Composers and songwriters Books

Book SynopsisÊBuck ''Em! The Autobiography of Buck OwensÊ is the life story of a country music legend. Born in Texas and raised in Arizona Buck eventually found his way to Bakersfield California. Unlike the vast majority of country singers songwriters and musicians who made their fortunes working and living in Nashville the often rebellious and always independent Owens chose to create his own brand of country music some 2 000 miles away from Music City ä racking up a remarkable twenty-one number one hits along the way. In the process he helped give birth to a new country sound and did more than any other individual to establish Bakersfield as a country music center.ÞIn the latter half of the 1990s Buck began working on his autobiography. Over the next few years he talked into the microphone of a cassette tape machine for nearly one hundred hours recording the story of his life.ÞWith his near-photographic memory Buck recalled everything from his early days wearing hand-me-down clothes in Te

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Book SynopsisProvides a riveting account of the day Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom Prison in California. Michael Streissguth skilfully places the concert and the album that followed in the larger context of Cash's artistic development, the era's popular music, and California's prison system, uncovering new angles and exploding a few myths along the way.Trade ReviewAs an important piece of pop, rock, and country music historiography and as a fitting remembrance of the Man in Black, this . . . is essential. Triumphant on biographical and social levels, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison nearly matches its titular musical subject for pure poetic grit. A wonder . . . an important book about an epochal album

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Book SynopsisSam Whiting is a Lecturer in Creative Industries at the University of South Australia. His research is primarily focused on issues of capital, labour, and value as they relate to music scenes, the creative industries, and the cultural economy more broadly. Dr. Whiting's published work explores issues of access, identity, gender, heritage, live music, cultural policy, and music scenes through the interdisciplinary lens of cultural studies, sociology, and popular music studies.Trade ReviewWhiting's book is a long overdue and critical addition to research on the spaces and places of live music performance and consumption. Small venues are often referred to in passing but rarely a sustained focus in academic scholarship; and yet, as this book masterfully illustrates, they are the lifeblood of local and trans-local music scenes. Crucial reading for anyone who is interested in gaining a deeper knowledge of the social, economic and emotional value of small venues, the challenges they face and the unequivocal part they have played in keeping music “live” for successive generations of music fans around the world. * Andy Bennett, Professor Cultural Sociology, Griffith University, Australia *Small venues are the lifeblood of any music scene: a heady mix of sights, smells and sounds; spaces full of creativity and pleasure, ambition and rivalry; sites where the artistic expression, profit motives and government regulations come in to conflict. Without small venues there is no place for experimentation and failure. Without small venues nothing can develop to fill the larger venues. Sam Whiting’s exploration of these key sites of cultural production and consumption is a must read for any scholars interested in the historic importance of these vital spaces, their relation to sense of place, taste, desires and belonging, and governmental aspects that frustrate artistic endeavours. But most importantly, Small Venues illuminates how precarity and vibrancy, that is, social aspects of the way these spaces feel, are central to the success or closure of venues and therefore whether a creative scene thrives or dies. Bringing together cultural sociology and cultural studies analysis with his own industry experiences and a sharp antenna for bullshit, Whiting’s Small Venues is an important and evocative intervention into the scholarship of music ecosystems and scenes. * Steven Threadgold, Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Newcastle, Australia *This is a welcome and timely study of live music ecologies, made more so by the impact of the pandemic on music-making around the world. Whiting has offered us a cogent study of small venues, for contributions to not only music scenes but also the larger creative cultures within which they exist. * Geoff Stahl, Senior Lecturer, Te Herenga Waka / Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa / New Zealand, and editor of The Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music, Space and Place (2022) *Table of ContentsPart 1: Live Music and Small Venues Introduction 1. Theorizing Live Music ‘Scenes’, ‘Subcultures’ and the ‘Live Music Ecology’ Part 2: Vibrancy 2. Live Music and the City 3. Place, Space and Small Venues Part 3: Precarity 4. Capital, Value and Cultural Intermediaries Conclusion References Index

