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List Price: $74.20 Amazon Price: $67.64 Used Price: $10.84 Customer Review: FORCED TO BUY FOR JAZZ HISTORY
This was required for my jazz history class at Sacramento City College (MUFHL 315 - online). It was 125.00 at the college book (packaged along with some worthless CD's). It is not laid out like a normal textbook. At the beginning, it doesn't have a chapter outline or learning objectives. At the end of each chapter, all you have is a sorry summery that doesn't cover any of what the author is trying to say within the chapter. THIS IS THE WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER BEEN FORCED TO BUY FOR A CLASS. I am tired people publishing the results of their graduate work as TEXTBOOKS and ripping off poor undeserving student. Reading this book is like watching paint dry.
Customer Review: This book connects the dots...
I had begun to get serious about immersing myself in Jazz. A little dive around the corner was showing excellent Jazz groups and I had to take the opportunity to discover this great art form. My daughter lent me a textbook she had from college.
I immediately picked it up and for several hours was scanning it backwards and forwards. I kept referencing all the artists and songs I had heard of all my life and this book very handily made the connections. It's loaded with clear and concise and insightful teaching aids.
I can now understand much better the overall experience and history of jazz. The technical parts are still quite overwhelming, but the author's writing is very articulate and non-judgmental. I've rarely seen a more learning friendly book. As I started to mention, you can start anywhere you want in this book and just take what you can handle.
This classic chronological survey of jazz history brings the various historical styles to life by exploring them through the lives of the musicians and a study of their recordings. KEY TOPICS An eight-part organization covers THE BLUES;PIANO STYLES—1890-1940; NEW ORLEANS JAZZ AND DIXIELAND—1910-1940; SWING—1934-1945; BEBOP—1943-1960; THIRD STREAM, COOL, AND BEYOND—1949- ; FREE JAZZ—1960- ; and JAZZ/ROCK FUSION—1968- . For jazz lovers.
List Price: $72.60 Amazon Price: $72.60 Used Price: $29.85 Customer Review: Students Do Not Purchase
Are you a student taking a course that requires this book? If yes, do not purchase - this is not the book you need. The book mentioned on Amazon appears to have the CD but it's not included.
Search the web for Introduction to Jazz History, by Megill with CDs or ISBN# 0131829319 (just the CDs), ISBN# 0131061895 (book and CDs) - this information is per Peirce College.
About the book itself - very well written and appears to be the start of an excellent class.
Customer Review: Great book, but a bit dry.
There is a good reason this book is used as a text in several jazz and music history classes. This book is THE place to go if you want a definitive look at the roots of jazz music and how it has evolved. The only problems with it are that it is a bit on the dry side (hence it being used as a textbook) and that it claims it is supposed to come with a companion CD, yet did not come with one when I ordered it. If you are wanting to learn about jazz music, this book is necessary!
List Price: $67.60 Used Price: $0.77 Customer Review: "instrumental jazz" history?
Come on, Mark. 8 editions. Still no singers. Have Vaughan, Fitzgerald, Holiday, et al. contributed nothing to the art?
Customer Review: Everything You Wanted to Know About Jazz
This is the most accurate, user-friendly intro to jazz. It focuses on the music, not the personal lives of the musicians. It explains, patiently and systematically, in luminously clear prose, what jazz is and how to get the most out of listening to it. It details the origins of jazz as well as the distinguishing characteristics of all the major styles: Dixieland, Swing, Bebop, Cool, Hard Bop, "Free Jazz" and Avant-Garde of the 60s and 70s, and Jazz-Rock Fusion. It profiles 144 musicians' contributions (their sources, their styles, and lists of the others they influenced) and provides classification of more than 1000 other musicians, in easy-to-understand categories. Strategies for locating the best albums for all the top musicians. Optional CD of historic recordings is available. Optional CD of narrated demonstrations of the jazz instruments, song forms and methods that jazz musicians use to make their music is also available. Loaded with instrument sketches and photos of key musicians in action, this is America's most widely-used intro to jazz and has been translated into 5 foreign languages. Its author is an award-winning researcher and jazz musician who has travelled to South America, The Caribbean and Africa, as well as all the jazz centers of America. His work is so down-to-earth and practical that it has been adopted for use in jazz appreciation and jazz history courses at more than 500 high schools and colleges.
