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God Bless America: The Story of an Immigrant Named Irving Berlin (Hyperion Picture Book (eBook))
by Adah NuchiAn inspiring portrait of an immigrant and the gift he gave his new home.Persecuted as Jews, Izzy Baline and his family emigrated from Russia to New York, where he fell in love with his new country. He heard music everywhere and was full to bursting with his own. Izzy's thump-two-three, ting-a-ling, whee tunes soon brought him acclaim as the sought-after songwriter Irving Berlin. He ignited the imaginations of fellow countrymen and women with his Broadway and Hollywood numbers, crafting tunes that have become classics we still sing today.But when darker times came and the nation went to war, it was time for Irving to compose a new kind of song:A boom-rah-rah song.A big brass belter.A loud heart-melter.A song for America.And so "God Bless America" was born, the heart swelling standard that Americans have returned to again and again after its 1918 composition.This is the tale of how a former refugee gave America one of its most celebrated patriotic songs. With stirring, rhythmic text by Adah Nuchi and delightful, energetic art by Rob Polivka, readers will be ready to hum along to this exuberant picturebook.
God Bless the Child
by Arthur Herzog Jerry Pinkney Billie HolidayFirst performed by jazz legend Billie Holiday in 1939, "God Bless the Child" remains one of her enduring masterpieces. In this interpretation, Pinkney depicts a family moving from the South during the Great Migration.
God Rock, Inc.: The Business of Niche Music
by Andrew MallPopular music in the twenty-first century is increasingly divided into niche markets. How do fans, musicians, and music industry executives define their markets’ boundaries? What happens when musicians cross those boundaries? What can Christian music teach us about commercial popular music? In God Rock, Inc., Andrew Mall considers the aesthetic, commercial, ethical, and social boundaries of Christian popular music, from the late 1960s, when it emerged, through the 2010s. Drawing on ethnographic research, historical archives, interviews with music industry executives, and critical analyses of recordings, concerts, and music festival performances, Mall explores the tensions that have shaped this evolving market and frames broader questions about commerce, ethics, resistance, and crossover in music that defines itself as outside the mainstream.
God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop
by Kathy IandoliJournalist Kathy Iandoli’sGod Save the Queens is the “rigorous, insightful, and authoritative . . . [and] deadly personal”* history of women in hip-hop.An *NPR Best Book of the YearEvery history of hip-hop focuses primarily on men, glaringly omitting a thorough and respectful examination of the presence and contribution of the genre’s female artists. For far too long, women in hip-hop have been relegated to the shadows, viewed as the designated “First Lady” thrown a contract, a pawn in some beef, or even worse. But as Kathy Iandoli makes clear, the reality is very different. Today, hip-hop is dominated by successful women such as Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, yet there are scores of female artists whose influence continues to resonate.God Save the Queens pays tribute to the women of hip-hop—from the early work of Roxanne Shante, to hitmakers like Queen Latifah and Missy Elliot, to the superstars of today. Exploring issues of gender, money, sexuality, violence, body image, feuds, objectification and more, this is an important and monumental work of music journalism that at last gives these influential female artists the respect they have long deserved.“Music lovers will celebrate this much-needed exploration of the overlooked experiences of women in hip-hop.” —Publishers Weekly“Intended to be a narrative homage to women in hip-hop, this latest work by Iandoli is that and more. . . . [She] gives female artists the recognition they deserve, while showing that there is still work to do.” —Library Journal
Goddess: Inside Madonna
by Barbara VictorGoddess is the book that Madonna and her entourage did not want published. Long before the star could instruct her family and friends not to talk to the author, Barbara Victor spent more than eighteen months in Michigan, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, California, New York, and Florida, interviewing Madonna's father and stepmother, her grandmother and other family members, as well as friends, neighbors, business associates, and former lovers and colleagues, some of whom knew the Ciccone family from the time Madonna was a young child, many of whom have never before spoken either on or off the record.In this extraordinary biography, Barbara Victor taps into previously unexplored sources to unmask the privet person behind the public image. As a result of her extensive research, Victor casts new light on every aspect of Madonna's career and private life -- from her childhood in Michigan to her early years in New York, from meteoric ascent to stardom to her most recent incarnation as an English wife and mother.After almost two decades, since she first appeared in the international music scene, Madonna continues to fascinate and challenge both her fans and her detractors. With her remarkable ability to reinvent herself -- from diva to provocateur, from artist to mogul -- she continues to command more attention and arouse more controversy than any other public figure of our time. Alternately criticized and revered, Madonna consistently and dramatically sets style, social, sexual, and musical trends and yet she remains an enigma to her public, keeping her most intimate identity hidden from all but her closest friends.Goddess offers explosive new revelations about Madonna's life, her career, and the fact or fantasy of her lesbian and heterosexual relationships. Barbara Victor has written the definitive biography about a woman who gives new meaning to the term superstar.
