Popular music Books
Portraits Live at Montreux
Book Synopsis
£26.99
HarperCollins Publishers The Dark Side of the Moon
Book SynopsisA behind-the-scenes, in-depth look at the making of one of the greatest sonic masterpieces and most commercially successful albums of all time.Over three decades after its release, Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon' remains one of the most acclaimed albums of all time. Its sales total around 30 million copies worldwide. In its first run, it took up residence in the US charts for a mind-boggling 724 weeks. According to recent estimates, one in five British households owns a copy.This, however, is only a fraction of the story. Dark Side' is rock's most fully realised and elegant concept album, based on themes of madness, anxiety and alienation that were rooted in the band's history and particularly in the tragic tale of their one time leader Syd Barrett.Drawing on original interviews with bass guitarist and chief songwriter Roger Waters, guitarist David Gilmour, and the album's supporting cast ,The Dark Side of the Moon' is a must-have for the millions of devoted fans who desire tTrade ReviewPraise for ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’: ‘A fascinating read.’ Observer 'John Harris's account of the making of the Floyd's 35 million-selling concept album, "The Dark Side of the Moon", has come along at just the right time … Harris's book is good enough to make me want to sit down and, for the first time, give "The Dark Side of the Moon" a proper, prejudice-free listen.' New Statesman ‘[A] clear-sighted examination of Floyd’s famous epic … Harris’ admirably concise study sidesteps the usual mythologising to provide a detailed and coherent retelling of how “The Dark Side” … came into being. ****’ Q Magazine
£8.24
HarperCollins Publishers Finding My Voice
Book Synopsis
£19.80
Bonnier Books Ltd Searching for Dexys Midnight Runners
Book Synopsis'Skilfully written, engaging and sensitive' HELEN O'HARA'Hugely readable' MOJO'A compelling, moving book' THE TIMESIn the early 1980s, the pop charts were dominated by musicians tarted up in Day-Glo colours, who fought it out for coverage on our TV screens and magazine pages. Dexys Midnight Runners did things differently. They were surly. They were serious. They were ambitious, but success had to come on their terms. They were a disciplined outfit, a gang with a defined purpose: to make music so pure that it couldn't fail to elicit a deep emotional response from anyone within earshot.And they managed it. This motley crew - in woolly hats and donkey jackets for their first coming; all dungarees and copious body hair for the second - gate-crashed the charts, scoring number-one hits around the globe. But being in Dexys wasn't all sunshine and roses. Many members came, many members wen
£18.70
Ebury Publishing Cider with Roadies
Book SynopsisCider with Roadies is the true story of a boy''s obsessive relationship with pop. A life lived through music from Stuart''s audience with the Beatles (aged 3); his confessions as a pubescent prog rocker; a youthful gymnastic dalliance with northern soul; the radical effects of punk on his politics, homework and trouser dimensions; playing in crap bands and failing to impress girls; writing for the NME by accident; living the sex, drugs (chiefly lager in a plastic glass) and rock and roll lifestyle; discovering the tawdry truth behind the glamour and knowing when to ditch it all for what really matters.From Stuart''s four minutes in a leisure centre with MC Hammer to four days in a small van with Napalm Death it''s a life-affirming journey through the land where ordinary life and pop come together to make music.Trade ReviewThe English Bill Bryson -- Tony WilsonThe perfect pop fan's life ... effortlessly articulate * The Times *Stuart Maconie is the best thing to come out of Wigan since the A58 to Bolton -- Peter KayAn heir to Alan Bennett ... stirring and rather wonderful -- Antony Quinn * Sunday Times *If you only read one personal music odyssey, make it this one * GQ *
£15.29
Ebury Publishing Mozipedia The Encyclopaedia of Morrissey and the
Book SynopsisSteven Patrick Morrissey is one of the most original and controversial voices in the history of popular music. With The Smiths, he led the most influential British guitar group of the 1980s, his enigmatic wit and style defining a generation. As a solo artist, he has continued to broach subjects no other singer would dare.Worshipped by some, vilified by others, Morrissey is a unique rock and roll creation. The 300,000 words of Mozipedia make this the most intimate and in-depth biographical portrait of the man and his music yet. Bringing together every song, album, collaborator, key location, every hero, book, film and record to have influenced his art, it is the summation of years of meticulous research. Morrissey authority Simon Goddard has interviewed almost everybody of any importance, making Mozipedia the last word on Morrissey and The Smiths.Trade ReviewGenius ... the fullest portrait of Morrissey yet put to paper. Goddard has become what Hunter Davies is to The Beatles or Jon Savage is to punk; the number one authority on the subject * Q magazine *The next best thing to Morrissey’s autobiography * GQ magazine *A superb achievement * Mojo *The perfect gift for any Morrissey fan * Daily Telegraph *A witty, well-informed collection of fact and anecdote, full of fascinating bits and pieces * Uncut *
£34.00
Ebury Publishing The Peoples Songs
Book SynopsisThese are the songs that we have listened to, laughed to, loved to and laboured to, as well as downed tools and danced to. Covering the last seven decades, Stuart Maconie looks at the songs that have sound tracked our changing times, and just sometimes changed the way we feel. Beginning with Vera Lynn's We'll Meet Again', a song that reassured a nation parted from their loved ones by the turmoil of war, and culminating with the manic energy of Bonkers', Dizzee Rascal's anthem for the push and rush of the 21st century inner city, The People's Songs takes a tour of our island's pop music, and asks what it means to us. This is not a rock critique about the 50 greatest tracks ever recorded. Rather, it is a celebration of songs that tell us something about a changing Britain during the dramatic and kaleidoscopic period from the Second World War to the present day. Here are songs about work, war, class, leisure, race, family, drugs, sex, patriotism and moreTrade ReviewOne of the most insightful and purely readable books on pop music I think I have ever encountered -- Marcus Berkmann * Daily Mail *An unequivocal pleasure and highly recommended -- Marcus Berkmann * Daily Mail *The blend of research and conjecture is impressive -- Will Hodgkinson * The Times *Maconie succeeds in being at once elegant and approachable, definititive but also self-deprecating * Guardian *A fine writer: sharp, funny, tender and thoughtful * Spectator *
£15.29
Ebury Publishing A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Heaven
Book SynopsisCorey Taylor has seen a lot of unbelievable things. The Grammy Award-winning singer of Slipknot and Stone Sour''s curiosity has drawn him into situations that would've sent most people screaming scared and running for the hills. Corey's ballsy enough to go into the darkness and deal with the consequences though. As a result, he's seen ghosts up close and personal, whether it be while combing through an abandoned house in his native Iowa as a child or recording an album in the fabled Houdini Hollywood Hills mansion. He's also got the memories (and scars) to prove it. For some reason, he can't seem to shake these spectral stories, and that brings us to this little tome right here...At the same time, being an erudite, tattooed, modern Renaissance Man, he never bought into the whole God thing. Simply put, he's seen ghosts, but he hasn't seen Jesus. Corey especially can't find a reason why people do the insane things they do in HIS name. That's where everything really gets intereTrade ReviewHe’s done it again, folks, put out a piece of art and work that will leave you speechless and thinking harder than you have in awhile. Taylor’s second book…is probably more highly-anticipated than his first book and will have your hair standing on end, chills down your spine while making you laugh hysterically at some parts…A well-written, in-depth, intellectual and bone-chilling piece of work that will go down in history as one of the best books written by a metal singer of all time. * thefrontrowreport.com *
£13.49
Ebury Publishing Simply Thrilled The Preposterous Story of
Book SynopsisSimon Goddard grew up in Wales and Scotland before studying art in the North of England. He later moved to London to work as a music journalist and is now recognised as one of the most unique voices in pop writing. In addition to Simply Thrilled, he has written acclaimed books about The Smiths and Morrissey (Songs That Saved Your Life, Mozipedia), Bowie (Ziggyology) and the Stones (Rollaresque). Mozipedia was voted Mojo magazine readers' Book Of The Year and has since been published in three continents.Trade ReviewSimply Thrilled is a brilliant caper, just like the Postcard label itself * MOJO *At some point, someone was going to write a book about the history of Postcard Records and barely a chapter into Simply Thrilled, you realise it would have been a tragedy if anyone other than Simon Goddard had taken on the job... It’s a testament to Goddard’s masterful storytelling that – once you’ve hooted at the last preposterous tale in Simply Thrilled – the myth looms larger than ever, the music a little more breathlessly brilliant than ever before. -- Pete Paphides * Caught by the River *Wonderful, super and boss! -- Edwyn Collins
£16.99
Ebury Publishing Sick On You
Book Synopsis**MOJO MAGAZINE''S BOOK OF THE YEAR**The Hollywood Brats are the greatest band you've never heard of.Recording one near-perfect punk album in 1974, they were tragically ahead of their time.With only a guitar, a tatty copy of the Melody Maker and his template for the perfect band, Andrew Matheson set out, in 1971, to make musical history. His band, The Hollywood Brats, were pre-punk prophets uncompromising, ultra-thin, wild, untameable and outrageous. But thrown into the crazy world of the 1970s London music scene, the Brats ultimately fell foul of the crooks and heavies that ran it and an industry that just wasn't ready for them.Directly inspiring the London SS, the Clash, Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols, The Hollywood Brats imploded too soon to share the glory. Punk's answer to Withnail and I, Sick On You is a startling, funny and brilliantly entertaining period memoir about never quite achievingTrade ReviewTrue, proper rock 'n' roll. A funny, sad, superbly written saga. This book is great. -- Bob GeldofThe greatest rock 'n' roll story you've never heard: the Hollywood Brats hit the early 70s like a spaceship landing in Victorian London. Matheson's book is as lurid and compelling as the band themselves. -- John Niven, author of Kill Your FriendsThe Hollywood Brats are a folk legend; they were doing what they were doing before anybody. This is one of the great rock 'n' roll hard luck stories, by turns shocking and hilarious, and Andrew Matheson has a terrific eye for comic detail. -- Bob Stanley author of Yeah Yeah Yeah: the Story of Modern PopFlagrant, addled, highly competitive, the Hollywood Brats predicted Punk in the moribund early seventies. Andrew Matheson’s concise, hilarious memoir tells the pleasure and pain of being an unheralded pioneer. -- Jon Savage, author of England’s DreamingThe best rock 'n' roll memoir you will read all year. -- Dylan Jones * GQ *
£15.30
Cornerstone Kiss and MakeUp
Book SynopsisKISS has released thirty-seven records and sold 80 million albums worldwide. Gene Simmons has also acted in films and on television, has written and produced albums for other recording artists, has managed the recording career of, among others, Liza Minelli, and was founder and president of his own recording label, Simmons Records/RCA. He also launched his film and TV producing career with Detroit Rock City for New Line Cinema. Gene Simmons lives in Beverley Hills, California, and was recently the rock star teacher on Channel 4''s Rock School.Here for the first time Gene Simmons, the notorious mainman of the explosive rock and roll group KISS, tells his story. Delivered in Gene''s own honest, outrageous and uncensored voice, he tells of his early beginnings in Israel, of his arrival in New York at the age of eight, his first taste of 1950s pop culture and his developing thirst for fame, fun and girls. Undoubtedly one of the most infamous rock and roll legends alive, GTrade ReviewReaders may be surprised by Simmons's clarity and candour. How did Chaim Witz, the overprotected Israel-born son of Hungarian Jewish Holocaust survivors, become Gene Simmons, fire-breathing, tongue-flexing, blood-spitting rocker? * New York Times *