Jazz is the most colorful and varied art form in the world and it was born in one of the most colorful and varied cities, New Orleans. From the seed first planted by slave dances held in Congo Square and nurtured by early ensembles led by Buddy Belden and Joe "King" Oliver, jazz began its long winding odyssey across America and around the world, giving flower to a thousand different forms--swing, bebop, cool jazz, jazz-rock fusion--and a thousand great musicians. Now, in The History of Jazz, Ted Gioia tells the story of this music as it has never been told before, in a book that brilliantly portrays the legendary jazz players, the breakthrough styles, and the world in which it evolved. Here are the giants of jazz and the great moments of jazz history--Jelly Roll Morton ("the world's greatest hot tune writer"), Louis Armstrong (whose O-keh recordings of the mid-1920s still stand as the most significant body of work that jazz has produced), Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club, cool jazz greats such as Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, and Lester Young, Charlie Parker's surgical precision of attack, Miles Davis's 1955 performance at the Newport Jazz Festival, Ornette Coleman's experiments with atonality, Pat Metheny's visionary extension of jazz-rock fusion, the contemporary sounds of Wynton Marsalis, and the post-modernists of the Knitting Factory. Gioia provides the reader with lively portraits of these and many other great musicians, intertwined with vibrant commentary on the music they created. Gioia also evokes the many worlds of jazz, taking the reader to the swamp lands of the Mississippi Delta, the bawdy houses of New Orleans, the rent parties of Harlem, the speakeasies of Chicago during the Jazz Age, the after hours spots of corrupt Kansas city, the Cotton Club, the Savoy, and the other locales where the history of jazz was made. And as he traces the spread of this protean form, Gioia provides much insight into the social context in which the music was born. He shows for instance how the development of technology helped promote the growth of jazz--how ragtime blossomed hand-in-hand with the spread of parlor and player pianos, and how jazz rode the growing popularity of the record industry in the 1920s. We also discover how bebop grew out of the racial unrest of the 1940s and '50s, when black players, no longer content with being "entertainers," wanted to be recognized as practitioners of a serious musical form. Jazz is a chameleon art, delighting us with the ease and rapidity with which it changes colors. Now, in Ted Gioia's The History of Jazz, we have at last a book that captures all these colors on one glorious palate. Knowledgeable, vibrant, and comprehensive, it is among the small group of books that can truly be called classics of jazz literature.
List Price: $19.95 Amazon Price: $13.57 Used Price: $7.97 Customer Review: Can't put it down
This is a fascinating book. Gioia has done what appears to me to be a thorough, detailed, highly readable documentation of a form of music that has dominated American culture for the last near-100 years. I come at it as a newbie, even though I've lived through more than half of it. I just wasn't aware. This has been a valuable learning experience for me.
Customer Review: A History for the intermediate listener.
The back cover of this Oxford paperback claims that the book is suitable as an introduction to jazz or as an authoritative reference. I must admit that I am neither a jazz officianado nor a complete novice to the world of swing, bebop and fusion, making me incapable of confirming the cover's claims. However, for me, this book filled in the gaps quite nicely.
Most of my knowledge of jazz has come from the radio. The big names keep popping up but lesser known lights get little air time and I am at the whim of the dj's tastes. "The History of Jazz" covers them all, starting at the very beginning - drum circle dances in pre-abolition New Orleans. It then discusses the roots of early dixie land jazz (ragtime, Joplin, and the blues) and then describes the movement of jazz from New Orleans to Chicago and New York. It intersperses lively anecdotes about the fathers of jazz -Jelly Roll Morton was a procurer (pimp?) early on- with music theory and analysis. Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong and Morton all have a section devoted to them. A chapter on the jazz age pays special attention to Armstrong's Hot Five and subsequent career. Bix Beiderbecke's biography is given in detail along with notes on many other famous players of his day. A chapter is devoted to Harlem, stride piano, Waller, Ellington and the advent of the big bands, ending with a description of society and music at the Cotton Club. The Swing era gets a chapter to itself with even more in-depth treatment of big bands and those who led them (Goodman, the Dorsey's etc.). Kansas City style jazz, and european jazz traditions (Django Reinhardt) are also covered. The details of Billie Holiday's life, although well known, make for a sad story.
The second half of the book, which covers modern jazz, the fragmentation of jazz styles and recent jazz developments, is much less coherent than the first. The section on bebop with its lengthy discussion of the life and influence of Bird and Gillespie continues to be readable and thorough. However, as the author approaches the present day, the writing, like the jazz, seems to fragment. This is not to say that it isn't enjoyable reading, just that the sheer number of names and styles begins to pull the book in too many directions. California jazz, trad jazz, cool jazz, hard bop, post-bop and soul, free jazz, post-modern jazz and the various fusion forms leave the reader gasping for air. It seems clear to me that I will need to go out and listen to a lot of things to round out my education. Fortunately the book is well supplied with notes, further readings and, best of all a recommended listening list.
While I might not have understood everything the author had to say about the subtleties of the music, this book has made me a much keener fan of jazz. It has created in me the desire to seek out new and different forms of the music and to listen more carefully to the old stuff. For this, I gladly give it five stars.
List Price: $49.95 Used Price: $29.99 Customer Review: Indispensable!