Godfather of the Music Business: Morris Levy (American Made Music Series)
by Richard CarlinAssociation of Recorded Sound Collections Awards for ExcellenceBest Historical Research in Record Labels – Best History (2017)This biography tells the story of one of the most notorious figures in the history of popular music, Morris Levy (1927-1990). At age nineteen, he cofounded the nightclub Birdland in Hell's Kitchen, which became the home for a new musical style, bebop. Levy operated one of the first integrated clubs on Broadway and helped build the careers of Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell and most notably aided the reemergence of Count Basie. In 1957, he founded a record label, Roulette Records. Roulette featured many of the significant jazz artists who played Birdland but also scored top pop hits with acts like Buddy Knox, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Joey Dee and the Starliters, and, in the mid-1960s, Tommy James.Stories abound of Levy threatening artists, songwriters, and producers, sometimes just for the sport, other times so he could continue to build his empire. Along the way, Levy attracted "investors" with ties to the Mafia, including Dominic Ciaffone (a.k.a. "Swats" Mulligan), Tommy Eboli, and the most notorious of them all, Vincent Gigante. Gigante allegedly owned large pieces of Levy's recording and retail businesses.Starting in the late 1950s, the FBI and IRS investigated Levy but could not make anything stick until the early 1980s, when Levy foolishly got involved in a deal to sell remaindered records to a small-time reseller, John LaMonte. With partners in the mob, Levy tried to force LaMonte to pay for four million remaindered records. When the FBI secretly wiretapped LaMonte in an unrelated investigation and agents learned about the deal, investigators successfully prosecuted Levy in the extortion scheme. Convicted in 1988, Levy did not live to serve prison time. Stricken with cancer, he died just as his last appeals were exhausted. However, even if he had lived, Levy's brand of storied high life was effectively bust. Corporate ownership of record labels doomed most independents in the business, ending the days when a savvy if ruthless hustler could blaze a path to the top.
Gods of the Hammer: The Teenage Head Story (Exploded Views)
by Geoff Pevere'Teenage Head changed the face of music in this country. I would not be who I am today without their first record ... In 1979 they were the only band that mattered.' - Hugh Dillon In the late 1970s and early 1980s, no Canadian band rocked harder, louder or to more hardcore fans than Hamilton, Ontario's own Teenage Head. Although usually lumped in the dubiously inevitable 'punk rock' category of the day, this high--energy quartet --consisting of four guys who'd known each other since high school --were really only punk by association. In essence they were a full--on, balls--to--the--wall, three--chord, kick--out--the--jams band that obliterated categories and labels with the sheer force of their sonic assault, and everywhere they played they converted the merely curious to the insanely devoted. And they almost became world famous. Almost. This is their story, told in full and for the first time, and by those who lived to tell the tale. Praise for Gods of the Hammer: 'A riot of a good read on Teenage Head ... the writing is fast-paced and lively, told from the laudatory perspective of a frustrated fan trying to explain why such a great band never got its due.' - The Hamilton Spectator 'I loved it! Wanted it to last forever! Geoff Pevere has done an ace portrait of all that is great and dirty in rock and roll.' - Bruce McDonald 'Pevere's is an on-the-ground fan's account of how the band enamoured a country and how if just that one last, special piece fell into place -- if they were managed better, if an American record deal came sooner, if guitarist Gord Lewis hadn't been laid up for half a year at their very peak by a back-breaking car accident -- songs like "Picture My Face" and "Let's Shake" would be played before face-offs and stocked in jukeboxes from St. John's to San Francisco. The Head were always just a centimetre away from super-stardom. To a generation of hip music fans, they're as classic as The Cars, but instead of ubiquity, their story is a distinctly Canadian Almost Famous.' - Chart Attack Praise for Geoff Pevere: 'After almost 30 years of writing about the movies, Geoff Pevere's anti-establishment views are just as strong as ever, but now he wears them as comfortably as an old leather jacket. He has always been more interested in broadening people's interests than in trying to narrow them. In an age with almost unlimited access to film, just one stream in an onrushing tide of media, this is daring. For the boy who once had to wait months to see Citizen Kane, however, it's simply a gesture of generosity.' -- Toronto Screen Shot
God’s Song and Music’s Meanings: Theology, Liturgy, and Musicology in Dialogue (Routledge Studies in Theology, Imagination and the Arts)