£999.99
Vintage Publishing Shakey
Book SynopsisJimmy McDonough is a journalist who has contributed to such publications as Variety, Film Comment, Mojo, Spin and Juggs. But he is perhaps best know for his intense, definitive Village Voice profiles of such artists as Jimmy Scott, Neil Young and Hubert Selby, Jr. He is also the author of The Ghastly One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of Filmmaker Andy Milligan. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.Trade ReviewThe raw materials of the story are sensational: burning ambition, clashing egos, onstage epileptic seizures, deranged groupies, great albums, the birth and death of Sixties idealism, and, most of all, extremes of substance abuse * Scotland on Sunday *Succeeds in stripping a star of his iconography - McDonough's book excels at anecdotes of music excess from a bygone era * Observer *It's hard to imagine anyone trying to better this book - It has an abundance of what Young values above all else - passion * Evening Standard *I've been reading this biography of Neil Young called Shakey and it's changed my life, man -- Liam Gallagher * NME *
£15.29
Vintage Publishing 2Stoned
Book SynopsisIn 1963, in a south London hotel, Andrew Loog Oldham discovered an unknown rhythm and blues band called the Rolling Stones and became their manager and producer; by 1967 they had achieved worldwide celebrity, been arrested in a notorious drugs raid and split with the manager that made them. 2Stoned is the remarkable record of these years, when Oldham''s radical strategies transformed them into the Greatest Rock ''n'' Roll Band That Ever Drew Breath. In his first book, Stoned, Oldham recorded his early years and the meeting with the Stones that changed all their fates; 2Stoned is the story of what followed.Trade ReviewWhat a ride and what a read * Sunday Times *Fantastic... The definitive book about music, money, rock 'n' roll. Brutally honest, consistently stylish and eminently readable... There is no better history of the period more thrillingly told * Time Out *2Stoned is the volume everyone has been awaiting, and it doesn't disappoint * The Times *Oldham is a prose stylist of no little talent * Q Magazine *
£999.99
Cornerstone Leitch D Hurdy Gurdy Man
Book SynopsisDonovan''s autobiography charts his life from a post-war, Glaswegian childhood to the height of an international career as one of the leading figures of the 1960''s music scene.Always feeling like an outsider he found relief through music and poetry. The book reveals how he came to be influenced by Buddhist teachings and the music of Woody Guthrie and Joan Baez. The book explores the significance of falling deeply in love with the woman who was to become his muse, and the profound sense of loss he felt when their relationship came to an end, and how the loss affected him both personally and creatively.A leader of the folk revival in both Britain and America, the book recounts how he rose to be an international star, releasing songs such as Mellow Yellow and Catch the Wind, and his most successful album, Sunshine Superman. Donovan is acknowledged as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 1960''s.The book provides a frank accountTrade ReviewAnyone who lived through that time, or anyone curious to know what the 'magic' or theswinging 60s where about, will enjoy this trip through 'histories of ages past' with the original Hurdy Gurdy Man. * The Guardian *Entertaining and indisputably personal account * MOJO *Three cheers for the Hurdy Gurdy man for approaching his autobiography as a serious book rather than a quick cash-in or headline grabbing confessional...a pleasing trip back to a time, not so long ago, when every gentle heart believed peace was a real possibility * The Telegraph *An unqualified delight * The Observer *Touching, illuminating and frank * The New York Times *
£10.44
Cornerstone Elvis by the Presleys
Book SynopsisThe Number One Sunday Times BestsellerForty years after his death, Elvis Presley remains one of the world's most beloved and iconic figures. Including deeply personal documents and previously unseen family photographs, this sensational book also features new interviews with family and friends.Trade ReviewA fascinating insight into the world of The King, and an absolute essential for any fan. * Heat *Genuinely moving. * The Times *The honest, revealing material brings you closer to the truth about this extraordinary man. * Sun *A revealing reflection of an extraordinary life. * Daily Express *
£10.44
Cornerstone Eric Clapton The Autobiography
Book SynopsisNow for the first time, Eric tells the story of his personal and professional journeys in this pungent, witty and painfully honest autobiography.These are the memoirs of a survivor, someone who has reached the pinnacle of success, who has had it all, but whose demons have never left him.Trade ReviewEric Clapton has produced a gem of a rock memoir, in which he lays bare the painful roots of his music. Clapton speaks honestly and touchingly not only about the external course of his life but of what music has meant to him. That makes it much the best of this season's rock memoirs. Clapton delivers himself profoundly. It's extremely moving. * Evening Standard *Clapton relates what happened with painful honesty. In other rock stars, such plump contentment might seem hypocritical, even vulgar. But with Eric Clapton, you feel that a little comfort is the least he deserves. * Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday (4 star review) *This is an essential read * Observer *It's a raw and remarkable piece of self-exposure * Daily Telegraph *It is a pity more autobiograophers don't have Clapton's grounding in the blues. * Sunday Times *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Revolution in the Head
Book SynopsisEloquently giving voice to their time, The Beatles quite simply changed the world.Fully updated to include material from The Beatles Live at the BBC and the Anthology series, this acclaimed book goes back to the heart of The Beatles - their records.Trade ReviewHis essays are a brilliant summation of the cultural sea change that the Beatles benefitted from and helped to create, and it also contains a clear-headed and unsentimental review of every song they recorded. -- Paul Hanley * The Big Issue *The finest piece of fabs scholarship ever published * Mojo * The masterpiece The Beatles deserved -- Max Bell * Vox *The most sustained brilliant piece of pop criticism and scholarship for years. An astonishing achievement -- Stuart Maconie * Q * No book has ever taken us closer to the actual music of The Beatles...A brilliant piece of work -- Tony Parsons * Daily Telegraph *
£12.99
Vintage Publishing Bob Dylan In America
Book SynopsisSean Wilentz is Sidney and Ruth Lapidus Professor in the American Revolutionary Era at Princeton University. He is the author of The Rise of American Democracy, which received the coveted Bancroft Prize, and most recently The Age of Reagan. He has also received a Deems Taylor Award for musical commentary and a Grammy nomination for his liner notes to Bootleg Series, Vol. 6: Bob Dylan, Live 1964: The Concert at Philharmonic Hall.Trade ReviewA panoramic vision of Bob Dylan, his music, his shifting place in American culture, from multiple angles. In fact, reading Sean Wilentz' Bob Dylan in America is as thrilling and surprising as listening to a great Dylan song -- Martin ScorseseAmong those who write regularly about Dylan, Wilentz possesses the rare virtues of modesty, nuance and lucidity. If I may extend the Moby-Dick metaphor just a little here, Wilentz is a whale watcher rather than a whale hunter. He is content to observe rather than possess * Scotland on Sunday *Wilentz combines his deep musical knowledge with the skills of a fine historian to write one of the most important, insightful and revelatory books about America, its culture and its people as interpreted through the works of one of its greatest artists * Irish Times *All the American connections that Wilentz draws to explain the appearance of Dylan's music are fascinating, particularly at the outset the connection to Aaron Copland. The writing is strong, the thinking is strong - the book is dense and strong everywhere you look -- Philip RothBob Dylan in America is vital reading -- Christopher Bray * Literary Review *
£13.49
Cornerstone Suburban 100
Book SynopsisREVISED, UPDATED AND WITH A NEW FOREWORD BY PAUL ABBOTTThis edition of Suburban 100 includes new lyrics from the critically acclaimed albums, 22 Dreams and Wake Up the Nation, which has been nominated for the Mercury Music Award.Paul Weller first burst onto the national music scene with The Jam in 1977 and was quickly marked apart from his contemporaries as a brilliant lyricist. In a writing career that has now spanned three decades, his songs have been acclaimed, imitated and loved by many. Suburban 100 - the first selection of Paul Weller''s lyrics - draws on songs written for The Jam, The Style Council and solo releases that, together, tell stories of life and love, rage and romance. The youthful frustrations of small-town life that fuelled Weller''s early writing is palpable, as is the angry but poignant response to Thatcher''s Britain. His lyrics, rooted in English suburban culture, explore the hopes, dreams and
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Ray Davies
Book SynopsisJohnny Rogan is the author of over twenty books, including highly acclaimed biographies/musical studies of the Byrds, the Smiths, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, John Lennon and Morrissey. His groundbreaking Starmakers & Svengalis: The History Of British Pop Management was adapted for a six-week BBC series. Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance was one of the best-selling and most controversial rock biographies of its time, receiving various music biography of the year awards, and has been in print continuously for over twenty years. More recently, Van Morrison: No Surrender was chosen by the Sunday Timesas one of its Top 10 Music Books of the Year. He is currently completing an epic two-volume study, Byrds: Requiem For the Timeless.Trade ReviewAs definitive a view of the man as anyone could hope for * The Times *In the tradition of the most interesting biographies, a troubled subject makes for a gripping read * Evening Standard *Rogan is exceptionally good at painting a picture of the moment he is exploring ... engrossing ... you're left with a sympathetic understanding of [Davies'] ways and motives * New Statesman *It’s [Ray Davies’s] quirks that make him a worthy study, and Johnny Rogan is the man for the job, a writer renowned for going to extraordinary lengths to research his subjects … a social history as well as character study. Rogan illuminates the labyrinth of Swinging Sixties record labels, managers, bookers and pluggers, and spares no blushes in his depiction of the young Kinks * Irish Times *Masterfully teases out the warring impulses wrestling in [Davies’s] psyche … [Rogan is] adept at relating the social history of the 1950s and 1960s to Davies’s brooding character and lyric obsessions ... He uncovers psychological traumas everywhere and is fascinating on the bitchy rivalries between 1960s pop titans … Such tales make this ... oceanically researched biography go with a swing * Sunday Times *
£22.50
Penguin Books Ltd Bass Culture
Book SynopsisThe first major account of the history of reggae, black music journalist Lloyd Bradley describes its origins and development in Jamaica, from ska to rock-steady to dub and then to reggae itself, a local music which conquered the world. There are many extraordinary stories about characters like Prince Buster, King Tubby and Bob Marley. But this is more than a book of music history: it relates the story of reggae to the whole history of Jamaica, from colonial island to troubled independence, and Jamaicans, from Kingston to London.Table of ContentsPart One First session: boogie in my bones; music is my occupation; we are rolling; message from the king; train to Skaville; strange country; what a world. Part Two Simmer down: soul style; dance crasher; mix it up; you can get it if you really want. Part Three Studio kinda cloudy: pressure drop; wake the town, tell the people; dubwise situation; dreadlocks in moonlight; ah fi we dis; trench town rock; warrior charge; sipple out deh. Part Four Fist to fist days gone: ring the alarm; kid's play; Johnny dollar; healing of a nation.
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd Kurt Cobain
Book SynopsisThe first publication of Kurt Cobain''s diaries, which were found after his death in 1994. Genuinely moving, provocative and candid, and suprisingly funny, pieces of writing which, as a whole, provide a unique account of the rise and fall of a greatpopular artist and icon.