A must have for any Jazz fan! This book is an outstanding compilation of early Jazz pictures. Ideal to have on your coffee table!
There were but four major galaxies in the early jazz universe, and three of them--New Orleans, Chicago, and New York--have been well documented in print. But there has never been a serious history of the fourth, Kansas City, until now. In this colorful history, Frank Driggs and Chuck Haddix range from ragtime to bebop and from Bennie Moten to Charlie Parker to capture the golden age of Kansas City jazz. Readers will find a colorful portrait of old Kaycee itself, back then a neon riot of bars, gambling dens and taxi dance halls, all ruled over by Boss Tom Pendergast, who had transformed a dusty cowtown into the Paris of the Plains. We see how this wide-open, gin-soaked town gave birth to a music that was more basic and more viscerally exciting than other styles of jazz, its singers belting out a rough-and-tumble urban style of blues, its piano players pounding out a style later known as "boogie-woogie." We visit the great landmarks, like the Reno Club, the "Biggest Little Club in the World," where Lester Young and Count Basie made jazz history, and Charlie Parker began his musical education in the alley out back. And of course the authors illuminate the lives of the great musicians who made Kansas City swing, with colorful profiles of jazz figures such as Mary Lou Williams, Big Joe Turner, Jimmy Rushing, and Andy Kirk and his "Clouds of Joy." Here is the definitive account of the raw, hard-driving style that put Kansas City on the musical map. It is a must read for everyone who loves jazz or American music history.
List Price: $32.00 Amazon Price: $32.00 Used Price: $9.90 Customer Review: A Semi-Forgotten Treasure
Any serious student of Jazz needs to know about the Kansas City sound. The book reiterated what I already knew which is that KC was a major contribitor to bebop and to r&b due to the styles that came togteher from that part of the country. Generations of musicians were influenced by the Basie Band and Charlie Parker. You will also get an education of what life was like in the black community of a midwestern city. Kansas City, which happens to be one of my favorites among cities, had a parallel identity with the world of Negro Leagues baseball and both jazz and baseball are remembered through a museum which I plan to visit soon. I recommend the book to anyone unfamiliar with the subject and interested in jazz.
Customer Review: A chronicle of the golden age of jazz music
Kansas City Jazz is a chronicle of the golden age of jazz music, an era that put Kansas City on the map along with the more heavily documented jazz havens of New Orleans, Chicago, and New York. Jazz authority and former record executive Frank Driggs combines his talent Kansas City native and radio host Chuck Haddix to present an in-depth chronicle jazz styles that encompassed rough-and-tumble urban blues, and pounding piano music that would come to be known as "boogie-woogie". A tour of jazz cultural landmarks such as the Reno Club and colorful profiles of jazz figures from Mary Lou Williams and Big Joe Turner to Jimmy Rushing and Andy Kirk, along with an inset section of black-and-white photographs, distinguish this "must-read" for jazz music history enthusiasts.
List Price: $72.45 Used Price: $6.32 Customer Review: Thorough history from the beginning
This is a review of the 1977 edition. I'm sure there is a latter edition, and probably due for an update. Fairly serious, text book, and perhaps best in the early years, including folk, ragtime, blues and African influences. Liberally sprinkled with great photos, some early ones include a 1895 photo of Buddy Bolten and a 1923 photo of King Oliver band with Louis Armstrong. This book is probably most geared for the musician, with transcriptions from Lester Young, Charlie Parker, and John Coltrane as well as many shorter musical passages through the text. Although I'm sure everyone find some of their favorite musicians missing, Tirro offers many perspectives and tries to relate jazz to other cultural happenings, such as beat poets. His chapter on "Loose Ends" attempts to fill in some of his omissions. I would have liked to have seen more discussion on the role of evolving technology, for example without the more modern microphone a crooner like Frank Sinatra wouldn't have stood out. I found his chronology and discography very helpful in keeping the history and music in context. Readers would do well to have a copy of The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz to listen along with the reading.
The companion volume to the ten-part PBS TV series by the team responsible for The Civil War and Baseball.
Continuing in the tradition of their critically acclaimed works, Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns vividly bring to life the story of the quintessential American music—jazz. Born in the black community of turn-of-the-century New Orleans but played from the beginning by musicians of every color, jazz celebrates all Americans at their best.
