Jazz and Death
Author: Frederick J. Spencer
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
Published: 2002
Total Pages: 333
ISBN-13: 160473633X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA disclosure of the deaths of jazz artists and their often fatal lifestyles
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Jazz and Death
Author: Walter van de Leur
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2023-05-12
Total Pages: 161
ISBN-13: 135137317X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKJazz and Death: Reception, Rituals, and Representations critically examines the myriad and complex interactions between jazz and death, from the New Orleans "jazz funeral" to jazz in heaven or hell, final recordings, jazz monuments, and the music’s own presumed death. It looks at how fans, critics, journalists, historians, writers, the media, and musicians have narrated, mythologized, and relayed those stories. What causes the fascination of the jazz world with its deaths? What does it say about how our culture views jazz and its practitioners? Is jazz somehow a fatal culture? The narratives surrounding jazz and death cast a light on how the music and its creators are perceived. Stories of jazz musicians typically bring up different tropes, ranging from the tragic, misunderstood genius to the notion that virtuosity somehow comes at a price. Many of these narratives tend to perpetuate the gendered and racialized stereotypes that have been part of jazz’s history. In the end, the ideas that encompass jazz and death help audiences find meaning in a complex musical practice and come to grips with the passing of their revered musical heroes -- and possibly with their own mortality.
Is Jazz Dead?
Author: Stuart Nicholson
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-05-01
Total Pages: 287
ISBN-13: 1136730931
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIs Jazz Dead? examines the state of jazz in America at the turn of the twenty-first century. Musicians themselves are returning to New Orleans, Swing, and Bebop styles, while the work of the '60s avant-garde and even '70s and '80s jazz-rock is roundly ignored. Meanwhile, global jazz musicians are creating new and exciting music that is just starting to be heard in the United States, offering a viable alternative to the rampant conservatism here. Stuart Nicholson's thought-provoking book offers an analysis of the American scene, how it came to be so stagnant, and what it can do to create a new level of creativity. This book is bound to be controversial among jazz purists and musicians; it will undoubtedly generate discussion about how jazz should grow now that it has become a recognized part of American musical history. Is Jazz Dead? dares to ask the question on all jazz fan's minds: Can jazz survive as a living medium? And, if so, how?
Jazz and Death
Author: Frederick J. Spencer, M.D.
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
Published: 2009-10-20
Total Pages: 447
ISBN-13: 1628469234
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhen a jazz hero dies, rumors, speculation, gossip, and legend can muddle the real cause of death. In this book, Frederick J. Spencer, M.D., conducts an inquest on how jazz greats lived and died pursuing their art. Forensics, medical histories, death certificates, and biographies divulge the way many musical virtuosos really died. An essential reference source, Jazz and Death strives to correct misinformation and set the story straight. Reviewing the medical records of such jazz icons as Scott Joplin, James Reese Europe, Bennie Moten, Tommy Dorsey, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Wardell Gray, and Ronnie Scott, the book spans decades, styles, and causes of death. Divided into disease categories, it covers such illnesses as ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), which killed Charlie Mingus, and tuberculosis, which caused the deaths of Chick Webb, Charlie Christian, Bubber Miley, Jimmy Blanton, and Fats Navarro. It notes the significance of dental disease in affecting a musician's embouchure and livelihood, as happened with Joe “King” Oliver. A discussion of Art Tatum's visual impairment leads to discoveries in the pathology of what blinded Lennie Tristano. Heavy drinking, even during Prohibition, was the norm in the clubs of New Orleans and Kansas City and in the ballrooms of Chicago and New York. Too often, the musical scene demanded that those who play jazz be “jazzed.” After World War II, as heroin addiction became the hallmark of revolution, talented bebop artists suffered long absences from the bandstand. Many did jail time, and others succumbed to the ravages of “horse.” With Jazz and Death, the causes behind the great jazz funerals may no longer be misconstrued. Its clinical and morbidly entertaining approach creates an invaluable compendium for jazz fans and scholars alike.
Believe Me
Author: Eddie Izzard
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2017-06-13
Total Pages: 368
ISBN-13: 0698405668
DOWNLOAD EBOOKTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Izzard is one of the funniest people alive, a talented actor, a sharp cross-dresser, an experienced marathon runner, and a great writer. You will have to read this if only to find out what a jazz chicken is.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer With his brand of keenly intelligent humor that ranges from world history to historical politics, sexual politics, mad ancient kings, and chickens with guns, Eddie Izzard has built an extraordinary fan base that transcends age, gender, and race. Writing with the same candor and insight evident in his comedy, he reflects on a childhood marked by the loss of his mother, boarding school, and alternative sexuality, as well as a life in comedy, film, politics, running and philanthropy. Honest and generous, Believe Me is an inspired account of a very singular life thus far.
