Traditional and folk music Books

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewKlaus P. Wachsmann Prize for Advanced and Critical Essays in Organology, the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM), 2018 "The book offers models for researching the art of instrument makers. It shows the need for studying a wide range of crafters to learn about musical history."--Journal of Folklore Research"The book presents a concise overview of banjo history and provides insight into construction trends and the cultural relevance of the instrument. Readers interested in the banjo's place in old-time music and its evolution over the past 50 years will find this book an informative and worthy read."--Old-Time Herald "Jones-Bamman provides a detailed description of the steps involved in building an old-time banjo: from the selection of the wood, to countless design decisions regarding aesthetics, structure, and tone, to choice of hardware, to designing pearl inlays, to the wood finish and final set up. These technical details, explained in the words of the banjo builders themselves, nicely illustrate the evolution of the craft of contemporary banjo building." --Society for American Music Bulletin"This book will be a valuable collection to the library of any banjo maker or player keen to embrace a keener understanding of how their instrument came to be." --Old Time News"Jones-Bamman's book remains unique in its subject matter and approach and a valuable contribution to the deservedly growing body of literature on the instrument." --Popular Music and Society“The issues raised by Jones-Bamman and the information he provides to aid in their discussion have never been brought together in one volume. A significant addition to the literature.”--Bob Carlin, author of Banjo: An Illustrated History“Completely unique in his focus on present-day banjo makers and the cultural significance of the banjo for builders and players today. Jones-Bamman shows us how the banjo taps deeply into conflicting ideas about modernity and the USA’s checkered past.”--Timothy J. Cooley, author of Surfing about Music

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewNicholas Bessaraboff Prize, American Musical Instrument Society, 2020 "Anyone with a strong interest in the early history of the banjo or in the broader history of American instrumental music in oral tradition will want a copy of this fine collection. All the work is imaginative, careful, and thoroughly documented. The essays flow smoothly." --Western Folklore"Banjo Roots and Branches is a comprehensively researched and pathbreaking piece of banjo roots scholarship. " --Music in American Life"Inspired by Dena Epstein, this is the first book to use a holistic approach in exploring the history of the banjo; it is an excellent compilation of articles for those interested in the music of Africa and the Americas."--Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje, author of Fiddling in West Africa: Touching the Spirit in Fulbe, Hausa, and Dagbamba Cultures"Winans makes a rich addition to the literature. Recommended." --Choice"As far as I know this book has no real equivalents. Several of the essays are pioneering contributions to the esoteric but intriguing field of banjo research and folklore and ethnomusicology generally."--Robert S. Cantwell, author of Bluegrass Breakdown: The Making of the Old Southern Sound"An excellent book with plenty of material for both specialist and casual readers." --Galpin Society Journal"Roots and Branches collects an extraordinary amount of research into the ongoing discovery of the banjo's Byzantine history. . . .Each essay speaks directly to all others, lending the book an unusual level of cohesion for an edited volume." --The World of Music"A significant contribution to our understanding of the history and current significance of the banjo." --Ethnomusicology

Read more less

Book SynopsisEnvironmental sustainability and human cultural sustainability are inextricably linked. Reversing damaging human impact on the global environment is ultimately a cultural question, and as with politics, the answers are often profoundly local. Cultural Sustainabilities presents twenty-three essays by musicologists and ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, folklorists, ethnographers, documentary filmmakers, musicians, artists, and activists, each asking a particular question or presenting a specific local case study about cultural and environmental sustainability. Contributing to the environmental humanities, the authors embrace and even celebrate human engagement with ecosystems, though with a profound sense of collective responsibility created by the emergence of the Anthropocene. Contributors: Aaron S. Allen, Michael B. Bakan, Robert Baron, Daniel Cavicchi, Timothy J. Cooley, Mark F. DeWitt, Barry Dornfeld, Thomas Faux, Burt Feintuch, Nancy Guy, Mary Hufford, Susan Hurley-Glowa, PatricTrade Review"Cultural Sustainabilities serves as a welcome and industrious collection that highlights not only the importance of sound but also its place in situating our current environmental and ecological plights." --Green Letters"Well-conceived . . . This volume is inspiring in that it offers new ways of looking at cultural sustainability." --Western Folklore"Cultural Sustainabilities is a superb collection of essays that broadly address the intersections of human creative practices and the environments from which they are derived and cultivated." --The World of Music"Written to introduce the reader to the universal practice of 'musicking' and the influence of real-time environmental upheaval on its conception and performance, and the physical and technological systems that support and maintain its integrity, the scope and scale of the literature illuminates the immense challenges of survival in a time of climatic upheaval." --Environmental Values"A must read for those interested in ecomusicology and will serve as a valuable resource for scholars in the Environmental Humanities writ large. . . . Students encountering Cultural Sustainabilities will be inspired to explore, advocate, and create a more equitable and pleasurable 'sound commons.'"--Mark Pedelty, author of A Song to Save the Salish Sea: Musical Performance as Environmental Activism​"The topic of sustainability is of broad interest across many disciplines and activities in this era of rapid climate change, globalized communications, and musical transformations. Music and sustainability is a new area and there are very few publications on the subject, and none as large and as well conceived as this one. It promises to make a significant addition."--Anthony Seeger, author of Why Suyá Sing: A Musical Anthropology of an Amazonian People​"Cultural Sustainabilities is a must read for those interested in ecomusicology and will serve as a valuable resource for scholars in the environmental humanities writ large. . . . Students encountering Cultural Sustainabilities will be inspired to explore, advocate, and create a more equitable and pleasurable 'sound commons.'"--Mark Pedelty, author of A Song to Save the Salish Sea: Musical Performance as Environmental Activism