Here are the stories of the extraordinary men and women who made the music: Louis Armstrong, the fatherless waif whose unrivaled genius helped turn jazz into a soloist's art and influenced every singer, every instrumentalist who came after him; Duke Ellington, the pampered son of middle-class parents who turned a whole orchestra into his personal instrument, wrote nearly two thousand pieces for it, and captured more of American life than any other composer. Bix Beiderbecke, the doomed cornet prodigy who showed white musicians that they too could make an important contribution to the music; Benny Goodman, the immigrants' son who learned the clarinet to help feed his family, but who grew up to teach a whole country how to dance; Billie Holiday, whose distinctive style routinely transformed mediocre music into great art; Charlie Parker, who helped lead a musical revolution, only to destroy himself at thirty-four; and Miles Davis, whose search for fresh ways to sound made him the most influential jazz musician of his generation, and then led him to abandon jazz altogether. Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum, Count Basie, Dave Brubeck, Artie Shaw, and Ella Fitzgerald are all here; so are Sidney Bechet, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and a host of others.
But Jazz is more than mere biography. The history of the music echoes the history of twentieth-century America. Jazz provided the background for the giddy era that F. Scott Fitzgerald called the Jazz Age. The irresistible pulse of big-band swing lifted the spirits and boosted American morale during the Great Depression and World War II. The virtuosic, demanding style called bebop mirrored the stepped-up pace and dislocation that came with peace. During the Cold War era, jazz served as a propaganda weapon—and forged links with the burgeoning counterculture. The story of jazz encompasses the story of American courtship and show business; the epic growth of great cities—New Orleans and Chicago, Kansas City and New York—and the struggle for civil rights and simple justice that continues into the new millennium.
Visually stunning, with more than five hundred photographs, some never before published, this book, like the music it chronicles, is an exploration—and a celebration—of the American experiment.
List Price: $65.00 Amazon Price: $44.20 Used Price: $4.94 Customer Review: Jazz
This history of Jazz is not only one of the best reads but with the addition of all the pictures this book is such a great insight to our culture not only for music lovers but all of society. A tuely remarkable book.
Customer Review: Great book...until the last chapter
This is a very well-written, entertaining and informative book, and I learned a great deal while reading it and enjoying the many beautiful pictures. However, the last four decades of jazz are compressed into the last chapter, and some omissions (like George Shearing!) are inexplicable. Overall, this is a great introduction to jazz, but be aware of the shortcomings.
From woman's suffrage to Babe Ruth's home runs, from Louis Armstrong's jazz to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's four presidential terms, from the finale of one world war to the dramatic close of the second, War, Peace, and All That Jazz presents the story of some of the most exciting years in U.S. history. With the end of World War I, many Americans decided to live it up, going to movies, driving cars, and cheering baseball games a plenty. But alongside this post-WWI spree was high unemployment, hard times for farmers, ever-present racism, and, finally, the Depression, the worst economic disaster in U.S. history, flip-flopping the nation from prosperity to scarcity. Along came one of our country's greatest leaders, F.D.R., who promised a New Deal, gave Americans hope, and then saw them through the horrors and victories of World War II. These three decades--full of optimism and despair, progress and Depression, and, of course, War, Peace, and All That Jazz--forever changed the United States.
List Price: $15.95 Used Price: $6.43 Customer Review: Bravo!
Bravo, Joy Hakim! History was never really enjoyable for me-not boring, just not really captivating. This book, number 9 in A History of US, is my favorite so far. The others were really well done, and I enjoyed them, too.
She really writes it more like our countries big story. The famous men and women are introduced more as characters than as names. From the "Lets just have a good time" 20's after World War I, through racial bigotry, the Depression, the attack on Pearl Harbor to the end of World War II, she explains everything in detail. Hakim throws in funny and interesting facts, pictures (the second edition is in full color) paragraphs out of books, autobiographies and letters, making you feel that you understand almost everything you can. I think this, the 1918-1945 period in history has been the most interesting for me. So much was going on! It seems like she packed a lot into one book, but even her summarizing jobs are amazing.
I really admire her truthfulness, and the hope she always seems to have that things will get better in the future, and that we'll try not to repeat old mistakes. She acclaims people who helped change the nation for better, and doesn't justify or smooth over the bad. Even while she's telling about all the evil of Hitler's government, she is letting you know that America's government made some pretty bad mistakes too, like not accepting the 2,000 refugee children from Germany that Hitler was willing to send over.
One thing I like most about her books, and especially this one, is she never makes an excuse for the hate groups, rioters, and even famous people that she admires. She pulls out the faults, and explains carefully why they did the things they did . Hakim does it in a way that makes you understand, if not accept, their acts. There are still things I don't (and don't think I ever will) understand in history, but Hakim really helps me grasp them better. Kids will really enjoy these books a lot more than the huge history textbooks. Hakim put some really hard issues and photos in her books, but after all, they are history.
Five stars definitely!
Customer Review: Not Perfect, but Pretty Darned Good
American kids have a hard enough time caring about the post-Vietnam era. For an author to make the years from 1918 to 1945 come alive, and particularly the Great Depression, is a feat indeed. Hakiim has accomplished it with this book. The criticisms about its sympathies to Communism are well-taken, but a good middle or high school teacher can remedy that in short order, or simply assign selected chapters instead of having kids read all the way through from start to finish. I have had students tell me that they are reading this volume for enjoyment, which is also a remarkable feat.
