significant musician in the
... Read more
Adios, Motherfucker

A Gentleman's Progress Through Rock and Roll

by Michael Ruffino ...

A blend of This Is Spinal Tap and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the cult classic confessions of a debauched rock ’n’ roller and his adventures in excess on the ’80s hair-metal nostalgia tour through Middle America, now in a revised and updated edition.Once upon a time at the start of the new century, the unheard-of Unband got a chance to drink, fight, and play loud music with ’80s metal bands ... Read more

$8.99 USD

A blend of This Is Spinal Tap and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the cult classic confessions of a debauched rock ’n’ roller and his adventures in excess on the ’80s hair-metal nostalgia tour through Middle America, now in a revised and updated edition.Once upon a time at the start of the new century, the unheard-of Unband got a chance to drink, fight, and play loud music with ’80s metal bands
... Read more
Pepper Adams' Joy Road

An Annotated Discography

by Gary Carner ...

Series series Studies in Jazz
Pepper Adams' Joy Road is more than a compendium of sessions and gigs done by the greatest baritone saxophone soloist in history. It's a fascinating overview of Adams' life and times, thanks to colorful interview vignettes, drawn from the author's unpublished conversations with Adams and other musicians. These candid observations from jazz greats about Adams and his colleagues reveal previously ... Read more

$55.99 USD

Pepper Adams' Joy Road is more than a compendium of sessions and gigs done by the greatest baritone saxophone soloist in history. It's a fascinating overview of Adams' life and times, thanks to colorful interview vignettes, drawn from the author's unpublished conversations with Adams and other musicians. These candid observations from jazz greats about Adams and his colleagues reveal previously
... Read more
A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers

by Will Friedwald ...

Will Friedwald’s illuminating, opinionated essays—provocative, funny, and personal—on the lives and careers of more than three hundred singers anatomize the work of the most important jazz and popular performers of the twentieth century. From giants like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland to lesser-known artists like Jeri Southern and Joe Mooney, they have created a ... Read more

Was $24.99 USD Now $17.99 USD

Will Friedwald’s illuminating, opinionated essays—provocative, funny, and personal—on the lives and careers of more than three hundred singers anatomize the work of the most important jazz and popular performers of the twentieth century. From giants like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland to lesser-known artists like Jeri Southern and Joe Mooney, they have created a
... Read more
Open Sky

Sonny Rollins and His World of Improvisation

by Eric Nisenson ...

The first in-depth biography about the extraordinary jazz musician, compiled with the artist's full participation."Probing and honest. . . . Open Sky is an ideal point of entry to Rollins's improvisational world." —John Murp, JazzTimesRenowned jazz writer Eric Nisenson has penned a rare look at one of modern jazz's brightest stars, the incomparable master of improvisati... ... Read more

$12.99 USD

The first in-depth biography about the extraordinary jazz musician, compiled with the artist's full participation."Probing and honest. . . . Open Sky is an ideal point of entry to Rollins's improvisational world." —John Murp, JazzTimesRenowned jazz writer Eric Nisenson has penned a rare look at one of modern jazz's brightest stars, the incomparable master of improvisati...
... Read more
Traveling

On the Path of Joni Mitchell

by Ann Powers ...

*An Observer Best New Biographies of 2024*Celebrated NPR music critic Ann Powers explores the life and career of Joni Mitchell in a lyrical style as fascinating and ethereal as the songs of the artist herself in a definitive biography.“What you are about to read is not a standard account of the life and work of Joni Mitchell. Instead, it’s a tale of long journeying through a life that changed ... Read more

Was $13.99 USD Now $9.99 USD

*An Observer Best New Biographies of 2024*Celebrated NPR music critic Ann Powers explores the life and career of Joni Mitchell in a lyrical style as fascinating and ethereal as the songs of the artist herself in a definitive biography.“What you are about to read is not a standard account of the life and work of Joni Mitchell. Instead, it’s a tale of long journeying through a life that changed
... Read more
Rhythm Is Our Business

Jimmie Lunceford and the Harlem Express

by Eddy Determeyer ...