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Book SynopsisGrammy-winning singer-songwriter, keyboardist for the mega pop band Maroon 5, and founder of Morton Records, PJ Morton details the inspiring journey that led to his unique sound and urges readers to follow their own dreams. The son of pastors and gospel artists, PJ Morton grew up singing gospel music in church. As he was drawn to R&B and pop, PJ  experimented in combining genres to create his own sound that record labels struggled to categorize. Despite the pressure to conform, he defied expectations and risked launching his own label, Morton Records, leading to twenty Grammy nominations and awards. PJ Morton is the rare artist who has straddled the tensions of life, whether in music or faith expressions, or in racial and cultural identities, while staying true to his New Orleans and Christian roots. Saturday Night, Sunday Morning captures his powerful journey of combining his two worlds, showing readers how to overcome obstacles as

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Book SynopsisARTURO TOSCANINI THE NBC YEARS

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Book SynopsisAn examination of the role of the pedal clavichord in understanding the work of J. S. Bach, as well as its relevance to contemporary organ performances. Friederich Griepenkerl, in his 1844 introduction to Volume 1 of the first complete edition of J. S. Bach's organ works, wrote: "Actually the six Sonatas and the Passacaglia were written for a clavichord with two manuals and pedal,an instrument that, in those days, every beginning organist possessed, which they used beforehand, to practice playing with hands and feet in order to make effective use of them at the organ. It would be a good thing to let suchinstruments be made again, because actually no one who wants to study to be an organist can really do without one." What was the role of the pedal clavichord in music history? Was it a cheap practice instrument for organistsor was Griepenkerl right? Was it a teaching tool that helped contribute to the quality of organ playing in its golden age? Most twentieth-century commentary on the pedal clavichord as an historical phenomenon was written in a kindof vacuum, since there were no playable historical models with which to experiment and from which to make an informed judgment. At the heart of Bach and the Pedal Clavichord: An Organist's Guide are some extraordinary recentexperiments from the Göteborg Organ Art Center [GOArt] at Göteborg University. The Johan David Gerstenberg pedal clavichord from 1766, now in the Leipzig University museum, was documented and reconstructed; the new copy was thenused for several years as a living instrument for organ students and teachers to experience. On the basis of these experiments and experiences, the book explores, in new and artful ways, Bach's keyboard technique, a technique preserved by his first biographer, J. N. Forkel [1802], and by Forkel's own student, Griepenkerl.Trade ReviewThis is an extremely important study which brings together valuable musicological research and practical experimentation in a unique way -- every organist should read it! * CHOIR & ORGAN, September 2004 *Synthesizing a wealth of historical documentation along with the results of new, experimental studies, Speerstra [Eastman School of Music] has written a thorough analysis of the musicological and performance issues that surround the ambigious history and usage of the pedal clavichord. Despite its subtitle, this book should prove valuable for a broad audience not limited to organists; it speaks to all keyboardists interested in expanding their interpretation of Baroque literature. Highly recommended. * CHOICE *Joel Speerstra's work presents a fascinating paradigm for the study of J.S. Bach's organ music that leads performance practice research in a new direction . . . [Speerstra] lays a path for a living performance practice that promotes an integral relationship between the organ and the pedal clavichord. * NOTES, March 2005 *There is much of brilliance in this book. * EARLY MUSIC, January 2005 *Joel Speerstra's book is a wide-ranging study of the pedal clavichord's role in the interpretation of Bach's organ music. Whether one accepts the author's premise or not, organists and clavichordists without access to such a rare instrument may discover new insights into baroque performance practice that can be applied to more readily available instruments. EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY MUSIC, 2005 [Stewart Pollens] Original and brilliant study . . . Anyone interested in keyboard instruments of any kind will find in it a great fund of information and insight into matters of general musical interest, especially the performance of Bach's music. * EARLY MUSIC TODAY *Table of ContentsThe Historical Pedal Clavichord J.S. Bach's Trip Sonatas: A Reception History of a Rumor Reconstructing the Gerstenberg Pedal Clavichord J.S. Bach and the Clavichord: A Reception History of a Technique Performance Practice at the Pedal Clavichord Musica Poetica and Figural Notation J.S. Bach's Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582: A Case Study The Pedal Clavichord and the Organ in Dialogue