Read more less

Book SynopsisRecorded in 1949, Foggy Mountain Breakdown changed the face of American music. Earl Scruggs's instrumental essentially transformed the folk culture that came before it while helping to energize bluegrass's entry into the mainstream in the 1960s. The song has become a gateway to bluegrass for musicians and fans alike as well as a happily inescapable track in film and television. Thomas Goldsmith explores the origins and influence of Foggy Mountain Breakdown against the backdrop of Scruggs's legendary career. Interviews with Scruggs, his wife Louise, disciple Bela Fleck, and sidemen like Curly Seckler, Mac Wiseman, and Jerry Douglas shed light on topics like Scruggs's musical evolution and his working relationship with Bill Monroe. As Goldsmith shows, the captivating sound of Foggy Mountain Breakdown helped bring back the banjo from obscurity and distinguished the low-key Scruggs as a principal figure in American acoustic music.Passionate and long overdue, Earl Scruggs and Foggy MountainTrade Review"Unexpectedly moving . . . Well-written and researched . . . Goldsmith's sweeping view of twentieth-century popular culture tells a fascinating story of how a regional banjo style journeyed from rural North Carolina to the American mainstream, and of the musician and his iconic composition that took it there." --Journal of American Folklore "Goldsmith packs his narrative with not only numerous facts but interesting anecdotal evidence. . . . All told, the author skillfully succeeds in weaving together an explanation of how Scruggs and his tune became legendary. " --North Carolina Historical Review "Those who are already fans of 'Earl' and his astounding banjo work will certainly want to own this volume. . . . Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown is a worthy addition to the library of any bluegrass, country, and acoustic-music enthusiast." --Journal of Folklore ResearchTable of ContentsCoverTitleCopyrightContentsAcknowledgments1. Out to Follow Scruggs’s Path2. “I grew up around a banjo”3. The Piedmont’s Rich Musical Soil4. Early Professional Days5. Joining Bill Monroe6. Working as a Blue Grass Boy7. Flatt and Scruggs Build a Career8. Recording “Foggy Mountain Breakdown”9. “Like a Jackhammer” — How the Tune Works10. The Number-One Banjo Player11. The Beverly Hillbillies Welcomes the Banjo12. Riding with Bonnie and Clyde13. Scruggs without Flatt: A Period of Transition14. Scruggs’s Banjo Gains a Cult Following15. Reaping the HarvestNotesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the twentieth century, Appalachian migrants seeking economic opportunities relocated to southwestern Ohio, bringing their music with them. Between 1947 and 1989, they created an internationally renowned capital for the thriving bluegrass music genre, centered on the industrial region of Cincinnati, Dayton, Hamilton, Middletown, and Springfield. Fred Bartenstein and Curtis W. Ellison edit a collection of eyewitness narratives and in-depth analyses that explore southwestern Ohio’s bluegrass musicians, radio broadcasters, recording studios, record labels, and performance venues, along with the music’s contributions to religious activities, community development, and public education. As the bluegrass scene grew, southwestern Ohio''s distinctive sounds reached new fans and influenced those everywhere who continue to play, produce, and love roots music. Revelatory and multifaceted, Industrial Strength Bluegrass shares the inspiring story of a bluegrass hotbed and thTrade Review"If you believe that a purpose of volumes such as Industrial Strength Bluegrass is to stimulate thinking about a subject, then Industrial Strength Bluegrass serves its purpose well." --Journal of Folklore Research"If you believe that a purpose of volumes such as Industrial Strength Bluegrass is to stimulate thinking about a subject, then Industrial Strength Bluegrass serves its purpose well." --Journal of Folklore Research"With its extensive notes and sources, this book is a rich resource of information and powerful insights into the people and times that left an indelible mark on bluegrass." --Bluegrass Unlimited​"Industrial Strength Bluegrass: Southwest Ohio’s Musical Legacy, both the book and the recording, are major contributions to the field of Appalachian Studies. These works provide a view of the urban Appalachian experience that reveals the story of Appalachian migration, the influence of Appalachian culture in areas like greater Cincinnati and takes us up to the present ways that Appalachian culture still impacts the region and the world beyond." --Urban Appalachian Community Coalition​"They have created this lively look at the southern Ohio region and the music that magically materialized when the right people came along. . . . Soundly supported scholarship and down-to-earth accounts from those who were there and made it happen." --Bookreporter.com"My family left Jackson County, Kentucky, in the late 1950s to find work in Ohio. The sounds and songs from home naturally tagged along with us. Riding around in Dad’s truck there as a kid, the first music I remember hearing was the Osborne Brothers and Flatt and Scruggs on WPFB. Industrial Strength Bluegrass brings to life how bluegrass developed in the Cincinnati/Dayton region. I love the vivid stories of how the genre came of age and all the fascinating characters who catapulted it onto the world’s stage."--Dan Hays, former Executive Director of the International Bluegrass Music Association​​​"Essential reading for any bluegrass fan. What a cast—from flawed geniuses, raucously liberated women, and gun-toting business proprietors to Eagle Scouts, professors, and creative artists of the highest order, all mixed together in the same petri dish, all true to themselves and their music. The setting for the first bluegrass college concert, Antioch, as well as where Mike Lilly rode his Harley into the Living Arts Center; Moon Mullins professed, promoted, and ad-libbed commercials with colorful epithets surpassing Barnum’s; motley barrooms became famous nationwide for the quality of the music played there; and, true to their work ethic, bluegrass professionals sprouted everywhere and many rose to national fame. The barroom bluegrass of Southwest Ohio spawned by Appalachian transplants who had taken the 'trail of the bologna rinds' was just as good and often more exciting than the bluegrass of the traveling professionals who first developed the music. When the two met here, it split the bluegrass atom."--Ron Thomason, founder and leader of the Dry Branch Fire Squad​​​"An appealing and accessible musical history that showcases the importance of homegrown regional musical culture. For bluegrass fans and historians of the genre." --Library JournalTable of ContentsForeword: Industrial Strength Bluegrass Neil V. Rosenberg Notes from the Editors Acknowledgments A Southwestern Ohio Bluegrass Timeline 1 Appalachian Migration: Setting the Musical Stage in Southwestern Ohio Phillip J. Obermiller 2 Bobby Osborne Remembers How It Was Bobby Osborne and Joe Mullins 3 All the Way to the Fence: Bluegrass Broadcasting in the Miami Valley Daniel Mullins 4 Taking the Music Home: Bluegrass Recording Studios, Record Labels, and Record Stores Mac McDivitt 5 Sing Me Back Home: Early Bluegrass Venues in Southwestern Ohio Larry Nager 6 Using My Bible for a Roadmap: Sacred Bluegrass Music in the Miami Valley Fred Bartenstein 7 Green to Bluegrass: Reflections on an Unlikely Musical Career Lily Isaacs 8 Buckeyes in the Briar Patch: Southwestern Ohio Bluegrass in the 1970s Jon Hartley Fox 9 The Living Arts Center’s East Dayton Roots Rick Good 10 Bluegrass Music and Urban Appalachian Identity in Cincinnati Nathan McGee 11 Distinctive Qualities of Southwestern Ohio Bluegrass Ben Krakauer Appendix A: Recommended Southwestern Ohio Bluegrass Recordings Appendix B: For Further Reading List of Contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"The authors and editors whose contributions are part of Mongolian Sound Worlds have produced an admirable work that balances depth and breadth, rigor and accessibility, fascinating detail and wider thematic arcs, while also greatly enhancing the representation of Central Asian music and culture within ethnomusicological literature." --Journal of Folklore Research ReviewsTable of ContentsAcknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viiTransliteration, Naming, and Place Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ixCompanion Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiiiIntroduction: Mongolian Sound Worlds: Opening SnapshotsSUNMIN YOON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1PART ONE: LANDSCAPES AND SOUNDSCAPESInterlude: Song about the SteppeK. OKTYABR AND JENNIFER C. POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171. Sound, Music, Pastoralism, and Nature in Mongolian Sound WorldsJENNIFER C. POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21PART TWO: ETHNICITY AND DIVERSITYInterlude: Musical Journeys in Inner Mongolia and BeyondTAMIR HARGANA AND CHARLOTTE D’EVELYN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .532. Music and Ethnic Identity in Inner MongoliaCHARLOTTE D’EVELYN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613. The Politics of Regional and Ethnic Identities in Contemporary Mongolian Urtyn DuuSUNMIN YOON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 854. Gendered Musicality in the Altai MountainsREBEKAH PLUECKHAHN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111PART THREE: MATERIAL AND SOCIAL HISTORYInterlude: Consistency, Patience, and Perseverance: Maintaining the Fiddle-Making TraditionBAYARSAIKHAN BADAMSÜREN AND PETER K. MARSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1295. The Horsehead Fiddle: A Biographical HistoryPETER K. MARSH AND CHARLOTTE D’EVELYN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1356. The Tovshuur and Oirad Identity in Mongolia’s Western ProvincesOTGONBAYAR CHULUUNBAATAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1557. Social Lives of the Dombyra and Its Makers in Western MongoliaJENNIFER C. POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170PART FOUR: HERITAGE AND GLOBALIZATIONInterlude: Everything Has Two Sides: An InterviewANDREW COLWELL AND D. TSERENDAVAA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1978. Chandman’ and Beyond: Heritage-making of Mongolian Khöömii in Past and PresentJOHANNI CURTET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2039. Mongolian Music, Globalization, and NomadismANDREW COLWELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22710. “We Were Born with Global Ambition”: Continuity, Innovation, and a New Chapter in the Development of Mongolian Popular MusicPETER K. MARSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281

