"Billie Holiday deserves a biography in which her musicianship isn't overshadowed by the tragic events of her life. O'Meally has written that book," says Entertainment Weekly about this absorbing and authoritative account of the greatest jazz singer in history. O'Meally emphasizes Holiday's artistry and training rather than her personal miseries, and he uses voluminous archival material to correct common myths about Holiday. Chronicling her rigorous musical apprenticeship in Baltimore, her rec...
Pepperbox Jazz: Book 2, by Australian-based composer, teacher and writer Elissa Milne, further explores the sounds, moods and rhythms of the twenty-first century. These 11 evocative and humorous pieces in a variety of jazz styles are composed especially for the Grade 5-7/Advanced pianist. Elissa Milne is one of the liveliest voices in educational piano music and her Little Peppers series of colourful jazz miniatures has made a huge impact on the UK teaching scene. Pepperbox Jazz Book 1 and B...
From Palace to Palais, the musicians who played in the big bands tell their own stories, bringing to life an unforgettable era. Pre-war reminiscences give an insight into a never-to-be-forgotten era, when London's nightclubs were the haunts of the aristocracy and of royalty, and the Prince of Wales would jump at any opportunity to play drums with the resident band. The elegant world of top hat, white ties and tails has gone for ever, but in Talking Swing the musicians relive those nights when th...
Back in 1909, not far from Jackson, Mississippi, Dr. Laurence Clifton Jones opened a special place for orphans named Piney Woods Country Life School. Dr. Jones loved music and wanted the children to love it too. In 1939 he started a school band that was just for girls, and he called it the Sweethearts. The music the girls played was called swing. It had rhythms and melodies that got people up on their feet to dance. And like all good music, it told stories about how it feels to be alive. After...
Maurice El Medioni (born on 18 October 1928 in Oran, Algeria) is an Algerian Jewish pianist, composer and interpreter of Andalusian, Rai, Chaabi, Sephardic and Arab music. He is one of the few living artists to have performed with the great Chaabi artists Lili Labassi, Line Monty, Samy el Maghribi, and Reinette l'Oranaise along with modern Rai greats like Khaled. This book contains his original handwritten memoirs, translated by Jonathan Walton. He tells firsthand the story of his early life in...
David Griffiths interviewed over 30 jazz artists in compiling Hot Jazz. The majority of those interviewed are the important, and oft-overlooked, side-men of the Big Bands of the Thirties and Forties, including Greely Walton, Bill Dillard, Lester Boone, Barclay Draper, Harvey Davis. There are also interviews with band leader Earle Howard and composer Walter Bishop Sr. They all vividly describe the atmosphere and ambience of the Swing Era. Accounts from artists outside the Harlem jazz scene, such...
See the joys, challenges, and exciting possibilities associated with jazz ensemble improvisation with Teaching Improv in Your Jazz Ensemble: A Complete Guide for Music Educators. Zachary B. Poulter presents scholarly research, professional performance techniques, and nuts-and-bolts rehearsal strategies, all of which will help teachers bring the joy of improvisation more fully into the jazz ensemble class. Over 180 arrangements of jazz standards are indexed to correlate with the sequence of impro...