Composers and songwriters Books

Book SynopsisFrom 1981 to 1994, music patron and art collector Betty Freeman (1921--2009) hosted a series of monthly musicales, or salons, in Los Angeles. Most of these salons were held in a room off the den of Freeman's Beverly Hills home--a space she dubbed the music room. Freeman saw these salons as an important space to foster the development of contemporary composition among leading and upcoming composers in both America and Europe. Over the span of thirteen seasons, 144 composers, performers, and dignitaries in the contemporary music world spoke, performed, and shared their music before a gathering of elite arts administrators, scholars, critics, patrons, and composers from the greater Los Angeles area. Freeman and her co-organizer, music critic Alan Rich (1924--2010), ensured that young, local composers were frequently featured alongside established ones with international reputations, constructing a network of mentors and mentees within contemporary music. The Music Room is a collection of

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Book SynopsisA major figure in American blues and folk music, Big Bill Broonzy (1903-58) left his Arkansas Delta home after World War I, headed north, and became the leading Chicago bluesman of the 1930s. This book traces Big Bill's career from his rise as a nationally prominent blues star to his influential role in the post-World War II folk revival.Trade Review"Bob Riesman's account of Broonzy's career in Chicago, Paris, London, and later on the US folk circuit with Peter Seeger and others, is as dense and detailed as it is clear and straightforward.... I Feel So Good is a well-written, beautifully produced account of a life lived in performance." (Times Literary Supplement)"

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Book SynopsisIn 1948, at the age of 15, Manu Dibango left Africa for France, bearing three kilos of coffee for his adopted family and little else. This autobiography chronicles his life, from his birth in Cameroon to his achievements as a composer, producer, performer, film-score writer and humanitarian.

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Book SynopsisThe Charlatans'' Tim Burgess invites you to the greatest listening party of all time. In 2020 when the world was forced to hit pause on live in-person gigs, Tim Burgess found an ingenious way to bring people together by inviting artists and bands, from Paul McCartney and New Order to Michael Kiwanuka and Kylie, to host real-time album playbacks via Twitter.Relive 100 of the most memorable listening parties here with stories from bands and fans, rarely seen backstage images, and unique insider info from those who created these iconic albums.Hey Twitter, let''s all say a big thanks to Tim for these brilliant events this year! We really needed them. So much great music being talked about.'' - Sir Paul McCartney Twitter being used for something really positive. - Mary BeardTrade Review...The Listening Party is a refreshingly different rock book, as it gained interviews that would never normally have been approved... In years to come when artefacts are gathered to represent the 2020-21 Pandemic, The Listening Party will be pride of place. * Record Collector *

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Book Synopsis'Until Hank Williams came along, it was just Bob Willis,' says Willie Nelson. 'He wasit.' And indeed he was, especially for the thousands in the Southwest who knew and loved the King of Western Swing. The colorful band leader-composer-fiddler from Turkey, Texas, lassoed the emotions of country-and-western fans nationwide. In the early 1940s, his records outsold those of any other recording artist. He was voted not only into the Country Music Hall of Fame but also into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, the only performer other than Gene Autry to be so honored.Affectionately written by a Texan who responded to the legendary fiddler''s style,San Antonio Rosecaptures Wills''s magnetism and the musical excitement he created. Charles R. Townsend traces Wills''s dynamic life from his birth into a family of frontier fiddlers through his career and stardom and on to the poignant last recording session in 1973 and his death two years later. Townsend shows how Wills broughTrade Review"One can only stand in awe at the kind of work that went into Townsend's book. . . . San Antonio Rose must be recognized as a major advance in the study of American music. It is a masterpiece of layout and design, rich with photos and well-done illustrations, [and] should be in the library of anyone interested in American music."--Charles Wolfe, Journal of Country Music"A warm and honest portrait of the man who brought the music of 'country folks' to town, who merged the spontaneity of country fiddling with the Big Band Sound, giving birth to Western Swing."--Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times Book Review"A landmark in country music scholarship."--Michael Mendelson, Western FolkloreTable of ContentsPreface xi 1. Cotton Fields and Cotton Camps 1 2. Down between the Rivers 16 3. "I Slurred My Fiddle . . .to Play the Blues" 36 4. Frontier Folk Music Moves to Town 44 5. Western Jazz 53 6. Light Crust Doughboys and Texas Playboys 68 7. The Spread of Western Jazz 88 8. Music out of a Straitjacket 98 9. "You Hired Bob Wills, Didn't You?" 112 10. Here Comes de Judge 121 11. "The Ballad of 'Seabiscuit' McAuliffe" 132 12. The Glory Years and the most Versatile Band in America 143 13. Faded Loves 156 14. "San Antonio Rose," Western Swing, and Some of the Finest Jazzmen You've Ever Heard 190 15. The Silver Screen and Music on the West Coast 206 16. That Certain Woman: Betty and the Summer of '42 215 17. "This Is the Army, Mr. Wills" 225 18. "Take Me Back to Tulsa" 235 19. Just Lookin' for a Home 261 20. "His Body Wore Out before His Desire" 277 21. Country Music Hall of Fame 283 22. More Tributes to a Pioneer Musician 295 23. A Product of the Jazz Age 310 24. Twilight Falls 316 Essay on Sources 325 The Bob Wills Recordings: A Comprehensive Discography Bob Pinson 337 A Preliminary Bob Wills Filmusicography Bob Pinson 375 Index 377

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Book SynopsisThe all-embracing, whaddya got? nature of rebellion in Fifties America included pop music's unlikely challenge to entrenched notions of masculinity. Within that upheaval, four prominent artists dared to behave in ways that let the public assumebut not seetheir queerness. That these artists cultivated ambiguous sexual personas often reflected an understandable fear, but also a struggle to fulfill personal and professional expectations. Vincent L. Stephens confronts notions of the closetboth coming out and staying inby analyzing the careers of Liberace, Johnny Mathis, Johnnie Ray, and Little Richard. Appealing to audiences hungry for novelty and exoticism, the four pop icons used performance and queering techniques that ran the gamut. Liberace's flamboyance shared a spectrum with Mathis's intimate sensitivity while Ray's overwrought displays as Mr. Emotion seemed worlds apart from Little Richard's raise-the-roof joyousness. As Stephens shows, the quartet not only thrived in an era of graTrade Review"Scholars interested in queer history, music history, race, and American popular culture generally will therefore learn much from this excellent book." --Journal of the History of SexualityAn Advocate Best Queer Non-Fiction Book of 2019 "Stephen's Rocking the Closet investigates how contemporary queer stars such as Little Richard navigated the mid-twentieth-century popular music landscape and, as important, how observers reacted to their unconventional gender presentation. . . . Stephens should be commended for the diverse range of primary sources marshalled in his study. . . . Rocking the Closet presents students and practitioners of queer cultural history, as well as those studying post-war cultural history, with fresher methods of examining popular culture and its legacies." --Cultural History"Distinguished by excellent writing Rocking the Closet achieves the admirable goal of being both a sound scholarly work and accessible to readers from all walks of life. It raises provocative ideas and arguments, challenging entrenched ways of thinking about the history of queerness in postwar America." --Notes "Well-argued and thoughtful." --Arts Fuse "Rocking the Closet is a worthy contribution to better understanding the queering of postwar masculine identities and popular music. . . . As the barriers between folk and popular cultures continue to be dismantled, scholarship such as Rocking the Closet follows an interdisciplinary trajectory that will satisfy scholars across disciplines." --Western Folklore "The spirit of Rocking the Closet is enjoyed in how deftly Stephens illuminates those nuances. He is as lucid about the music as about the cultural moment, the entertainment business, and the lives of the musicians." --On the Seawall "The contemporary mainstream LGBT narrative claims that artists should out themselves for the greater good. But Rocking the Closet makes a persuasive case that 'open secrecy' helped make stars of Little Richard, Liberace, Johnny Mathis, and Johnny Ray in the decades prior to and after Stonewall. These (until now) academically under-examined, yet enormously successful and influential musicians used the surprising leeway of the glass closet to develop artistic personae that were both appealing and ambiguous, leading to commercial success that rivals that of our current musicians. Stephens' insightful intersectional book will liven the debate in identity and popular culture scholarship!"--Shana Goldin-Perschbacher, Temple University

