My attraction to Doc Watson goes deeper than his guitar playing. There are lots of superb players, many of whom I enjoy. Obviously, Watson is at the top of the...
Archive - August 2020
Malcolm John (Mac) Rebennack Jr. — Dr. John — was an American original who inhabits a special place in our musical heritage. He lived from...
The Daily Music Break recently launched “Beyond YouTube: The Internet Music Mapping Project.” Going forward, we will talk to folks associated with...
Below is Art Blakey’s Jazz Messenger’s live performance of Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia,” as posted on YouTube by Art Jazz1. The video (without...
It’s obvious but important to note that popular music always has been controlled by the limits of the technologies used to record and deliver the music...
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver, one of the most important jazz musicians of the twentieth century, was born on September 2, 1928 and died on June 18, 2014...
Reading Music
The stories of the great bands and musicians are fascinating. Musicians as a group are brilliant, but often troubled. The combination of creativity and drama makes for great reading.
Here are some books to check out.
Duke Ellington brought class, sophistication and style to jazz which, until that point, was proudly unpolished and raucous. His story is profound. The author, Terry Teachout, also wrote "Pops," the acclaimed bio of Louis Armstrong. Click here or on the image.
What else is there to say? Here is the story behind every song written by The Beatles. Click here or on the image.
The Grateful Dead don't get enough credit for the profound nature of its lyrics. Many of the band's songs are driven by a deep and literate Americana ("I'm Uncle Sam/That's who I am/Been hidin' out/In a rock and roll band" and "Majordomo Billy Bojangles/Sit down and have a drink with me/What's this about Alabama/Keeps comin' back to me?").
David Dodd's exhaustive study tells the story, song by song. Click here or on the image.
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