Read more less

Book SynopsisStorytime in India is an exploration of the stories that come out of ethnographic fieldwork. Helen Priscilla Myers and Umesh Chandra Pandey examine the ways in which their research collecting Bhojpuri wedding songs became interwoven with the stories of their lives, their work together, and their shared experience reading The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope.Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsList of Songs and Accessing the Audio FilesPrologueIntroduction: Umesh Explains Storytime1. A Fulbright Grant to Banaras, India2. ToastInterlude I: Lizzy Greystock3. Setting Up Our Apartment in Banaras, 20074. The Daily RoutineInterlude II: Sir Florian5. Arranging an Indian Wedding 6. The Search for a Boy 7. Helen and Umesh Meet8. Viewing the Bride9. The Tilak Talk Begins10. Gangajali11. The Tilak, Explained by Umesh12. Song Journey13. Tilak Songs14. "Dress Him in a Bra and Bodice": Gali for the Tilak15. The Songs Become Personal16. "We Sell Dreams"17. Saguni Songs: "This night is ours"Interlude III: Lady Eustace18. Umesh Remembers Charlotte Wiser19. Matikor: Sashi Interrupts, but We Do Not Hear "A Mare Has Pissed"20. Helen's Pounding Pot21. Umesh Explains GaliInterlude IV. Lucy Morris 22. The Kalas and the Harish23. Arranging a Priest24. Wedding Expenses25. The Island Diaspora: My Introduction to Indian Culture from Far AwayInterlude V: Frank Greystock26. Grannie Music27. Ethnomusicology28. The Turmeric Is PleasingInterlude VI: The Eustace Necklace29. Heat 30. Kissing31. The Bride and Groom go to the Kohabar32. Sahana Songs before the Wedding Ritual: The Blue Blue Horse33. Umesh Tells the Krishna StoryInterlude VII: Lady Linlithgow's Mission, , The Sawab of Mygawb34. And Love35. Kabir36. Great Novels and Lesser Novels37. Trapping the Family Gods Interlude VIII: Mr. Burke's Speeches38. Helen Contracts Typhoid39. Getting the Siri at the Home of the Potter40. My Husband Is the Inspector of PoliceInterlude IX: The Conquering Hero Comes41. The Evil Eye42. Umesh Gets Malaria43. On the Stage, the Bridegroom Puts on His Garments44. Preparing for Winter45. Adorn the Elephant, Adorn the Horse46. The Jaluaa47. The Story of Krishna and the Crocodile: A Song with Many Many Stories48. Umesh Tells the Remainder of the Krishna Story49. More Jaluaa Songs and StoriesInterlude X: Showing What the Miss Fawns Said, and What Mrs. Hittaway Thought50. Charlotte Wiser Leaves Karimganj51. Wedding Night52. Mona's Nacchu Nahawan in Rasalpur53. Protecting the Bride from the Evil EyeInterlude XI: Lizzie and Her Lover54. Arrival at the Janmassa55. Gali for Barati People and Bridegroom56. What about Clothes and Ornaments57. Bhajan InterludeInterlude XII: Lord Fawn at His Office58. Umesh Recalls His Wedding59. Feeding the Wedding Party60. Dwar Puja—The New System61. The Animal Party62. Departure of the Barat Interlude XIII: I Only Thought of It63. The Bridegroom Enters the Courtyard64. The Bride Enters the Courtyard65. Donation of the Virgin Daughter66. Ceremony of the Puffed Rice67. The Sindur Ritual68. The Kohabar Ritual69. Ceremony at the GangesInterlude XIV: Showing What Frank Greystock Did70. Arrival of the Bride in her Sasural, the Gauna71. Love Marriages72. Five Days73. Just One More Song74. Gangajali's StoryInterlude XV: "Doan't Thou Marry for Munny"75. One Last SongInterlude XVI: I'll Give You a Hundred Guinea Broach76. Preparing for China77. Leaving Banaras in 200878. Conclusion Interlude XVII: The Eustace Diamonds79. Umesh Tells a Story from Karimganj 80. A Passage to India81. Bangles in Ballia82. Across the Seven Seas83. Umesh Arranges for the Swan's Quill84. The Religion of Humanity85. StorytimeAppendix: Rituals of the Hindu Wedding in BalliaGlossaryBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisStorytime in India is an exploration of the stories that come out of ethnographic fieldwork. Helen Priscilla Myers and Umesh Chandra Pandey examine the ways in which their research collecting Bhojpuri wedding songs became interwoven with the stories of their lives, their work together, and their shared experience reading The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope.Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsList of Songs and Accessing the Audio FilesPrologueIntroduction: Umesh Explains Storytime1. A Fulbright Grant to Banaras, India2. ToastInterlude I: Lizzy Greystock3. Setting Up Our Apartment in Banaras, 20074. The Daily RoutineInterlude II: Sir Florian5. Arranging an Indian Wedding 6. The Search for a Boy 7. Helen and Umesh Meet8. Viewing the Bride9. The Tilak Talk Begins10. Gangajali11. The Tilak, Explained by Umesh12. Song Journey13. Tilak Songs14. "Dress Him in a Bra and Bodice": Gali for the Tilak15. The Songs Become Personal16. "We Sell Dreams"17. Saguni Songs: "This night is ours"Interlude III: Lady Eustace18. Umesh Remembers Charlotte Wiser19. Matikor: Sashi Interrupts, but We Do Not Hear "A Mare Has Pissed"20. Helen's Pounding Pot21. Umesh Explains GaliInterlude IV. Lucy Morris 22. The Kalas and the Harish23. Arranging a Priest24. Wedding Expenses25. The Island Diaspora: My Introduction to Indian Culture from Far AwayInterlude V: Frank Greystock26. Grannie Music27. Ethnomusicology28. The Turmeric Is PleasingInterlude VI: The Eustace Necklace29. Heat 30. Kissing31. The Bride and Groom go to the Kohabar32. Sahana Songs before the Wedding Ritual: The Blue Blue Horse33. Umesh Tells the Krishna StoryInterlude VII: Lady Linlithgow's Mission, , The Sawab of Mygawb34. And Love35. Kabir36. Great Novels and Lesser Novels37. Trapping the Family Gods Interlude VIII: Mr. Burke's Speeches38. Helen Contracts Typhoid39. Getting the Siri at the Home of the Potter40. My Husband Is the Inspector of PoliceInterlude IX: The Conquering Hero Comes41. The Evil Eye42. Umesh Gets Malaria43. On the Stage, the Bridegroom Puts on His Garments44. Preparing for Winter45. Adorn the Elephant, Adorn the Horse46. The Jaluaa47. The Story of Krishna and the Crocodile: A Song with Many Many Stories48. Umesh Tells the Remainder of the Krishna Story49. More Jaluaa Songs and StoriesInterlude X: Showing What the Miss Fawns Said, and What Mrs. Hittaway Thought50. Charlotte Wiser Leaves Karimganj51. Wedding Night52. Mona's Nacchu Nahawan in Rasalpur53. Protecting the Bride from the Evil EyeInterlude XI: Lizzie and Her Lover54. Arrival at the Janmassa55. Gali for Barati People and Bridegroom56. What about Clothes and Ornaments57. Bhajan InterludeInterlude XII: Lord Fawn at His Office58. Umesh Recalls His Wedding59. Feeding the Wedding Party60. Dwar Puja—The New System61. The Animal Party62. Departure of the Barat Interlude XIII: I Only Thought of It63. The Bridegroom Enters the Courtyard64. The Bride Enters the Courtyard65. Donation of the Virgin Daughter66. Ceremony of the Puffed Rice67. The Sindur Ritual68. The Kohabar Ritual69. Ceremony at the GangesInterlude XIV: Showing What Frank Greystock Did70. Arrival of the Bride in her Sasural, the Gauna71. Love Marriages72. Five Days73. Just One More Song74. Gangajali's StoryInterlude XV: "Doan't Thou Marry for Munny"75. One Last SongInterlude XVI: I'll Give You a Hundred Guinea Broach76. Preparing for China77. Leaving Banaras in 200878. Conclusion Interlude XVII: The Eustace Diamonds79. Umesh Tells a Story from Karimganj 80. A Passage to India81. Bangles in Ballia82. Across the Seven Seas83. Umesh Arranges for the Swan's Quill84. The Religion of Humanity85. StorytimeAppendix: Rituals of the Hindu Wedding in BalliaGlossaryBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisA study on fiddling in the Fulbe, Hausa, and Dagbamba cultures of West Africa. This book not only explains the history of the instrument itself, but also discusses the processes of stylistic transference and adaptation, suggesting how these may have contributed to differing performance practices.Trade ReviewThe scope of this fascinating and painstakingly researched study is broad, but it is also meticulously focused, so that, after an introduction to the one-stringed spike bowl lute and a look at how it came to the region, Cogdell Djedje takes on each of the three cultures [Fulbe, Hausa and Dagbamba] in turn.October 2009 -- Catherine Nelson * The Strad *Fiddling in West Africa furnishes substantive and intelligent answers to various questions about the nature and purpose of fiddling in Fulbe, Hausa, and Dagbamba. Djedje makes a significant contribution to ethnomusicology with far-reaching impact across disciplinary boundaries. Fiddling in West Africa is an invaluable resource for students and scholars, as well as the general public. Volume 36, No. 3, August 2009 * American Ethnologist *Fiddling in West Africa . . . is a phenomenal addition to critical literature on African music in particular and ethnomusicology in general.Ths seminal publication represents an excellent consummation of a sustained scholarship on a West African music tradition that spans three decades. May 2008 * Intl. Journal of African Historical Studies *This impressive book is both ambitious in its scope and meticulously detailed. . . The importance of Fiddlers in West Africa spans far beyond being a rich source of information about fiddling traditions. . . DjeDje's book defies these stereotypes by opening the reader to the sheer diversity of musical instruments, approaches, and repertoires in West Africa.66.2 Dec. 2009 * Notes *. . . Fiddling in West Africa is a good resource not only for a Westerner who knows next to nothing about fiddling in some 'obscure' corner of Africa, but also for the African student and scholar trying to understand the musical practices of their folk. This interesting piece is as informative as it educative, and should be at the head of reading-lists for students of ethnomusicology and cultural studies, and on the desk of the avid reader.October 15, 2008 -- Abdulai Salifu * Indiana University *[T]his is a fascinating book that deserves the attention not only of African-oriented scholars but also of ethnomusicologists in general, and it is recommended to all institutions dealing with African cultures. 