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Book SynopsisToday, the names Bach and Mozart are mostly associated with Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But this volume of Bach Perspectives offers essays on the lesser-known musical figures who share those illustrious names alongside new research on the legendary composers themselves. Topics include the keyboard transcriptions of J. S. Bach and Johann Gottfried Walther; J. S. Bach and W. A. Mozart's freelance work; the sonatas of C. P. E. Bach and Leopold Mozart; the early musical training given J. C. Bach by his father and half-brother; the surprising musical similarities between J. C. Bach and W. A. Mozart; and the latest documentary research on Mozart's 1789 visit to the Thomasschule in Leipzig. An official publication of the American Bach Society, Bach Perspectives, Volume 14 draws on a variety of approaches and a broad range of subject matter in presenting a new wave of innovative classical musical scholarship. Contributors: Eleanor Selfridge-Field, Yoel Greenberg, NoellTrade Review"It is a major challenge to do justice to the topic of Bach and Mozart and nearly impossible to fulfill the expectations of a book so entitled. Nevertheless, each of the six conference papers that make up the present volume (originally presented at the joint meeting of the American Bach and Mozart Societies at Stanford in 2019) add fresh and illuminating facets to the big picture of the two composers and their interrelationship."--Christoph Wolff, Bach's Musical Universe: The Composer and His WorkTable of ContentsPreface AbbreviationsThe Keyboard Transcriptions of J. S. Bach and J. G. Walther BY ELEANOR SELFRIDGE-FIELDPrecedents for the “Secondary Development” from Bach to Mozart and Their Implications for Understanding Early Sonata Form 23 BY YOEL GREENBERGA Pursuit of Wealth: The Freelance Endeavors of Bach and Mozart BY NOELLE M. HEBERJohann Christian Bach’s German Heritage BY STEPHEN ROEMozart, J. C. Bach, and the Bach Tradition BY DAVID SCHULENBERGDoles and the Prefect of the Choir: New Observations on Mozart’s Visit to the Thomasschule BY MICHAEL MAULContributorsGeneral IndexIndex of Works