by Vernon White James Hawkey Ben QuashTaking seriously the practice and not just the theory of music, this ground-breaking collection of essays establishes a new standard for the interdisciplinary conversation between theology, musicology, and liturgical studies. The public making of music in our society happens more often in the context of chapels, churches, and cathedrals than anywhere else. The command to sing and make music to God makes music an essential part of the DNA of Christian worship. The book’s three main parts address questions about the history, the performative contexts, and the nature of music. Its opening four chapters traces how accounts of music and its relation to God, the cosmos, and the human person have changed dramatically through Western history, from the patristic period through medieval, Reformation and modern times. A second section examines the role of music in worship, and asks what—if anything—makes a piece of music suitable for religious use. The final part of the book shows how the serious discussion of music opens onto considerations of time, tradition, ontology, anthropology, providence, and the nature of God. A pioneering set of explorations by a distinguished group of international scholars, this book will be of interest to anyone interested in Christianity’s long relationship with music, including those working in the fields of theology, musicology, and liturgical studies.
Goethe and Beethoven
by Rolland RomainRomain Rolland (29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production and to the sympathy and love of truth with which he has described different types of human beings".“OF THE two giants, Goethe and Beethoven, who are the subject of this book, Beethoven is probably far better known to the English-speaking public than Goethe.There are two reasons for this. Beethoven addresses the world in the language of music, a universal language, which can be understood by many who have not made even an elementary study of it. There is hardly a concertgoer in the world who has not heard Beethoven’s symphonies or sonatas, or who has had no opportunity of feeling the influence of that mighty composer. The second reason is that there are many more people who, as amateur or professional musicians, have formed a closer acquaintance with Beethoven than that of mere hearing. They have played his works, analyzed them, interpreted them, and often enough, attracted by his work, have enquired into his life and his psychology. They have found at their disposal a comprehensive mass of literature, easily accessible; they have read of him in critical essays published in the press. And Ernest Newman’s excellent translation of Romain Rolland’s Beethoven: the Creator has given those who read it, a deep insight into the composer’s greatness.Not so with Goethe. To understand and appreciate him is reserved to the comparatively small community which has a perfect knowledge of German, for no translation can do him justice. And those who do not know any of his works lack the interest which would prompt them to enquire into the great poet’s life, thought, work, and influence.”-Foreword
Goethe and Zelter: Musical Dialogues
by LorraineByrne BodleyGoethe and Zelter spent a staggering 33 years corresponding or in the case of each artist, over two thirds of their lives. Zelter's position as director of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin and Goethe's location in Weimar resulted in a wide-ranging correspondence. Goethe's letters offer a chronicle of his musical development, from the time of his journey to Italy to the final months of his life. Zelter's letters retrace his path as stonemason to Professor of Music in Berlin. The 891 letters that passed between these artists provide an important musical record of the music performed in public concerts in Berlin and in the private and semi-public soir of the Weimar court. Their letters are those of men actively engaged in the musical developments of their time. The legacy contains a wide spectrum of letters, casual and thoughtfully composed, spontaneous and written for publication, rich with the details of Goethe's and Zelter's musical lives. Through Zelter, Goethe gained access to the professional music world he craved and became acquainted with the prodigious talent of Felix Mendelssohn. A single letter from Zelter might bear a letter from Felix Mendelssohn to another recipient of the same family, reflecting a certain community in the Mendelssohn household where letters were not considered private but shared with others in a circle of friends or family. Goethe recognized the value of such correspondence: he complains when his friend is slow to send letters in return for those written to him by the poet, a complaint common in this written culture where letters provided news, introductions, literary and musical works. This famous correspondence contains a medley of many issues in literature, art, and science; but the main focus of this translation is the music dialogues of these artists.