£21.25
Penguin Books Ltd Hellfire
Book Synopsis''The greatest rock ''n'' roll biography ever written'' Rolling Stone''You''re lookin'' at a livin'' legend.'' He said, and then fell silent for a moment. ''Y''know, that really worries me. I always thought a legend was somethin'' dead.''The tormented life of Jerry Lee Lewis is the most fabled in rock ''n'' roll history.Demon-shadowed and God-fearing, his relentless, all-consuming pursuit of self-destruction clouded his life and his music.Born in deep south Louisiana and raised on the Old Testament, ''The Killer'' was continually torn between a harsh Pentecostal God and the worship of alcohol, drugs, and rock ''n'' roll. Nick Tosches''s electrifying account chronicles the monumental highs and lows of the ever indomitable and ever wild Jerry Lee, who rises to dizzying heights as a rock ''n'' roll icon, only to lose it time and time again to his inner demons.Searing, mythic and gloriously written, Hellfire is an evocaTrade ReviewThe number one greatest music book ever * Observer *Quite simply the best rock and roll biography ever written * Rolling Stone *The best rock 'n' roll biography ever written . . . There is a novelistic intensity to this story of tragedy, triumph and love. Its portrayal of a society alien to mainstream America is riveting * Newsday *Brilliant . . . the best account we have of how the first rock and rollers were torn between salvation and the Devil's music * New Statesman *
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd Autobiography
Book SynopsisSteven Patrick Morrissey was born in Manchester on May 22nd 1959. Singer-songwriter and co-founder of the Smiths, Morrissey has been a solo artist for twenty-six years, during which time he has had three number 1 albums in England in three different decades. This book deals with his work and life.Trade ReviewFive stars. With typical pretension, Morrissey's first book has been published as a Penguin Classic. It justifies such presentation with a beautifully measured prose style that combines a lilting, poetic turn of phrase and acute quality of observation, revelling in a kind of morbid glee at life's injustice with arch, understated humour ... It is recognisably the voice of the most distinctive British pop lyricist of his era -- Neil McCormick * Daily Telegraph *A brilliant and timely book ... What is so refreshing about Morrissey's Autobiography is its very messiness, its deliriously florid, overblown prose style, its unwillingness to kowtow to a culture of literary formula and commercial pigeon-holing ... Autobiography is a true baggy monster, a book in which a distinctive prose style is allowed to develop ... A rococo triumph ... Overwhelmingly this is a book to be thankful for ... In the ways that matter, Autobiography reads like a work of genuine literary class -- Alex Niven * Independent *Sharply written, rich, clever, rancorous, puffed-up, tender, catty, windy, poetic, and frequently very, very funny. Welcome back, Morrissey -- Michael Bonner * Uncut Magazine *Rancorous, rhapsodic, schizophrenic: Autobiography delivers a man in full -- Andrew Male * Mojo *If one is willing to accept that a Morrissey book could be a classic, then the book justifies its status remarkably early on. ... As a work of prose Autobiography is a triumph of the written word * Louder than war *Funnier than the Iliad ... A triumph -- Colin Paterson * Today Programme, BBC Radio 4 *One of the autobiographies of this or any year ... A wonderfully entertaining read. He's as witty, acerbic and opinionated as you'd expect, but there's a welcome self-awareness throughout that makes the dramatic flourishes and hyperbolic dismay all the more hilarious. He may have more flaws than Manchester's Arndale Centre but he's just brilliantly, uniquely Morrissey * Daily Mirror *Morrissey's Autobiography is brilliant and relentless. Genius, really -- Douglas CouplandWell, so far Morrissey's book is an absolute masterpiece; no doubt the whole stinking country will hate it. -- Frankie BoyleThis is the best book ever. Like ever * Wonderland *Carried along on quite extraordinary prose * Time Out *The Best Music Biog Ever ... In the world of rock autobiographies, Morrissey's is nigh-on perfect -- Ben Hewitt * NME *Practically every paragraph has a line or two that demands to be read aloud to the mirror, tattooed on foreheads, carved on tombstones * Rolling Stone *Morrissey is a pop star of unusual writing talent * The New York Times *Autobiography is a rich and substantial work, the figure emerging at its centre both compelling and complex. Those who know his music will be unsurprised by the qualities of Morrissey's prose, which is ornate, windswept, elusive yet never tricksy, and full of unexpected twists and thrusts. He writes with understanding (albeit often with a tout comprendre c'est rien pardonner caveat) and is most of all straightforwardly moving; never more so than when writing about his childhood -- Gwendoline Riley * Times Literary Supplement *Autobiography doesn't disappoint. In its pages Morrissey manages to perform the neat trick of deconstructing his own myth while at the same time adding to it. Old scores are settled and anyone who ever crossed the singer is neatly decapitated herein by withering, barbed prose. Things could have gone very differently for Morrissey. He could have ended up cleaning canal banks or delivering the post for a living. Both of these outcomes would have left the world a far duller place. Autobiography is the man in his own words and, Morrissey being Morrissey, this means that we are presented with an account that is real and fantastic, unapologetically romantic and brutally honest. The die-hard fans have read the book already but for anyone with even a passing interest in what makes one of the most individual and unflinching voices in British pop music tick, Autobiography is essential * Loud and Quiet magazine *
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd Riot Days
Book SynopsisFrom activist, Pussy Riot member and freedom fighter Maria Alyokhina, a raw, hallucinatory, passionate account of her arrest, trial and imprisonment in Siberian jail for standing up for what she believed in.''One of the most brilliant and inspiring things I''ve read in years. Couldn''t put it down. This book is freedom'' Chris Kraus, author of I Love Dick''A women''s prison memoir like no other! One tough cookie!'' @MargaretAtwood''Once you begin reading, you are completely disarmed, unable to put it down until the last page'' Marina AbramovicPeople who believe in freedom and democracy think it will exist forever.That is a mistake. What happened in Russia - what happened to me - could happen anywhere.When I was jailed for political protest, I learned that prison doesn''t just teach you to follow the rules. It teaches you to think that you can never break them.It''s inevitable that the prison gates willTrade ReviewReading: RIOT DAYS, by #PussyRiot member MariaAlyokhina. A women's prison memoir like no other! One tough cookie! -- @MargaretAtwoodA future cult classic * Vogue *In oppressive political systems, some of the most effective weapons are sarcasm and dark humour. It is exactly these weapons that are employed by Masha Alyokhina in the brilliantly written Riot Days. Once you begin reading, you are completely disarmed, unable to put it down until the last page -- Marina AbramovicRiot Days could so easily have been a straightforward, from-the-horse's-mouth confessional account of one of the most publicised political protests of recent years. Alyokhina takes on a far greater challenge: creating a text that is not just a reflection on a piece of art, but becomes one itself, and one that, in many places, lives up to her own criteria of protest: that it must be "desperate, sudden, and joyous" -- Rachel Hewitt * Guardian *The literary equivalent of guerrilla street art -- Marc Bennetts * The Times *Urgent and bold -- Anna Aslanyan * Financial Times *[An] energetic and enjoyable prison diary ... A search for meaningful protest in an age in which presidents often appear to be playful performance artists -- Peter Pomerantsev * Spectator *Alyokhina's eye for surreal detail gives Riot Days a welcome dose of dark humor ... Through the chinks in the abusive system, Alyokhina glimpses human beings * The New York Times Book Review *Strong, brave, honest, touching, bitter and sad -- Vladimir Sorokin, master of contemporary Russian literatureOne of the most brilliant and inspiring things I've read in years. Couldn't put it down. This book is freedom -- Chris Kraus, author of 'I Love Dick'Accessible and inspiring * Huck Magazine *Fascinating and important ... What's most striking is its universality * Refinery 29 *Iconoclastic * Livres Hebdo *
£10.44
Oxford University Press Inc Rhythm Man
Book SynopsisThe first comprehensive biography of the Swing Era''s pioneering virtuoso drummer and bandleaderWilliam Henry Chick Webb (1905-39) was one of the first virtuoso drummers in jazz and an innovative bandleader dubbed the Savoy King, who reigned at Harlem''s world-famous Savoy Ballroom. Along with the likes of Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, and Cab Calloway, Webb helped create the popular dance and music culture, known as Swing, that swept the United States during and after the Great Depression and left an indelible impact on American culture. Having moved to Harlem from Baltimore during the Harlem Renaissance, Webb''s creativity, charisma and persistence enabled him to navigate the harsh realities of racism and show business, lifting not only himself to stardom but also bringing other future legends-namely vocalist extraordinaire Ella Fitzgerald and R&B trailblazer Louis Jordan-along with him. But at the peak of his fame, at just 34 years of age, his life was cut short by the chronicTrade ReviewThis propulsive biography places the drummer and bandleader Chick Webb at the epicenter of the early Swing Era. * The New Yorker *Rhythm Man captures Webb's spirit and humanity, his musical achievement and significance, as well as providing a portrait of the community of Black musicians in Harlem who developed the most innovative and swinging music of the era. * Karen Campos McCormack, National Jazz Archive *Chick Webb now has a first-rate biography-long overdue but effectively filling a gap in jazz scholarship. * Ted Gioia, The Honest Broker *Essential... Crease's book is an expertly narrated story of Webb's life, detailing his career within the Black music world of the 1920's and 30s, presenting a nuanced, rounded portrait of the master drummer. * Vinnie Sperrazza, Chronicles *Rhythm Man is a surprisingly comprehensive book on Chick Webb that will hopefully restore his important place in history. * Scott Yanow, LA Jazz Scene *Nothing comes close to the easy yet majestic sweep of this book....Page after page of Rhythm Man blossoms with new stories. * Michael Steinman, Jazz Lives *Thanks to Stephanie Stein Crease's new biography of virtuoso drummer Chick Webb, the Baltimore-born band leader and popular music legend, we now have a detailed and nuanced picture of his amazing life. * Jacques Kelly, The Baltimore Sun *Stephanie Stein Crease, author of a previous biography of another elusive but crucial figure in jazz history, the arranger and bandleader Gil Evans, has finally given us a much-needed cradle-to-grave narrative of this most essential of all jazz drummers. * Will Friedwald, The New York Sun *A sympathetic, extensively researched biography of an often-neglected swing-era pioneer that jazz fans will find compelling. * Dr. Dave Szatmary, Library Journal *The jazz biography of the year! A clear, fast-paced tracking of the rise of virtuoso drummer and bandleader William "Chick" Webb, Crease mobilizes exciting new archival research to reveal the rich cultural history of Black Baltimore and of Harlem itself—when jazz was in vogue up and down the streets of Upper Manhattan and then all over the globe...This critical biography dives deep, offering surprise after surprise. Crease offers fresh vignettes of Webb's fellow jazz-star Baltimoreans Blanche and Cab Calloway, Eubie Blake, and Billie Holiday. And we learn how a physically challenged man, hump-backed and standing four feet tall, could drive an all-star orchestra from his brightly lit drumkit throne, make a city-block size ballroom bounce under thousands of dancers' feet, and still play his role as the family man who supported relatives and friends... * Robert G. O'Meally, author of Antagonistic Cooperation: Jazz Collage, Fiction and the Shaping of African American Culture *Like Andrew Delbanco's work on Melville, Stephanie Stein Crease's Rhythm Man is sweeping, probing cultural history not to be mistaken for mere biography. Missing nothing worth knowing, Crease explores the whole world around the drummer and bandleader Chick Webb—the world that made him and the world he remade with his still dazzling, still under-appreciated musical art. * David Hajdu, author of Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn and Love for Sale: Pop Music in America *Chick Webb is arguably the greatest of big band drummers because he was an incredible technician, orchestrator, and bandleader; he created the template for what came after him. However, there is so little written about him in totality, and the passion and love that Stephanie Crease pours into this book will allow it to become the missing link to understanding the magnitude of Chick's contribution to the world of jazz big band drumming and beyond. Thanks to this book, we get to understand how and why Chick Webb was one of the greatest to ever play a drum set in the configuration of a big band, which is foundational to the creation of jazz music. * Ulysses Owens Jr., Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer, educator, creative entrepreneur *Though he was one of the true kings of the Swing Era, drummer and bandleader Chick Webb has never properly received his due. That wrong has definitively been righted thanks to the groundbreaking research uncovered in Stephanie Crease's Rhythm Man. In addition to being a world-class researcher, Crease is an expert storyteller with the uncanny ability to make worlds come alive, smartly relying on the words of those who were there to help tell the story. In the process, readers will be transported from the streets of Baltimore to the battles at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem and all places in between, all in incredible detail like no previous telling of Webb's story. This is a major work and exactly what Webb deserves. * Ricky Riccardi, Director of Research Collections at the Louis Armstrong House Museum and Grammy Award-winning author of Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong *Fiction couldn't have created a better hero than Chick Webb, and Stephanie Crease is the writer to tell the tale. A Black artist with a disability, in constant pain, Webb let nothing stop his momentum—the modernization of jazz drumming. Deeply researched and lovingly told, Crease places Webb at the center of American popular culture of the Swing Era. A fascinating read. * Linda Dahl, author of Morning Glory: A biography of Mary Lou Williams and An Upside-Down Sky *Jazz, above all, is about rhythm, and in this unique biography, Stephanie Crease has taken the time and pulse of Chick Webb's short but impactful life and made it swing. She is to biographers what Webb was to drummers—a shining light! * Loren Schoenberg, Senior Scholar and Founding Director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem *Get into the literary swing with the little-remembered titan of the '30s- Chick Webb, one of the first jazz drum virtuosos. This nationally famous Harlem bandleader held sway at the Savoy Ballroom and helped launch Ella Fitzgerald and the Swing era. And he packed a lot of living into the 34 years of his short life! Author Stephanie Crease has penned his first full biography with previously unpublished material that sheds new light on the early jazz and dance scene in Baltimore (his birthplace) and NYC. * New York City Jazz Record *Table of ContentsTable of Contents Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Baltimore Beginnings 2. Baltimoreans in the Music World 3. Scuffling in Heaven 4. A Bandleader's Beginnings 5. Savoy: "The World's Finest Ballroom" 6. Harlem Stompers 7. Former Baltimore Newspaper Boy 8. Ol' Man Depression 9. On the Road with Louis 10. A Bandleader's Rise 11. Showtime in the Theater Wars 12. Spinnin' the Webb 13. Sing Me a Swing Song 14. Chasin' the Blues Away 15. Jumping the Fence 16. Vote for Mr. Rhythm 17. Battling It Out in Swingtime 18. The Last Grooves 19. Have Mercy Epilogue Notes Sources Bibliography Selected Discography Index