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Book SynopsisNow available in paperback, William C. Banfield’s acclaimed collection of interviews delves into the lives and work of forty-one Black composers. Each of the profiled artists offers a candid self-portrait that explores areas from training and compositional techniques to working in a exclusive canon that has existed for a very long time. At the same time, Banfield draws on sociology, Western concepts of art and taste, and vernacular musical forms like blues and jazz to provide a frame for the artists’ achievements and help to illuminate the ongoing progress and struggles against industry barriers. Expanded illustrations and a new preface by the author provide invaluable added context, making this new edition an essential companion for anyone interested in Black composers or contemporary classical music. Composers featured: Michael Abels, H. Leslie Adams, Lettie Beckon Alston, Thomas J. Anderson, Dwight Andrews, Regina Harris Baiocchi, David Baker, William C. Ban?eld, YsayTrade Review"If you are intrigued by the mystery of artistic creativity, this is your book. If you want to know where these musicians believe they stand among their white peers, read on. If you are curious about how non-commercial composers and performers thrive or survive in our warped economy, there is much here to consider." --On the Seawall"Traversing a richly diverse gamut of Black culture and heritage across classical and jazz-- which many here agree is in effect ‘the classical music of America’—the crucial contribution of Black composers in and far beyond the US becomes clear. Wise, moving, and thought-provoking, it's a timely reiteration of the continued need for their wider acknowledgment." --BBC Music Magazine“A valuable guide to the repertoire.”--Times Union"While some composers are familiar (including Herbie Hancock and Bobby McFerrin), the overwhelming impression is how many unsung Black composers have contributed so much pleasure to music lovers. It’s abundantly clear their work has enriched and expanded the world’s musical palette. . . . A book that should be in every music lover’s library." --Library Journal, Starred ReviewTable of ContentsDedication Foreword Preface: Black Beethovens: Essential Conversations with American Composers In Loving Memory Acknowledgments Introduction Part 1: Laying the Foundations Part 2: The Arrived and the Acknowledged, Part 1 (1922–1936) H. Leslie Adams Thomas J. Anderson David Baker Noel DaCosta George Russell Hale Smith Frederick C. Tillis George Walker Part 3: The Arrived and the Acknowledged, Part 2 (1937–1945) Adolphus Hailstork Wendell Logan Dorothy Rudd Moore Olly Wilson Part 4: Perspectives on Spirituality, Jazz, and Contemporary Popular Languages Dwight Andrews Ysaye Maria Barnwell Billy Childs George Duke Jester Hairston Herbie Hancock Stephen Newby Michael Powell Billy Taylor Tony Williams Michael Woods Part 5: The Composer as Conductor and Composer Leslie Dunner Bobby McFerrin Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson Patrice Rushen Kevin Scott Julius Williams Part 6: Generation X and Beyond (1950–1965) Michael Abels Lettie Beckon Alston William C. Banfield Regina Harris Baiocchi Anthony Davis Donal Fox Jonathan Holland Anthony Kelley Jeffrey Mumford Gary Powell Nash Evelyn Simpson-Curenton James Kimo Williams Postlude: Extensions of the Tradition—Linkages and Canon Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisThe artist’s impact on country music and how his death changed the genre A beloved member of the country music community, David “Stringbean” Akeman found nationwide fame as a cast member of Hee Haw. The 1973 murder of Stringbean and his wife forever changed Nashville’s sense of itself. Millions of others mourned not only the slain couple but the passing of the way of life that country music had long represented. Taylor Hagood merges the story of Stringbean’s life with an account of murder and courtroom drama. Mentored by Uncle Dave Macon and Bill Monroe, Stringbean was a bridge to country’s early days. His instrumental savvy and old-time singing style drew upon a deep love for traditional country music that, along with his humor and humanity, won him the reverence of younger artists and made his violent death all the more shocking. Hagood delves into the unexpected questions and uneasy resolutions raised by the atmosphere of Trade Review"The story about the life of the man and the details of his life's tragic end is expertly covered in this new book. . . . After reading this book, I feel as though I got to know David "Stringbean" Akeman and his story very well. Highly recommended!" --Dan Miller, Bluegrass Unlimited“Stringbean was one of the very first friends Doolittle, my husband, and I made when we first came to Nashville in 1960. He and his wife Estelle were some of the nicest folks you could find anywhere. . . . It was heartbreaking when we lost him and his wife.”--Loretta Lynn“Stringbean and Estelle would be like your favorite aunt and uncle, or your favorite cousin. Any time we had a celebration, they were always there, and most of the time cooked for everybody. Those were precious times.”--Lulu Roman, Hee Haw star"This tale will appeal to readers curious about the formative years of the United States' country-music scene." --Library Journal"Get your orders in! You will like this book. Thanks, Taylor Hagood, for filling in so many blanks, even those you filled in from your remote closeness to the gentle and genuine spirit of Stringbean. Stringbean is still a vital part of our music. Stringbean shows us that." --Bluegrass Standard"Stringbean: The Life and Murder of a Country Legend by Talyor Hagood, not only serves to remind and establish Stringbean’s often overlooked musical legacy, but also serves as a true crime thriller with a highly detailed account of the murder and ensuing trial. Hagood expertly details Stringbean’s long career and gives new meaning to both him and his music." --Americana UK"Hagood, who writes with an appealingly loose and earnest style, has genuine affection for Stringbean. Perhaps the most moving passages are those in which Hagood reflects on the symbiotic relationship between the man and his trusty Vega No. 9 Tubaphone banjo. " --NewCity "Almost as soon as I picked up Taylor Hagood's biography of David Akeman, I knew I could put aside my instinct to find fault in order to luxuriate in a well-documented, carefully constructed combination of biography and true crime story. . . . I highly recommend this well-researched and highly readable book." --Ted Lehmann “It was always a rare treat to get to see the hat flipping, banjo picking man from ole Kentucky on the television or old video tape. Stringbean was one of my first musical heroes as a kid while learning to play the banjo. I'm very excited to get this book! I can never get enough of Ole String! Thank you, Taylor!”--Leroy Troy, Grand Ole Opry star and 1996 National Old-Time Banjo Champion "Taylor Hagood is a gifted writer, and I'm truly pleased with the book he wrote about my uncle, David Akemon."--Phillip AkemonTable of ContentsA Note on Names Prologue. Short Life and Trouble: November 11, 1973 Chapter 1. Way Back in the Hills of Old Kentucky: 1915-1935 Chapter 2. Stringbean and His Banjo: 1935-1942 Chapter 3. Goin’ to the Grand Ole Opry to Make Myself a Name: 1942-1945 Chapter 4. Big Ball in Nashville: 1945-1952 Chapter 5. Herdin’ Cattle in a Cadillac Coupe de Ville: 1953-1959 Chapter 6. Pretty Polly: 1960-1965 Chapter 7. Me and My Old Crow (Got a Good Thing Going): 1966-1973 Interlude. Goodbye Sweet Thing: Stringbean’s Final Day of Life, November 10, 1973 Chapter 8. Sinner Man, Where You Gonna Hide: November 1973, January 1974 Chapter 9. You Can’t Do Wrong and Get By: January, November 1974 Epilogue. Forgetting to Forget You: 1975-2014 Acknowledgments Notes Selected Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA biography of Ignaz Friedman that offers the reader the behind and the between of the life and career of this extraordinary pianist. It examines Friedman's life as a cultured Jewish musician in Poland; his studies in Leipzig and Vienna; his relationship with Manya Friedman; and, his performing career, teaching, and retirement in Australia.Trade ReviewAllan Evans's biography of Ignaz Friedman . . . is a beautifully written and marvelously researched book about one of the greatest piano virtuosos of the twentieth century. . . . This is a book to savor, to read and reread. April 1, 2011 * Clavier Companion *This book is a must read, above all, for those interested in Ignaz Friedman, and for those interested in the musical world of his time. September 8, 2009 * www.classicalmusicguide.com *Evans packs so much into these pages that it is not just an interesting biography but more an immersion into the entire piano world of the first half of the 20th century. The book includes a number of interesting photos; the appendixes are a rich source, meticulously documented, of Friedman's concert repertoire, recordings, compositions, and editorial work on the compositions of Frederic Chopin. This volume is a true labor of love. . . . Highly recommended.January 2010 * Choice *This distinguished study brings back to the forefront a great artist who was in danger of being forgotten. November 2009 * Gramophone *Ignaz Friedman is thoroughly researched and offers readers new insight into the life and activities of this pianistic giant.Vol. 25, 2010 * Music Research Forum *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments1. Musical Traditions That Hide in Shellac2. From Poland3. "Music begins where technique leaves off"4. 2,800 Concerts5. From Old Russia6. Encroaching Modernism7. From Beethoven to Hitler8. In Safety, Down Under9. Exile10. Chopin on the Nile11. The Piano According to Tiegerman12. The Piano According to FriedmanAppendix A: Friedman's RepertoireAppendix B: DiscographyAppendix C: Friedman's and Tiegerman's CompositionsAppendix D: Friedman's Edition of Chopin's Piano WorksNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisAn authoritative guide to Prokofiev’s nine piano sonatas by the pianist and teacher Boris BermanTrade Review“Berman’s book opens up Prokofiev’s musical language marvellously. There is a chapter each for all nine piano sonatas, with a general discussion, then a detailed but accessible analysis, then a ‘masterclass’ with suggestions for performance practice. Berman briefly traverses his life, musical influences, style and context.”—Barney Zwartz, The Age (Australia)“Berman has a vast knowledge of Russian sources—almost completely unknown in the West—and Russian traditions as well as international experience as a performer. He brings a wealth of new ideas and new information. His new book is invaluable.”—Alexander Ivashkin, Centre for Russian Music, Goldsmiths College, University of London“Having performed and recorded (to acclaim) Prokofiev’s piano sonatas, Professor Berman has a unique point of view to offer in writing about one of the twentieth century’s most important collections of piano works. An important, personal, and original work.”—Boaz Sharon, University of Florida“Drawing from a wide cultural background and vast experience as performer and teacher, Boris Berman has fashioned a remarkable guide to the Prokofiev piano sonatas.”—Jerome Lowenthal, Juilliard School“A lucid and originally conceived book from one of the most respected performers of this music—essential reading for the enquiring listener and the skilled performer alike.”—Christopher Elton, Royal Academy of Music, London“This new book by Boris Berman is a must read for those who care about the music of Prokofiev. It is a very in-depth guide by someone who has obviously spent many years thinking about and playing the music of this great genius. Bravo to Boris Berman!”—Yefim Bronfman