Series series Jazz Perspectives
"The first detailed study of one of the swing era's most important bands and the first biography of its leader, Jimmie Lunceford. This is a most welcome and significant contribution to the literature of jazz, to our understanding of a vital period in jazz history, and to the music of an outstanding and unique ensemble that was emblematic of the swing era."---Dan Morgenstern, Director, Institute of ... Read more

$19.49 USD

"The first detailed study of one of the swing era's most important bands and the first biography of its leader, Jimmie Lunceford. This is a most welcome and significant contribution to the literature of jazz, to our understanding of a vital period in jazz history, and to the music of an outstanding and unique ensemble that was emblematic of the swing era."---Dan Morgenstern, Director, Institute of
... Read more
Sweat the Technique

Revelations on Creativity from the Lyrical Genius

by Rakim ...

On the heels of Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize, as the world begins to recognize the creative side of Hip-Hop, comes a writing guide from a musician and "The greatest MC of all time," Rakim.The musician and Hip Hop legend—hailed as “the greatest MC of all time” and compared to Thelonious Monk—reimagines the writing handbook in this memoir and guide that incorporates the soulful genius, confidence ... Read more

$11.99 USD

On the heels of Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize, as the world begins to recognize the creative side of Hip-Hop, comes a writing guide from a musician and "The greatest MC of all time," Rakim.The musician and Hip Hop legend—hailed as “the greatest MC of all time” and compared to Thelonious Monk—reimagines the writing handbook in this memoir and guide that incorporates the soulful genius, confidence
... Read more
Louis Armstrong's New Orleans

by Thomas Brothers ...

"The best book ever produced about Louis Armstrong by anyone other than the man himself."—Terry Teachout, CommentaryIn the early twentieth century, New Orleans was a place of colliding identities and histories, and Louis Armstrong was a gifted young man of psychological nimbleness. A dark-skinned, impoverished child, he grew up under low expectations, Jim Crow legislation, and vigilante terrorism. ... Read more

$14.39 USD

"The best book ever produced about Louis Armstrong by anyone other than the man himself."—Terry Teachout, CommentaryIn the early twentieth century, New Orleans was a place of colliding identities and histories, and Louis Armstrong was a gifted young man of psychological nimbleness. A dark-skinned, impoverished child, he grew up under low expectations, Jim Crow legislation, and vigilante terrorism.
... Read more
Year of Wonder

Classical Music to Enjoy Day by Day

by Clemency Burton-Hill ...

“Year of Wonder is an absolute treat—the most enlightening way to be guided through the year.” **—**Eddie RedmayneA unique celebration of classical music that showcases one inspirational piece each day of the year, written by an award-winning violinist and BBC Radio personalityClassical music has a reputation for being stuffy, bori... ... Read more

Was $16.99 USD Now $2.99 USD

“Year of Wonder is an absolute treat—the most enlightening way to be guided through the year.” **—**Eddie RedmayneA unique celebration of classical music that showcases one inspirational piece each day of the year, written by an award-winning violinist and BBC Radio personalityClassical music has a reputation for being stuffy, bori...
... Read more
Lady Sings the Blues

The 50th-Anniversay Edition with a Revised Discography

by Billie Holiday, William Dufty ...

Series series Harlem Moon Classics
Perfect for fans of The United States vs. Billie Holiday, this is the fiercely honest, no-holds-barred memoir of the legendary jazz, swing, and standards singing sensation—a fiftieth-anniversary edition updated with stunning new photos, a revised discography, and an insightful foreword by music writer David RitzTaking the reader on a fast-moving journey from Billie Holiday’s rough-and-tumble ... Read more

$13.99 USD

Perfect for fans of The United States vs. Billie Holiday, this is the fiercely honest, no-holds-barred memoir of the legendary jazz, swing, and standards singing sensation—a fiftieth-anniversary edition updated with stunning new photos, a revised discography, and an insightful foreword by music writer David RitzTaking the reader on a fast-moving journey from Billie Holiday’s rough-and-tumble
... Read more
Becoming Ella Fitzgerald

The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song

by Judith Tick ...

**An NPR “Books We Love” Pick of the YearA Kirkus Best Nonfiction Book of the Year“[A] radiant, rich, no-stone-unturned biography.”—Paula J. Giddings, author of When and Where I EnterA landmark biography that reclaims Ella Fitzgerald as a major American artist and modernist innovator.**Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996) possessed one of the twentieth century’s most astonishing voices. In this first major ... Read more

$27.39 USD

**An NPR “Books We Love” Pick of the YearA Kirkus Best Nonfiction Book of the Year“[A] radiant, rich, no-stone-unturned biography.”—Paula J. Giddings, author of When and Where I EnterA landmark biography that reclaims Ella Fitzgerald as a major American artist and modernist innovator.**Ella Fitzgerald (1917–1996) possessed one of the twentieth century’s most astonishing voices. In this first major
... Read more
Friday Night Jam

by Nowick Gray ...