£999.99
Oxford University Press Inc Rural Rhythm The Story of OldTime Country Music
Book SynopsisBlending musical and social history, music historian Tony Russell looks at a vast collection of recordings from the 1920s and 1930s as a window into the world of early country music. He uncovers a wealth of forgotten stories as he focuses not only on the songs and tunes themselves but also sheds light on how they came to be recorded, the musicians who played them, and their listeners.Trade ReviewRural Rhythm is an excellent title, hard to imagine there could be a better book * Alexander Ebert, popcultureshelf.com *The author's extensive and careful research, and his commitment to the subject matter, is always in evidence. It's undoubtedly a serious work offering much in the way of understanding, but nonetheless is straightforward and entertaining to read - it's also interesting and enlightening and I highly recommend it. * Emily Poole, Old Time News *Russell has long been one of the foremost scholars of country music history. The current volume is perhaps his most fascinating ... This is a gold mine for all who are interested in popular music. * R. D. Cohen, CHOICE *Fans of old-time music will treasure Rural Rhythm, as will the large and diverse American roots music fanbase. But the book—because it possesses the integrity and authority to challenge widespread but overly simplistic and limiting notions regarding the early history of commercial country music—deserves the broadest possible readership. * Ted Olsen, The Old-Time Herald *This is a gold mine for all who are interested in popular music. * Ronald D. Cohen, CHOICE *...a must for anyone truly interested in the history and thread of old-time. I wish these existed when I was starting out! And look up the referenced recordings. You'll be glad you did. * Dan Levenson, Banjo Newsletter *Music scholarship doesn't get any better than this. Quite simply, it's one of the most insightful and fascinating books about country music I've ever read. * Patrick Huber, coauthor of A&R Pioneers: Architects of American Roots Music on Record *No one knows more about recorded country music than Tony Russell, and no one writes about it with more elegance and insight. Rural Rhythm is a tour de force — part history lesson, part treasure hunt, and part epic playlist, jammed with fascinating illustrations. Don't miss it! * Tom Piazza *It is tempting to read Rural Rhythm as a book accompanying a set of CDs that has yet to be released,...the sweeping continuities that Russell instills in his text to make this book a true history. * Edward Komara, Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction User Notes 1. "The Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane" - Fiddlin' John Carson (Okeh 4890) (1923) 2. "Silly Bill"/"Old Time Cinda" - The Hill Billies (Okeh 40294) (1925) 3. "Woman's Suffrage" - George Reneau (Vocalion 14999) (1925) 4. "The Death of Floyd Collins"/"Little Mary Phagan" - Vernon Dalhart (Columbia 15031-D) (1925) 5. "When the Work's All Done This Fall" - Carl T. Sprague (Victor 19747) (1925) 6. "Seneca Square Dance"/"Echoes of the Ozarks" - Fiddlin' Sam Long (Gennett 3284) (1926) 7. "Wish to the Lord I Had Never Been Born" - Luther B. Clarke Accomp. by Blue Ridge Highballers (Columbia 15096-D) (1926) 8. "Where We'll Never Grow Old"/"Pictures from Life's Other Side" - Smith's Sacred Singers (Columbia 15090-D) (1926) 9. "Let Me Call You Sweetheart"/"Sweet Bunch of Daisies" - McMichen's Melody Men (Columbia 15111-D) (1926) 10. "I'm a Stern Old Bachelor" - Chubby Parker (Silvertone 5012) (1927) 11. "Going Slow"/"Spartanburg Blues" - Homer Christopher and Raney Van Vink (Okeh 45117) (1927) 12. "Carbolic Rag"/"Stone Mountain Wobble" - Scottdale String Band (Okeh 45118) (1927) 13. "Chain Gang Special"/"Walk Right in Belmont" - Watts and Wilson (Paramount 3019) (1927) 14. "Gray Eagle"/"Forked Deer" - Hill's Virginia Mountaineers [Taylor's Kentucky Boys] (Silvertone 8183) (1927) 15. "The Picture on the Wal"/"My Carolina Girl" - Georgia Yellow Hammers (Victor 20943) (1927) 16. "You Can't Make a Monkey out of Me" - Eva Quartette with W. J. Smith (Gennett 6239) (1927) 17. "A Corn Licker Still in Georgia"-Parts 1 and 2 - Clayton McMichen, Riley Puckett, Gid Tanner, Lowe Stokes, Fate Norris, Bob Nichols and Bill Brown (Columbia 15201-D) (1927) 18. "Blue Yodel" - Jimmie Rodgers (Victor 21142) (1927) 19. "Combination Rag" - East Texas Serenaders (Columbia 15229-D) (1927) 20. "Davy"/"Greenback Dollar" - Weems String Band (Columbia 15300-D) (1927) 21. "Handy Man"/"I Tickled 'Em" - New Arkansas Travelers (Victor 21288) (1928) 22. "Hog Eye" - Pope's Arkansas Mountaineers (Victor 21295) (1928) 23. "The Bluefield Murder" - Roy Harvey and North Carolina Ramblers (Brunswick 250) (1928) 24. "A Fiddler's Contest" - The Tennessee Ramblers (Brunswick 257) (1928) 25. "Rye Waltz"/"Medley-Scottische" - Bob Skiles Four Old Tuners (Okeh 45211) (1928) 26."Hallelujah! I'm a Bum"/"The Bum Song"/"Mac"- (Harry McClintock) (Victor 21343) (1928) 27. "Home Again Medley" - Red Mountain Trio (Columbia 15260-D) (1928) 28. "A Red-Headed Widow Was the Cause of It All"/"Don't Get One Woman on Your Mind" - Willard Hodgin (Banjo Joe) (Victor 21485) (1928) 29. "Stay in the Wagon Yard" - "Peg" Moreland (Victor V-40008) (1928) 30. "Eleven Cent Cotton Forty Cent Meat"-Parts 1 and 2 - Bob Ferguson [Bob Miller] (Co 15297-D) (1928) 31. "Lindy"/"Louise" - Proximity String Quartet (Columbia 15533-D) (1928) 32. "When the Roses Bloom for the Bootlegger" - Earl Shirkey and Roy Harper [Roy Harvey] (Columbia 15326-D) (1928) 33. "Just Over the River"/"Beautiful" - Garland Brothers and Grinstead (Columbia 15679-D) (1928) 34. "The Lost Child" - Stripling Brothers (Vocalion 5321) (1928) 35. "Who Broke the Lock on the Hen-House Door?"/"She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain When She Comes" - H. M. Barnes and His Blue Ridge Ramblers (Brunswick 310) (1929) 36. "Wimbush Rag"/"Barrow County Stomp" - Theo. and Gus Clark (Okeh 45339) (1929) 37. "Birmingham Jail"/"Six Months Ain't Long" - Ezra Hill and Henry Johnson [Robinette and Moore]/ Marlow and Young [Rutherford and Foster] (Champion 15750) (1929) 38. "Henry Ford's Model A"/"Married Life Blues" - Oscar Ford (Columbia 15437-D) (1929) 39. "Flop Eared Mule"/"Lynchburg Town" - The Highlanders (Paramount 3171) (1929) 40."Levee Breaking Blues"-Parts I and II - Happy Bud Harrison (Vocalion 5332) (1929) 41. "Over the Hills to the Poorhouse"- W. C. Childers (Champion 45166) (1929) 42. "Haunted Hunter" - Billie Maxwell (The Cowgirl Singer) (Victor V-40241) (1929) 43. "Lonely Cowboy"-Parts 1 and 2 - Arthur Miles (Victor V-40156) (1929) 44. "Sugar Hill"/"Fresno Blues" - "Dad" Crockett/Johnny & Albert Crockett (Brunswick 372) (1929) 45. "Tim Brook" -Carver Boys (Paramount 3199) (1929) 46. "Tennessee Coon Hunt"/"Hen Cacklin' Piece" - Whit Gaydon (Victor V-40315) (1929) 47. "Where the Sweet Magnolias Bloom" - Taylor-Griggs Louisiana Melody Makers (Victor V-4184) (1929) 48. "Three Men Went a Hunting" - Byrd Moore and His Hot Shots (Columbia 15496-D) (1929) 49 ."Down on Penny's Farm"- The Bentley Boys (Columbia 15565-D) (1929) 50."The Fate of Rhoda Sweetin"- Charles Freshour and the Lonely Eagles (Paramount 3247) (1929) 51. "Cotton Mill Girl" - Earl McCoy and Jessie Brock (Columbia 15499-D) (1929) 52."The Roamin' Musician" - Bill Tuttle (Columbia 15697-D) (1929) 53."That's the Blue Heaven for Me"/"Since I've Grown So Used to You" - George E. Harris (Columbia 15543-D) (1930) 54."Streak o' Lean-Streak o' Fat"- A. A. Gray and Seven Foot Dilly (Vocalion 5430) (1930) 55. "Salvation Is for All" - Rev. Edward Boone (Gennett 7248) (1930) 56. "The Bald Headed End of the Broom"/"The Nick Nack Song" - Ridgel's Fountain Citians (Vocalion 5455) (1930) 57. "Forty Per Cent" - Earl McCoy, Alfred Meng and Clem Garner (Columbia 15622-D) (1930) 58. "I've Got the Chain Store Blues" - Allen Brothers (Victor V-40276) (1930) 59."My Father Doesn't Love Me" - Louis McDaniel-Gid Smith [Lewis McDaniel] (Timely Tunes C-1560) (1930) 60. "Flat Wheel Train Blues"-Nos. 1 and 2 - Red Gay and Jack Wellman (Brunswick 523) (1930) 61. "Got the Jake Leg Too" - Ray Brothers (Victor 23508) (1930) 62."The Night Herding Song"-Marc Williams (Panachord 25510) (1930) 63. "Eleven More Months and Ten More Days"-Parts 1 and 2 - Colt Brothers acc. Rex Cole Mountaineers (Panachord 25029) (1931) 64. "When Katie Comes Down to the Gate"/"A Little White Rose" - Murphy Bros. (Superior 2716) (1931) 65. "Prosperity Is Just Around Which Corner?"/"What Are You Squawkin' About?"-Carson Robison Trio (Conqueror 7935) (1932) 66."That's My Rabbit-My Dog Caught It" - Walter Family (Champion S-16653) (1933) 67."Chinatown, My Chinatown"- Milton Brown and His Brownies (Decca 5166) (1935) 68. "Bankhead Blues" - Nations Brothers (Shelton and Marshall) (Vocalion 03118) (1935) 69. "Feels Good"/"Let Me Play with It" - Hartman's Heart Breakers (Bluebird B-6481) (1936) 70. "Those Rambling Blues" - Steelman Sisters (Melotone 6-11-69) (1936) 71. "Courtin'"/"V-8 Blues"- Three Tobacco Tags (Bluebird B-6730) (1936) 72. "Wondering" - Riverside Ramblers (Bluebird B-6926) (1937) 73. "The Last Letter" - Rex Griffin (Decca 5383) (1937) 74. "Hello Stranger" - The Carter Family (Decca 5479) (1937) 75. "Cotton Mill Blues" - Lester (The Highway Man) [Lester "Pete" Bivins] (Decca 5559) (1938) 76. "Guitar Blues"/"Sweet Hawaiian Chimes"- The DeZurik Sisters (Caroline and Mary Jane) (Conqueror 9252) (1938) 77. "Truck Driver's Blues" - Cliff Bruner and His Boys (Decca 5725) (1939) 78. "New San Antonio Rose" - Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys (Vocalion/Okeh 05694) (1940) Sources General Bibliography Timeline Index
£29.44
Oxford University Press Inc Rabbits Blues The Life and Music of Johnny Hodges
Book SynopsisThe first full-length biography of Johnny Hodges, Rabbit's Blues tells the story of one of the premier saxophonists in jazz history, who brought the woody tone and bluesy technique of New Orleans music to the hot East Coast jazz of the Ellington orchestra.Trade ReviewOne of the most absorbing elements in this book is the wealth of quotes about Hodges from his friends, fellow musicians and musician-admirers. They illuminate the music, the recordings, the style, but tell us little about the inner man. He remains, as Chapman suggests in the Prologue, an enigma, private to the end. * Max Easterman, Vintage Jazz Mart *Con Chapman's biography of alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges catapults him into the pantheon of timeless jazz immortals...Chapman brings vibrant life to one of jazz's greatest altoists admired by everyone from Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and even Benny Goodman. * Frank Griffith, London Jazz News *What's remarkable about Rabbit's Blues is that it's taken this long for this master of the alto saxophone to be so commemorated. Hats off therefore to author Con Chapman for writing about a man whose tone and beautiful playing was unsurpassed during his lifetime and since his 1970 death. Rabbit's Blues is full of fluid prose, leanly conveyed in 175 pages of easy-to-read enjoyment, complemented by 16 pages of delightful photographs. * Marilyn Lester, New York City Jazz Record *Con Chapman's book is the massively overdue first full-length biography of Hodges and explores indepth his early life, work with Ellington and relationships with saxophone peers as well as corrects long-held mistakes about Hodges' life. * The New York City Jazz Record *Like many brilliant musicians who contributed to the music of jazz immortals, Johnny Hodges' artistry have been woefully ignored. Yet Hodges was an immortal himself, and through scrupulous research and a keen appreciation of Hodges' gifts, Con Chapman has brought us as close to this taciturn genius as we are likely to get. * Bob Blumenthal, Grammy Award-winning jazz critic *Con Chapman's first-rate Rabbit's Blues catapults the incomparable alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges into the pantheon of jazz immortals. Chapman celebrates Hodges's rise from Cambridge, solo work with Duke Ellington, conciseness of melody, and gorgeous instrumental tone with musicologist precision. This is a marvelous biography for the ages. Highly recommended! * Douglas Brinkley, Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair of Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University and Grammy Award-winning jazz record