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Book SynopsisThe definitive biography of Creedence Clearwater Revival, exploring the band's legendary rise to fame and how their music embodied the cultural landscape of the late '60s and early '70sFrom 1969 to 1971, as the United States convulsed with political upheaval and transformative social movements, no band was bigger than Creedence Clearwater Revival. They managed a two-year barrage of top-10 singles and LPs that doubled as an ubiquitous soundtrack to one of the most volatile periods in modern American history, and they remain a staple of classic rock radio and films about the era. Yet despite their enduring popularity, no book has ever sought to understand Creedence in conversation with their time. A Song for Everyone finally tells that story: the thirteen-year saga of an unassuming suburban quartet's journey through the wilds of 1960s pop, and their slow accrual of a sound and ethos that were almost mystically aligned with the concerns of decade's end. Starting in middle school, these Californian friends and brothers cut a working-class path through the most expansive decade in American music, playing R&B, country, and rock 'n' roll under a variety of names as each of those genres expanded and evolved. When they finally synthesized those styles under a new name in 1968, Creedence Clearwater Revival became instantly epochal, then fell apart under the weight of personal grievances that dated back to adolescence. As musicians and as men, they embodied the contradictions and difficulties of their time, and those dimensions of their career have never been explored until now.Drawing on wide-ranging research into the social and musical developments of 1959-1972, extensive original interviews with surviving Creedence members and associates, and unpublished memoirs from people who knew the group closely, A Song for Everyone is the definitive account of a legendary and still-beloved American band. At the same time, it is also a cultural history of those same years—from Elvis to Altamont, Eisenhower to Watergate—seen through the eyes of four men who encapsulated them in song for all time, told by one of the rising figures in contemporary music writing.

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Book SynopsisThis volume draws together a collection of Robin A. Leaver's essays on Bach's sacred music, exploring the religious aspects of this repertoire through consideration of three core themes: liturgy, hymnology, and theology. Rooted in a rich understanding of the historical sources, the book illuminates the varied ways in which Bach's sacred music was informed and shaped by the religious, ritual, and intellectual contexts of his time, placing these works in the wider history of Protestant church music during the Baroque era.Including research from across a span of forty years, the chapters in this volume have been significantly revised and expanded for this publication, with several pieces appearing in English for the first time. Together, they offer an essential compendium of the work of a leading scholar of theological Bach studies.Table of ContentsPrefacePart I Liturgy1. Bach’s Cantatas and the Liturgical Year2. Bach’s Music and the Leipzig Liturgy3. Bach’s Agnus Dei Compositions4. Bach’s Parody Process: From Cantata to Missa5. Bach and the Cantata Controversy in the Early Eighteenth CenturyPart II Hymnology6. Bach and Johann Christoph Olearius7. Bach’s Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 4): Hymnology and Chronology 8. Bach’s Orgelbüchlein9. Bach and the Hymnic Aria10. Bach and the Letter Codes of the Schemelli GesangbuchPart III Theology11. Bach and Pietism12. Bach, Gesner, and Johann August Ernesti13. Bach and Erdmann Neumeister14. Bach’s Clavierübung III15. Bach and Anniversaries of the ReformationBibliography

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Book SynopsisThe definitive account of Louis Armstrong—his life and legacy—during the most creative period of his career.Trade Review"Thomas Brothers has brought together startling new discoveries and insights, a fresh look at hallowed recordings, and an understanding of the multifold influences that helped shape Louis Armstrong. In so doing, he has written by far the most complete and original look at an American icon whose influence continues into its second century." -- Loren Schoenberg, artistic director, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem"Honest, uncompromising, and wholly sympathetic to its subject, Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism is the ideal for jazz biography and criticism." -- Scott DeVeaux, author of The Birth of Bebop: A Social and Musical History"Brothers proves his thesis and then some…an encyclopedic authority." -- C.W. Mahoney - American Spectator

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisThe Rite of Spring is Stravinsky's most revolutionary work. This important new book provides a comprehensive guide to the work, telling in vivid detail the story of its inception and composition, of the stormy rehearsals which led to the scandalous premiere on 29 May 1913, and of Stravinsky's later betrayal of the ballet's first choreographer, Vaslav Nijinsky. At the same time, in a radical reassessment of the work's musical values, Peter Hill probes beneath the surface of the music to reveal an architectural conception of unsuspected guile and subtlety. A feature of the book is a detailed discussion of the work in performance, drawing on recordings by the Rite's greatest interpreters, Stravinsky himself included. Finally, the significance of the Rite is thoroughly reviewed in a hard-hitting conclusion which poses a radical challenge to the orthodox view of the work.Table of ContentsPart I. Prelude: 1. Origins; 2. Sketches; 3. Rehearsals; Part II. The Music: 4. Language; 5. Commentary; Part III. Aftermath: 6. Anthology; 7. Stravinsky's collaborators; 8. The Rite restored; 9. Conclusion.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsMY KZ, UR BF; Qwerty Finger; Schoolin'; Leave The Engine Room; Final Form; Photoshop Handsome; Two For Nero; Suffragette Suffragette; Come Alive Diana; NASA Is On Your Side; Tin (The Manhole); Weights; Hiawatha Doomed; Wizard Talk; Luddites And Lambs; DNA Dump!; Making Some New Sense; Riot On The Ward; Cough Cough; Kemosabe; Torso Of The Week; Duet; Choice Mountain; Feet For Hands; Undrowned; Arc; Armourland; The House Is Dust; Radiant; The Peaks; Don't Try; Awe/Arc; No Plan; Justice; Distrikt!; A.D.; Treasure Set ; Pendolino; To The Blade; Distant Past; Get To Heaven; Regret; Spring / Sun / Winter / Dread; The Wheel Is Turning Now; Fortune 500; Blast Doors; Zero Pharaoh; No Reptiles; Warm Healer; We Sleep In Pairs; Hapsburg Lipp; President Heartbeat; Brainchild; Yuppie Supper; Only As Good As My God; Pressure; Magnetophone; Live Intro; I Believe It Now; Night Of The Long Knives; Can't Do; Desire; Big Game; Good Shot, Good Soldier; Run The Numbers; Put Me Together; A Fever Dream; Ivory Tower; New Deep ; White Whale; Breadwinner; The Mariana; Lost Powers; Big Climb; It Was A Monstering; Planets; Moonlight; Arch Enemy; Lord Of The Trapdoor; Black Hyena; In Birdsong; The Actor; Violent Sun; Supernormal; Mercury & Me; Teletype; I Want A Love Like This; Bad Friday; Pizza Boy; Jennifer; Metroland Is Burning; Leviathan; Shark Week; Cut Up!; Hex; My Computer; Kevin's Car; Born Under A Meteor; Software Greatman

