Book Review
Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.
Bix
Bix Scott Chantler 254 Pages ISBN: #9781501190780 (13) Gallery 13 2020 Leon Bismark “Bix" Beiderbecke's brief life has all of the hallmarks of a romantic legend. Wrote and recorded some of the landmark music in the early history of jazz; inspired a generation of soloists; overcame obstacles, including a lack of family support; died young after a brilliant career; and struggled with self-destructive impulses. Artist/writer Scott Chantler acknowledges all of this in ...
read morePeggy Lee: A Century Of Song
Peggy Lee: A Century Of Song Tish Oney 250 pages ISBN: 978-1-5381-2847-3 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 2020 A Century of Song marks the centenary of Peggy Lee's birth, but coming eighteen years after her death, the title is a reminder of the enduring legacy of one of the twentieth century's greatest singers. Few are as qualified as Tish Oney to evaluate Lee's music and career. An internationally renowned jazz singer, pianist and ...
read moreBrother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson
Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson Annye C. Anderson, Preston Lauterbach 224 Pages ISBN: # 978-0306845260 Hachette Books 2020 Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson is a slim memoir told by Annye C. Anderson, step-sister of Robert Johnson, to author Preston Lauderbach (The Chitlin' Circuit And The Road To Rock 'N' Roll (Norton, 2012)). While this gentle, but powerful, account will not be the final word in Johnson reportage, it will, ...
read moreBlues Come to Texas: Paul Oliver and Mack McCormick's Unfinished Book
Blues Come to Texas: Paul Oliver and Mack McCormick's Unfinished Book Alan B. Govenar (Compiler), Kip Lornell (Contributor) John and Robin Dickson Series in Texas Music, sponsored by the Center for Texas Music History, Texas State University 472 Pages ISBN: # 978-1623496388 Texas A&M University Press 2019 While the presently published reviews of Blues Come to Texas are accurate in their breadth they are not so in their depth. The quixotic tale ...
read morePlaying For Keeps: Improvisation In The Aftermath
Playing For Keeps: Improvisation In The Aftermath Edited by Daniel Fischlin & Eric Porter 352 Pages ISBN: 978-1-4780-0814-9 Duke University Press 2020 Musical improvisation is often described as a conversation. A universal language. Musicians trading back and forth seem to be having a blast, which, on occasion, for players and for listeners alike, can attain transcendent qualities that are difficult to interpret, never mind articulate. As the twelve essays in ...
read moreBlues From Laurel Canyon: My Life As A Bluesman
Blues From Laurel Canyon: My Life As A Bluesman John Mayall with Joel McIver 336 Pages ISBN: #978-1785581786 Omnibus Press 2019 Blues From Laurel Canyon seems an odd assignation of a name for John Mayall's memoir, if only because that main title doesn't quite correspond to its subtitle My Life As A Bluesman. But in his very introduction to these three-hundred thirty-six pages, 'The Godfather of British Blues' clarifies the point, if only ...
read moreKick It: A Social History Of The Drum Kit
Kick It: A Social History Of The Drum Kit Matt Brennan 371 Pages ISBN: #978-0-19-068387-0 Oxford University Press 2020 Matt Brennan's Kick It: A Social History Of The Drum Kit is a complex, meticulously researched piece of work that spans several centuries. In the course of over three hundred pages, Brennan explores the evolution of the design and construction of drum kits and their influence on various kinds of music. He unpacks ...
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