producer *The sound of Johnny Hodges was and is one of the landmarks of jazz, not to mention the feeling it conveyed, but he was a man of few words. Here, for the first time, we have a full-fledged portrait of the artist himself. * Dan Morgenstern, Grammy Award-winning jazz critic *It was Johnny Hodges to whom Duke Ellington entrusted his most beautiful melodies. Until now, Hodges has been an enigma to the world - he was famously taciturn and was said to put everything he felt into his saxophone. Con Chapman has managed a miracle in bringing to vibrant life one of jazz's greatest musicians, admired by Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. Chapman places Johnny Hodges in the midst of American music in the same fashion that Ellington placed him in his musical world. * Loren Schoenberg, Grammy Award-winning jazz historian *Duke Ellington surrounded himself with sidemen whose strong musical personalities were essential to his success. Yet for all their individuality, they lived out their lives in his long shadow-and still do. Now the greatest of them, Johnny Hodges, is the subject of a full-scale biography of his own, one that tells his story clearly, readably, and in richly rewarding detail. Thanks to Con Chapman, it is possible at last to see Hodges for what he was, a musical giant in his own right whose towering stature was inescapably obscured by the greatness of his boss. * Terry Teachout, author of Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington *Johnny Hodges' unmistakable sound on alto saxophone was at the heart of the Ellington orchestra for decades. Except for brief periods, Hodges's extraordinary career spanned the long life of the Ellington Orchestra, from when Hodges joined the band in 1928, at the start of its Cotton Club years, until Duke's death in 1974. Hodges, a reserved person, was nonetheless a perennial crowd-pleaser and poll-winner, and an idol to countless aspiring jazz saxophonists. Con Chapman helps uncover the details of Hodges' personal life, and his ascendance as a prominent jazz soloist with the 'Beyond Category' Ellington Orchestra, and on his own. * Stephanie Crease, ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award-winning author of Gil Evans: Out of the Cool *Table of ContentsEpigraph Prologue 1. A Sax is Born 2. Young Man With a Sax 3. His Tone 4. Scuffling in New York 5. The Competition 6. The Partnership Begins 7. Women and Children 8. Outside the Ellington Constellation: 30's and 40's 9. The Small Groups 10. Swee' Pea 11. Blanton, Webster and the Forties 12. Food and Drink 13. The Coming of Bird 14. The Rabbit Strays 15. The Rabbit Returns 16. Outside the Ellington Constellation: 50's and 60's 17. The Quality of Song 18. Lagomorphology 19. The Blues 20. The Out Chorus Epilogue Bibliography Abbreviations Acknowledgements
£27.49
Oxford University Press Inc Kick It A Social History of the Drum Kit
Book SynopsisA groundbreaking social history of the drum kit, Matt Brennan's Kick It makes a compelling case for the instrument as one of most important and transformative musical inventions of the modern era.Trade ReviewAn excellent introduction to the past and present of the drumset * Alan van Keeken, Die Musikforschung *The most comprehensive book on the topic. Compulsory reading for the inquisitive drummer. * Bill Bruford *An incisive argument for the drum kit's recognition as a revolutionary musical invention. * Financial Times, Best Music Books of 2020 *A wonderful book. The act of striking something is innate in all of us, whether drumming our fingers on a table or negotiating a full blown drum kit. Kick It is a fascinating read which has ignited many more layers of appreciation and knowledge towards my understanding of the emergence of the drum kit and its players. * Dame Evelyn Glennie *Brennan pulls off something remarkable: he makes a deeply investigated and well-sourced history of musicians and drum manufacturers a page-turner. Don't be afraid of the Oxford University Press imprint - the book is short on jargon and blather. Like the geniuses who manage to make limb independence look easy, Kick It consolidates the myriad threads that contributed to the creation of the modern drumkit and makes it swing. * Modern Drummer *If you're really interested in drumming this is the one book that you need... It really is an amazing work, focusing in detail, not on the wider range of percussion since the dawn of time, but on the actual role of the drum kit and the players both professional and amateur who have brought the instrument from a shadowy platform at the back of the stage to front centre. Not only is it a scholarly work intensively researched, but in the great tradition of the characters in the book, it retains that sense of humour that, in my experience, makes drummers the very best company! * Nick Mason, drummer for Pink Floyd *Essential reading for every drummer, and every other musician who fancies himself one ... well-researched, entertainingly written, and greatly enjoyable. * JazzTimes *An absolutely brilliant book. Kick It is not only a welcome addition to the existing references on our instrument but is so incredibly well researched, thought out and balanced - it brings an entirely new and fresh perspective to the story of the drum kit. It will undoubtedly be an indispensable asset for anyone interested in this fascinating story, and for any curious drummer who wants to know where our instrument and our kind are headed - by knowing where we've been. * Glenn Kotche, drummer for Wilco *The author's affection for the drums, the people who play them and who produce them, infuses an abundance of ideas and makes a virtual avalanche of details easier to process ... Brennan captures the essence of significant styles of jazz, pop and rock without playing favorites or bogging down the narrative ... [and his] desire to leave no stone unturned makes for an exhilarating journey. * All About Jazz *An inspiring reminder of how the drums (and drummers) have helped shape creative culture over the last hundred or so years. * Mark Guiliana, bandleader and drummer (David Bowie, Brad Mehldau) *A delight ... Brennan illuminates the undeniable: to talk about the history of contemporary music is to talk about the history of the drum kit. * The Wire *This is a fascinating and insightful book, reflecting upon how society, culture and ideologies play out in popular music and the rhythms that we take for granted. * Karlyn King, University of Birmingham, Popular Music History *Brennan's well-researched narrative gives drumming and drummers the respectful attention they deserve. * Fiona McQuarrie *An utterly fascinating book. Brennan illuminates how drums and drumming have evolved in response to a wide range of societal influences, including trade, migration, and artistic innovation ... and his writing is crisp and engaging. Fear not, non-drummers; you definitely don't have to be a drummer to enjoy Kick It. Anyone who loves music will come away from the book with an enhanced appreciation for how drums and drummers contribute to shaping our favourite songs. Four stars. * Shindig! *A compelling exploration of the place of the drums in popular music. Four stars. * Record Collector *Kick It is an amazing piece of drumming literature that helps us all understand the origins of our amazing instrument! * Bart van der Zee, host of Drum History Podcast *A remarkable book. Every drummer with a sense of self will enjoy the cultural context this book provides, and every drummer with a collection of books should add this invaluable reference tool. * Rob Cook, author of The Ludwig Book and The Slingerland Book and founder of the Chicago Drum Show *With a winning mix of erudition and enthusiasm Brennan argues convincingly that drummers are the dynamic core of music history. And in offering an exemplary case study of the drum kit, Brennan shows that musical instrument research should be the dynamic core of music scholarship. Kick It is an enthralling read. * Simon Frith, Emeritus Professor of Music, University of Edinburgh *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Hanging around with musicians Chapter 1: Clever drummers, primitivism, entrepreneurialism, and the invention of the trap drummer's outfit · The transatlantic slave trade · The snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals come together · The birth of highbrow and lowbrow music · Being a drummer in nineteenth century America · Tinkerers, inventors, and entrepreneurs · The trap drummer's outfit Chapter 2: Noisy drummers, ragtime, jazz, and the avant-garde · Ragged time · "Instruments of a lower order" · Trap drummers, sound effects, and moving pictures · Noisy women, immigrant cultures, and Tin Pan Alley · The birth of jazz · Quiet in the studio! · Drums and noise conquer the classical world Chapter 3: Studious drummers, selling drum outfits, standardization, and stardom · Fakers versus readers · Selling the drum kit · The drum outfit travels the world · Cymbal making and the invention of the hi-hat · Swing bands and star drummers · Slingerland and the standardization of the drum outfit Chapter 4: Creative drummers, artistry, virtuosity, and playing time · Prodigies and showmen · Bebop and the melody of the drum kit · Drummers and drum makers in dialogue · The rise of the backbeat · The drum kit in Britain and the birth of beat groups · The recruitment of Ringo · Theorizing creativity on the drum kit Chapter 5: Working drummers, musical labour, role playing, and authorship · The job of a session drummer · The job of a rock star drummer · The globalization of drum kit production · Credit where credit is due · Song authorship and getting paid Chapter 6: Indispensable drummers, drum machines, and record production · The drum kit on record · The multi-track recording studio · Diasporic drumming practices and dance records · Rise of the machines · From the margins to the centre of the mix · Drummers as producers · Augmenting the drum kit and drumming without drummers Conclusion: The tyranny of the snare drum Endnotes References Index
£29.99
Oxford University Press Inc Straighten Up and Fly Right
Book SynopsisOne of the most popular and memorable American musicians of the 20th century, Nat King Cole (1919-65) is remembered today as both a pianist and a singer, a feat rarely accomplished in the world of popular music. Now, in this complete life and times biography, author Will Friedwald offers a new take on this fascinating musician, framing him first as a bandleader and then as a star. In Cole''s early phase, Friedwald explains, his primary task of keeping his trio going was just as much of a focus for him as his own playing and singing, always a collective or group performance. In the second act, Cole''s collaborators were more likely to be arranger-conductors like Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins, rather than his sidemen on bass and guitar. In the first act, his sidemen were equals, in the second phase, his collaborators were tasked exclusively with putting the focus on him, making him sound good, while being largely invisible themselves. Friedwald brings his full musical knowledge to bear in putting the man in the work, demonstrating how this duality appears over and over again in Cole''s life and career: jazz vs. pop, solo vs. trio, piano vs. voice, wife number one (Nadine) vs. wife number two (Maria), the good songs vs. the less-than-good songs, the rhythm numbers vs. the ballads, the funny songs and novelties vs. the serious songs of love and loss, Cole as an advocate for the Great American Songbook vs. Cole the intrepid explorer of other options: world music, rhythm & blues, country & western. Cole was different from his contemporaries in other ways; for roughly ten years after the war, the majority of hitmakers on the pop charts were veterans of the big band experience, from Sinatra on down.Trade ReviewThe first factually reliable primary-source biography of the singer-instrumentalist. * Terry Teachout, Commentary.org *Friedwald wonderfully captures Cole and his career with smooth and captivating prose in this definitive biography. * Publishers Weekly *Nat Cole is still such an ineffably engaging singer that it is easy to forget just how protean and important a musician he was -- originating new styles of be-bop-to-modern jazz piano; creating with histrio a template for R&B; renewingthe American song book in its eclipse; becoming one of the first true cross-over artists, and not least, ending as a quiet hero of the civil rights movement.Artists as different as Bill Evans, Chuck Berry, and Sam Cooke all owe him an incalculable debt.Will Friedwald's biography captures each of these faces of Cole, and does so with a delightful mix of scholarly dedication and interpretive verve. This is certainly the best book that anyone will write about Nat King Cole. * Adam Gopnik *Table of ContentsForward by John Pizzarelli Intro: "Of Falling Blossoms and Paper Moons" Prelude: Paris, 1930 Origin Story (1919-1937) Act One: The King Cole Trio 1. The Birth of the Trio (1937-1943) 2. Rise of the Trio (1943-1946) 3. Interlude: Nat and Norman: The "Jam Sessions" (1942-1946) 4. Expanding the Canvas (1946-1947) 5. Entr'acte: Trio to Quartet to Solo (1948-1951) Act Two: Nat King Cole 6. Nat and Nelson: "Mona Lisa" to Two in Love (1950-1954) 7. Assault on a King (1955-1956) 8. Years of Stardust (1956-1959) 9. "The Ends of the Earth" (1960-1962) 10. Requiem for a King (1962-1964) Postscript: The Afterlife (1965 and Beyond)
£32.49
Oxford University Press Inc American Popular Song The Great Innovators
Book SynopsisTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction by Robert Rawlins 1. The Transition Era: 1885 to World War I 2. Jerome Kern (1885-1945) 3. Irving Berlin (1888-1989) 4. George Gershwin (1898-1937) 5. Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) 6. Cole Porter (1891-1964) 7. Harold Arlen (1905-1986) 8. Vincent Youmans (1898-1946) and Arthur Schwartz (1900-1984) 9. Burton Lane (1912- 1997), Hugh Martin (1914-2011), and Vernon Duke (1903-1969) 10. The Great Craftsmen Hoagy Carmichael (1899-1981) Walter Donaldson (1893-1947) Harry Warren (1893-1981) Isham Jones (1894-1956) Jimmy McHugh (1894-1969) Duke Ellington (1899-1974) Fred Ahlert (1892-1953) Richard Whiting (1891-1938) Ray Noble (1907-1978) John Green (1908-1989) Rube Bloom (1902-1976) Jimmy Van Heusen (1913-1990) 11. Outstanding Individual Songs: 1920 to 1950 12. Additional Songs and Composers Index
£31.49
Oxford University Press Inc Pop Masculinities The Politics of Gender in