Going Down to the River: A Homeless Musician, an Unforgettable Song, and the Miraculous Encounter that Changed a Life
by Steve Eubanks Doug SeegersThe astonishing story of a singer-songwriter living on the streets of Nashville who met Jesus, got sober, and found international stardom at the age of 62.Doug Seegers left New York for Nashville in search of every songwriter’s dream. When he didn’t find success, he fell into a state of loneliness that fed an addiction he had battled since adolescence. Soon, he was homeless, playing his guitar on the street with a cardboard sign asking for money. But then he cried out to God in repentance and need, and God graciously met him. Doug then found sobriety, regained some footing, and in a miraculous moment was discovered outside a food pantry by a Swedish musician and documentarian who put his story on the air in Stockholm. Within days of the documentary airing--even though he still walked to the public library every day and acquired most of his belongings from nearby Dumpsters--Doug had the number-one selling song in Sweden. Going Down to the River is Doug’s inspirational story of faith, forgiveness, and the power of prayer and belief. It is also the never-give-up tale of a man who played music for 55 years without success only to become a chart-topping artist at the age of 62.
Going Up the Country: Adventures in Blues Fieldwork in the 1960s (American Made Music Series)
by David Evans Marina BokelmanAt the height of the blues revival, Marina Bokelman and David Evans, young graduate students from California, made two trips to Louisiana and Mississippi and short trips in their home state to do fieldwork for their studies at UCLA. While there, they made recordings and interviews and took extensive field notes and photographs of blues musicians and their families. Going Up the Country: Adventures in Blues Fieldwork in the 1960s presents their experiences in vivid detail through the field notes, the photographs, and the retrospective views of these two passionate researchers. The book includes historical material as well as contemporary reflections by Bokelman and Evans on the times and the people they met during their southern journeys. Their notes and photographs take the reader into the midst of memorable encounters with many obscure but no less important musicians, as well as blues legends, including Robert Pete Williams, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Al Wilson (cofounder of Canned Heat), Babe Stovall, Reverend Ruben Lacy, and Jack Owens. This volume is not only an adventure story, but also a scholarly discussion of fieldwork in folklore and ethnomusicology. Including retrospective context and commentary, the field note chapters describe searches for musicians, recording situations, social and family dynamics of musicians, and race relations and the racial environment, as well as the practical, ethical, and logistical problems of doing fieldwork. The book features over one hundred documentary photographs that depict the field recording sessions and the activities, lives, and living conditions of the artists and their families. These photographs serve as a visual counterpart equivalent to the field notes. The remaining chapters explain the authors’ methodology, planning, and motivations, as well as their personal backgrounds prior to going into the field, their careers afterwards, and their thoughts about fieldwork and folklore research in general. In this enlightening book, Bokelman and Evans provide an exciting and honest portrayal of blues field research in the 1960s.
Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks
by Stephen Davis<p>Stevie Nicks is a legend of rock, but her energy and magnetism sparked new interest in this icon. At sixty-nine, she's one of the most glamorous creatures rock has known, and the rare woman who's a real rock ‘n' roller.</p> <p>Nicks' work and life are equally sexy and interesting, and Davis delves deeply into each, unearthing fresh details from new, intimate interviews and interpreting them to present a rich new portrait of the star. Just as Nicks (and Lindsey Buckingham) gave Fleetwood Mac the "shot of adrenaline" they needed to become real rock stars―according to Christine McVie―Gold Dust Woman is vibrant with stories and with a life lived large and hard.</p>
Gold Experience: Following Prince in the '90s
by Jim WalshThroughout the 1990s, Prince feuded with his record label, Warner Bros., over his rights as an independent recording artist—and made some of the most brilliant music of his career. During that time, Jim Walsh covered Prince for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and wrote about him passionately, thoughtfully, exhaustively. Here, in real time, is that coverage: a clip-by-clip look back at Prince in the &‘90s. Walsh&’s newly unearthed interviews, essays, columns, and reviews make Gold Experience an essential slice of history for fans, scholars, and latecomers to the Minneapolis-born musical genius Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958–April 21, 2016).Join Walsh at the 1994 NBA All-Star game after party and release bash for the single &“The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.&” Accompany him to the after-hours clubs Erotic City, Glam Slam, and, of course, Paisley Park. Meet Prince&’s wife and bandmate Mayte (and while you&’re at it, take in the wedding and reception). Enjoy a two-hour sit-down interview with Prince. Explore Prince&’s veganism, talk to fans in line for a Target Center show, preview the &“Jam of the Year&” concert and check in at the after party. The passions and influences, from Mozart to funk godfather Larry Graham; the gigs and the Paisley Park garage sale; Walsh&’s open letter to the artist and his reflections on religion and spirituality. This is Prince as few have seen him, reported as only Jim Walsh can: a portrait of the artist from a dizzying array of angles, captured in living color for all time.
Gold, Festivals, and Music in Southeast Brazil: Sounding Portugueseness (SOAS Studies in Music)
by Barbara AlgeGold, Festivals, and Music in Southeast Brazil: Sounding Portugueseness is a study of the musical legacy of the eighteenth century Brazilian gold rush that integrates ethnographic research of the main genres of former mining communities in Brazil – from liturgical music in the style of European art music to Afro-Brazilian musical expressions. Its content and structure are informed by Norbert Elias’s idea of the civilizing process, which is explored regarding its relevance in interpreting sociocultural processes and choreo-musical expressions in the small town of Morro Vermelho. The book’s innovative feature is its focus on a little-known area to non-Brazilian scholars, and its focus on the colonial and European heritage in Brazil. Morro Vermelho’s cultural traditions have received relatively limited attention. The Catholic festival of Our Lady of Nazareth provides a setting for the documentation and analysis of the musical setting and is thus placed at the center of the discussion. It leads through the vast writings on Brazilian identity and challenges the view on Brazilian-ness as constructed in terms of the mixing of races. Norbert Elias’s concept of the "civilizing process" structures the book and is relevant for understanding the cultural sphere of the festival of Our Lady of Nazareth. The book combines discourses of Portugueseness with historical sources and observations from fieldwork and community building in the virtual world. The focus on the music to support social constructions of "Portugueseness" is supported with evidence from diverse data sources: music (literature and fieldwork recordings), original interviews, marketing materials and historical narratives. The combination of archival, ethnographic, and bibliographic research methods attempts a seamless narrative. Its approach to fieldwork and frank reflections on the process and relevant issues help to contextualize the analyses and serve as useful advice for future researchers.
Golden Ages: Hasidic Singers and Cantorial Revival in the Digital Era (University of California Series in Jewish History and Cultures #3)
by Jeremiah LockwoodA free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.Golden Ages is an ethnographic study of young singers in the contemporary Brooklyn Hasidic community who base their aesthetic explorations of the culturally intimate space of prayer on the gramophone-era cantorial golden age. Jeremiah Lockwood proposes a view of their work as a nonconforming social practice that calls upon the sounds and structures of Jewish sacred musical heritage to disrupt the aesthetics and power hierarchies of their conservative community, defying institutional authority and pushing at normative boundaries of sacred and secular. Beyond its role as a desirable art form, golden age cantorial music offers aspiring Hasidic singers a form of Jewish cultural productivity in which artistic excellence, maverick outsider status, and sacred authority are aligned.
Goldi Rocks & the Three Bears
by Corey Rosen Schwartz Beth CoultonA rockin' twist on Goldilocks and the Three Bears that shows how being yourself can get you out of a tight spot.Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear know how to rock! But they need a new singer, so they audition everyone—the Three Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and more. To their dismay, no one seems just right. Could the perfect lead singer be the mysterious girl sleeping on Baby Bear&’s keyboard?This mash up of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and The Voice is a surefire storytime hit. From the author of The Three Ninja Pigs.
