Living the Jazz Life

Living the Jazz Life PDF Author: W. Royal Stokes
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195152492
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
In some forty interviews with saxophonists, pianists, singers, composers, and string, brass, and rhythm players, Stokes illuminates the lives of the artists and the sheer pleasure of the sounds they create. Stokes paints a vivid portrait of jazz musicians ... that range across the globe. Introductions to vaudeville stars, blues musicians, and women instrumentalists. Covers a broad spectrum, including conversations with legendary veterans, like Jackie McLean and Louie Bellson, to such rising stars as Diana Krall, Cyrus Chestnut, Ingrid Jensen, and violinist Regina Carter.-Derived from book cover.

Living the Jazz Life

Living the Jazz Life PDF Author: W. Royal Stokes
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195152492
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book

Book Description
In some forty interviews with saxophonists, pianists, singers, composers, and string, brass, and rhythm players, Stokes illuminates the lives of the artists and the sheer pleasure of the sounds they create. Stokes paints a vivid portrait of jazz musicians ... that range across the globe. Introductions to vaudeville stars, blues musicians, and women instrumentalists. Covers a broad spectrum, including conversations with legendary veterans, like Jackie McLean and Louie Bellson, to such rising stars as Diana Krall, Cyrus Chestnut, Ingrid Jensen, and violinist Regina Carter.-Derived from book cover.

Off the Books

Off the Books PDF Author: Peter Leitch
Publisher: Vehicule Press
ISBN: 9781550653489
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"Many jazz lives are marginal, as jazz guitarist Peter Leitch attests in his honest memoir. [This is] the story of a life lived in search of excellence in music and art, but also a life lived battling depression, alienation, and narcotics addiction. [This book] refers to life outside of conventional 9 to 5 society and Leitch vividly relates what it was like trying to make a living playing in jazz clubs, nightclubs, and studios. He tells of growing up in an English-speaking family in Montreal's working class and predominantly French-speaking East End refinery district, discovering jazz on CBC radio and learning to play it outside of the academy. His first gigs were in Montreal druing the 1960s, moving to Toronto in the late 1970s, and then to New York in 1982, which comprises the largest section of the book, chronicling the inner workings of the jazz "business"."--Page 4 of cover.

Jazzlife

Jazzlife PDF Author: William Claxton
Publisher: Taschen America Llc
ISBN: 9783822851661
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 696

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Book Description
In 1960, photographer William Claxton and noted German musicologist Joachim Berendt traveled the United States hot on the trail of jazz music. The result of their collaboration was an amazing collection of photographs and recordings of legendary artists as well as unknown street musicians. The book Jazzlife, the original fruit of their labors, has become a collector's item that is highly treasured among jazz and photography fans. In 2003, TASCHEN began reassembling this important collection of material ? along with many never-before-seen color images from those trips. They are brought together in this updated volume, which includes a foreword by Claxton tracing his travels with Berendt and his love affair with jazz music in general. Utilizing the benefits of today's digital technology, a restored audio CD from Joachim Berendt's original recordings has been produced and is included in this package. Jazz fans will be delighted to be able to take a jazz-trip through time, both seeing and hearing the music as Claxton and Berendt originally experienced it. Featuring photographs of Charlie Parker, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters, Gabor Szabo, Dave Brubeck, Stan Getz, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Charlie Mingus, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and many more Includes bonus CD of digitally remastered recordings of music made during Berendt and Claxton's journey (originally released in 1960 as two records)

Living with Music

Living with Music PDF Author: Ralph Ellison
Publisher: Modern Library
ISBN: 0375760237
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
Before Ralph Ellison became one of America’s greatest writers, he was a musician and a student of jazz, writing widely on his favorite music for more than fifty years. Now, jazz authority Robert O’Meally has collected the very best of Ellison’s inspired, exuberant jazz writings in this unique anthology.

Moving to Higher Ground

Moving to Higher Ground PDF Author: Wynton Marsalis
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 0812969081
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
In this beautiful book, Pulitzer Prize—winning musician and composer Wynton Marsalis draws upon lessons he’s learned from a lifetime in jazz–lessons that can help us all move to higher ground. With wit and candor he demystifies the music that is the birthright of every American and demonstrates how a real understanding of the central idea of jazz–the unique balance between self-expression and sacrifice for the common good exemplified on the bandstand–can enrich every aspect of our lives, from the bedroom to the boardroom, from the schoolroom to City Hall. Along the way, Marsalis helps us understand the life-changing message of the blues, reveals secrets about playing–and listening–and passes on wisdom he has gleaned from working with three generations of great musicians. Illuminating and inspiring, Moving to Higher Ground is a master class on jazz and life, conducted by a brilliant American artist.

Growing Up with Jazz

Growing Up with Jazz PDF Author: W. Royal Stokes
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 0195159276
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
In this collection of interviews, twenty-four instrumentalists and singers talk about the early influences that started them on the road to jazz and where that road has taken them.

Daily Life in Jazz Age America

Daily Life in Jazz Age America PDF Author: Steven L. Piott
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
This volume reveals the everyday actions of individuals and their reflections on their lives during the 1920s. The Jazz Age was a tumultuous time for Americans as they attempted to come to terms with "modernity." Daily Life in Jazz Age America tells the story of how all Americans—blacks and whites, women and men, workers, employers, consumers, and activists—contended with new cultural attitudes as well as persistent racial, ethnic, and class tensions. The book provides a broad examination of American society during the 1920s. Organized thematically, it covers rural and urban America; the changing nature of gender relationships; race relations; popular culture; the rise of mass spectator sports; and religion. Appropriate for general readers and students of history, Daily Life in Jazz Age America provides an informed and compelling narrative history and analysis of daily life within the context of broad historical change.