Book SynopsisIn Pop Masculinities, author Kai Arne Hansen investigates the performance and policing of masculinity in pop music as a starting point for grasping the broad complexity of gender and its politics in the early twenty-first century. Drawing together perspectives from critical musicology, gender studies, and adjacent scholarly fields, the book presents extended case studies of five well-known artists: Zayn, Lil Nas X, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, and Take That. By directing particular attention to the ambiguities and contradictions that arise from these artists'' representations of masculinity, Hansen argues that pop performances tend to operate in ways that simultaneously reinforce and challenge gender norms and social inequalities. Providing a rich exploration of these murky waters, Hansen merges the interpretation of recorded song and music video with discourse analysis and media ethnography in order to engage with the full range of pop artists'' public identities as they emerge at the intersections between processes of performance, promotion, and reception. In so doing, he advances our understanding of the aesthetic and discursive underpinnings of gender politics in twenty-first century pop culture and encourages readers to contemplate the sociopolitical implications of their own musical engagements as audiences, critics, musicians, and scholars.Trade ReviewHansen's conclusion is both an homage to masculinity in popular music studies and an invitation for future pop scholars to join him in this ever-expanding field of gender and performance. * Paxton Haven, The University of Texas at Austin, Journal of Popular Music Studies *Pop music is a unique context in which the meanings of masculinities are being negotiated on an exceptional kind of display. In this interdisciplinary tour de force, Hansen provides rich and nuanced analyses that unpack just what it means to argue that enactments of gender sometimes simultaneously shore up and destabilize the very systems of inequality they may seem designed to challenge. Pop Masculinities provides new material for better understanding the flexibility of gender hegemony in a cultural arena that impacts all of us. * Tristan Bridges, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Co-editor of Men and Masculinities and Exploring Masculinities *We often forget that men have gender too. And despite what a patriarchal ideology might frame as a natural structure, boys, no less than girls, struggle to forge their own subjectivities amid the many cultural pressures confronting them. In this dazzling and nuanced study, Kai Arne Hansen analyzes the ways several prominent young male entertainers have publicly negotiated their own coming of age by means of music, lyrics, fashion, and self-presentation. A beautifully written and deeply compelling study. * Susan McClary, Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Music, Case Western Reserve University and Distinguished Professor Emerita, UCLA *Pop music is a unique context in which the meanings of masculinities are being negotiated on an exceptional kind of display. In this interdisciplinary tour de force, Hansen provides rich and nuanced analyses that unpack just what it means to argue that enactments of gender sometimes simultaneously shore up and destabilize the very systems of inequality they sometimes seem designed to challenge. Pop Masculinities provides new material for better understanding the flexibility of gender hegemony in a cultural arena that impacts all of us. * Tristan Bridges, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Co-editor of Men and Masculinities and Exploring Masculinities *In Pop Masculinities, Hansen draws together a range of perspectives—age, class, race, sexuality, and more—to consider the complex manifestations of masculinity in twenty-first century popular music culture with an impressive intersectional nuance. He interweaves close readings of sonic and visual artefacts with a rich cultural-theoretical framework, to offer a timely analysis of the gender politics of commercial music culture. * Freya Jarman, Reader in Music, University of Liverpool *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Like Pinocchio 1. Separating the Men from the Boys: New Masculinities, Pop Music, and the Social Politics of Interpretation 2. Good Boy Gone Bad: Fashioning a Post Boy Band Masculinity 3. A Different Country? Lil Nas X, the Sound of the Internet, and Queering the Cowboy 4. Beyond Bieber Fever 5. Dangerous and (In)Vulnerable: Aestheticizing Violence and Dancing in Sin City 6. From Boy Band to Man Band: Take That, Age(ing), and the Display of Self-Irony Conclusion: Fade-Out Bibliography Index
£27.99
Oxford University Press Jazz on a Winters Night
Book SynopsisJazz on a Winter''s Night is a Christmas piano album of stylish, swinging arrangements. Favourite Christmas carols and songs receive the complete jazz treatment, with rhythm, harmony, grooves, and solos all carefully notated. The expertise of the arranger, a celebrated jazz pianist and composer, guarantees an authentic jazz sound, and a range of styles from Nat King Cole to John Coltrane. While paying homage to American Christmas jazz, the collection also reflects a European tradition, in such time-honoured classics as ''In the bleak mid-winter''.Trade ReviewJazz music and Christmas have a beautifully nostalgic association for many, and it's no surprise that jazz pianist Nikki Iles' Jazz on a Winter's Night has been such a huge success since its 2009 publication, spawning outstanding sequels in Jazz in Springtime, Jazz on a Summer's Day and Jazz in Autumn, - each including a selection of seasonally themed jazz standards and originals from Nikki herself . . . Jazz on a Winter's Night has established itself as my all-time favourite Christmas music book. * www.pianodao.com *An authentic jazz sound can be easily created using Nikki's notated rhythms, grooves, harmonies and solos, and the expertise of the arranger guides players through the diversity of jazz characters. These stylish arrangements and compositions are the perfect introduction to jazz. * Piano Professional, September 2018 *Table of ContentsHave yourself a merry little Christmas ; Winter Wonderland ; I saw three ships ; In the bleak mid-winter ; Noel nouvelet ; Santa Claus is comin' to town ; The Christmas Song ('Merry Christmas to You') ; O little town of Bethlehem ; Balulalow ; Sans Day carol ; Silent night
£16.25
Oxford University Press Jazz in Springtime CD 9 pieces for jazz piano
Book SynopsisThis stylish piano album takes players on a musical tour of springtime, presenting well-loved jazz standards such as ''April in Paris'' and ''Honeysuckle Rose'' alongside cool original compositions by celebrated jazz pianist Nikki Iles. The nine pieces present a variety of jazz styles, including swing, folk, samba, and contemporary, drawing inspiration from the likes of Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, and Chick Corea. With fully notated rhythms, grooves, and improvisations, Jazz in Springtime is the perfect collection for pianists looking for that authentic jazz sound.Contents:Honeysuckle Rose, Fats Waller/Andy Razaf, arr. Nikki IlesMay Song, Trad. English, arr. Nikki IlesI''ve got the world on a string, Harold Arlen/Ted Kohler, arr. Nikki IlesMwanzo, Nikki IlesIt might as well be spring, Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II, arr. Nikki IlesApril in Paris, E. Y. Harburg/Vernon Duke, arr. Nikki IlesUp on the Hill, Nikki IlesSpring can really hang you up the most, Fran LandesTrade ReviewAn authentic jazz sound can be easily created using Nikki's notated rhythms, grooves, harmonies and solos, and the expertise of the arranger guides players through the diversity of jazz characters. These stylish arrangements and compositions are the perfect introduction to jazz. * Piano Professional, September 2018 *Table of ContentsHoneysuckle Rose ; May Song ; I've got the world on a string ; Mwanzo ; It might as well be spring ; April in Paris ; Up on the Hill ; Spring can really hang you up the most ; Flores
£16.25
Oxford University Press Jazz on a Winters Night 2 CD 10 Christmas
Book SynopsisFollowing the success of the first volume in Nikki Iles''s acclaimed jazz series, this collection features sophisticated new jazz arrangements of Christmas classics, including ''Let it snow!'', ''Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer'', ''Away in a manger'', and ''Past three o''clock''. A wide variety of styles are represented, from swing and stride to boogaloo and calypso, and the expertly recorded CD, by Nikki Iles, helps with interpretation. With fully notated rhythms, grooves, and improvisations, Jazz on a Winter''s Night 2 is the perfect collection for pianists looking for that authentic sound.Trade ReviewAs one would expect in jazz, there are regular stretches of a seventh, but not much beyond that, meaning that the pieces are also suitable for those with smaller hands. The included CD is essential listening, conveying nuances of rhythmic and tonal inflection which can't be notated. Nikki is of course an exceptional and highly experienced professional jazz performer, and it really shows here. For a well-styled performance, the audio content offers an outstanding model which should not be ignored. Jazz on a Winter's Night has established itself as my all-time favourite Christmas music book â but this sequel gives it a run for its money! Both books are now utterly essential for any pianist above intermediate level. It's great to find that Jazz on a Winter's Night 2 is as absolutely brilliant as its forerunner, and it really does deserve to sell a million! * www.pianodao.com *An authentic jazz sound can be easily created using Nikki's notated rhythms, grooves, harmonies and solos, and the expertise of the arranger guides players through the diversity of jazz characters. These stylish arrangements and compositions are the perfect introduction to jazz. * Piano Professional, September 2018 *
£999.99
Oxford University Press Inc The Blues A Very Short Introduction
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA history needn't be long to be both thorough and illuminating. Mr. Wald's no-nonsense 152-page study of the blues deromanticizes a musical genre about which vast amounts of fuzzy-minded nonsense have been written. It would be impossible to pack more critical wisdom-or common sense-into a smaller, shapelier package. * Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal *Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsIntroduction: What is Blues?Section 1: A Short History of BluesChapter One: Roots of the Blues Chapter Two: Pre-War BluesChapter Three: Modern BluesSection Two: Blues in American CultureChapter Four: Blues and JazzChapter Five: Blues and Country MusicChapter Six: The Language and the Poetry of the BluesReferencesFurther readingIndex
£8.54
Oxford University Press Inc Latin Jazz The Other Jazz Currents in Latin
Book SynopsisLatin Jazz: The Other Jazz uncovers Latin jazz's rich intercultural heritage, exploring its Caribbean and Latin American musical roots, its ability to transcend genre boundaries, and its inseparability from issues of ethnicity and nation.Trade ReviewThe volume is well organized and includes an extensive bibliography...Highly Recommended. * J.C. Wanser, CHOICE *Absorbing, illuminating, thought provoking, this is the scholarly work that Latin jazz knew it needed. * Songlines *Chris Washburne has put together an amazingly well researched and engaging book. It not only serves as an illuminating guide through the longstanding and complex relationship between Latin America and Jazz music, but makes the case for Latin American Jazz musicians as major players in the development and evolution of this genre. Highly recommended. * Miguel Zenon, (Saxophonist, Composer and Educator) *Dr. Washburne has the receipts! Informed by the author's decades as a working musician and bandleader, this passionate work of high-level scholarship counterpoints historical inquiry with lived ecstatic experience. In laying out his case for the multicultural nature of music, Washburne goes straight to the thorny issue of how racialized and nationalized genre divides have repeatedly erased the fundamentally modern, world-shaking, Afro-Latin music from the overarching jazz narrative. Meanwhile, he's eager to introduce you to the rich world of musical geniuses who are living and creating in clave right now. * Ned Sublette, author of Cuba and Its Music *Latin Jazz: The Other Jazz deftly combines history, ethnography, and personal anecdote. The volume is not, by Washburne's admission, a comprehensive history of Latin jazz, but rather a big idea book focusing on the development (and othering) of this music in New York City, the primary site of his dual careers as performer and educator. * Ray Allen, Ethnomusicology *The jazz world is both unified and fractioned. It presents itself as a tradition, and yet, the question of what is or is not jazz continues to be asked. In his book, Latin Jazz: The Other Jazz, ethnomusicologist Christopher Washburne teases out the separation of Latin jazz from the rest of the jazz world by tracing the overlapping aspects of jazz and Latin jazz histories from the colonial to the contemporary era...To do so, he focuses on the processes of globalization, canonization, race relations, and genre construction and how they intersect with Latin jazz history and, more broadly, jazz history. * Hannah Krall, Jazz and Culture 6.1 *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: The Other Jazz Chapter 1: Why call it Latin Jazz? Afro-Latin Jazz, Afro-Cuban Jazz, Cubop, Caribbean Jazz, Jazz Latin, or just... Jazz: the politics of naming an intercultural music Chapter 2: Caribbean and Latin American Reverberations and the First Birth of Latin Jazz: New Orleans and the Spanish Tinge Chapter 3: The Second Birth of Latin Jazz: Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington Do the Rumba Chapter 4: El Tema del Apollo: Latin American and Caribbean music in Harlem Chapter 5: The "Othering" of Latin Jazz Chapter 6: "More Cowbell": Latin Jazz in the 21st Century Epilogue References
£23.49
Oxford University Press Inc Dave Brubeck and the Performance of Whiteness
