Tag Archives: books

classic keys

Classic Keys: Keyboard Sounds that Launched Rock Music

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classic keys

This beautifully photographed and illustrated book focuses on the signature rock keyboard sounds of the 1950s to the early 1980s. Classic Keys explores the sound, lore, and technology of these iconic instruments. Twelve instruments are presented as the chapter foundations, together with information about and comparisons with more than 36 others. Included are short profiles of modern musicians, composers, and others who collect, use, and prize these instruments.

Classic Keys: Keyboard Sounds that Launched Rock Music, by Alan S. Lenhoff and David Robertson, University of North Texas Press, www.untpress.unt.edu.

it's a sin to tell a lie

It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie: My Life in jazz

it's a sin to tell a lie

A giant of jazz rhythm guitar, Marty Grosz of Local 802 (New York City) is considered among the best of the 20th century, as well as a vocalist, humorist, composer, and arranger. And after performing for 70 years, he has stories to tell. The book offers stories about his life, his family, and his career, as well as transcriptions from 11 live interviews between 2015 and 2019 in which he opines on the musicians he has worked with and the music he has played. Part memoir, part transcribed oral history, the book is full of wit with a touch of vaudeville.

It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie: My Life in Jazz, by Marty Grosz, Golden Alley Press, www.goldenalleypress.com.

loud fast words

Loud Fast Words: Soul Asylum Collected Lyrics

loud fast words

Soul Asylum has been a leading force on the alternative rock scene since the 1980s. Collected here for the first time are the complete lyrics from more than 40 years of Dave Pirner’s passionate and inspired songwriting. Loud Fast Words offers firsthand commentary from Pirner, a member of Local 30-73 (Minneapolis, MN), reflecting on every album and every song from his repertoire.

Loud Fast Words: Soul Asylum Collected Lyrics, by Dave Pirner, Minnesota Historical Society Press, www.mnhspress.org.

sechs leider

Richard Strauss: Sechs Lieder for medium voice and piano – op. 19

sechs lieder

New practical edition of “Sechs Lieder” op. 19 by Richard Strauss from “Lotosblätter” by German poet Adolf Friedrich von Schack (1815-1894). Strauss composed these songs in 1888. He often accompanied his wife, the soprano Pauline Strauss-de Ahna, on the piano and worked with her on interpretations of his piano songs. The resulting entries of the composer are reproduced in this edition.

Richard Strauss: Sechs Lieder for medium voice and piano – op. 19, by Adolf Friedrich von Schack, Universal Edition, www.universaledition.com.

moonlight sonata

Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata Excerpt for solo cello and Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata – Excerpt for solo viola

moonlight sonata

Cellist Jan Kelley of Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) has published this excerpt for either solo cello or solo viola from Beethoven’s famous sonata for piano No. 14, Op. 27 #2 – the “Moonlight Sonata”.  This solo piece takes less than two minutes to play and is perfect for a cellist or violist in these days of social distancing.  

Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata – Excerpt for solo cello and Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata – Excerpt for solo viola, arranged by Jan Kelley, Last Resort Music Publishing, Inc., www.lastresortmusic.com.

karen tuttle legacy

The Karen Tuttle Legacy

karen tuttle legacy

Emphasizing the release of tension, both physical and mental, Karen Tuttle’s Coordination Technique not only keeps violists injury-free but it also gives way to a richer, freer sound and more emotional and expressive performances. The Karen Tuttle Legacy is a resource and guide for viola students, teachers, and performers to revolutionize their playing based on what works best for each individual’s unique physiology. Six of Tuttle’s direct and highly celebrated “viola descendants” weigh in, guiding both the teacher and performer to a joyous and free approach.

The Karen Tuttle Legacy: A Resource and Guide for Viola Students, Yeachers, and Performers, edited by Alex Teploff, Carl Fischer, www.carlfischer.com.

corky hale uncorked

Corky Hale Uncorked!

corky hale uncorked

This is the life story of the inimitable jazz harpist/pianist/vocalist, social activist, and philanthropist. Hale, of Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA), has worked with and befriended superstars of every generation and is passionately involved in progressive politics. In this book, Hale shares her unique American success story with the no-holds-barred candor that is her trademark.

Corky Hale Uncorked!, as told to Jerry Leichting and Arlene Sarner, Dorrance Publishing Co., www.corkyhale.com.

15 sinfonias

J.S. Bach’s 15 Sinfonias for Three Flutes

15 sinfonias

Flutist Bill Giannone of Local 802 (New York City) took J.S. Bach’s 15 Sinfonias, also known as “Three-Part Inventions,” for piano and transcribed them for three flutes. Bach wrote the sinfonias as short exercises for private practice by keyboard students—which have three-part counterpoint. Compositions in the same style as a sinfonia but using two-part counterpoint are known as inventions. Giannone has taken these instructional piano pieces and scored them for the flute’s range, along with dynamic and phrase markings.

J.S. Bach’s 15 Sinfonias for Three Flutes, arranged by Bill Giannone, Rosebud Music Publishing Co., www.flutesheetmusic.com.

music: a subversive history

Music: A Subversive History

music: a submersive history

Historian Ted Gioia reclaims the story of music for the riffraff, insurgents, and provocateurs from the celebrated mainstream assimilators. Gioia tells a 4,000-year history of music as a global source of power, change, and upheaval. He shows how social outcasts have repeatedly become trailblazers of musical expression: slaves and their descendants, for instance, have repeatedly reinvented music, from ancient times all the way to the jazz, reggae, and hip-hop sounds of the current day.

Music: A Subversive History, by Ted Gioia, Basic Books, www.basicbooks.com.

hungarian march

Franz Schubert: Hungarian March and Rondo

hungarian march

Webster’s arrangement focuses on Schubert’s “Divertissement à l’hongroise, D.818,” a rather lengthy affair that can exceed half an hour to perform. The third movement does not lend itself to a setting for flute, clarinet, and piano, but Webster has faithfully transcribed the first two movements (in reverse order) as an excellent example of the influence of Hungarian music on Schubert’s writing.

Franz Schubert: Hungarian March and Rondo, arranged by Michael Webster, Theodore Presser Company, www.presser.com.