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Book SynopsisFranz Liszt is well known for his early years as ''super-star'' pianist who excited audiences throughout Europe, but his later life is also of great interest. In his final 25 years he sought to achieve his life''s aims of promoting new forms of music and giving stronger witness to his Christian faith, while continuing to support his stalwart life partner Princess Carolyne. However, he was to face unexpected problems in the continued negative reception of his music and recrimination in his closest relationship.Drawing on detailed analysis of Liszt''s correspondence from his fiftieth year onwards, Peter G. Coleman approaches his later life as a case study of an older person grappling with a succession of often disturbing life experiences. These included the deaths of two of his children, political upheaval and war within Europe, and a growing realisation of his own past failings. Liszt suffered frequent bouts of depression but never ceased composing music nor steadfastly heeding Christ''Trade Review'Ferenc Liszt - a man so famous in life that only a very few people really knew him, especially a number of discerning women. His avuncular relations with and generosity to his students and disciples were legion; his family relationships were very often a catalogue of opportunities missed. His deep-rooted desire to serve his God and his Church through music and in a well-lived life was a notion too esoteric for most of his male colleagues. At 50 his life circumstances changed; his self-scrutiny in an array of later correspondence is acutely probed in this wonderfully sensitive account of Liszt's final decades.' - Professor Leslie Howard, Pianist and President of The Liszt Society 'The enigmatic figure of Franz Liszt continues to baffle with the apparent inconsistencies between his spiritual and secular life. Peter Coleman, internationally renowned gerontologist, provides valuable insights into the mind, heart, and soul of the ageing Liszt through a meticulous analysis of his correspondence with family, friends and lovers. Coleman's analysis leaves us with an admiration for Liszt's passion and redeeming devotion to his music, his spiritual vocation, and to the women in his life.' - Professor Paul Wink, Wellesley College, Massachusetts. Author of Prima Donna: The Psychology of Maria Callas 'Franz Liszt emerges from this scholarly, elegantly written book as a nineteenth century prototype popular superstar. Although supremely talented as a composer and adored as a concert pianist, at the end of a long life he was preoccupied by perceived failures in relationships with women and having fallen below his religious values. Peter Coleman's account of his spiritual and biographical pain is moving and carefully empathetic. The study rests on thorough research methods and its conclusions are illumined by theories of ageing, although these aspects of the work are only briefly mentioned in the text. It is Coleman's evident love of the music and the man that shines through.' - Professor Malcolm Johnson, University of Bristol and University of BathTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface 1. Understanding Liszt through His Correspondence 2. Psychological and Spiritual Crises in Liszt's Earlier Life 3. Liszt and His Correspondents in His Fiftieth Year (1860-61) 4. Returning to His Religious Vocation (1861-65) 5. Disappointment and Conflict (1865-71) 6. Pursuing Divergent Goals (1871-76) 7. Bearing a Heavy Burden (1876-80) 8. Through Triumph and Disaster (1881-86) 9. Seeing Liszt Whole: Music, World and Spirit Editions of Liszt's Correspondence Consulted Other References Cited Index

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Book SynopsisWhen George Klein was thirteen, he couldn''t have known how important the new kid in class - the one with the guitar, the boy named Elvis - would become in his life. But from the first time GK (as he was nicknamed by Elvis) heard this kid sing, he knew that Elvis Presley was someone extraordinary. In this heartfelt, entertaining and affectionate memoir, George Klein writes candidly about their close friendship, which began at school and continued through Elvis''s rise to fame and the wild swirl of his tumultuous life, right up to the singer''s tragic death. Writing with the authority of someone who was in the midst of it all, from the good times at Graceland and hanging out with Hollywood stars to butting heads with Elvis''s iron-handed manager, Colonel Tom Parker, GK reveals who the King really was and how he acted when the stage lights were off. Full of anecdotes and first-hand accounts of some of the most defining moments in the legend''s life, Elvis: My Best Man cTrade ReviewGK was there from the beginning, and there 'til the end. This book is fact. * Jerry Lee Lewis *This memoir has the authentic twang of someone who was really there to see it all...If you like Presley, you'll love this book -- Mike Simkins * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisThe contradictions between Wagner's antipathy toward the amorphous entity ""The Jews"" and his genuine friendships with individual Jews, are the subject of this book. Drawing on sources, including his autobiography and the diaries of his second wife, this book places Wagner's anti - Semitism in perspective with his life and work.

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Book Synopsis'A must have for Dylan enthusiasts, lovers of London, and anyone with even a passing interest in the history of music. I devoured it in two sittings - and I loved it!' Conor McPherson, playwright, Girl from the North CountryTrade Review'Meticulously researched and packed with delicious detail, this highly enjoyable book reveals both Bob Dylan and London in all of their compelling originality. With wry observation and entertaining incident, this is the story of Dylan's earliest visits to London as an unknown folk singer, crashing in friends' bedsits, right through to his sell-out concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and Earls Court.' Conor McPherson, playwright, Girl from the North Country

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Book SynopsisThe long-awaited autobiography by Derek Forbes, the Simple Minds legend known for those iconic spine-rattling bass riffs which we recognise in many Simple Minds' songs. This is his story.Trade Review‘…beneath the distinctive interplay between guitar and keyboards there was a powerful engine with a deep, punchy bass line driving the music forward. Enter Derek Forbes!’ Peter Walsh, award-winning record producer. ‘I couldn’t get Derek’s riffs out of my head. ‘In Trance as Mission’, ‘Sweat in Bullet’, ‘Love Song’, ‘The American’ … bass lines! And again the next year, ‘Glittering Prize’, ‘Promised You a Miracle’, ‘Big Sleep’ and the mother lode: ‘New Gold Dream’. Who plays like that and gets away with it? And the next year, ‘Waterfront’, ‘Up on the Catwalk’, ‘Speed Your Love to Me’. Those songs based on the mighty and hypnotic bass lines of Derek Forbes are still some of my favorite music ever made. He’s the bassist in my dream band.’ Jon Carin, musician, producer, songwriter. ‘At the root, the bass work of Derek Forbes, one of the great British musicians. A man who plays with the dexterity and invention of someone who, ideally, would like to have more strings – and perhaps a couple of more fingers – at his disposal, but who also values the art of simplicity, repetition, mood, motion. Any German band of the 1970s would have been fortunate to have had Forbes. Praise scarcely comes any higher.’ Graeme Thomson, author, Themes for Great Cities ‘

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Book SynopsisThis book develops ways of discussing musical practices to articulate a new approach to understanding connections between recordings, singers, and singing. Centred around materials from the mid-twentieth century, this book focuses on a time when composers and performers were questioning the idea of authorship within their musical practice. Materials drawn upon include recordings, scores, archival content, visual art, interviews, and liner notes to develop a rich conception of practices of performance. Analysis of performances include recordings of singers such as Cathy Berberian, Linda Hirst, Loré Lixenberg, Angelika Luz, and Meredith Monk. Compositions by Cathy Berberian, Luciano Berio, John Cage, and Manuel De Falla are considered. The book utilizes these sources to examine the collective way in which singers and composers form practices as multiple, transforming, emergent, and not hierarchical. The book articulates with a detailed, close consideration of specific iTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. Performing Transformations (a risky approach) 3. Transforming Black Square 4. Transforming Fictions 5. Transforming scores, stable performances: Cathy Berberian, Stripsody and Pop art. 6. Transforming analytical assumptions: What is Sequenza III? 7. Epilogue