51(2), 2009 * The World of Music *Table of ContentsContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: A Master Fiddler and a Significant but Little-Known Tradition1. Fiddling in West Africa: Understanding the Culture Area2. An Affirmation of Identity: Fulbe Fiddling in Senegambia3. Calling the Bori Spirits: Hausa Fiddling in Nigeria4. In Service to the King: Dagbamba Fiddling in GhanaConclusion Appendix: Distribution of the One-Stringed FiddleNotesList of References Discography and VideographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is a groundbreaking, important translation, and it benefits from the expertise of its editors, all well-known musicologists whose research has focused on Russian music. . . . Highly recommended. January 2009 * Choice *. . . truly the cornerstone for the study of Russian music before the nineteenth century . . . a refreshingly balanced presentation of both sacred and secular music traditions that is truly remarkable in its breadth of scholarship and detail. . . . Findeizen's History deserves high praise and enthusiastic endorsement; it belongs on every post secondary-course reading list as the preeminent source for the study of Russia's musical heritage.April 2009 -- Gregory Myers * Port Moody, BC, Canada *Copiously illustrated, comprehensive, and exhaustive . . . . a historical first. . . . deserves high praise and enthusiastic endorsement . . . as the preeminent source for the study of Russia's musical heritage.Vol. 68.2 April 2009 -- Gregory Myers * Port Moody, BC, Canada *Findeizen's prose provides a fascinating narrative, and the translator, Samuel William Pring, has succeeded in conveying its original flavour. . . . I can attest that undertaking a translation and commentary that would meet present-day academic criteria must have seemed an almost impossible task. That is why I wish to emphasize that the completion of this project is one worth celebrating, and that the collective labour of those involved deserves the approbation of the wider musicological community.Vol.6.2 2009 -- Marina Ritzarev * Eighteenth-Century Music *[This new translation] . . . is a significant resource which exposes some fascinating episodes in Russia's musical past and which will no doubt encourage the study of early Russian music by scholars outside the country, just as the original publication stimulated studies by musicologists in Russia itself.6/2 Sept. 2009 -- Marina Ritzarev * Eighteenth-Century Music *[This] work stands as an impressive testimony to a life of intensive and indefatigable research. . . [This] edition of Findeizen's History should leave music historians with no excuses for keeping Russian music outside their field of interest and inquiry.Vol. 90.4 Nov. 2009 -- Francis Maes * Ghent University *Certainly, there is still much to be learnt about Russian music before Glinka, and even for those working on the music of the nineteenth, twentieth and now twenty-first centuries, Findeizen and his editors are models for us all.Vol. 88, no. 4, October 2010 * Slavonic and East European Review *Findeyzen's major work . . . remains the foundation-stone on which all later work on the history of Russian music before the 19th century has been built. -- Gerald Abraham * The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians *. . . Meticulously indexed, it includes relevant musical scores as appendices and is wonderfully illustrated with everything from images of instruments to skomorokhi. There are copious tables of little known musical terms, samples of chastushki, synopses of operas, lists of published works and famous musicians and composers. . . If it took place in Russia from 1 AD to the end of the 1800s and had to do with music, you are likely to find something in here about it. An invaluable reference work. * Russian Life *Throughout the work Findeizen's invaluable original illustrations and music examples have been faithfully reproduced, together with the author's extensive notes. But what is particularly impressive about this volume, which forms the pièce de résistance of the fine series of Russian Music Studies . . . under the editorship of Malcolm Hamrick Brown, is the manner in which the editors, Miloš Velimirovic and Claudia Jensen, have not only annotated and corrected the work in order to bring it up to date in the light of contemporary scholarship but have provided a vast array of new musicological and bibliographical materials, which must in turn serve as a foundation for future research into the still comparatively little explored field of early Russian music. . . . this impressive undertaking . . . .[is] a remarkable achievement.56.4 October-December 2009 -- Gerald Seaman * University of Oxford *Table of ContentsEditors' Introduction to Volume 1Author's PrefaceList of Abbreviations1. Introduction. The Predecessors of the Slavs2. Pagan Rus'3. Kievan Rus'4. Novgorod the Great5. The Activities of the Skomorokhi in Russia6. Music and Musical Instruments in Russian Miniatures, Woodcuts, and Glossaries7. A Survey of Old Russian Folk Instruments8. Music in Ancient Moscow (Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries)9. Music in the Monastery. Chashi (Toasts). Bell Ringing. Sacred Performances (Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries)10. Music in Court Life in the Seventeenth Century11. A Brief Survey of Singers, Composers, and Music Theorists of the Sixteenth and Seventeeth Centuries12. Music and Theater in the Age of Peter the GreatMusic AppendixNotesVolume 1 Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review. . . truly the cornerstone for the study of Russian music before the nineteenth century . . . a refreshingly balanced presentation of both sacred and secular music traditions that is truly remarkable in its breadth of scholarship and detail. . . . Findeizen's History deserves high praise and enthusiastic endorsement; it belongs on every post secondary-course reading list as the preeminent source for the study of Russia's musical heritage.April 2009 -- Gregory Myers * Port Moody, BC, Canada *. . . Meticulously indexed, it includes relevant musical scores as appendices and is wonderfully illustrated with everything from images of instruments to skomorokhi. There are copious tables of little known musical terms, samples of chastushki, synopses of operas, lists of published works and famous musicians and composers. . . If it took place in Russia from 1 AD to the end of the 1800s and had to do with music, you are likely to find something in here about it. An invaluable reference work.July 2008 * Russian Life *Copiously illustrated, comprehensive, and exhaustive . . . . a historical first. . . . deserves high praise and enthusiastic endorsement . . . as the preeminent source for the study of Russia's musical heritage.Vol. 68.2 April 2009 -- Gregory Myers * Port Moody, BC, Canada *Certainly, there is still much to be learnt about Russian music before Glinka, and even for those working on the music of the nineteenth, twentieth and now twenty-first centuries, Findeizen and his editors are models for us all.Vol. 88, no. 4, October 2010 * Slavonic & East European Review *Findeyzen's major work . . . remains the foundation-stone on which all later work on the history of Russian music before the 19th century has been built. -- Gerald Abraham * The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians *Findeizen's prose provides a fascinating narrative, and the translator, Samuel William Pring, has succeeded in conveying its original flavour. . . . I can attest that undertaking a translation and commentary that would meet present-day academic criteria must have seemed an almost impossible task. That is why I wish to emphasize that the completion of this project is one worth celebrating, and that the collective labour of those involved deserves the approbation of the wider musicological community.Vol. 6.2 2009 -- Marina Ritzarev * Eighteenth-Century Music *Table of ContentsEditors' Introduction to Volume 1Author's PrefaceList of Abbreviations1. Introduction. The Predecessors of the Slavs2. Pagan Rus'3. Kievan Rus'4. Novgorod the Great5. The Activities of the Skomorokhi in Russia6. Music and Musical Instruments in Russian Miniatures, Woodcuts, and Glossaries7. A Survey of Old Russian Folk Instruments8. Music in Ancient Moscow (Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries)9. Music in the Monastery. Chashi (Toasts). Bell Ringing. Sacred Performances (Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries)10. Music in Court Life in the Seventeenth Century11. A Brief Survey of Singers, Composers, and Music Theorists of the Sixteenth and Seventeeth Centuries12. Music and Theater in the Age of Peter the GreatMusic AppendixNotesVolume 1 Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisBefore he achieved his dream of being an internationally known rock personality, Ryan Adams had a band in Raleigh, North Carolina. Whiskeytown led the wave of insurgent-country bands that came of age with No Depression magazine in the mid-1990s, and for many people it defined the era. Adams was an irrepressible character, one of the signature personalities of his generation, and as a singer-songwriter he blew people away with a mature talent that belied his youth. David Menconi witnessed most of Whiskeytown’s rocket ride to fame as the music critic for the Raleigh News & Observer, and in Ryan Adams, he tells the inside story of the singer’s remarkable rise from hardscrabble origins to success with Whiskeytown, as well as Adams’s post-Whiskeytown self-reinvention as a solo act.Menconi draws on early interviews with Adams, conversations with people close to him, and Adams’s extensive online postings to capture the creative ferment thTrade Review"Author David Menconi, music critic for the Raleigh, NC, News & Observer, pulls back the curtain on folk icon Ryan Adams in his new book, Ryan Adams: Losering, A Story Of Whiskeytown. From Adams' earliest experiences listening to country music on his grandmother's radio, through his obsessive punk rock phase and dusty-throated alternative-country explosion, Menconi leaves no stone unturned." - Todd Sterling, ReDigiTable of Contents Preface Part I: Before Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Part Two: During Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Part Three: After Chater Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Selected Discography Acknowledgments