Book SynopsisIn Dave Brubeck and the Performance of Whiteness, author Kelsey Klotz considers how Dave Brubeck, a pivotal jazz musician and public figure, represents manifestations of whiteness in mid-century America.Trade ReviewInformative! * Benjamin Ivry, Catholic Herald *Kelsey Klotz's Dave Brubeck and the Performance of Whiteness offers the first sustained critical analysis of the role of whiteness in shaping jazz history. Klotz is at once insightful, nuanced, and brave in raising issues that illuminate how whiteness shaped multiple dimensions of Dave Brubeck's career in ways that can only be understood within a broader a social analysis including race, gender, class, and indigeneity. The book is deeply researched, well-argued and convincing. It is a must read for anyone interested in the history of jazz or music and social justice in the 20th century * Ingrid Monson, Harvard University *Dave Brubeck and the Performance of Whiteness presents a thoughtful and nuanced argument about the artist's music and career. It is timely - a book the jazz world needs to reflect on this pivotal musician. Highly recommended! * Gabriel Solis, Professor of Music, University of Washington *Klotz boldly invites us to reconsider the racial world within which Brubeck thrived. Meticulously focusing on Brubeck's music, persona, positionality, interventions, and his reception by audiences and critics, Klotz unpacks how the historical wages of whiteness endure into the future. Although Klotz insists that this is not an anti-racist project, this work urges us to be more aware of the complexities of race and its impact on how artists like Brubeck have been esteemed by audiences and critics. * Stephanie Shonekan, Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, University of Maryland *Klotz adroitly fuses jazz studies and whiteness studies in this brilliant, deeply researched study of Dave Brubeck as a vital and contested figure in post-World War II American culture. This groundbreaking book will inform and enrich the discussion of jazz and race for years to come. * John Gennari, Chair and Professor of English, University of Vermont, and author of Blowin' Hot and Cool: Jazz and Its Critics (2006) *The book concludes with a discussion of Brubeck's emergence as a social activist in the US, particularly with regard to the Civil Rights Movement. This work is very detailed and nuanced and includes an extremely useful selective bibliography. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Buying the Myth Chapter 1: "Any Jackass Can Swing": Sounds in Black and White Chapter 2: Professors, Housewives, and Playboys: The Jazz Converts Chapter 3: (In)Visible Men: White Recognition and Trust Chapter 4: "We Want to Play in the South": Brubeck's Southern Strategy Chapter 5: Negotiating Jewish Identity in The Gates of Justice Conclusion: Evading Whiteness
£20.99
Oxford University Press Inc Beyond Sketches of Spain Tete Montoliu and the
Book SynopsisTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Dedication Selected Tete Montoliu Vinyl Discography Note on Theodor W. Adorno and Jazz Criticism Introduction Tete's Musical Biography Anti-Jazz Attitudes and Transnational Encounters in Spain Jazz as Gathering in Difference Chapter 1 - Sketches of Flamenco Sketches of Spain, Francoism and Regressive Listening Vibing with Lionel Hampton on Jazz Flamenco (1956) To The European All Stars 1961 and Beyond Chapter 2 - The Urban Soundscapes of Modern Jazz Jazz and the City Tete and the Speed, Spontaneity and Shifting Conditions of Urban Modernity Europe's Urban Jazz Circuits, Kirk in Copenhagen (1963), and Lliure Jazz (1969) Chapter 3 - Performing Catalanism Jazz Age Barcelona and the First International Jazz Festival Tete's Catalanism, A tot jazz (1965), and the Nova Cançó Catalan Jazz Composition and Catalonian Folksongs (1977) Chapter 4 - Blues, Braille and the Metanarrative of Blindness Disability, Impairment and Tete's Musical Education Blues Traditions, Sighted Culture, and Disability in Modern Music Album Covers and the Visual Business of Listening to Jazz Epilogue - The Jazz Artist in Transnational Popular Culture Notes References Discography and Further Listening Index
£999.99
Oxford University Press Inc Rocking in the Free World
Book SynopsisRocking in the Free World explains how Americans came to believe they had learned the truth about rock 'n' roll, a truth shaped by the Cold War anxieties of the Fifties, the countercultural revolutions (and counter-revolutions) of the Sixties and Seventies, and the end-of-history triumphalism of the Eighties.Trade ReviewRocking in the Free World invites the reader to re-assess the mythical stories we tell about rock 'n' roll, freedom, and rebellion-and to see more accurately rock's artistic, social, and political impacts. Warmly recommended. * Danielle Fosler-Lussier, author of Music in America's Cold War Diplomacy *Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments Prologue: Popular Music as Political Theory 1 How Rock 'n' Roll Invented the Teenager 2 How Americans Rocked Cairo (and London, and Moscow, and Tehran, and ...) 3 How Trash Became Art 4 How the Rock Counterculture Dug Deeper 5 How Songwriters Revealed Our Inner Truth 6 How Rock Got Real Again 7 How We Taught the World to Sing Epilogue: Rocking in the Free World References Index
£999.99
Oxford University Press Inc Heres to the Ladies
Book SynopsisA fascinating look at the careers of some of Broadway''s greatest female performers in their own wordsIn Here''s to the Ladies, the follow-up to Nothing Like a Dame: Conversations with the Great Women of Musical Theater, theatre journalist Eddie Shapiro sits down for intimate, career-encompassing conversations with yet more of Broadway''s most prolific and fascinating leading women. Full of detailed stories and reflections, his conversations with such luminaries as Barbara Cook, Kelli O''Hara, Heather Headley, Faith Prince, Stephanie J. Block, Tonya Pinkins, and a host of others dig deep into each actor''s career -together, these chapters tell the story of what it means to be a leading lady on Broadway over the past fifty years. Alan Cumming described Nothing Like a Dame as an encyclopedia of modern musical theatre via a series of tender meetings between a diehard fan and his idols. Because of Eddie Shapiro''s utter guilelessness, these women open up and reveal more than they ever haveTrade ReviewEddie Shapiro has gathered the best in business for another fascinating collection of interviews. Reading his work is like sitting down with old friends, where the conversation is easy and the laughs are plenty. This backstage tour de force is one of my all-time favorites and a must-have for any theater loverâs library. * Susan Stroman, LGBTQ+ Studies *Table of Contents1. Barbara Cook 2. Tonya Pinkins 3. Faith Prince 4. Charlotte D'Amboise 5. Mary Beth Peil 6. Judy Kuhn 7. Beth Leavel 8. Carolee Carmello 9. Rachel York 10. Melissa Errico 11. Alice Ripley 12. Sherie Rene Scott 13. Kerry Butler 14. Heather Headley 15. Karen Olivo 16. Kelli O'Hara 17. Stephanie J. Block 18. Adrienne Warren 19. Jessie Mueller 20. Marin Mazzie
£30.99
Oxford University Press Inc Switched On Bob Moog and the Synthesizer
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is the first compete biography of Bob Moog, and it is entertaining and meticulously assembled, revealing an impressively detailed impression of the man and his life's work... Switched On provides insights into the electronic sound revolution by going deep into the technical, practical, and person details of one of the era's most innovative and influential figures. This is surely destined to become an essential point of reference for scholars and researchers interested in the history of music technology. * Leah Kardos, Technology and Culture *The right biography at the right time...a noteworthy book * Bryan Van Campen, The Ithaca Times *A thorough, absorbing dive...Glinsky's ability to keep this massive show on the road, including various and sundry side trips, is impressive...what will remain in the memory is an absorbing, inspiring, sometimes amusing portrait of one of the great innovators of the 20th century. * Rosemary Michaud, The Post and Courier *My music book of the year is Albert Glinsky's wonderfully readable and informative biography, Switched On: Bob Moog and the Synthesizer Revolution. * Andy Hamilton, The Wire *In his 480 page and detailed biography, the American author Albert Glinsky illustrates how Robert Arthur Moog, born in New York in 1934, had a soft spot for technology even as a child. * Christoph Wagner, Neue Zurcher Zeitung *Switched On is a riveting account not just of the development of the synthesizer, but also a journey of the man. It intimately immerses readers into the life of the determined trailblazer and the subsequent struggles affiliated with creation and change. * Albuquerque Journal *[an] absorbing new biography .... a towering tribute * James Hall, The Telegraph [a Telegraph Editorial Pick] *an inspiring read * Electronic Sound *Jazz to Read By: Top Seven recommended holiday books of 2022 * Frank Alkyer, DownBeat *Glinsky's book tells the full story, covering every up and every down in a thoroughly entertaining, enjoyable read. * Jonathan Wilson, Engineering and Technology *a book to savour and return to * Andy Hamilton, The Wire *Switched On makes a significant contribution to the history of American music in the 20th century. * Jamie Bernstein, author of Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein *Like Moog's eponymous instrument, Glinsky takes the raw information and material of Bob Moog's life, and skillfully composes it into a beautiful textual symphony that evokes the man (and the music's) complicated humanity. Switched On is a sonic literary triumph! * David Sax, author of The Revenge of Analog *Albert Glinsky paints an amazing saga of a musical inventor who changed the music world, but who could never manage to find himself a stable position within it. In lively and fast-paced prose, Glinsky draws myriad connections that sparked beneath the surface of the music world in the 1950s and '60s among a kaleidoscopic variety of names, some famous, some influential behind the scenes. In so doing, he does for Robert Moog what his earlier book did for Leon Theremin: make a rather shadowy figure look like the secret center of the universe for rock music, the avant-garde, the counterculture, and the commercial music business. * Kyle Gann, author of Charles Ives's Concord: Essays After a Sonata *Bob Moog. Iconic name, iconic man. His revolutionary instrument made it possible for me to find my true voice. I am forever thankful to him. And that's why I'm very excited about Switched On for shining a light on this giant of musical history. * Jan Hammer, composer, keyboardist, and former member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra *I loved the book! Based on superb research into the history of the cloak and dagger era that defined the emergence of analog electronic music instruments and the challenges and misunderstandings of what this new technology meant, Glinsky gives us the very human portrait of a man who embodied the intersection of invention, musical culture, business and destiny. I lived through this era, but to see it etched in such defining detail untangles all the loose ends of a sometimes painful story. Switched On is a page-turner. * Suzanne Ciani, composer, electronic music pioneer *In Switched On, Albert Glinsky shows the character and brilliance of Bob Moog — a wry wizard of applying science to music, and the creator of tones and tools now foundational to our culture. Tracing Moog's technical advances in close but accessible detail, Glinsky gives an enlightening view of one of the twentieth century's most important musical innovators. * Ian Port, Author of The Birth Of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll *Table of ContentsForeword by Francis Ford Coppola Prelude PART ONE: THE FLUSHING GEEK Chapter 1: Depression's Child Chapter 2: Bronx Cheers Chapter 3: Our Guarantee Chapter 4: No Exit PART TWO: SLIPPING BACKWARDS ON A BANANA PEEL Chapter 5: Transistor Man and the Crusaders Chapter 6: Do It Yourself Chapter 7: The Abominatron Chapter 8: A Eunuch in a Harem Chapter 9: A Few Thousand Screws PART THREE: COSMIC SOUNDS Chapter 10: Hallucinations for Your Ear Chapter 11: The Star Collector Chapter 12: Long Live the Moog! Chapter 13: Hello, HAL Chapter 14: The Plastic Cow Goes Moooooog Chapter 15: Socket To Me, Baby! PART FOUR: SHORT CIRCUITS Chapter 16: Panicsville Chapter 17: Mini and the Beast Chapter 18: A Palace Revolution Chapter 19: The Island of Electronicus Chapter 20: I Bought Bob Moog PART FIVE: AN APOCALYPSE NOW Chapter 21: The Gelatin Pit Chapter 22: Vexations Chapter 23: Genericide Chapter 24: Yankee Go Home Chapter 25: The Briar Patch PART SIX: THE GRAND POOBAH Chapter 26: Genius for Hire Chapter 27: Comes Now the Defendant Chapter 28: The Desperate Voyager Chapter 29: Patron Saint of Electrogeeks Chapter 30: The Show That Never Ends Postlude Acknowledgements Notes Index
£31.49
Oxford University Press LSD My problem child
Book SynopsisAlbert Hofmann, who died in 2008 aged 102, synthesised LSD in 1938. Although his work produced other important drugs, it was LSD that shaped his career. Shortly before his death, Hofmann approved a new and updated translation of his autobiography (first published by McGraw Hill in 1979). It appears here for the first time in print.Trade ReviewHofmann's LSD will be of high interest to a wide audience of curious and scientifically minded readers. Few books about how science unfolds are as captivating and intriguing as this volume. * Journal of Clinical Psychiatry *Table of ContentsForeword by Amanda Feilding Translator's Preface by Jonathan Ott LSD: My Problem Child 1: How LSD Originated 2: LSD in Animal-Experiments and Biological Research 3: Chemical Modifications of LSD 4: Use of LSD in Psychiatry 5: From Remedy to Inebriant 6: The Mexican Relatives of LSD 7: Radiance from Ernst Jünger 8: Meeting with Aldous Huxley 9: Correspondence with the Poet-Physician Walter Vogt 10: Various Visitors 11: LSD-Experience and Reality Insights/Outlooks I: Introduction II: The Transmitter-Receiver Model of Reality III: Security in the Natural-Scientific Worldview IV: On Possession V: The Sun as a Nuclear Power-Plant
£32.24
Oxford University Press Culture from the Slums Punk Rock in East and West