The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor

The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor PDF Author: Billy Taylor
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253009170
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
The autobiography of the celebrated American jazz pianist, composer, activist, educator, and Emmy Award–winning broadcaster. Legendary jazz ambassador Dr. Billy Taylor’s autobiography spans more than six decades, from the heyday of jazz on 52nd Street in 1940s New York City to CBS Sunday Morning. Taylor fought not only for the recognition of jazz music as “America’s classical music” but also for the recognition of black musicians as key contributors to the American music repertoire. Peppered with anecdotes recalling encounters with other jazz legends such as Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, and many others, The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor is not only the life story of a jazz musician and spokesman but also a commentary on racism and jazz as a social force. “This book (including Dr. Teresa L. Reed’s eloquent introduction) captures with great clarity and accuracy the character of this man. Taylor not only always aspired to excellence, he was also humble and generous of word and deed. The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor provides the backstory of why he must be remembered as one of the major leading lights of America’s classical music.” —New York City Jazz Record “In this excellent collaboration with author Teresa Reed, Dr. Billy Taylor, one of the most beloved and iconic figures in the jazz world, tells his extraordinary life story in his own words with characteristic humility, warmth, and eloquence. This is a book of major importance not only to the jazz field but also to the study of the African American social and cultural experience in the 20th and early 21st centuries. It is a must read—I couldn’t put it down!” —Dr. David N. Baker, Chair, Jazz Studies, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music; National Endowment for the Arts American Jazz Master “An impeccable memoir by one of America’s most celebrated renaissance men. . . . The writing is as fluid as it is gorgeous, captivating and inspiring. This monumental memoir offers an in-depth and critical analysis of American history through the lens of one the most decorated African American creative artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. . . . From amazing details of interactions with Malcolm X, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Coltrane and Mary Lou Williams to the behind-the-scenes inspirations for compositions such as “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free,” “Don’t Go Down South” and “Peaceful Warrior”; this is a must read by anyone who claims to be remotely interested in American music, history, arts and culture.” —Emmett G. Price III, Ph.D, Executive Editor of Encyclopedia of African American Music

Life in E Flat - The Autobiography of Phil Woods

Life in E Flat - The Autobiography of Phil Woods PDF Author: Phil Woods
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780999477656
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
Phil Woods was an American original. One of the greatest saxophonists of all time, he was the first call for Quincy Jones, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Oliver Nelson. His iconic improvisation on Billy Joel's hit song "Just the Way You Are" is quite likely the most played instrumental solo in the world. His popularity soared while an expat in Europe during the cultural revolution of the late sixties and early seventies. Upon his return to the States, Woods formed a band that would perform together for four decades. Grammy Awards, dozens of DownBeat Readers Poll victories, and designation as a National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master would follow. Life in E Flat is the unvarnished self-portrait of an artist who loved and lived a life of bebop. "I would have to give Phil Woods' sax solo on "Just The Way You Are" credit for making that a hit record." - Billy Joel "Life in E Flat is a gift, a compelling and entertaining memoir by one of the leading alto saxophonists in jazz for 60 years. Woods is a charismatic storyteller-literate, funny, insightful, self-aware, with a keen eye and ear for details that reveal character and wise observations about the music business and the jazz life laced with sardonic wit." - Mark Stryker, author of Jazz From Detroit ""Someone spotted me fondling the saxophone and misinterpreted my avaricious intent as musical interest..." So Phil Wood's lifelong journey began-a saga he relates with an irreverent, self-deprecating wit, from his earliest days in Western Massachusetts to recording timeless music and traveling the world with jazz legends. Time and again, he sets up a story like a punchline's coming, and often they do. What you always get is history rich in detail and long in feeling and self-honesty - the personal stumbles and the musical triumphs. Phil left us in 2015; this book he left us is a gift that shows how so much of him is still here." - Ashley Kahn, music historian and author of A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album & Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece "Growing up a New York jazz fan, Phil Woods was always a favorite. He was straight ahead, personal but in control, brimming with ideas: solid in every way. This account of the late jazz man's American journey, assembled with a loving, light touch by the always discerning critic Ted Panken, is like a Woods' gig. Full of the right information, things you thought you knew but didn't (the stories of often being the only white man in the room especially after marrying Charlie Parker's widow are instructive), heartbreaking and triumphant, Life in E-Flat is 100% solid." - Mark Jacobson, author of The Lampshade and Pale Horse Rider, former staff writer of the Village Voice and New York Magazine, and contributing editor for Rolling Stone and Esquire

The Jazz Life

The Jazz Life PDF Author: Nat Hentoff
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
The last few years have witnessed an enormous resurgence in the popularity of jazz, after some lean times in the sixties when many potential jazz fans turned to rock. Now the pendulum is on the backswing, and vintage and modern jazz as well as "jazz rock" are attracting huge new audiences. One factor involved in the comeback of jazz among blacks and whites alike is the rise of black consciousness, with its search for roots in the American experience. Nat Hentoff's The Jazz Life explores the social, economic, and psychological elements that make up the context of modern jazz. Among the jazz greats whose lives and work are discussed are Count Basie, Charles Mingus, John Lewis, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, and Ornette Coleman. Written with intelligence, passion, and wit, this jazz classic is of immense importance to anyone wanting a better understanding of the jazz—or indeed our American life.