(Jazz Piano Solos). 22 jazzy arrangements of Irving Berlin gems, including: All by Myself * Be Careful, It's My Heart * Blue Skies * Cheek to Cheek * How Deep Is the Ocean (How High Is the Sky) * I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm * It's a Lovely Day Today * Let Yourself Go * Let's Face the Music and Dance * Puttin' on the Ritz * Say It with Music * Steppin' Out with My Baby * They Say It's Wonderful * What'll I Do? * (I Wonder Why?) You're Just in Love * and more.

"Comprehensive and intelligently organized. . . . Jazz aficionados . . . should be grateful to have so much good writing on the subject in one place."-- The New York Times Book Review "Alluring. . . . Capture[s] much of the breadth of the music, as well as the passionate debates it has stirred, more vividly than any other jazz anthology to date."-- Chicago Tribune No musical idiom has inspired more fine writing than jazz, and nowhere has that writing been presented with greater comprehensiveness and taste than in this glorious collection. In Reading Jazz , editor Robert Gottlieb combs through eighty years of autobiography, reportage, and criticism by the music's greatest players, commentators, and fans to create what is at once a monumental tapestry of jazz history and testimony to the elegance, vigor, and variety of jazz writing. Here are Jelly Roll Morton, recalling the whorehouse piano players of New Orleans in 1902; Whitney Balliett, profiling clarinetist Pee Wee Russell; poet Philip Larkin, with an eloquently dyspeptic jeremiad against bop. Here, too, are the voices of Billie Holiday and Charles Mingus, Albert Murray and Leonard Bernstein, Stanley Crouch and LeRoi Jones, reminiscing, analyzing, celebrating, and settling scores. For anyone who loves the music--or the music of great prose--Reading Jazz is indispensable. "The ideal gift for jazzniks and boppers everywhere. . . . It gathers the best and most varied jazz writing of more than a century."-- Sunday Times (London)

(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook). Babs' celebrated CD produced by Diana Krall was a labor of love for both. This folio features fascinating notes on the production, color photos, and 13 beloved romantic standards: Gentle Rain * Here's That Rainy Day * Here's to Life * If You Go Away * In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning * Love Dance * Make Someone Happy * Smoke Gets in Your Eyes * Some Other Time * Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most * A Time for Love * Where Do You Start? * You Must Believe in Spring.

A poetic meditation on the last year of tenor saxophonist Lester Young’s life, of joyful playing and self-willed dying. In 1959, at the age of fifty, jazz greaet Lester Young―a lyrical player, his airy tone haunted by a breathy melancholy―died alone in the Arvin Hotel in Manhattan. As Meltzer explains, “No Eyes is a book about death, and Young sits in for a metaphor for the artist living and dying for and with his art.” An “inside” biography, No Eyes is a brilliant jazz-world evocation, composed in free verse whose flow is arrested to capture significant moments, Meltzer creates a layered narrative of vivid colors and textures, the material facts of Young’s story dissolving into internalized, projected truths of erotic understanding and spiritual sympathy with the “sweet and isolate lovely other.”

Whether you are one of the many music lovers currently discovering jazz or a long-time jazz buff interested in any style from New Orleans to the contemporary scene. Understanding Jazz offers you new insights into this uniquely American form of music. In Understanding Jazz, Leroy Ostransky takes you through the history of jazz, beginning with its origins in the marching bands of 1800s, through New Orleans, swing, and bop, right up to the present day. From King Oliver and Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis and John McLaughlin, Ostransky evaluates the contributions of the major figures in jazz and shows how jazz reflected the major events in our history, from prohibition to the civil rights movement. In addition, Ostransky gives you useful insights into the problem of defining jazz, explanations of the role of improvisation, analysis of the techniques, and examples of the elements of style which make one artist different from another. Exploring jazz and its many meanings--racial issue, social phenomenon, political statement, and artistic event-- Understanding Jazz is a valuable history and analysis of the music that America gave the world.

Here is Nat Hentoff's deeply felt exploration of jazz, blues, country, and gospel -- and the musicians who bring the music to life. Hentoff has not only loved music all his life -- he has lived it by being friends with many of the musicians he writes about in this collection. Hentoff poignantly describes the early days of Roy Eldridge and the last years of Billie Holiday and Bird. He tells amazing stories of the Count, Duke, and Dizzy. "Full of insightful behind-the-scenes encounters" (San Francisco Chronicle), Listen to the Stories covers new recordings and old legends, remarkable lives and unforgettable music. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

The Jazz Book of Two Lifetimes NEA Jazz Master saxophonist Dave Liebman and pianist Richie Beirach have enjoyed a fifty-year friendship on and off the bandstand. They've performed with Miles Davis, Elvin Jones, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Freddie Hubbard, and their own bands. Ruminations and Reflections takes readers on a rollicking journey through their musical lives. Along the way, they share their views on jazz education, prominent musicians, and musical preparation. Liebman and Beirach pay tribute to their musical mentors, tour their discography, and suggest essential recordings to study. The book's conversational style will delight students, professionals, and music lovers alike. "We really don't have an exact name for musicians like Dave and Richie. Across decades of recordings and concerts, their aspirations obliterate the definitions of any single genre. This volume reveals the deep insight and wisdom required to resolve their shared quest for meaning in music. Both are master players who continue to strive for what goes beyond and what lies beneath. Reading their words and following their stories in this wonderful book affirms the feeling that they share on the bandstand as one of the great long-term partnerships in this music." - Pat Metheny A masterclass in the art and skill of jazz Ruminations and Reflections is more than just a jazz biography, it is a masterclass in how to improvise, jazz theory, how to listen to jazz, and the business of being a musician in today's world. Never shy, these two friends share fascinating and revealing stories of growing into their musical selves, late night hangs with legendary musicians, and the jazz life. Known for their virtuosity and playing free, Liebman and Beirach share their secrets for preparing for the ultimate exercise of musical improvisation. Both musicians use their deep devotion to classical music as a basis for improvisation, crossing genres and boundaries to create spontaneous and beautiful musical experiences. As veteran educators, Dave and Richie share their wisdom and life lessons to keep the legacy of jazz improvisation and free jazz alive. Jazz musicians and students will find value in their masterful analysis of duo playing, comping, and musical leadership. For fans of jazz masters and legends Ruminations and Reflections showcases never before told anecdotes and opinions about musical legends including, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, Jack DeJohnette, Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Chick Corea, Lee Konitz, Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, and Wynton Marsalis. Jazz fans will delight in the in-depth analysis of over twenty of this duo's best recordings, providing insight and history to this important discography. A journey through modern jazz history Jazz aficionados will enjoy the personal accounts of their formative years in Brooklyn, developing a passion for music that has lasted a lifetime. A road trip through Brooklyn and Manhattan sets the scene for reminiscences about the New York City jazz scene today and in days gone by. Jazz clubs like Birdland and the Village Vanguard come to life with tales of the musicians who played there. Ruminations and Reflections chronicles the intersection of jazz and rock and roll in the fertile early 1970's New York loft scene. Beirach and Liebman were pioneers in the jazz fusion era and recount tours, jam sessions, and recordings with their bands Lookout Farm and Quest. They continue to marvel audiences in any musical setting. Along their journey, Liebman and Beirach have created a legacy of excellence and dedication to fans, fellow musicians, and the music. This book is a celebration of musical lives well-lived and a gift to us all.