A how-to memoir tracing the learning curves of group music improvisation, the peaks and pitfalls of African hand drumming with electric instruments. ... Read more

Free

A how-to memoir tracing the learning curves of group music improvisation, the peaks and pitfalls of African hand drumming with electric instruments.
... Read more
How to Listen to Jazz

by Ted Gioia ...

**An Economist Best Book of the YearAn acclaimed music scholar presents an accessible introduction to the art of listening to jazz.“Mr. Gioia could not have done a better job. Through him, jazz might even find new devotees.” ―Economist**In How to Listen to Jazz, award-winning music scholar Ted Gioia presents a lively introduction to one of America's premier art forms. He tells us what to listen ... Read more

$13.99 USD

**An Economist Best Book of the YearAn acclaimed music scholar presents an accessible introduction to the art of listening to jazz.“Mr. Gioia could not have done a better job. Through him, jazz might even find new devotees.” ―Economist**In How to Listen to Jazz, award-winning music scholar Ted Gioia presents a lively introduction to one of America's premier art forms. He tells us what to listen
... Read more
Dangerous Rhythms

Jazz and the Underworld

by T. J. English ...

From T. J. English, the New York Times bestselling author of Havana Nocturne, comes the epic, scintillating narrative of the interconnected worlds of jazz and organized crime in 20****th century America."[A] brilliant and courageous book." —Dr. Cornel WestDangerous Rhythms tells the symbiotic story of jazz and the underworld: a relationship fostered in some of 20th century America’s most notorious ... Read more

$6.49 USD

From T. J. English, the New York Times bestselling author of Havana Nocturne, comes the epic, scintillating narrative of the interconnected worlds of jazz and organized crime in 20****th century America."[A] brilliant and courageous book." —Dr. Cornel WestDangerous Rhythms tells the symbiotic story of jazz and the underworld: a relationship fostered in some of 20th century America’s most notorious
... Read more
Thelonious Monk

The Life and Times of an American Original

by Robin D. G. Kelley ...

From the mind of brilliant historian Robin Kelley comes the first full biography of legendary jazz musician Thelonious Monk, including full access to the family's archives, dozens of interviews, and an afterword for Monk’s 2017 centennial.Thelonious Monk is the critically acclaimed, gripping saga of an artist’s struggle to “make it” without compromising his musical vision. It is a story that, like ... Read more

$16.99 USD

From the mind of brilliant historian Robin Kelley comes the first full biography of legendary jazz musician Thelonious Monk, including full access to the family's archives, dozens of interviews, and an afterword for Monk’s 2017 centennial.Thelonious Monk is the critically acclaimed, gripping saga of an artist’s struggle to “make it” without compromising his musical vision. It is a story that, like
... Read more
The Jazz Theory Book

by SHER Music, Mark Levine ...

The most highly-acclaimed jazz theory book ever published! Over 500 pages of comprehensive, but easy to understand text covering every aspect of how jazz is constructed---chord construction, II-V-I progressions, scale theory, chord/scale relationships, the blues, reharmonization, and much more. A required text in universities world-wide, translated into five languages, endorsed by Jamey Aebersold, ... Read more

$25.99 USD or Free with Kobo Plus

The most highly-acclaimed jazz theory book ever published! Over 500 pages of comprehensive, but easy to understand text covering every aspect of how jazz is constructed---chord construction, II-V-I progressions, scale theory, chord/scale relationships, the blues, reharmonization, and much more. A required text in universities world-wide, translated into five languages, endorsed by Jamey Aebersold,
... Read more
Music

A Subversive History

by Ted Gioia ...

**A four-thousand-year history of music that reveals how songs have shifted societies and sparked revolutions.“A dauntingly ambitious, obsessively researched labor of cultural provocation.” ―Los Angeles Times**Histories of music overwhelmingly suppress stories of the outsiders and rebels who created musical revolutions and instead celebrate the mainstream assimilators who borrowed innovations, ... Read more

$13.99 USD

**A four-thousand-year history of music that reveals how songs have shifted societies and sparked revolutions.“A dauntingly ambitious, obsessively researched labor of cultural provocation.” ―Los Angeles Times**Histories of music overwhelmingly suppress stories of the outsiders and rebels who created musical revolutions and instead celebrate the mainstream assimilators who borrowed innovations,
... Read more

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