The popularity of the American musical form is illustrated in an account of its origins and development that emphasizes its relation to the lives and culture of black performers
Huddie Ledbetter (1889-1949), known to millions of fans simply as Leadbelly, was arguably the most famous black singer in American history. His close musical associations included …
One of the great women of American music, equally at home singing blues and jazz, Etta regales us with tales of her chaotic childhood, the stars she has known, and her troubled …
Notes and Tones is one of the most controversial, honest, and insightful books ever written about jazz. As a black musician himself, Arthur Taylor was able to ask his subjects …
Shortly before Christmas in 1943, five Army aviators left Alaska's Ladd Field on a routine flight to test their hastily retrofitted B-24 Liberator in harsh winter conditions. The …
Celebrating the dark origins of our most American music, Country reveals a wild shadowland of history that encompasses blackface minstrels and yodeling cowboys honky-tonk hell …
Back in the early 1940s, late at night in the clubs of Harlem, a handful of jazz musicians began to experiment with a style that no one had ever heard before. The music was fast, …
Filled with insightful anecdotes and lively narrative, The Generals of Gettysburg presents detailed information on the character and personality of all 133 combat-command …
When originally published in 1974, Ekkehard Jost's Free Jazz was the first examination of the new music of such innovators as Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, and the Art Ensemble of …
In 1934 four movies, It Happened One Night, Twentieth Century, The Thin Man, and The Gay Divorcee ,ushered in the golden age of the Hollywood romantic ("screwball") comedy. …