Murder... and All That Jazz
Author: Robert J. Randisi
Publisher: Signet
Published: 2004-10
Total Pages: 276
ISBN-13: 9780451213334
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFrom the hidden, smoky clubs of New York to the wild, sweltering streets of New Orleans, jazz broke all the rules--and some of its followers broke all the laws. This anthology of all-new stories includes mysteries by Michael Connelly, Peter Robinson, Max Allan Collins, and Ed Gorman. Original.
Blue
Author: Eric Nisenson
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 2000-01-14
Total Pages: 272
ISBN-13: 9780306809255
DOWNLOAD EBOOKOnce a thriving body of innovative and fluid music, jazz is now the victim of destructive professional and artistic forces, says Eric Nisenson. Corruption by marketers, appropriation by the mainstream, superficial media portrayal, and sheer lack of skill have all contributed to the demise of this venerable art form. Nisenson persuasively describes how the entire jazz ”industry” is controlled by a select cadre with a choke hold on the most vital components of the music. As the listening culture has changed, have spontaneity and improvisation been sacrificed? You can agree or disagree with Nisenson's thesis and arguments, but as Booklist says, ”his passion is engrossing.”
A Life in Jazz
Author: Danny Barker
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2016-07-27
Total Pages: 247
ISBN-13: 1349099368
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAs a musician who grew up in New Orleans, and later worked in New York with the major swing orchestras of Lucky Millinder and Cab Calloway, Barker is uniquely placed to give an authoritative but personal view of jazz history. In this book he discusses his life in music, from the children's 'spasm' bands of the seventh ward of New Orleans, through the experience of brass bands and jazz funerals involving his grandfather, Isidore Barbarin, to his early days on the road with the blues singer Little Brother Montgomery. Later he goes on to discuss New York, and the jazz scene he found there in 1930. His work with Jelly Roll Morton, as well as the lesser-known bands of Fess Williams and Albert Nicholas, is covered before a full account of his years with Millinder, Benny Carter and Calloway, including a description of Dizzy Gillespie's impact on jazz, is given. The final chapters discuss Barker's career from the late 1940s. Starting with the New York dixieland scene at Ryan's and Condon's he talks of his work with Wilbur de Paris, James P. Johnson and This is Jazz, before discussing his return to New Orleans and New Orleans Jazz Museum. A collection of Barker's photographs,
Alive at the Village Vanguard
Author: Lorraine Gordon
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Published: 2006-10-01
Total Pages: 301
ISBN-13: 1617749168
DOWNLOAD EBOOKJazz fans get the inside story of New York's legendary club. At age 83 Lorraine Gordon is a jazz icon who has lived more than a few lives: downtown bohemian uptown grande dame music business pioneer wife lover mother and finally at a point when m
Arc of Justice
Author: Kevin Boyle
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Published: 2007-04-01
Total Pages: 445
ISBN-13: 1429900164
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWinner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction An electrifying story of the sensational murder trial that divided a city and ignited the civil rights struggle In 1925, Detroit was a smoky swirl of jazz and speakeasies, assembly lines and fistfights. The advent of automobiles had brought workers from around the globe to compete for manufacturing jobs, and tensions often flared with the KKK in ascendance and violence rising. Ossian Sweet, a proud Negro doctor-grandson of a slave-had made the long climb from the ghetto to a home of his own in a previously all-white neighborhood. Yet just after his arrival, a mob gathered outside his house; suddenly, shots rang out: Sweet, or one of his defenders, had accidentally killed one of the whites threatening their lives and homes. And so it began-a chain of events that brought America's greatest attorney, Clarence Darrow, into the fray and transformed Sweet into a controversial symbol of equality. Historian Kevin Boyle weaves the police investigation and courtroom drama of Sweet's murder trial into an unforgettable tapestry of narrative history that documents the volatile America of the 1920s and movingly re-creates the Sweet family's journey from slavery through the Great Migration to the middle class. Ossian Sweet's story, so richly and poignantly captured here, is an epic tale of one man trapped by the battles of his era's changing times.