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Book SynopsisUniquely revealing interviews with one of the world's greatest living composers. György Kurtág (b. 1926) is widely regarded as one of the foremost composers in the second half of the twentieth century and the early twenty-first. Born in Romania, he received crucial training in Paris from Olivier Messiaen and Marianne Stein. He was also shaped by his broadening contact there with the music of Webern and such challenging literary works as the plays of Samuel Beckett. After many years in Hungary, teaching at the Budapest Academy of Music,Kurtág settled near Bordeaux with his wife Márta. The two regularly perform duo-recitals of his music. In 2006, his . . . concertante . . . (2003, for violin, viola and orchestra) won the coveted Grawemeyer Award for MusicComposition. This unique set of interviews with Kurtág, alone or with his wife, gives a fascinating insight into the composer's personality, which is marked by shyness but also an unquenchable thirst for impressions of every kind [artistic, natural and human]. The two speak with disarming openness about their lives -- the background against which masterpieces like Messages of the Late Miss R. V. Troussova (1976-80, for soprano and chamber orchestra) or Stele (1994, for orchestra) were written. The analysis of certain of Kurtág's works, especially of . . . concertante . . ., shows the way that his mind works: no system, no dogma, no formulae -- rather, basic human emotions expressed through means that speak directly to the listener's innermost feelings. The Hungarian music publisher Bálint András Varga has spent nearly forty years working for and with composers.He has published several books, including extensive interviews with Lutoslawski, Berio, and Xenakis.Trade ReviewOffers telling insights . . . [on the] linkage between teaching and communicating, teaching and composing. . . . Reach[es] to the core of Kurtag's essential expressionism. . . . [Kurtag's] tributes to [Ligeti] provide . . . the shrewdest, clearest-eyed judgment of his friend's achievements. 'Mementos of a friendship' . . . is as artfully assembled as any of Kurtag's compositions. -- Arnold Whittall * MUSICAL TIMES *Like many of Kurtág's finest pieces, [this book] is short but densely packed. In three extended interviews with Varga, the composer provides piercing insights into a vast range of music and addresses his own work with startling clarity, candor, and humility. He also delivers three tributes to his longtime friend György Ligeti, revealing more of Ligeti's psychology and creativity than any commentator in print. -- Alex Ross * THE NEW YORKER *Read the full review at http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/alexross/2009/10/gyorgy-kurtag.html * . *This book provides a fascinating and unique insight into the life, mind, and personality of the Hungarian composer György Kurtág [.] this volume surely will play a significant role in enhancing and enlightening the way we experience Kurtág's music, both as listeners and as scholars. MUSIC & LETTERS, May 2011 * . *An important introduction to the music and the personality of this unique composer. -- Pierre BoulezA uniquely sensitive look at Kurtág's extraordinary work, character, and personality. --Kent Nagano, General Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera and Orchestra and Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra * . *Table of ContentsIntroduction: A Portrait Sketch of György Kurtág in Three Sittings Three Questions to György Kurtág (1982-1985) The Three Questions Again (1996) Key Words (2007-2008) Mementos of a Friendship: György Kurtág on György Ligeti A Brief Biography of György Kurtág Personalia List of Works Discography Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA compelling portrait of composer-performer Julius Eastman's enigmatic and intriguing life and music. Composer-performer Julius Eastman (1940-90) was an enigma, both comfortable and uncomfortable in the many worlds he inhabited: black, white, gay, straight, classical music, disco, academia, and downtown New York. His music, insistent and straightforward, resists labels and seethes with a tension that resonates with musicians, scholars, and audiences today. Eastman's provocative titles, including Gay Guerrilla, Evil Nigger, Crazy Nigger, and others, assault us with his obsessions. Eastman tested limits with his political aggressiveness, as reflected in legendary scandals like his June 1975 performance of John Cage's Song Books, which featured homoerotic interjections, and the uproar over his titles at Northwestern University. These episodes are examples of Eastman's persistence in pushing the limits of the acceptable in the highly charged arenas of sexual and civil rights. In addition to analyses of Eastman's music, the essays in Gay Guerrilla provide background on his remarkable life history and the era's social landscape. The book presents an authentic portrait of a notable American artist thatis compelling reading for the general reader as well as scholars interested in twentieth-century American music, American studies, gay rights, and civil rights. This Life of Sounds: Evenings for New Music inBuffalo received