Buddy and his band at the height of their popularity and influence, with seven arrangements that display not only Buddy Rich's virtuosity but his unsurpassed musicianship, as well. Included is a rare example of Buddy on brushes and a brilliant rendition of his signature piece, the medley from West Side Story.
List Price: $29.95 Amazon Price: $26.99 Used Price: $17.62 Customer Review: Hypnotic Drumming
I was originally going to give this four stars, with maybe a half knocked off because some of the band's arrangements were a bit ponderous and the video, which if clean and with good resolution, might be a tad better. But what the hell, forget all that stuff and just watch and listen to perhaps the greatest jazz drummer of all time at the height of his powers driving a band that looks just barely out of high school. It's hard to believe that the guy was 65 and only had five more years to live, getting cut down unexpectedly by a brain tumor. What knocked me over here is not the overall power of Buddy's drumming, but its delicacy (particularly some stunning brush work), which some superb camera work caught beautifully. And,yes, the sound is absolutely first rate.
I've mentioned that some of the arrangements seem a bit ponderous. Like Stan Kenton, who also kept a big band going during this period, there's a tendency towards a rock beat that is great on rhythm (good thing for a drummer!) and ensemble playing, and sometimes weak on melody line, what with lots of pieces all sounding somewhat alike. Fortunately, this album balances some of this with terrific swinging pieces, including Buddy's somewhat signature West Side Story one, and a terrific Carioca. And, the bonus of a much earlier Green Dolphin Street captures one incredible bit of drumming.
Buddy Rich was an original. This dvd (which I saw as demonstration for VHS over 20 years ago) is a big band treasure and Hudson is to be congratulated for bringing it out. I'm hoping that someone can find the tape of a PBS Tommy Dorsey special from about 18 years ago which featured Buddy, Mel Torme, Maureen McGovern, Buddy Morrow and Jack Jones. Buddy was at his best in one of his very last performances, and we got a hint of his work with one of the greatest of all big bands.
Customer Review: one for the ages
Neil Peart, in his liner notes for the tribute "Burning for Buddy," quotes the influence of the man as thus: "genius is the fire that lights itself." I used this quote to describe Stanley Kubrick in my review of his DVD collection, and fittingly so, it accurately summarizes the talent of undoubtedly the greatest, most influential drummer of the 20th century. Being a percussionist myself for 28 years, it never ceases to amaze me the fluidity and effortless motions Buddy created with a simple, 4-piece kit, from the crossover techniques and double bass patterns on a single foot pedal, to the infamous "whipped cream roll," a lick that he learned from the New Orleans jazz cats of the '30s and '40s. Truly it is a joy and a sight to behold when this man sat behind the set and made magic.
I had the good fortune to witness one of his final performances in Orlando at the Lake Eola Jazz Festival in 1986, and was summarily disappointed, in getting within 15 feet of him at the end of the show, by his arrogance and bitter attitude towards his musicians and the general public. Most misunderstood geniuses tend to be left to their own devices in person, so I guess it's no shock to discover the perfectionist in him that unleashed its wrath that day. Nevertheless, no one can deny his greatness on the skins, and the signature show at the Montreal Jazz festival affirms this. the "Channel One Suite" will always be tied to his legacy, and he treats it on this night with precision and grace. Steve Marcus and the band are in top form as usual, yet they seem forced to give up the spots to Buddy when directed. Ah, the trials of being a sideman; the star always shines brightest on the one whose name signs the checks.
I hope to see the vaults opened up one day and a comprehensive disc put together of Buddy's numerous appearances on the Tonight Show, with Ed Shaugnessy (himself a drumming legend) just sitting in the background smiling and soaking it up. Until then, we'll just have to settle for gems like this. A must for anyone who appreciates a singular musician who created a revoultion for his instrument.
Diana Krall: Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival is a portrait of an already-accomplished musician in the process of evolving into a great artist. Always a fine jazz pianist, an expressive singer, and a capable interpreter (mostly of the Great American Songbook), Krall spent little time developing an original voice prior to her marriage to Elvis Costello and her CD The Girl in the Other Room, which features multiple songwriting collaborations with Costello as well as more adventurous choices in cover material (Joni Mitchell's "Black Crow," Tom Waits's "Temptation"). That 2004 recording is the centerpiece of this concert; fully nine of the 13 selections here, including the Waits and Mitchell songs as well as five Costello-Krall compositions, were drawn from it. Purists may lament the lessening of the straight-ahead jazz element in Krall's music (indeed, with its simple major chords and countryish lilt, the original "Narrow Daylight" will inevitably invite comparisons to Norah Jones). But Krall and her excellent band still swing mightily (cf. an extended version of the standard "All or Nothing at All") and improvise like the seasoned jazz pros they are. It's a heady combination: Krall is at least as good an instrumentalist as her contemporaries; add to that her singing and now an interest in songwriting that reflects the influence of pop music as well as jazz, and you have a genuinely unique talent. --Sam Graham List Price: $14.98 Amazon Price: $10.99 Used Price: $10.72 Customer Review: Wow!