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents a fresh, interdisciplinary approach to the study of the contemporary composer Arvo Pärt and his reception. The volume charts his influence on areas including film, cultural programming, new media, cultures of listening, politics and performance practice. It addresses a wide readership across the humanities, with technical analysis kept to a minimum.Trade Review'This diverse collection of essays from a team of Pärt scholars, led by Laura Dolp, strongly advances the understanding of Pärt's music while filling gaps in current scholarship and grappling with the various, often erroneous, perceptions of the composer and his music.' Thomas Robinson, NotesTable of Contents1. Introduction Laura Dolp; 2. Empathy and tintinnabuli music in film Maria Cizmic; 3. Pärt and the sound of one hand clapping Robert Sholl; 4. Pärt and the experience of the neutral Sander van Maas; 5. Ethos and the industry of culture Laura Dolp; 6. An ethnography of spirituality Kythe Heller; 7. Politics and protest Michael Palmese; 8. Sonic embodiment C. J. May; 9. Performing Pärt Andrew Shenton.

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Book SynopsisIgor Stravinsky's strikingly original compositions continue to fascinate scholars and music-lovers across the globe. This volume brings together a collection of 35 short, specially commissioned essays that illuminate the varied contexts from which emerged Stravinsky's impressive catalogue of innovative and richly creative music.Trade Review'a fascinating read for more-seasoned musicians … Recommended.' M. Neil, Choice ConnectTable of ContentsPreface; List of Contributors; List of Abbreviations; Part I. Russia and Identity: 1. Memory and truth: Stravinsky's childhood (1882-1901) Catriona Kelly; 2. Religion, life and death in St Petersburg Natalia Braginskaya; 3. Kashperova and Stravinsky: the making of a concert-pianist Graham Griffiths; 4. Reminiscences of Rimsky-Korsakov, his family and artistic circle Lidia Ader; 5. Orthodoxies and unorthodoxies: Stravinsky's spiritual journey Ivan Moody; 6. The Russian soul Rowan Williams; Part II. Stravinsky and Europe: 7. Sergei Diaghilev and Stravinsky: from world of art to ballets russes John E. Bowlt; 8. Paris and the Belle Époque Davinia Caddy; 9. Paris, Art Deco, and the spirit of Apollo Jonathan Cross; 10. Stravinsky's Spain: fan or mirror? Graham Griffiths; 11. 'It is Venice that he loves…' Mauricio Dottori; Part III. Partnerships and Authorship: 12. Stravinsky's sphere of influence: Paris and beyond Inessa Bazayev; 13. Stravinsky and his literary collaborators Maureen Carr; 14. Assuming co-authorship: Stravinsky and his 'ghost-writers' Valérie Dufour; 15. Nadia Boulanger and Stravinsky: the transition to America Kimberly Francis; 16. Conversations with Craft Anna Schmidtmann; Part IV. Performance and Performers: 17. Challenges to realism and tradition: Stravinsky's modernist theatre Massimiliano Locanto; 18. Igor Stravinsky and ballet as modernism Stephanie Jordan; 19. Stravinsky's ear for instruments Chris Dromey; 20. Towards a conductor-proof ideal Hannah Baxter; 21. The pianist in the recording studio: re-imagining interpretation Daniel Barolsky; 22. The legacy of Stravinsky as recorded history Per Dahl; Part V. Aesthetics and Politics: 23. Stravinsky versus literature Emily Frey; 24. Stravinsky and Greek antiquity Katerina Levidou; 25. Stravinsky's response to 'Japonisme' Mai Ikehara; 26. Stravinsky, modernism and mass culture Ross Cole; 27. Perspectives on Schoenberg and Stravinsky: Adorno and others Alan Street; 28. Stravinsky's 'problematical' political orientation during the 1920s and 1930s Erik Levi; Part VI. Reception and Legacy: 29. The Apollonian clockwork re-wound Elmer Schönberger; 30. Stravinsky reception in the USSR Philip Ewell; 31. The Stravinsky/Craft conversations in Russian and their reception Olga Manulkina; 32. Publishing Stravinsky Nigel Simeone; 33.Copyright, the Stravinsky estate, and the Paul Sacher foundation Heidy Zimmermann; 34. Evoking the past, inspiring the future Lynne Rogers; 35. 'Music is, by its very essence, powerless to express anything at all' Daniel K L Chua; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book, first published in 1934, contains the recollections of the varied and coloured life of a great pianist and composer, who is one of the most striking figures of the musical world. Rachmaninoff dictated his memoires to the author of this book, and much of the story is therefore told in the first person. The final chapter is Riesemannâs own contribution. It is an estimate of Rachmaninoffâs qualities as composer; it shows knowledge of all his more important works; and it shows discrimination. The whole book is an authoritative and interesting study of a popular artist. Table of ContentsPreface; 1. Happy Childhood in the Country 2. The St. Petersburg Conservatoire 3. Moscow. Sverev and Arensky 4. A Dramatic Incident. The Moscow Conservatoire 5. The "Free Artist" In Moscow. Performance of the First Symphony and its Consequences 6. Serious Mental Shock and Mental Recovery 7. Growing Popularity as Composer and Conductor 8. An Idyll in Dresden 9. The Summit of Life 10. War and Revolution 11. America 12. Rachmaninoff as Composer; Note on the Family of Rachmaninoff; List of Works; Index

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Book SynopsisTaylor Swift needs no introduction. The global superstar is one of the greatest singer-songwriters of her generation with a fanbase that covers the globe. Now it''s the fandom''s time to shine with FOR THE SWIFTIES: A Puzzle Book Inspired by Taylor Swift (Unofficial Version).Put your Tay-Tay knowledge to the test with puzzles ranging from things you know All Too Well to slightly more tricky ones that might confound you with a Blank Space. Taking in every album she''s ever made, right up to The Tortured Poets Department, and packed full of Taylor-themed quizzes, wordsearches, crosswords and much more, this is the perfect activity to do with your friends en route to a concert or at home listening to your favourite album (Taylor''s Version).This is the perfect keepsake of The Eras Tour and an ideal gift for the Swiftie in your life. Are you ready for it?

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Book Synopsis Tommy Thompson arrived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1963, smitten by folk and traditional Appalachian music. In 1972, he teamed with Bill Hicks and Jim Watson to form the nontraditional string band the Red Clay Ramblers. Mike Craver joined in 1973, and Jack Herrick in 1976. Over time, musicians including Clay Buckner, Bland Simpson and Chris Frank joined Tommy, who played with the band until 1994. Drawing on interviews and correspondence, and the personal papers of Thompson, the author depicts a life that revolved around music and creativity. Appendices cover Thompson''s banjos, his discography and notes on his collaborative lyric writing.