an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for excellence. Mary Jane Leach is a composer and freelance writer, currently writing music and theatre criticism for the Albany Times-Union.Trade ReviewJulius Eastman enjoyed the admiration of peers such as Morton Feldman, Meredith Monk and Pierre Boulez. Here, highly engaging essays by those who knew Eastman well recall him as a person and assess his brilliance. While there are amusing anecdotes about his more madcap moments . . . the overall message is that he was an artist deserving of significant respect. * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE *[Eastman's work] effectively rewrote the history of post-war American New Music, restoring to its narrative a gay black voice creating a liberating, high-energy form of organic minimalism. * THE GUARDIAN *It is eminently readable throughout. * JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC STUDIES *[The book will be] a starting point for others who want to engage with Julius Eastman as a performer, scholar, or composer. * ARSC JOURNAL *A picture of [Eastman]--charismatic performer, magnetic personality and emotional escape artist--that puts his work in a context larger and more representative. * BAY AREA REPORTER *A composer of visionary power, a singer with a cavernous bass voice, a collaborator with the diverse likes of Meredith Monk and Pierre Boulez, Eastman had long been a fixture of the New York Music scene....Part of the pleasure of Eastman's rediscovery has been the belated, deserving reinsertion of a black, gay figure into music history. * THE NEW YORK TIMES *Outspoken about his own identity as a black queer man...Eastman was ahead of his time. His music is politics by other means, in search of a form, alighting toward a future that could grant him dignity, when he could be something other than an abstraction. * THE NEW YORKER *A fascinating new collection of essays exploring the life and work of the enigmatic composer Julius Eastman...who worked fluently in jazz, improvisation and acoustical experiments. An indication of his impact is the very fact that so many people have come together [in this book] to remember him and are actively championing his music. * ALBANY TIMES-UNION *The publication of this rigorously researched, lovingly produced, multidimensional study of a singular artist will surely be met with joy by those of us who remember Julius Eastman--the inspired creator, the sly provocateur and martyred saint of the avant-garde. For those who are interested in iconoclasts of whatever stripe, this volume will be a revelation and an invitation to rethink what composition, performance, and life at the precipice of madness can be.-- -- Bill T. Jones, choreographer and dancerThis book has arrived just in time for Black Lives Matter and gets my deepest praise. This important volume of essays brought forth by two brilliant women who have long championed Eastman's music, belongs in every music conservatory library and beyond.-- -- Pauline Oliveros, composerTable of ContentsForeword by George E. Lewis Acknowledgments Introduction: Julius Eastman and His Music - Renee Levine Packer Julius Eastman, A Biography - Renee Levine Packer Unjust Malaise - David Borden The Julius Eastman Parables - R. Nemo Hill Julius Eastman and the Conception of "Organic Music" - Kyle Gann Julius Eastman Singing - John Patrick Thomas An Accidental Musicologist Passes the Torch - Mary Jane Leach A Flexible Musical Identity: Julius Eastman in New York City, 1976-90 - Ryan Dohoney Evil Nigger: A Piece for Multiple Instruments of the Same Type by Julius Eastman (1979), with Performance Instructions by Joseph Kubera - David Borden A Postminimalist Analysis of Julius Eastman's Crazy Nigger - Andrew Hanson-Dvoracek "The Piece Does Not Exist without Julius": Still Staying on Stay On It - Matthew Mendez Connecting the Dots - Mary Jane Leach Gay Guerrilla: A Minimalist Choralphantasie - Luciano Chessa Appendix: Julius Eastman Compositions - Mary Jane Leach Chronology Selected Bibliography List of Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisThe first biography of Yo La Tengo, the massively influential band who all but defined indie music. Yo La Tengo has lit up the indie scene for three decades, part of an underground revolution that defied corporate music conglomerates, eschewed pop radio, and found a third way. Going behind the scenes of one of the most remarkable eras in American music history, Big Day Coming traces the patient rise of husband-and-wife team Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, who—over three decades—helped forge a spandex-and-hairspray-free path to the global stage, selling millions of records along the way and influencing countless bands.Using the continuously vital Yo La Tengo as a springboard, Big Day Coming uncovers the history of the legendary clubs, bands, zines, labels, record stores, college radio stations, fans, and pivotal figures that built the infrastructure of the now-prevalent indie rock world. Journalist and freeform radio DJ Jesse Jarnow draws on all-access interviews and archives for mesmerizing trip through contemporary music history told through one of its most creative and singular acts.

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