Goldmine Record Album Price Guide
by Martin PopoffWhether you're cleaning out a closet, basement or attic full of records, or you're searching for hidden gems to build your collection, you can depend on Goldmine Record Album Price Guide to help you accurately identify and appraise your records in order to get the best price. Knowledge is power, so power-up with Goldmine! 70,000 vinyl LPs from 1948 to present Hundreds of new artists Detailed listings with current values Various artist collections and original cast recordings from movies, televisions and Broadway 400 photos Updated state-of-the-market reports New feature articles Advice on buying and selling Goldmine Grading Guide - the industry standard
Gondola (Books That Changed the World)
by Donna LeonThe international bestselling author delivers “a delightful look at the gondola as cultural icon, marvel of construction and object of romance and mystery” (Judith Malafronte, Opera News).Of all the trademarks of Venice—and there are many, from the gilded Basilica of San Marco to the melancholy Bridge of Sighs—none is more ubiquitous than the gondola. In Gondola, the acclaimed “American with the Venetian heart,” tells the fascinating story of this famous boat, complete with gorgeous full-color illustrations (The Washington Post).First used in medieval Venice as a deftly maneuverable getaway boat, the gondola evolved over the centuries into a floating pleasure palace, bedecked in silk, that facilitated the romantic escapades of the Venetian elite. Sumptuary laws turned it black—a gleaming, elegant hue for a boat manned by robust gondolieri in their iconic black-and-white-striped shirts and straw hats.Each boat is carefully fashioned in a maestro’s workshop—though Leon also recounts a tale of an American friend who attempted to make a gondola all on his own. Once its arched prow pushes off from the dock, the single Venetian at its oar just might break out in a barcarole, the popular songs sung by gondolieri. Please note this ebook edition does not include audio recordings.
Gone 'Til November: A Journal of Rikers Island
by Lil Wayne&“Transfixing…[Wayne&’s] prison diary is, above all, a testament to the irrepressibility of his charisma—his is a force that can never go dormant, even when it&’s not plainly on display.&” –The New YorkerFrom rap superstar Lil Wayne comes Gone &’Til November, a deeply personal and revealing account of his time spent incarcerated on Rikers Island for eight months in 2010.In 2010, recording artist Lil Wayne was at the height of his career. A fixture in the rap game for more than a decade, Lil Wayne (aka Weezy) had established himself as both a prolific musician and a savvy businessman, smashing long-held industry records, winning multiple Grammy Awards, and signing up-and-coming talent like Drake and Nicki Minaj to his Young Money label. All of this momentum came to a halt when he was convicted of possession of a firearm and sentenced to a yearlong stay at Rikers Island. Suddenly, the artist at the top of his game was now an inmate at the mercy of the American penal system. At long last, Gone &’Til November reveals the true story of what really happened while Wayne was behind bars, exploring everything from his daily rituals to his interactions with other inmates to how he was able to keep himself motivated and grateful. Taken directly from Wayne&’s own journal, this intimate, personal account of his incarceration is an utterly humane look at the man behind the artist.
Gone Wild: Book 3 (Rock War #3)
by Robert MuchamoreThe Rock War TV show is the most-watched reality show on British telly, and it's only halfway through. Jay, Summer, Dylan and their bands have all made it past the tough boot camp stage, and now the last six will fight it out until the season's finale, live on Christmas Eve.But it's not all about the music. Summer was hit by a motorbike at the end of boot camp. Jay's brother Theo can't keep out of trouble - or out of handcuffs. And Dylan, the outsider, is investigating corruption within the workings of the competition itself.They've got everything to play for ...The dramatic third book in this spectacular series from Robert Muchamore, bestselling author of CHERUB.
