Jazz Book / Video Reviews
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But Beautiful - A Book about Jazz by Geoff Dyer
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But
Beautiful is both ingenious and a brilliantly written book. Dyer sets the stage
for each musician, we can decipher each note played by Theolonious Monk, Lester
Young, Bud Powell, Art pepper, Ben Webster, Chef baker and Charles Mingus. We
visualized the crowded nightclubs; we hear the tingling of glasses and the
chatter of the patrons. The men who made jazz are at their...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Beatrice Richardson |
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Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece by Ashley Kahn and Jimmy Cobb
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In this age of "metafication", when every work of art must be held up, turned over, upside down, jiggled, poked, prodded and made to turn its head and cough, it was only a matter of time until Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue landed on the Petrie dish. In recording Kind of Blue, the Davis Sextet of 1959 - Davis,...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Bill Smith |
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Now’s the Time: The Complete Resnick Short Stories by John Harvey
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Jazz aficionados with a penchant for detective fiction can do far worse than explore John Harvey's excellent Charlie Resnick stories.
Set in the gritty inner city of Nottingham in the east midlands of England, Resnick, of Polish extraction, sleuth's his way to solving crimes against a backdrop of depravation, unemployment and dishonor among villains to a soundtrack of jazz...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Anthony Harratt |
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The Touring Musician: A Small Business Approach to Booking Your Band on the Road by Hal Galper
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Hal Galper, A jazz professional for more than forty years, Galper has performed and traveled with some of the greats, including Chet Baker, Cannonball Adderly, Art Blakely and other giants.
Is there enough work out there? Can I handle life on the road? Why would anyone choose a career as a bandleader? Where do I fit into the scheme...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Beatrice Richardson |
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Jazz Piano Chords by Misha V. Stefanuk
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Jazz pianist Misha V. Stefanuk has created a concise, well-constructed reference guide to playing jazz piano chords in his book, JAZZ PIANO CHORDS. Pianists will love playing with this book and experiencing the chord changes. This is one of the finest books of its type to appear in recent years, and it cover topics in a comprehensive manner. There...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Stars In My Eyes by Don Bachardy
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STARS IN MY EYES by Don Bachardy is a delightful visual and reading experience. Internationally-known portrait artist Don Bachardy gives the readers his drawings and commentary on composers, performers, artists, actors, writers, and directors in a compact, memorable collection. For those interested in movies and musical scores and composers, this is a nice gift for a friend. Jazz fans...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Deep Water: Music and Memory in Harlem Renaissance Thought by Paul Allen Anderson
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I recommend DEEP RIVER to any person seriously interested in black music as a field of study, and you will discover in this 335 page book much information that has not been available in one reference for a very long time, plus the fact this is one well-written and well-researched nonfiction book that brings new material to the public....
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Larkin's Jazz: Essays and Reviews 1940 - 1984 by Philip Larkin
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Considered one of the most important
of British authors in the twentieth century, Philip Larkin (1922 - 1985)
contributed many outstanding works in poetry, literature, and jazz analysis.
Among his many books are High Window (1974, poetry), and All What Jazz (1970,
essays).
What makes this book memorable reading is the width and scope
of Larkin's ability to understand and analyze works of...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Sammy : An Autobiography by Sammy Davis, Jr. and Jane & Burt Boyar
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SAMMY is one of the finest books to be published about one of America's enduring legends, singer/actor Sammy Davis, Jr.(1925 - 1990). His first memoir, YES I CAN was published in 1965, followed in 1980 by a second memoir, WHY ME? Boyar has essentially revised Davis' memoirs, and added much new information from unpublished interviews which will shock and...
(Autobiography)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Swing Shift: “All-Girl” Bands of the 1940s by Sherrie Tucker
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Sherrie Tucker has done something male jazz historians should have done years ago - give credit to "all-girl" bands and female jazz musicians. The only women who are generally written about are the singers.
Tucker has done some excellent research in digging up essential biographical and musical information on the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Phil Spitalny's "Hour of...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Terence Ripmaster |
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Frank and His Fabulous Rat Pack (Video) by Peter Townsend
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FRANK AND HIS FABULOUS RAT PACK is a treasure trove of historical facts, accurate, and an excellent visual look at some of the great entertainment figures of the last century! Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, Bing Crosby, and others make for an unusual and enjoyable tour in this 60 minute documentary!
There is nothing boring...
(Other)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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The Old Detective's Daughter by A. V. Spencer
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For jazz music fans who like reading unusual mystery novels, A. V. Spencer's novel is well-written and will hold their interest from beginning to end with its sense of atmosphere, and characterizations. There is a touch of film noir atmosphere. It is also one of the best stories about the relationship between father and daughter you will come across...
(Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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The King of All, Sir Duke Ellington and the Artistic Revolution by Peter Lavezzoli
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Peter
Lavezzoli has written a fine book about Duke Ellington, one that will find a
home in many libraries and homes. THE KING OF ALL, SIR DUKE: ELLINGTON AND THE
ARTISTIC REVOLUTION reveals the wonder that was Duke Ellington.
During
Ellington's life, his goal was to share music written for the people and write
music for the people and perform music for the people....