I had no reservations about buying this DVD since I had seen her live about three years ago and had seen some of this concert on TV recently.I enjoy her records alot,but they don't begin to tell the whole story and for anyone who has never seen her live,the first thing that they will notice is that this is much more than a pretty face who makes nice records and happens to sell alot of them.This is a woman who comes to play and what a treat it is to see her and this great band stretch out on these tunes.I read some of the reviews here and noticed a couple of negative comments about this rythym section in comparison to the last one.This is nonsense.The previous bass-drum tandem of John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton is, indeed as good as it gets,but so are Robert Hurst and Peter Erskine.Its really a matter of apples and oranges and they,along with guitarist Anthony Wilson and of course, the leader,can and indeed do swing you into ill health.Wilson brings chops,taste and intensity to everything he plays and its apparent that Diana is having a ball with it all.I find her forays into Tom Waits,Joni Mitchell,as well as the tunes she co-wrote with her husband to be to be a welcome change in direction and it seems totally natural.And,as with all great music,it gets better with each listening-I really noticed that with the original tunes.Check out the effortless transition from Temptation to East Of The Sun(including a killer piano solo) to the burning up tempo Devil May Care and then right into the Joni Mitchell tune and you realize that this truly is a unique talent.In addition to being the perfect accompianist for herself,as a piano player she makes you realize,by now that while you might want to believe that its her bandmates that are pushing her to this level,that it might just be the other way around.Highlights are too many to mention.The opening instrumental sets the pace and the closing Love Me Like A Man brings down the house.The sound is great and the camera work is first rate,although,I would agree that its a little busy sometimes-but this in no way can detract from the music.There should be more stars available for this one.Highly recommended.
Customer Review: "InKredible" Krall
As a huge Diana fan, and owner of all of her recordings, This DVD is still pure pleasure! The live sound and picture quality is first-rate. Diana's love of the music she performs simply shines! You will appreciate her incredible talent even more when you realize her "Live" show equally rivals anything she has done in the studio. If you're not a Krall enthusiast, you will be after viewing this DVD!
There are few absolutes in this world, but Ray Charles, an artist to whom hackneyed terms like legend and genius actually do apply, is one of them. So even if more intimate venues are usually preferable to cavernous concert halls like Montreux's, any Ray is good Ray. Filmed in 1997, the 18-song, 73-minute show features Charles's big band visiting very familiar ground ("Busted," "What'd I Say," "I Can't Stop Loving You," and, of course, "Georgia on My Mind"), along with some less obvious choices (a swinging rendition of the Oscar Peterson instrumental "Scotia Blues" and a very funky "Watch Them Dogs," featuring the Raelettes). DVD bonus features include a text bio and timeline, but the unquestioned highlight is the voiceover track by the man himself, in which he offers anecdotes from the past, insight into specific songs, and a healthy dose of humor and soul. Great stuff. --Sam Graham List Price: $24.98 Amazon Price: $21.99 Used Price: $12.80 Customer Review: Genius at his best!
I was a fan of Ray's since childhood when my grandmother used to play his music all of the time. I didn't realize the genius of the man until I got older. The man played many instruments,including the sax, trumpet, and of course the piano that we associate with him, just to name a few. The Genius besides being an accomplished musician was also an accomplished music writer, arranger and producer. Watching this DVD concert left me wanting more and made me appreciate the genius of the man so much more. The concert was about 75 minutes long, but as the adage goes, "time flies when you're having fun", definitely applies here. He played alot of his standards and some classic pop standards from other artists with his special touches which make you think, "why didn't they do it that way"? My only complaint was I wished the concert could of been longer. There were some standards he didn't play that I was hoping to hear, but I guess when you're watching a concert of a musical genius who have a repetoir of over 600+ songs, you have to end it somewhere. Ray's performance in this concert will impress and his mastery of the keyboard synthesizer in this concert will bring tears to the eyes. The added treat to this DVD is the interview feature where he critiques his music, where he drew his inspiration, and why he did each song that way in the concert, and his views on music in general. One other additional feature I liked in this DVD/CD set is the timeline of the man and his many, many, accomplishments which was chronicled from his childhood, to when he became blind, the ooodles and ooodles of awards and accolades he accomplished throughout his career, just stopping short of his death. If you're a fan of the Genius, this DVD/CD set is a must have.
