". . . besides innumerable good old tunes running in our heads, [there's] a sense of having actually lived in the years [covered by] this book." — The International MusicianMusic has always played an important part in American life--from the hymns sung in colonial days, to partisan songs that supported independence, and war songs that boosted morale. Immigration, westward movement and industrialization all helped contribute to America's musical archives. This outstanding co...

"With their intellectual brilliance, humor and wonderful eye for detail, Leonard Bernstein's letters blow all biographies out of the water."— The Economist (2013 Book of the Year)Leonard Bernstein was a charismatic and versatile musician—a brilliant conductor who attained international superstar status, and a gifted composer of Broadway musicals ( West Side Story), symphonies ( Age of Anxiety), choral wor...

This collection of little-known stories from music history is "an effortless summer read for the music lover" ( Houston Chronicle).The author of the highly successful History Channel series The Greatest Stories Never Told returns with new historic tales, this time focusing on amazing music stories that aren't taught in the average classroomRick Beyer plums the vast archives of the History Channel to deliver a treasure trove of obscure and fascinating...

The first published poetry collection from the acclaimed Harlem Renaissance poet behind such works as "Montage of a Dream Deferred" and "Life is Fine."Originally published in 1926, The Weary Blues is Langston Hughes's first collection of poetry. Broken into seven thematic sections, the sixty-eight poems capture the heart of a young budding artist and the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance. The title poem, "The Weary Blues," tells the story of a musician perf...

A forgotten singer from the early days of jazz is at the center of this riveting book -- a narrative that is part mystery, part biography, part meditation on the meaning and power of music.

On Highway 61 explores the historical context of the significant social dissent that was central to the cultural genesis of the sixties. The book is going to search for the deeper roots of American cultural and musical evolution for the past 150 years by studying what the Western European culture learned from African American culture in a historical progression that reaches from the minstrel era to Bob Dylan.The book begins with America's first great social critic, Henry D...

In the 1920s, Southern record companies ventured to cities like Dallas, Atlanta, and New Orleans, where they set up primitive recording equipment in makeshift studios. They brought in street singers, medicine show performers, pianists from the juke joints and barrelhouses. The music that circulated through Southern work camps, prison farms, and vaudeville shows would be lost to us if it hadn't't been captured on location by these performers and recorders.Eminent blues historian Pau...

Blesh published They All Played Ragtime as first major scholarly work on ragtime music in 1950, which sparked a ragtime revival. He founded Circle Records in 1946, which recorded new material from aging early jazz musicians as well as the Library of Congress recordings of Jelly Roll Morton. He sparked renewed interest in the music of Joseph Lamb, James P. Johnson, and Eubie Blake, among others.

In "The Weary Blues," Langston Hughes masterfully captures the essence of African American life in the Harlem Renaissance through a rich tapestry of poetry that echoes the rhythms of jazz and blues music. The collection is characterized by its innovative use of vernacular speech, musicality, and lyrical emotion, reflecting the struggles, hopes, and dreams of a marginalized populace. Hughes employs a straightforward yet evocative style, allowing the raw emotional power of his subjects to sh...

The Autobiography of Sidney Bechet. 1897-1959, Clarinetist, Saxophonist and Composer.Fifty years after hearing Sidney Bechet (1897-1959) in 1923, Duke Ellington recalled, "I have never forgotten the power and imagination with which he played." The first great jazz soloist, Bechet was a genius of the clarinet and the notoriously difficult soprano saxophone. In a career that spanned five decades and two continents he worked with Bunk Johnson, King Oliver, Duke Ellington, Josephine Bak...

First published in 1926, ‘The Weary Blues’ is Langston Hughes’s first collection of poetry. Broken into seven thematic sections, the sixty-eight poems capture the heart of a young budding artist and the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance. The title poem, “The Weary Blues,” tells the story of a musician performing in a bar and uses a very lyrical style that flows throughout the collection. Other poems include, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” “Danse Africaine,” “Dream Variation,” “Mother to Son,...

The New York Times bestselling author of Dylan Goes Electric! follows Jelly Roll Morton on a journey through the hidden worlds and forbidden songs of early blues and jazz.In Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs and Hidden Histories, Elijah Wald takes readers on a journey into the hidden and censored world of early blues and jazz, guided by the legendary New Orleans pianist Jelly Roll Morton. Morton became nationally famous as a composer and b...