Read more less

Book SynopsisA group of three friends who made music in a house in Lubbock, Texas, recorded an album that wasn’t released and went their separate ways into solo careers. That group became a legend and then—twenty years later—a band. The Flatlanders—Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock—are icons in American music, with songs blending country, folk, and rock that have influenced a long list of performers, including Robert Earl Keen, the Cowboy Junkies, Ryan Bingham, Terry Allen, John Hiatt, Hayes Carll, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, and Lyle Lovett.In The Flatlanders: Now It’s Now Again, Austin author and music journalist John T. Davis traces the band’s musical journey from the house on 14th Street in Lubbock to their 2013 sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. He explores why music was, and is, so important in Lubbock and how earlier West Texas musicians such as Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison, as well as a touring Elvis Presley, inspireTrade ReviewDavis packs a wealth of material into this book, drawing on his considerable insight into the American music scene. It’s an enjoyable read, highlighting an oft-overlooked contribution to the development of Americana. * R2 *Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Part One: The Land Chapter 1: The Llano Chapter 2: The City Chapter 3: The Invasion Chapter 4: The House Part Two: The Men, First Verse Chapter 5: Joe, Jimmie, and Butch, Part 1 Chapter 6: Compañeros Part Three: The Music Chapter 7: Genesis Chapter 8: More a Legend Chapter 9: Diaspora Part Four: The Men, Second Verse Chapter 10: Joe, Jimmie, and Butch, Part 2 Part Five: The Return Chapter 11: More a Band Chapter 12: Alchemy: Now Again Chapter 13: Cruising Speed: Wheels of Fortune/Live '72 Chapter 14: Dust to Dust: Hills and Valleys Chapter 15: Closing the Circle: The Odessa Tapes Epilogue: Carnegie Hall: Practice, Practice, Practice Discography