Customer Review: Where is Ray Charles
Boy, there sure is not eonugh of Ray Charles here. and i'm sure every one would agree with me that there needs to be more of ray charles here? What's up with that? That's the only complant i have. Other then that get this dvd, with the special edition we finily her what ray charles has to say.
List Price: $19.95 Amazon Price: $12.97 Used Price: $13.00 Customer Review: This is an invaluable memoir for the New Orleans Music and f
Fest lovers and New Orleans and roots music lovers should not think twice about buying this book. The photos and stories by Smith and Miner are priceless. The selections show the gamut of performers in a visual history of the festival. Many of the photos are some of the only color work of the period of specific performers. i go back to this one frequently.
A Year By Year History of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, with all the listings of who played when, where and what time each year. Over 400 photos recount the energy and excitement of musicians and festgoers alike. Also includes a section on the incredible food of the festival and the heritage and crafts.
List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $15.72 Used Price: $16.19
This special performance is the culmination of a year-long tour by Marianne Faithfull and pianist/arranger Paul Trueblood. The breathy, frail, and innocent voice of the '60s, wilted by too many years of hard-living, now conveys deep layers of emotion, and the rasp in her voice goes straight to the soul. This concert revisits her album "20th Century Blues" as well as her passion for Kurt Weill, especially the songs composed for his theater collaborations with Bertolt Brecht. Songs: Alabama Song, Pirate Jenny, Bilbao Song, Complainte de la Seine, The Ballad of the Soldier's Wife, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Don't Forget Me, Surabaya Johnny, Street Singer's Farewell, If Love Were All.
List Price: $14.98 Amazon Price: $14.23 Used Price: $6.60 Customer Review: MARIANNE THE CONQUERER
Marianne Faithfull at her absolute BEST! She is wonderfully raw and her interpretation of Brecht/Weill seems to be what the rest of her career has prepared her for. She infuses this material with pathos, humor and a humanity that shines through completely. She also interprets the rest of the material with an intelligence that is marvelous. Her rapport with the audience was captivating, as it always is. I loved the little Harry Nillson vignette and her candor about her drug abuse was simple and chilling. If you are a fan of Marianne, Brecht/Weill or just a lover of pure enchantment, you've GOT to experience this wonderful hour of magic! BRAVO.
Customer Review: some wines, some singers, just get better
OK, I am actually here to buy the DVD, so this is a comment on the performance it is of. Basically, whatever the extra interview stuff they stick on here, a recording of this performance is worth having, at least I think so as I just caught this now-old show on a satellite channel and was compelled to come down to my computer and find out if I could get it on CD or DVD. What you get here musically is not crystal pure tones and pretty brilliance (if you want that kind of a voice you're after Eva Cassidy not Marianne Faithfull), but a performance full of layers and expression. Which is not to say that this is dissonant or difficult, which a lot of people seem to think Weill is: it is melodic, it is compelling, and the lyrics by Brecht are clever and still bite. And it is not to say that Faithfull's voice is less than it could be, it is fine and true, but smoky and mature. She is just hypnotic to listen to and to watch. Not a musical phrase, not a physical gesture is wasted, nor are they overplayed. Great material, superbly performed. The only thing that annoys me about this DVD is that I am having to come to and buy it on the US website because they don't seem to have released it in Europe. All hail the multi-region DVD player.
Part of Hudson's new Classic Performances series, Buddy Rich and The Buddy Rich Big Band, Live at The 1982 Montreal Jazz Festival features Buddy and his band at the height of their popularity and influence. The video contains seven arrangements, including a brilliant rendition of Buddy's signature piece, the medley from West Side Story. Also featured are two rare bonus clips of Buddy from his early years. Running Time: 60 Minutes
List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $24.95 Customer Review: Great Live Performance
I really enjoyed this video. Having viewed the VHS performance "Rich At The Top", I eagerly awaited to view this version of West Side Story & Time Check. I wasn't disappointed. What really got me was the solos by alto saxophonist, Andy Fusco. I had seen him with Buddy in the early eighties, "Live" in San Francisco and never really paid much attention to his blowing talents. Very impressive & imaginative on "Hookin' It" & Bob Mintzer's "Good News". Steve Marcus gives his usual fluid sax solos. Check out his "note-slashing" solo on "Time Check" (although I've always considered Pat Labarbera's solos more fiery on this chart). The sax section really cooks on the soli! Buddy is amazing on all charts (whether with brushes or sticks). Just effortlessly tearing those skins on all numbers. Great live performance with the usual strong brass section and admirable support from the bass and piano. I Highly Recommend this taped concert to any Buddy Rich Big Band fan.
