Blues category: 910 books

Dizzy Gillespie was one of the most important and best-loved musicians in jazz history. With his horn-rimmed glasses, goatee, jive talk, and upraised trumpet bell, he was the hipster who most personified bebop. The musical heir to Louis Armstrong, he created the modern jazz trumpet-playing style and...

Although he died in a tragic car accident at twenty-five, Clifford Brown is widely considered one of the most important figures in the history of jazz, a trumpet player who ranks with Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis, and a leading influence on contemporary jazz musicians. Now, in...

A virtual album of BeBe Winans' treasured memories of his friend and "sister," Whitney Houston. In the years between the first time BeBe Winans and Whitney Houston met in 1985, to the day he delivered the tribute that touched a watching nation at Houston's funeral, a deep and unique...

All great musicians have one thing in common---to a great extent they know what the harmony of a song is as they hear it. Do you? If not, here is a practical guide to get you up to speed. Written by Berklee professor Roberta Radley, it uses contemporary music to help you see how ear training is invaluable...

Motown as we remember it: The music, the stars, the storys and the pure fun.  See all the artists and the people behind the scenes who made Motown a legend in the world of music.  The Supremes, The Temptations, Martha and The Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye and all the others. ...

The only official, behind-the-scenes chronicle of the Jacksons' lives and careers, celebrating 50 years of one of the greatest acts of all time. The Jacksons: Legacy is the first official book on the the Royal Family of Pop. Unrivaled access to the family archives as well as the private collections...

Dutch jazz singer, Caro Emerald, set a all-time Dutch chart record with her debut album ‘Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor’, spending 30 weeks at number one, beating the previous record set by Michael Jackson's ‘Thriller’. In April 2013, her second studio album ‘The Shocking...

In January of 1979, the great soul artist Donny Hathaway fell fifteen stories from a window of Manhattan's Essex House Hotel in an alleged suicide. He was 33 years old and everyone he worked with called him a genius. Best known for "A Song for You,†? "This Christmas,†? and classic duets...

The bestselling author of Shakey: Neil Young's Biography presents the first in-depth biography of the legendary soul singer Al Green. Al Green has blessed listeners with some of the biggest hits of the past fifty years. "Love and Happiness," "I'm Still in Love with You,"...

An insightful examination of the impact of the Civil Rights Movement and African Independence on jazz in the 1950s and 60s, Freedom Sounds traces the complex relationships among music, politics, aesthetics, and activism through the lens of the hot button racial and economic issues of the time. Ingrid...

The award-winning photographer’s pictorial history of the famous San Francisco Jazz club featuring oral histories and more than 100 images—“A treasure” (SF Weekly).   In the words of Wynton Marsalis, “Keystone Korner was the quintessential jazz club . . . a happy home to...

Jazz first floated into the Twin Cities on the Mississippi River excursion boats, which brought the likes of Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong to listeners on the levee—and it never left. When Paul Whiteman, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and other jazz greats toured the clubs and concert halls...

Bossa nova is one of the most popular musical genres in the world. Songs such as “The Girl from Ipanema” (the fifth most frequently played song in the world), “The Waters of March,” and “Desafinado” are known around the world. Bossa Nova-a number-one bestseller when originally published in...

He was always elusive, on and off the stand; like his music, he was constantly moving, incessantly changing. Just as Charlie Parker stood astride the jazz world of the late 40s and 50s, so did John Coltrane in the late 50s and 60s. Trane was a giant of the saxophone and a major composer. ...