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince the 1970s, folklorist James P. Leary has worked steadily to bring the folk music of the Upper Midwest to a larger public. Folksongs of Another America presents 187 representative performances by more than 200 singers and musicians, carefully restored in digital form from deteriorating original formats.Trade ReviewThe astonishing range of music collected here reveals the deeply hued cultures of the Midwest before and after World War II, when these field recordings were made. Folksongs of Another America deftly combines dynamic media—CDs, a DVD, and a richly annotated book to go with them—to tell a multifaceted story. Though brimming with scholarship, the book's crisp, clear prose reveals the music and the people who made it."" - Henry Sapoznik, author of Klezmer! Jewish Music from Old World to Our World""Folksongs of Another America is a groundbreaking work, covering musical and cultural ground woefully overlooked by American music scholars."" - Kip Lornell, author of Exploring American Folk Music""Attains the highest standards of folklore studies. . . . A landmark presentation of traditional music of the Upper Midwest."" - Journal of Folklore Research""Grammy nod for the polka prof: Leary has spent the last ten years . . . on [this] enormous, Grammy worthy undertaking."" - Isthmus, Madison WI

Read more less

Book SynopsisBased on extensive historical and genealogical research, Amy Shaw presents a grounded picture of a musician, his family, and his community in the Upper Midwest, revealing much about music and dance in the area.Trade ReviewThe story of Ole Hendricks provides a valuable and grounded glimpse of music and social life in rural America in the nineteenth century, bringing into focus the long-overlooked importance of commonplace books-that is, handwritten music notebooks-in the performance and preservation of traditional music." - Paul Tyler, Old Town School of Folk Music"A thorough personal history that brings to light a previously little-known musician, Norwegian American fiddler Ole Hendricks. This excellent, well-rounded introduction makes both this history, as well as his tunebook, available for readers and musicians." - Laura Ellestad, University of South-Eastern Norway

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn analysis of the process of composition, learning and performance of the Southern folk blues of black America. This musical form has not previously been examined in such a scrupulous fashion. This book was the winner of the University of Chicago Folklore Prize.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt''s here: the fourth and latest volume in the series that you have come to rely upon for your music reading fix. The 2003 volume will celebrate the year''s best writing about music and its culture with a selection of pieces on a dazzling array of topics drawn from more than a hundred sources-remarkable essays by journalists and authors who are as serious about writing as they are about music.Past contributors have included:* Jonathan Lethem * David Rakoff * Mike Doughty * Lorraine Ali * Greil Marcus * Richard Meltzer * Robert Gordon * Sarah Vowell * Nick Tosches * Anthony DeCurtis * William Gay * Whitney Balliett * Lester Bangs * Rosanne Cash * Susan Orlean * David Hadju * Lenny Kaye * The Onion * Mark Jacobson * Gary Giddins * John Leland * Luc Sante * Monica Kendrick * Kalefa Sanneh

Read more less

Book SynopsisDave van ronk (1936-2002) was not only one of the founding figures of the 1960s folk music revival he was a pioneer of modern acoustic blues, a fine songwriter and arranger, a powerful singer, and one of the most influential guitarists of his era. He was also a marvellous storyteller, a peerless musical historian, and one of the most quotable figures in The Village. The Mayor of MacDougal Street is a unique firsthand account of the sixties folk scene that includes encounters with young stars-to-be like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell and older luminaries like Woody Guthrie and Odetta. colourful, hilarious, and engaging, The Mayor of MacDougal Street will appeal not only to folk and blues fans but also to anyone interested in the music, politics, and spirit of a revolutionary period in American culture.