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Book Synopsis Beyond revolutionizing rock and roll, Bob Dylan became a preacher on stage in the late 1970s, won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, opened a series of exhibits of his paintings, wrote three books, worked as a film director, and performed as an actor.Despite his decades in the public eye and vast range of artistic achievements, he remains an enigmatic figure. This book contains original interviews with 13 leading Dylanologists about why Dylan has remained such a compelling and important artist to the present day.Topics discussed are diverse, including his music, histime in cinema and his comparisons to Stanley Kubrick, his spiritual wisdom, and his award-winning poetry.Table of Contents Preface Introduction: Why a Book of Interviews on Bob Dylan? The Interviews Richard F. Thomas: Dylan, Rome and the Classics (July 15, 2019) Andrew Muir: Dylan and Shakespeare (September 28, 2019) Britta Lee Shain: Meeting and Touring with Dylan (February 19, 2020) Heinrich Detering: Voices from the Underworld (February 26, 2020) Phil Mason: The Christian Message of Bob Dylan (March 13, 2020) Anne-Marie Mai: The Multi-Layered Poetry of Bob Dylan (March 23, 2020) Aubrey L. Glazer: Gnostic Dylan (July 14, 2020) Graley Herren: From DeLillo to Dylan (September 18, 2020) Rudy Salvagnini: Dylan and Cinema (October 4, 2020) Stephen Daniel Arnoff: Dylan's Multitudes (February 8, 2021) Graley Herren: Time Out of Mind Revisited (November 27, 2021) Stephen Daniel Arnoff: The Spiritual Wisdom of Bob Dylan (February 25, 2022) Giulio Pantalei: David Lynch and Bob Dylan (April 27, 2022) Aubrey L. Glazer: Kubrick, Dylan, Cohen—Intuitive Kabbalists? (September 9, 2022) Doris Hambuch and Ioannis Galanopoulos Papavasileiou: Martin Scorsese and Bob Dylan (October 25, 2022) Final Thoughts Index

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Book SynopsisThe Jazz Masters: Setting the Record Straight features twenty-one conversations with musicians who have had at least fifty years of professional experience, and several as many as seventy-five. In all, these voices reflect some seventeen hundred years'' worth of paying dues. Appealing to casual fans and jazz aficionados alike, these interviews have been carefully, but minimally edited by Peter Zimmerman for sense and clarity, without changing any of the musicians'' actual words. Five of the interviewees--Dick Hyman, Jimmy Owens, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, and Yusef Lateef--have received the National Endowment for the Arts'' prestigious Jazz Masters Fellowship, attesting to their importance and ability. While not official masters, the rest are veteran performers willing to share their experiences and knowledge. Artists such as David Amram, Charles Davis, Clifford Jordan, Valery Ponomarev, and Sandy Stewart, to name a few, open their hearts and memories and reveal who they a

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Book SynopsisExperimentations provides a detailed historical and theoretical analysis of the first three decades of experimental composer John Cage's aesthetic production (ca. 1940-1972). Paying particular attention to Cage's inter- and cross-disciplinary engagements with the visual arts and architecture during this period, the book sheds new light on some of Cage's most controversial and influential innovations, such as the use of noise, chance techniques, indeterminacy, electronic technologies, and computerization, as well as upon lesser known but important ideas and strategies such as transparency, multiplicity, virtuality, and actualization. Ultimately, it traces the development of Cage's avant-garde aesthetic and political project as it transformed from the emulation of historical avant-garde precedents such as futurism and the Bauhaus, to the development of important precedents for the post-World War II movements of happenings and Fluxus, to its ultimate abandonment in the aftermath ofTrade ReviewBranden W. Joseph's formidable Experimentations: John Cage in Music, Art and Architecture throws open the terrain [of Cagean studies] once again. * The Wire *Branden Joseph gradually unfolds the role of chance, transformation, performativity and transparency in music, and provides an interesting multi-layered understanding of the latter’s intercourse with other disciplines ... The book provides an innovative understanding of the examined ideas that remains open, allowing for other disciplines to enter into the suggested discourse ... In this way Joseph offers to artists and architects valuable tools to work on the further development on the role of tracing, documenting, scoring and attuning in the performative understanding of their areas. * The Journal of Architecture *Experimentations: John Cage in Music, Art, and Architecture is a brilliant and vital critical contribution to the growing body of art historical scholarship on John Cage’s multidisciplinary legacy. The readymade Cage of chance and silence is replaced by a rich and nuanced narrative of a compositional practice nourished by its evolving and often conflicted exchanges with the artistic, architectural and political avant-gardes. * Ina Blom, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, University of Oslo, Norway *With great musical and historical sensitivity Joseph unpacks John Cage’s struggles, on the one hand, with Beethoven, Schoenberg, Stockhausen—the whole weighty European musical tradition, and on the other, with changing notions of experimentation and the avant-garde. What emerges is an artist who places music in the service of remaking the entire institution of art. Joseph succeeds in writing a brilliant book that is equally captivating for musicians and art historians. * Alexander Rehding, Professor of Music, Harvard University, USA *...Experimentations: John Cage in Music, Art, and Architecture provides its reader with an overview of Branden W. Joseph’s two-decade engagement with John Cage and represents some of the most intellectually rigorous writing about the composer … nuanced and important. * Critical Inquiry *Table of ContentsI. Introduction II. A Therapeutic Value for City Dwellers III. Hitchhiker in an Omnidirectional Transport IV. The Architecture of Silence V. Chance/Indeterminacy/Multiplicity VI. Ghost or Monster? Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisAndrew Barker is a Senior Features Writer for Variety.Trade ReviewThe book traces the album’s fitful creation through its release, and shows how five guys who were never as good apart as they were together could shine so bright on a single album. * Vinyl Me, Please *Barker's journalistic study offers a vivid insight into how five hip-hop everymen came to make one of the genre's defining works. * Record Collector *Table of ContentsTrack Listing Interlude: 4 Better and 4 Worse Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Interlude: If I Were President Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Interlude: Quinton’s Here Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Interlude: The Pipe Chapter Fifteen Acknowledgements Works Cited

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Book SynopsisBrooke McCorkle Okazaki is Assistant Professor of Music at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. McCorkle Okazaki co-authored the book Japan's Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema (2018) with Sean Rhoads. In it, they explore the various ways Japanese monster movies address contemporary ecological concerns. Thanks to a Japan Foundation Fellowship, McCorkle Okazaki is currently completing her next book, Searching for Wagner in Japan.Table of ContentsList of Images and Tables Acknowledgements Preface Introduction: Itadakimasu! (Let’s Eat!) 1. Girl Bands and Josei Rock, 1950s–1980s 2. Food, Gender, and Music in Postwar Japan 3. Shonen Knife’s Songs in the Key of Food 4. Konnichiwa!: An Introduction to Happy Hour (1998) and its Cover Art 5. Happy Hour: Food, Music, and Transnational Flow 6. The Delicious Banality of “Banana Chips” 7. Sweet Candy Power: Shonen Knife and Their Josei Rock Legacy Notes Bibliography Discography Index