Gone Wild: Book 3 (Rock War #3)
by Robert MuchamoreThe Rock War TV show is the most-watched reality show on British telly, and it's only halfway through. Jay, Summer, Dylan and their bands have all made it past the tough boot camp stage, and now the last six will fight it out until the season's finale, live on Christmas Eve.But it's not all about the music. Summer was hit by a motorbike at the end of boot camp. Jay's brother Theo can't keep out of trouble - or out of handcuffs. And Dylan, the outsider, is investigating corruption within the workings of the competition itself.They've got everything to play for ...The dramatic third book in the explosive new series from Robert Muchamore, author of CHERUB.(P) Hodder Children's Books 2016
Gone to the Country: The New Lost City Ramblers and the Folk Music Revival (Music in American Life)
by Ray AllenGone to the Country chronicles the life and music of the New Lost City Ramblers, a trio of city-bred musicians who helped pioneer the resurgence of southern roots music during the folk revival of the late 1950s and 1960s. Formed in 1958 by Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley, the Ramblers introduced the regional styles of southern ballads, blues, string bands, and bluegrass to northerners yearning for a sound and an experience not found in mainstream music. Ray Allen interweaves biography, history, and music criticism to follow the band from its New York roots to their involvement with the commercial folk music boom. Allen details their struggle to establish themselves amid critical debates about traditionalism brought on by their brand of folk revivalism. He explores how the Ramblers ascribed notions of cultural authenticity to certain musical practices and performers and how the trio served as a link between southern folk music and northern urban audiences who had little previous exposure to rural roots styles. Highlighting the role of tradition in the social upheaval of mid-century America, Gone to the Country draws on extensive interviews and personal correspondence with band members and digs deep into the Ramblers' rich trove of recordings.
Gone: A Girl, a Violin, a Life Unstrung
by Min KymThe spellbinding memoir of a violin virtuoso who loses the instrument that had defined her both on stage and off -- and who discovers, beyond the violin, the music of her own voice Her first violin was tiny, harsh, factory-made; her first piece was “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star.” But from the very beginning, Min Kym knew that music was the element in which she could swim and dive and soar. At seven years old, she was a prodigy, the youngest ever student at the famed Purcell School. At eleven, she won her first international prize; at eighteen, violinist great Ruggiero Ricci called her “the most talented violinist I’ve ever taught.” And at twenty-one, she found “the one,” the violin she would play as a soloist: a rare 1696 Stradivarius. Her career took off. She recorded the Brahms concerto and a world tour was planned.Then, in a London café, her violin was stolen. She felt as though she had lost her soulmate, and with it her sense of who she was. Overnight she became unable to play or function, stunned into silence.In this lucid and transfixing memoir, Kym reckons with the space left by her violin’s absence. She sees with new eyes her past as a child prodigy, with its isolation and crushing expectations; her combustible relationships with teachers and with a domineering boyfriend; and her navigation of two very different worlds, her traditional Korean family and her music. And in the stark yet clarifying light of her loss, she rediscovers her voice and herself.
Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black & White, Body and Soul in American Music
by Ann PowersNPR Best Books of 2017In this sweeping history of popular music in the United States, NPR’s acclaimed music critic examines how popular music shapes fundamental American ideas and beliefs, allowing us to communicate difficult emotions and truths about our most fraught social issues, most notably sex and race.In Good Booty, Ann Powers explores how popular music became America’s primary erotic art form. Powers takes us from nineteenth-century New Orleans through dance-crazed Jazz Age New York to the teen scream years of mid-twentieth century rock-and-roll to the cutting-edge adventures of today’s web-based pop stars. Drawing on her deep knowledge and insights on gender and sexuality, Powers recounts stories of forbidden lovers, wild shimmy-shakers, orgasmic gospel singers, countercultural perverts, soft-rock sensitivos, punk Puritans, and the cyborg known as Britney Spears to illuminate how eroticism—not merely sex, but love, bodily freedom, and liberating joy—became entwined within the rhythms and melodies of American song. This cohesion, she reveals, touches the heart of America's anxieties and hopes about race, feminism, marriage, youth, and freedom. In a survey that spans more than a century of music, Powers both heralds little known artists such as Florence Mills, a contemporary of Josephine Baker, and gospel queen Dorothy Love Coates, and sheds new light on artists we think we know well, from the Beatles and Jim Morrison to Madonna and Beyoncé. In telling the history of how American popular music and sexuality intersect—a magnum opus over two decades in the making—Powers offers new insights into our nation psyche and our soul.