Read more less

Book Synopsis**WINNER OF THE 2024 ASSOCIATION FOR RECORDED SOUND COLLECTIONS (ARSC) AWARD FOR BEST HISTORICAL RESEARCH IN RECORDED COUNTRY, FOLK, WORLD, OR ROOTS MUSIC**In this enlightening and entertaining book, experience the evolution of country music, from the rural routes of 1970s Appalachia to the 1980s country music boom that paved the way for modern Americana. In a dim clearing off a county road in Kentucky sits a sagging outdoor stage buried in moss and dead leaves.  It used to be the centerpiece of carnival-like Sunday afternoons where local guitarists, fiddlers and mandolin players hammered out old mountain ballads and legends from the dawn of country music performed their classic hits. Most of the musicians who showed up have long since passed, but Nashville stars Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart survive.  They were barely teenagers in the early 1970s when they visited this stage in the care of legends Ralph Stanley and Lester Flatt, respectively. Skaggs and Stuart followed their bosses to dozens of stages throughout Appalachia and deeper into the American southland.  They were the children, absorbing the wondrous music and strange dramas around them as they became innovators and living symbols of country music.Highways and Heartaches takes readers on the rural circuit Skaggs and Stuart traveled, where an acoustic sound first assembled by masters such as Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, and Mother Maybelle Carter ruled the day. The young men were heirs to a bluegrass tradition transmitted to them early in life. One part mountain soul and another African American–influenced rhythm, the music they received was alternately celebrated and neglected in the more than fifty years after the two met in 1971, but since then it has never stopped evolving and influencing the wider American culture thanks to Skaggs and Stuart and other actors in this book, such as Jerry Douglas, Tony Rice, Keith Whitley, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt. Riveting portraits of Johnny Cash, Ralph Stanley, Lester Flatt and other heartland-born figures emerge, too.   Molded by forces in postwar southern culture such as racial conflict, fringe politics, evangelicalism, growing federal government influence, and stubborn patterns of Appalachian living and thinking, Skaggs and Stuart injected the spirit of bluegrass into their hard-wrought experiments in mainstream country music later in life, fueling the profitability and credibility of the fabled genre. Skaggs’s new traditionalism of the 1980s, integrating mountain instruments with elements of contemporary country music, created a new sound for the masses and placed him in the vanguard of Nashville’s recording artists while Stuart embraced seminal influences and attitudes from the riches of American culture to produce a catalog of significant recordings.   Skaggs and Stuart’s friendship took years to jell, but their similar pathways reveal a shared dedication to the soul of country music and highlight the curious day-to-day experiences of two lads growing up on the demanding rural route in bluegrass culture. Their journeys—populated by grizzled mentors, fearsome undertows, and cultural upheaval—influenced their creativity and, ultimately, cut life-giving tributaries in the ungainly, eternal story of country music.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisChristy Moore is in every sense Ireland''s folk hero. Mentor to a whole generation of Irish musicians, he holds a unique place in musical history. In l992 he broke all attendance records during 12 packed nights at the Point in Dublin. In the UK he fills concert halls around the country. In l997 he announced that he was taking an extended break from touring and recording. It was headline news in Ireland. So was his comeback which began in l999. Set to be an enormous best-seller, his autobiography marries both songs and memories. Around 250 of his favourite lyrics are accompanied by his memories around the song itself and his life. Each entry is fresh, direct, honest and spontaneous - like the most intimate diary. Through it he charts his life from drunk to sober, bar-room guitar player to international singer-songwriter.Trade ReviewAn autobiography which dispenses with a traditional life-narrative in favour of an approach that's far more innovative and revealing. This is one of the few music books you'll read in which the subject eloquently communicates their love of music and illustrates just what it has meant throughout their life. * Independent on Sunday *intimate, absorbing and sometimes disturbing * Sunday Independent *poetic and honest * Financial Times *a frank account of the much-loved singer's rip-roaring career * The Daily Telegraph *Essential reading for anyone who owns even one Christy Moore CD. * The Irish Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn unorthodox musician from the start, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell''s style of composing, performing, and of playing (and tuning) the guitar is unique. In the framework of sexual difference and the gendered discourses of rock this immediately begs the questions: are Mitchell''s songs specifically feminine and, if so, to what extent and why?Anne Karppinen addresses this question focusing on the kind of music and lyrics Mitchell writes, the representation of men and women in her lyrics, how her style changes and evolves over time, and how cultural context affects her writing. Linked to this are the concepts of subjectivity and authorship: when a singer-songwriter sings a song in the first person, about whom are they actually singing? Mitchell offers a fascinating study, for the songs she writes and sings are intricately woven from the strands of her own life. Using methods from critical discourse analysis, this book examines recorded performances of songs from MitcheTable of ContentsIntroduction Part 11. Sexual Difference, Texts and Discourses 2. Will you take me as I am? Subjectivity, Autobiography and Authorship3. Women in Rock and Other OxymoronsPart 24. The Early Period (1968-1970)5. The Self-Conscious Period (1971-1974)6. The Socially Conscious Period (1975-1977)Part 37. A Soprano Has No Credibility? Joni Mitchell and the Rock Press 8. The Singer-Songwriter and the Making of the Canon Conclusion Appendix: Tunings.BibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisAlmost 20 years ago Michael Brocken created from his doctoral research, what became both a seminal and contested volume concerning the social mores surrounding the British Folk Revival up to that point in time: The British Folk Revival 19442002. In this long-overdue second edition he revisits not only his own research, but also that of others from the 1990s and early 21st century. He then considers how a discourse of folkloric authenticity emerged in the closing years of the 19th century and how a worrying nationalistic immanence came to surround folk music and dance during the inter-war years. Brocken also proposes that the media: records, radio and TV in post-WWII folk revivalism can offer us important insights into how self-directed learning of the folk guitar emerged. Brocken moves on to consider the business structures of the contemporary folk scene and how relationships are formed between contemporary folk business and the digital and social media spheres. In hisTable of Contents1 The inherent morphology of folklore and folk song: a ‘changing same’2 A selective consideration of folk literature in relation to the first edition of The British Folk Revival 3 The aesthetics and practicalities of revivalism: a conservative-socialist-recorded sound ‘revolution’?4 Folk, blues and self-directed learning with the post-WWII Britain media5 The business of folk6 New folk media in the social sphere7 Gendered folk mythologies8 The folk built environment and the development of ‘thirdspace’

Read more less

Book SynopsisShe was like a storm. Leonard Cohen Reckless Daughter is the story of an artist and an era that have left an indelible mark on American music. Joni Mitchell may be the most influential female recording artist and composer of the late twentieth century. In Reckless Daughter, the music critic David Yaffe tells the remarkable, heart-wrenching story of how the blond girl with the guitar became a superstar of folk music in the 1960s, a key figure in the Laurel Canyon music scene of the 1970s, and the songwriter who spoke resonantly to, and for, audiences across the country. A Canadian prairie girl, a free-spirited artist, Mitchell never wanted to be a pop star. She was nothing more than a painter derailed by circumstances, she would explain. And yet, she went on to become a talented self-taught musician and a brilliant bandleader, releasing album after album, each distinctly experimental, challenging, and revealing. Her lyrics captivated listeners with their perceptive language and naked emotion, born out of Mitchell's life, loves, complaints, and prophecies. As an artist whose work deftly balances narrative and musical complexity, she has been admired by such legendary lyricists as Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen and beloved by such groundbreaking jazz musicians as Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, and Herbie Hancock. Her hitsfrom Big Yellow Taxi to Both Sides, Now to A Case of Youendure as timeless favorites, and her influence on the generations of singer-songwriters who would follow her, from her devoted fan Prince to Björk, is undeniable.In this intimate biography, drawing on dozens of unprecedented in-person interviews with Mitchell, her childhood friends, and a cast of famous characters, Yaffe reveals the backstory behind the famous songsfrom Mitchell's youth in Canada, her bout with polio at age nine, and her early marriage and the child she gave up for adoption, through the love affairs that inspired masterpieces, and up to the presentand shows us why Mitchell has so enthralled her listeners, her lovers, and her friends.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn illuminating history of the banjo, revealing its origins at the crossroads of slavery, religion and musicTrade Review"For the very first time, a reader’s version of a few of the earliest written observations of the instrument are on full display in the thoughtful and masterful writing of this book. This book is not only made for the banjo enthusiast but it opens a new window into 17th, 18th and 19th century world history on the ground level by those who lived it and observed the strange new cultural connections brought by a brutal plantation system.[...] Kristina Gaddy’s observations lead the reader back into the 21st century to contend and reanalyze the crooked road of America’s musical past." -- Dom Flemons, the American songster and Grammy Award–winning musician"Beguiling… [Gaddy] weaves her story together from sources including paintings, diaries and letters, and tells it chronologically. In a less daring writer’s hands, this might have become a slog, but Ms. Gaddy successfully blends archival skills with imagination." -- The Economist

Read more less

Book SynopsisA new edition of the classic text on African American music.