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Jazz In American Culture by Peter Townsend
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As an
avid jazz historian, I simply could not put down this remarkable, compact, 193
page book. Peter Townsend has put together a concise and definitive analysis of
jazz in American culture in his well-researched, well-written book, JAZZ IN
AMERICAN CULTURE.
Townsend reveals the effects and affects of jazz in
other American art forms in addition to music. He shows us films and literature
where...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Riffs & Choruses : A New Jazz Anthology (Bayou) by Andrew Clark
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RIFFS & CHORUSES: A NEW JAZZ ANTHOLOGY is one of the most unique and entertaining jazz reference works to come along in many years! Published in 2001, this remarkable book which is compiled and edited by Andrew Clark, is one of the finest collections of writings about jazz ever written.
This paperback book is 486 pages in length,...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Songs of the Unsung by Andrew Clark
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SONGS OF THE UNSUNG is one of those special autobiographical narratives that comes along once in a while, and successfully captivates its reading audience with the complete candor of the person telling the story! This is an important sociological document, for it tells the life of Horace Tapscott, one of the most unique figures in jazz of black Los...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Lee Prosser |
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Stopping Time: Paul Bley and the Transformation of Jazz by Paul Bley and David Lee
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Paul Bley began on violin at the age of five, took up the piano at eight and gained his junior diploma at McGill conservatory at eleven. From 1950-2 he studied composition and conducting at the Juillard school in New York. Established musicians quickly recognized Bley's extraordinary musical gifts, and by 1952 he had recorded an album with the great...
(Autobiography)
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| Book Review by Beatrice Richardson |
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Nat King Cole by Daniel Mark Epstein
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Born Nathaniel Coles in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1919, Nat King Cole lived only 46 years, but packed in a couple of lifetimes. Epstein’s biography, which reads like a narrative novel, details the life and times of the school boyish, velvet-voiced singer/ pianist.
His father, Reverend Coles, moved his family to Chicago in 1923. As in the case of many...
(Biography)
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| Book Review by Terence Ripmaster |
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Louis Armstrong : An Extravagant Life by Laurence Bergreen
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Laurence Bergreen's book on Louis Armstrong is most satisfying in terms of exposing Armstrong, not just as a musician but as a human. Bergreen brings a fresh perspective to the life and times of this seminal jazz artist.
As Bergreen points out, Armstrong was clearly influenced by what was going on around him. The squalor of New Orleans where...
(Biography)
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| Book Review by Beatrice Richardson |
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Groovin' High : The Life of Dizzy Gillespie by Alyn Shipton
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Jazz is a music full of thrilling sounds. It can also span the full breadth of human emotion from exhilaration to profound sadness, from love to alleviation, from celebration to commiseration. All the greatest jazz musicians have had the ability to touch their listeners in one or more of these areas, but, for me, Dizzy Gillespie's music has managed...
(Biography)
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| Book Review by Beatrice Richardson |
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Spirit Catcher - The Life and Art of John Coltrane by John Fraim
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It was an interplay which marked a unique new concept in jazz. A concept recently resurfacing from the New York underground where it had existed for years. It was a concept which could be heard blaring out of Ornette Coleman’s garage in Los Angeles. Later in the sixties the concept would become the most influential in jazz. It would...
(Biography)
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| Book Review by Beatrice Richardson |
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John Coltrane: His Life and Music by Lewis Porter
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Over the years, John Coltrane and Harry Partch have become archetypes of the spiritual jazzman and the renegade avant-garde composer, respectively, and been elevated to Sainthood by their followers and fans.
In Fact, There's a church in San Francisco, St. John Coltrane African Orthodox church that worships Coltrane as a saint. Biographies, especially well-researched biographies threaten to fill in...
(Biography)
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| Book Review by Beatrice Richardson |
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Harry Partch by Bob Gilmore
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Bob Gilmores' Harry Partch is the definitive biography of a man who obscured large portions of his background and cultivated a reputation for being difficult and unknowable. Using the complete archives of the Partch estate, Gilmore has uncovered details about the composers life and work that may lead to an overhaul of his myth.
Gilmore convincingly claims that Partch...
(Biography)
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| Book Review by Beatrice Richardson |
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Bird Lives!: An Evan Horne Mystery by Bill Moody
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The death of one saxophone player is a tragedy, the murder of several is a jazz session from hell.
The author Bill Moody who is a professional jazz drummer himself, who perfectly blends the music of jazz with mystery in his newest Evan Horne novel "Bird Lives."
Jazz pianist Evan Horne is making a comeback, a car accident prevented...
(Fiction)
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| Book Review by Beatrice Richardson |
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Yesterday I Cried by Celebrating The Lessons of Living and Love
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Eventually, the time of action must come.
When this happens, be a winner !
Don't settle for mediocre results.
Don't try to stay even.
Go for it all!
Deng Ming-Dao,in Everyday Tao:
Living with Balance and Harmony
The best selling author Iyanla Vazant is a feisty and charismatic orator but one who has led an extremely difficult life, full of pain and abuse. As...
(Non-Fiction)
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| Book Review by Beatrice Richardson |
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