Customer Review: Buddy Rich- Live at the '82 Montreal Jazz Fest- WOW
The box say's "Buddy and his Band at the height of their popularity" This is a MUST see video for fans of Buddy and jazz. The sound on this is top notch and of course Buddy is at his best, he wouldn't allow any less. The highlight {if you can get any better than the best} has to be the extended solo in Buddy's signature piece "West Side Story " medly. Again the sound is right on, you can almost feel his intensity, and at the same time his grace. This tape is flawless, almost 60 minutes of perfection There is and was only one Buddy.
Features jazz singer Sarah Vaughan's 1983 performance in Monterey, California with a guest appearance by blues/jazz singer Joe Williams. Songs include "Autumn Leaves," "If You Could See Me Now," "Send in the Clowns," "Time After Time," "That's All," "I've Got The World On A String," "I Hadn't Anyone Till You," and more
Used Price: $29.95 Customer Review: sarah is divine!
seeing a live recording of sarah is like no other.
this tape captures the magic of her range. her play-
fullness and dramatic prowess. if you are a sarahaddict
like me or have any good taste in great music, do
yourself a favor and purchase this video.
oh and im not bias.
List Price: $13.98 Amazon Price: $12.98 Used Price: $10.88 Customer Review: Ahhh, real salsa, the kind you rarely hear anymore!
Every single artist on this CD wears a crown for his/her craft! The days when you could (without fear) stand and dance to the music at the Fania All Stars at Madison Square Garden are gone...but the legacy will never fade. This CD envelops the hearer with the sound of every instrument played and the ballads bathe your ears like a warm waterfall. A must-have for every latino who truly appreciates his/her culture! Pass it on to the next generation.....
Customer Review: Salsa Artistes At Play
Live performances that should please both salsa and jazz fans. The Artistes are evidently having a good time playing with and to the audience, judging by the amount of applause generated at appropriate moments. It all makes you wish that you had been there in Madison Square Garden.
The downside to this collection is that you can't really mix the applause out, so I'm going to save this gem to enjoy in the comfort of my own home.
A Year By Year History of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, with all the listings of who played when, where and what time each year. Over 400 photos recount the energy and excitement of musicians and festgoers alike. Also includes a section on the incredible food of the festival and the heritage and crafts.
List Price: $24.95 Amazon Price: $15.72 Used Price: $16.19
List Price: $40.00 Amazon Price: $34.35 Used Price: $23.00 Customer Review: This book is the greatest. What photos!!
My husband (the jazz fan) and I just went to the Monterey Jazz festival for the first time this September. This book captures the essence of the festival and fills me, the novice, in on everything about this incredible event. it's world class and I will try to attend forever -- and this book showed me why.
This digital document is an article from Central Penn Business Journal, most recently published by Journal Publications Inc. on April 19, 2002. The length of the article is 457 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details Title: Mellon drops longtime sponsorship for jazz festival Author: Joe Berg Publication:Central Penn Business Journal (News) Date: April 19, 2002 Publisher: Journal Publications Inc. Volume: 18 Issue: 17 Page: 21
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This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on September 19, 2003. The length of the article is 1067 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details Title: Booking committee casts a wide and wacky net.(Festivals)(Artists selected for the 2003 Eugene Celebration range from Americana to punk to jazz to classical) Publication:The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper) Date: September 19, 2003 Publisher: The Register Guard Page: T9
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This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on September 3, 2004. The length of the article is 909 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details Title: It's a renewed Newport jazz festival.(Entertainment)(After a four-year hiatus, world class jazz returns to the Oregon Coast) Publication:The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper) Date: September 3, 2004 Publisher: The Register Guard Page: T3
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This digital document is an article from Proceso, published by CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V. on May 22, 2005. The length of the article is 801 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details Title: (También) con el jazz la vida es más sabrosa.(Festival de Jazz de Veracruz) Author: Eduardo Soto Millán Publication:Proceso (Magazine/Journal) Date: May 22, 2005 Publisher: CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V. Issue: 1490 Page: 69(2)
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This digital document is an article from Toronto Life, published by Thomson Gale on August 1, 2005. The length of the article is 561 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details Title: Jazz.(Oshawa Jazz And Blues Festival)(Calendar) Author: Stuart Broomer Publication:Toronto Life (Magazine/Journal) Date: August 1, 2005 Publisher: Thomson Gale Volume: 39 Issue: 8 Page: 123(1)
Article Type: Calendar
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This digital document is an article from Epoca, published by Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA) on July 23, 2004. The length of the article is 491 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details Title: Carlinhos Brown Rastafari do samba.(cantante)(próxima función en Festival de Jazz de San Sebastián ) Author: Idoia Sota Publication:Epoca (Magazine/Journal) Date: July 23, 2004 Publisher: Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA) Issue: 1014 Page: 72(1)
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