Read more less

Book SynopsisBorn in South Carolina, White spent his childhood as a lead boy for traveling blind bluesmen. In the early ''30s he moved to New York and became a popular blues star, then introduced folk-blues to a mass white audience in the 1940s. He was famed both for his strong Civil Rights songs, which made him a favorite of the Roosevelts, and for his sexy stage persona. The king of Café Society-also home to Billie Holiday--he was the one bluesman to consistently pack the New York nightspots, and the first black singer-guitarist to act in Hollywood films and star on Broadway. In the 1950s, White''s bitter compromise with the blacklisters left him with few friends on either end of the political spectrum. He spent much of the decade in Europe, then came back strong in the 1960s folk revival. By 1963, he was voted one of America''s top three male folk stars, but his health was failing and he did not survive the decade. Written in an engaging style, Society Blues portrays the difficult balancinTrade Review"Society Blues incorporates a skillful and thought-provoking critique of the ideological presuppositions that guide the promotion of authenticity. Wald achieves this goal by sticking to the details of White's career, not generalizing about its implications, yet the point comes across with clarity and conviction." -- David Sanjek, American Studies"[An] affectionate, careful biography." -- The Washington PostTable of Contents1: Southern Exposure 1914–1921; 2: Homeless and Hungry Blues 1921–1930; 3: Things about Coming my Way 1930–1936; 4: John Henry 1936–1939; 5: Raise A Ruckus (1940); 6: Marching Down Freedom's Road (1941); 7: Partnerships: Leadbelly and Libby Holman 1941–1943; 8: Cafe Society 1943–1945; 9: The House I Live in; 10: Apples, Peaches, and cherries 1946–1947; 11: Travels, Whiskey, and Women; 12: Broadway Hollywood, and Beyond 1947–1950; 13: Un-American Activities 1950; 14: Strange Fruit; 15: Across the Atlantic 1951; 16: You Know Baby 1952–1953; 17: Josh at Midnight 1954–1958; 18: Folk Revival; 19: House of the Rising Sun 1958–1963; 20: Goin' Down Slow 1963–1969; Epilogue

Read more less

Book SynopsisOne of the first and finest studies of African American folk music, this thorough, well-researched volume offers a perceptive history and analysis of spirituals, ballads, blues, jazz, and other genres.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWithin her study, Anna Czekanowska analyses the vocal and instrumental traditions of Polish folk music, tracing the background history, the influences of geography and politics, and the practice, often within contemporary society, of such social events as the harvest, the solstice and weddings.Table of ContentsList of illustrations and maps; Preface; Part I. Introduction: 1. Basic concepts and notions; 2. Poland's diverse background; Part II. Topics and Trends: 3. The Slavonic world; 4. Polish tradition; 5. Transformation of Polish folk culture and music; Part III. Analysis and Description: 6. Vocal transmission; 7. Instrumental transmission; 8. Musical structure; Part IV. Towards a Concept of Polish Folk Music: Polish and Non-Polish Music in Poland: 9. The function of folk culture in contemporary Poland: ethnic and national identity; 10. The musical culture of non-Polish groups in modern Poland; 11. Polish folk music in the resettled areas and abroad; Discography; Bibliography; Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this book Hormoz Farhat has unravelled the art of the dastgah by analysing their intervallic structure, melodic patterns, modulations, and improvisations, and by examining the composed pieces which have become a part of the classical repertoire in recent times.Table of ContentsPreface; Transliterations; Opening statement; 1. A brief historical perspective; 2. Intervals and scales in contemporary Persian music; 3. Musical concepts and terminology; 4. Dastgah-e Sur; 5. Dastgah-e Abuata; 6. Dastgah-e Dasti; 7. Dastgah-e Bayat Tork; 8. Dastgah-e Afsari; 9. Dastgah-e Segah; 10. Dastgah-e Cahargah; 11. Dastgah-e Homayun; 12. Dastgah-e Bayat-e Esfahan; 13. Dastgah-e Nava; 14. Dastgah-e Mahur; 15. Dastgah-e Rast (Rast-Panjgah); 16. Vagrant Guses; 17. Compositional forms; Closing statement; Notes; Selected Bibliography; Appendix.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisBrought up in England, Jason Webster has lived for many years in Spain. His acclaimed non-fiction books about Spain include Duende: A Journey in Search of Flamenco; Andalus: Unlocking the Secrets of Moorish Spain; Guerra: Living in the Shadows of the Spanish Civil War; Sacred Sierra: A Year on a Spanish Mountain and The Spy with 29 Names. His Max Cámara series of crime novels started with Or the Bull Kills You, which was was longlisted for the CWA Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards New Blood Dagger 2011. This was followed by A Death in Valencia, The Anarchist Detective, Blood Med and A Body in Barcelona. Trade ReviewThe autobiography-as-travelogue that is also a rite of passage is a form which worked brilliantly for Laurie Lee and Bruce Chatwin - both novelists as well as seekers after the truth-behind-the-truth. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new star of the genre: Jason Webster * Daily Mail *His descriptions of troubled modern day Spain are mesmerising, but the greater curiosity is in seeing just how much trouble the confused innocent can create for himself before finding out whom he might really be * Daily Express *Wonderfully told, with enough detail about flamenco to educate the curious, and enough drama and characters to fill a novel, Webster may not have turned out to be a guitar maestro, but his journey is recounted like a master * Wanderlust *Duende is an intensely personal portrait of a country in the throes of modernisation, whose spirit still defies definition * Observer *One of the best books ever written about Spain * Literary Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn smoky rooms above pubs, bare rooms with battered stools and beer-stained tables, where the stage was little more than a scrap of carpet and sound systems were unheard of, an acoustic revolution took place in Britain in the 1950s and ''60s. This was the folk revival, where a generation of musicians, among much drink and raucous cheer, would rediscover the native songs of their own tradition, as well as the folk and blues coming from across the Atlantic by artists such as Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie and Big Bill Broonzy. Singing from the Floor is the story of this remarkable movement, faithfully captured in the voices of those who formed it by JP Bean. We hear from luminaries such as Shirley Collins, Martin Carthy, Peggy Seeger and Ralph McTell, alongside figures such as Billy Connolly, Jasper Carrott and Mike Harding, who all started their careers on the folk circuit. The book charts the revival''s improvised beginnings and its ties to the CND movement, through the he

Read more less

Book SynopsisLonglisted for the Penderyn Music Book PrizeEngland was once dubbed the land without music', but in the early twentieth century collectors and enthusiasts such as Cecil Sharp, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Percy Grainger discovered a vital heritage of folk song, vibrant and alive among working men and women. Yet after more than a century of collecting, publishing and performing songs, there are still many things we don't know about England's traditional music. Where did the songs come from? Who sang them, and where, when and why? Why did some songs thrive, and did the collectors' passions and prejudices determine what was preserved, and what was lost?In answer to these questions, acclaimed folklorist Steve Roud has drawn on an unprecedented range of sources to present an intricate social history of folk song through the ages, from the sixteenth to the early twentieth century. It is an absorbing and impeccably researched account that gives a sonorous voi

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe definitive biography of guitar icon and Grammy Award-winning artist Bill Frisell.FEATURING EXCLUSIVE LISTENING SESSIONS WITH: Paul Simon; Justin Vernon of Bon Iver; Gus Van Sant; Rhiannon Giddens; The Bad Plus; Gavin Bryars; Van Dyke Parks; Sam Amidon; Hal Willner; Jim Woodring; Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill''A beautiful and long overdue portrait of one of America's true living cultural treasures.''JOHN ZORN''The perfect companion-piece to the music of its subject.''MOJO''Outlines the subject's life in a series of scrupulous strokes and intimate interviews that are rare in such undertakings . . . a cool, casual victory.''IRISH TIMESOver a period of forty-five years, Bill Frisell has established himself as one of the most innovative and influential musicians at work today. A quietly revolutionary guitar hero for our genre-blurring times, he connects to a diverse rangeTrade Review''Bill Frisell plays the guitar like Miles Davis played the trumpet.'' - New Yorker''A genius.'' - Marianne Faithful

Read more less