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Book SynopsisNatasha Lasky is a writer and filmmaker living in Chicago, USA.Trade ReviewFantastic. . . . An amazing book. * New Books Network *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. A Sicko Producer’s Dream 2. Bimbos of the Apocalypse 3. Just Real Bitches in a Fake-Ass World Coda

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Book SynopsisThe concept album is one of popular music's most celebratedand misunderstoodachievements. This book examines the untold history of the rock concept album, from The Beatles to Beyoncé.The roots of the concept album are nearly as old as the long-playing record itself, as recording artists began using the format to transcend a mere collection of songs into a listening experience that takes the listener on a journey through its unifying mood, theme, narrative, or underlying idea.Along the way, artists as varied as the Moody Blues, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Pink Floyd, Parliament, Donna Summer, Iron Maiden, Radiohead, The Notorious B.I.G., Green Day, Janelle Monáe, and Kendrick Lamar created albums that form an extended conversation of art and music. Limits were pushed as the format grew over the subsequent eras.Seminal albums like the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Who's Tommy, Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, stand aTrade ReviewFifty Years of the Concept Album in Popular Music is a rich, valuable piece of modern music education, a deep dive into the might and worth of the album versus the single, and a chance for music fans unfamiliar with certain genres to gain a new level of open-mindedness, as this work provides an opportunity to explore what may be outside one’s comfort zones. Wolfson levels the playing field – it’s all music. * PopMatters *Eric Wolfson is a musician's musician, a writer's writer, and a historian's historian. The first two qualities are more common than the third among music writers, but the triple threat is what sets Wolfson apart. His ear for sound, way with words, and talent as a storyteller make this book not only an insightful meditation on the concept album but also a gripping history of the times. From the Sixties to the Millennium, Fifty Years of the Concept Album will change how you hear and understand the long and winding road from that America to this one. * Scott A. Sandage, cultural historian *The concept album has long been a neglected part of popular music history. Eric Wolfson has corrected that oversight in this authoritative study. Foregrounding diversity, he interrogates the concept album as being unbound by genre and era. You might be familiar with these records and artists, but Wolfson’s sharp, illuminative prose will have you revisiting and reconsidering them with a more nuanced understanding of intent and narrative. Fifty Years of the Concept Album is an important and necessary contribution to popular music studies. * John Dougan, Professor Emeritus of Popular Music Studies, Dept. of Recording Industry, Middle Tennessee State University, USA *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Ramblin' on my Mind Part 1: The Psychedelic Era (1967-1969) 1. We Hope You Will Enjoy the Show: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles (1967) 2. This Day Will Last a Thousand Years: Days of Future Passed by the Moody Blues (1967) 3. We Are the Other People: We're Only in it for the Money by The Mothers of Invention (1968) 4. The One That Rambles on for a Million Miles: Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix (1968) 5. Amazing Journey: Tommy by the Who (1969) Part 2: The Progressive Era (1970-1974) 6. God Know Where We're Heading: What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye (1971) 7. I Am on a Lonely Road and I Am Traveling: Blue by Joni Mitchell (1971) 8. We'll Have Superman for President: Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull (1972) 9. Like a Regular Superstar: The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders From Mars by David Bowie (1972) 10. And if the Band You're in Starts Playing Different Tunes: The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd (1973) Part 3: The Modern Era (1975-1989) 11. Tear the Roof Off the Sucker: Mothership Connection by Parliament (1975) 12. Fairy Tale High: Once Upon a Time by Simple Minds (1985) 13. There's No Returning on this Chartered Trip Away: Zen Arcade by Hüsker Dü (1984) 14. As Soon as You're Born You're Dying: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son by Iron Maiden (1988) 15. This Is a Recording: 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul (1989) Part 4: The Postmodern Era (1990-1999) 16. I Wanna Be Mesmerizing Too: Exile in Guyville by Liz Phair (1993) 17. I Am the Silencing Machine: The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails (1994) 18. I Feel LIke Death is Fuckin' Callin' Me: Ready to Die by The Notorious B.I.G. (1994) 19. A Handshake of Carbon Monoxide: OK Computer by Radiohead (1997) 20. I Chose to Use My Heart: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998) Part 5: The New Millennium (2000-2016) 21. Been Taken for Lost and Gone and Unknown for a Long, Long Time: Smile by Brian Wilson (2004) 22. All Across the Alien Nation: American Idiot by Green Day (2004) 23. If You Want to Be Free: The ArchAndroid by Janelle Monáe (2010) 24. The One in Front of the Gun Lives Forever: Good Kid, m.A.A.d City by Kendrick Lamar (2012) 25. Won't Let My Freedom Rot in Hell: Lemonade by Beyoncé (2016) Conclusion: When Everybody Who Is Lonely Will Be Free Works Cited Index

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Book SynopsisFor Swifties of all ages, I Love Taylor Swift is now updated for the Tortured Poets era with fun coloring pages and new journaling prompts inspired by Taylor’s life and lyrics.Whether you’ve been a fan since “Our Song” or just discovered her, I Love Taylor Swift Updated and Expanded Version is for you! This book lets you obsess over your favorite songs, appearances, and looks of the amazing Taylor Swift with personalized journal prompts, trivia, and scrapbook pages. Each page is filled with fun prompts to help you relive the moment you discovered Taylor’s music, reflect on meaningful songs or music videos, and imagine hanging out with Taylor. You’ll get to explore topics like favorite collaborations, hidden Easter eggs, and the one question you’d ask Taylor if you met her. This updated version includes new journaling prompts and trivia focused on Taylor’s 2024 double album The Tortured Poets Departm

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Book SynopsisFrom his early work with The Birthday Party to the future sounds of Ghosteen, Nick Cave has rewritten the language of rock ‘n’ roll.Darker with the Dawn uncovers the history and deeper meanings behind Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ most well-known songs from “Tupelo”, “The Mercy Seat”, “Red Right Hand”, “Stagger Lee”, “Into My Arms”, to “Higgs Boson Blues” and beyond. The book explores Nick Cave’s life in music drawing upon his inspirations of the Bible, Greek myth, and literature, as well as his enduring passion for gospel, blues, and progressive rock. Steiner reflects upon Cave's journey from his childhood in Australia, struggles with drug addiction, his young fascination with the nightmare landscapes of America's wild west and the southern gothic towards a reckoning with his own sense of Christian spirituality. In a career spanning four decades Cave's songwriting has moved from the saints and sinners of the traditional murder ballad to piano-based heartbreak songs, deconstructed garage rock and ambient fever dreams delivered through minimalist electronica. Adam Steiner dives into the world of a complex songwriter who, in his universal expressions of love and death, continues to speak to us of the light and shade of humanity.

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