Book SynopsisCulture from the Slums explores the history of punk rock in East and West Germany during the 1970s and 1980s, examining how youths mobilized music to build alternative communities and identities during the Cold War, and detailing how punk became the site of historical change on both sides of the Iron Curtain.Trade ReviewThe author has compiled a very extensive source base in federal, state, regional and city archives, in radio and church archives as well as in archives on the GDR opposition and in the Berlin Archiv der Jugendkulturen...the most comprehensive, source supported English language analysis of the history of German punk so far and can thus be recommended to interested readers with no prior thematic knowledge. * Florian Völker, Rezensions journal sehepunkte *Culture from the Slums makes an engaged and engaging contribution to a growing body of work on the ways youth and musical subcultures reflect and shape social/political trends, national and self-identities, and race, class, and gender relations. * Joe Perry, Georgia State University, German Studies Review *This decidedly historical argumentative study lays the foundation for a cultural and contemporary history of the 1980s that takes youth cultural developments and media pop phenomena seriously as integral parts. * Karl Siebengartner, H-Soz-Kult von *This monograph is a magnificent feat of research that everyone interested in the history of the FRG and GDR should read. * Aimar Ventsel, University of Tartu, Estonia *With Culture from the Slums Hayton has provided a rich interpretation of German punk, one that will surely prove to be an invaluable resource not only for scholars of German punk but also for those interested in the history of divided Germany and in the relationship between subcultures and historical change more broadly. * Jake P. Smith, Colorado College *Jeff Hayton's invaluable book takes us into the partly shared but largely distinct worlds of East and West German punks and shows us how they set to work changing them. * Seth Howes, A Journal of Germanic Studies *Worth reading for scholars of east/central European punk and popular culture and anyone interested in comparing culture and society under state socialism and capitalism. * Raymond Patton, Slavic Review *The book is lively and readable. * Stephen Brockmann, Monatshefte, Vol. 115, No. 4 *Table of ContentsIntroduction - Punk Rock on the Spree 1: Origins and Scenes 2: Practices and Beliefs 3: Language and Identity 4: Wall Jumping and Repression 5: Commercialization and Crisis 6: Religion and Resistance 7: Politicization and Panic 8: Integration and Collapse Epilogue - Memory and Meaning
£108.06
The University of Chicago Press Sun Ras Chicago
Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of the ten best Chicago books of 2020. Plenty of books have been written about Afrofuturist pioneer Sun Ra and his Arkestra, but Sites is the first to make Chicago his co-protagonist. . . . Sites provides crucial context on how Chicago's Afrocentrist philosophy, religion, and jazz scenes helped turn Blount into Sun Ra.” * Chicago Reader *Best Historical Research in Recorded Jazz, Certificate of Merit 2021 * Association for Recorded Sound Collections Awards for Excellence *“Four stars. A must-read for fans of the musician and his city. . . . Fascinating and thoroughly readable. . . Sites makes the engaging argument that the idiosyncratic jazz legend’s penchant for interplanetary journeys and African American utopia was in fact inspired by urban life right on Earth.” * Spectrum Culture *“An important contribution. . . Sites draws on an impressive number of disciplines to ground Ra’s spacebound theatrics in material history. . . . He cites work from urban studies, African American studies, theology, and literary theory. . . It’s difficult to imagine anyone other than Sites writing a work that demands mastery of these specific disciplines.” * The Wire *"Required reading for anyone seriously interested in Sun Ra and his ensemble, the Arkestra." * American Literary History *"Not the launching point for an introduction to the life of Sun Ra, but rather a deeper dive into the city life and utopian vision informing his work and philosophy, emphasizing that (Urban) Space Is the Place." * Library Journal *“Highly readable. . . What Sites is good at is the detail of the period. . . He is good, too, on the economics of segregation, the racial divisions of the American working class, and the role of the black establishment. . . But best of all, especially to musicians and jazz fans, he is great about the musical life of Chicago, the Pershing and Du Sable venues, and the Jim Crow squalor of Calumet City, the sin suburb of Chicago. Where this book really scores is in its investigation of the sheer 'otherness 'of Sun Ra.” * Jazz Journal *"Sites’s project in this work is to get back to this future city by understanding Sun Ra’s geographic, intellectual, and galactic journeys. . . . Sites’s considerable skills as an urban cartographer help to further remap Chicago. . . . In Sites’s analysis, Sun Ra’s work continues to rethink the U.S. city." * Rain Taxi *“One of the most unique books to ever look at the music of Sun Ra. . . Digs very deep into Ra's early years – time that isn't covered in as much details as in other projects – and the book paints a picture of the city that's as vivid as the jazz legend himself. . . Sites comes at the project from a different perspective than most music writers – which makes for a very fresh volume that may well open up whole new territory in the exploration of jazz and community.” * DustyGroove.com *“Sun Ra’s Chicago is a masterful account of the musician’s formative years. Sites deftly applies a wider lens to his biography, analyzing the urban spaces and networks that shaped Sonny Blount’s transformation from an itinerant musician into the otherworldly philosophical leader of the Arkestra. This book is essential reading not only for Sun Ra listeners but for readers interested in the crosscurrents of Black intellectual thought and the utopian possibilities, past and present, of America’s cities.” * Erik S. Gellman, author of Troublemakers: Chicago Freedom Struggles through the Lens of Art Shay *"Like its subject, Sun Ra’s Chicago is a category buster—social history, musicology, urban studies, hermeneutics, cultural reclamation—and as such, a revelation. Sites tells a story of countercultural ferment in 1950s south side Chicago that is detailed and provocative. Sun Ra, Alton Abraham, and the members and friends of the Arkestra were truly a 'creative class' long before that term, as we know it, was coined." * Larry Bennett, author of The Third City: Chicago and American Urbanism *Table of ContentsUrban Routes, Utopian PathwaysPart I: Birmingham 1 Downtown Sounds 2 Industrial School to Territory Band 3 Leadership DreamsPart II: Chicago 4 South Side Music Scene 5 “Sound So Loud It Will Wake Up the Dead” 6 Utopian Chicago 7 African Space 8 Wonder Inn, 1960 Lineages/Legacies Acknowledgments Notes Index
£26.00
The University of Chicago Press Sonic Mobilities
Book SynopsisA fascinating look at how the popular musical culture of Guangzhou expresses the city's unique cosmopolitanism. Guangzhou is a large Chinese city like many others. With a booming economy and abundant job opportunities, it has become a magnet for rural citizens seeking better job prospects as well as global corporations hoping to gain a foothold in one of the world's largest economies. This openness and energy have led to a thriving popular music scene that is every bit the equal of Beijing's. But the musical culture of Guangzhou expresses the city's unique cosmopolitanism. A port city that once played a key role in China's maritime Silk Road, Guangzhou has long been an international hub. Now, new migrants to the city are incorporating diverse Chinese folk traditions into the musical tapestry. In Sonic Mobilities, ethnomusicologist Adam Kielman takes a deep dive into Guangzhou's music scene through two bands, Wanju Chuanzhang (Toy Captain) and Mabang (Caravan), that express tiesTrade Review“Sonic Mobilities is elegantly written and informative. Kielman has produced a thorough and well-written analysis of the production of worlds through “cosmopolitan musicking” in Southern China. Kielman’s extensive experience, first as a musician and then later as an ethnographer, affords him a truly deep understanding of the issues that impact the musical lives of those he encounters and the rich theoretical potential gained through performance in every sense of the word.” -- Jennifer Matsue, author of Making Music in Japan’s Underground: The Tokyo Hardcore Scene“Adam Kielman’s manuscript focuses on the life, condition, practice, experience, and culture created by music bands in Guangzhou. It is a valuable piece of original scholarship that fills in the gap of knowledge in this particular music epoch in China.” -- Anthony Fung, author of Global Capital, Local Culture: Transnational Media in China"This book is a valuable contribution to the fields of popular music studies and cultural studies in China. It presents a hybridized and mosaic-like musical landscape from a locality that accommodates both national and transnational migrations. Leveraging the historical depths of Chinese music and culture, Kielman constructs multi-dimensional micro-narratives of several individual musicians’ biographies, their connections to their music, their identities and their approaches to communication with the audiences." * The China Quarterly *Table of ContentsNote on Romanization 1 Musical Cosmopolitanism and New Mobilities 2 Worlding Genres 3 Places and Styles Converging 4 Singing in Dialects No One Understands 5 Musical Lives: Mabang 6 Musical Lives: Wanju Chuanzhang 7 Sonic Infrastructures Epilogue: Music, China, and the Political Acknowledgments Notes Works Cited Index
£22.00
The University of Chicago Press Street Scriptures
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Nava introduces an intervention into the excesses and shortcomings of two of the major theological movements of the 20th century: Latin American liberation theology and Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology of beauty, the via pulchritudinis. He notes how liberation theology underdetermined beauty as a suspicious distraction from social justice, while the theology of beauty, in liturgy and beyond, overdetermined beauty through a fixed cultural lens. . . . This erudition and range make the book’s most compelling case for itself." * America Magazine *"Nava explores the connections between religion and hip-hop, revealing the overlooked theological roots of the genre and its potential to change the world." * US Catholic Magazine, "What We're Reading" *“Using examples from current hip-hop artists, as well as popular artists from the past, Nava passionately describes the blending of religion, politics, culture, and aesthetics in hip-hop music.” * Reading Religion *"A stylistically playful yet materially serious examination of public theologies done from and for the margins. Any courses focusing on the intersection of 'faith/theology' and 'culture' would benefit from Nava’s work." * Religious Studies Review *"With this majestic study, Nava reclaims ‘the streets’ as a living, breathing text, through which black and brown youth transmute everyday terror into spiritual beauty and hurl truth on the doorsteps of power. By placing academic theology and urban hip-hop culture side by side, Nava’s work has the potential to usher both into a more liberating future.” -- Onaje X. O. Woodbine, author of 'Black Gods of the Asphalt: Religion, Hip-Hop, and Street Basketball'“Nava’s writing pulses with passion—electric, vivid, joyful, and oh so readable. By immersing the reader in the music, Nava offers the most compelling lens available on exactly how hip-hop created a moral aesthetic that moves people to change the world. Street Scriptures is social criticism of the highest order.” -- Jonathon Kahn, author of 'Divine Discontent: The Religious Imagination of W. E. B. Du Bois'“In this compelling work, Nava reads the radically subversive ‘street scriptures’ of hip-hop as a distinctive form of urban liberation theology. This elegantly argued book by a scholar and activist is an important contribution to the study of urban religion and of ‘religion’ itself in one of its most powerful and challenging contemporary instantiations.” -- Robert Orsi, author of 'History and Presence'
£64.60
The University of Chicago Press Street Scriptures Between God and HipHop
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Nava introduces an intervention into the excesses and shortcomings of two of the major theological movements of the 20th century: Latin American liberation theology and Hans Urs von Balthasar’s theology of beauty, the via pulchritudinis. He notes how liberation theology underdetermined beauty as a suspicious distraction from social justice, while the theology of beauty, in liturgy and beyond, overdetermined beauty through a fixed cultural lens. . . . This erudition and range make the book’s most compelling case for itself." * America Magazine *"Nava explores the connections between religion and hip-hop, revealing the overlooked theological roots of the genre and its potential to change the world." * US Catholic Magazine, "What We're Reading" *“Using examples from current hip-hop artists, as well as popular artists from the past, Nava passionately describes the blending of religion, politics, culture, and aesthetics in hip-hop music.” * Reading Religion *"A stylistically playful yet materially serious examination of public theologies done from and for the margins. Any courses focusing on the intersection of 'faith/theology' and 'culture' would benefit from Nava’s work." * Religious Studies Review *"With this majestic study, Nava reclaims ‘the streets’ as a living, breathing text, through which black and brown youth transmute everyday terror into spiritual beauty and hurl truth on the doorsteps of power. By placing academic theology and urban hip-hop culture side by side, Nava’s work has the potential to usher both into a more liberating future.” -- Onaje X. O. Woodbine, author of 'Black Gods of the Asphalt: Religion, Hip-Hop, and Street Basketball'“Nava’s writing pulses with passion—electric, vivid, joyful, and oh so readable. By immersing the reader in the music, Nava offers the most compelling lens available on exactly how hip-hop created a moral aesthetic that moves people to change the world. Street Scriptures is social criticism of the highest order.” -- Jonathon Kahn, author of 'Divine Discontent: The Religious Imagination of W. E. B. Du Bois'“In this compelling work, Nava reads the radically subversive ‘street scriptures’ of hip-hop as a distinctive form of urban liberation theology. This elegantly argued book by a scholar and activist is an important contribution to the study of urban religion and of ‘religion’ itself in one of its most powerful and challenging contemporary instantiations.” -- Robert Orsi, author of 'History and Presence'
£22.00