Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  The Jazz Life of Dr Billy Taylor

  Billy Taylor, Teresa L. Reed

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  The autobiography of the celebrated American jazz pianist, composer, activist, educator, and Emmy Award–winning broadcaster. 
   
  Legendary jazz ambassador Dr. Billy Taylor’s autobiography spans more than six decades, from the heyday of jazz on 52nd Street in 1940s New York City to CBS Sunday Morning. Taylor fought not only for the recognition of jazz music as “America’s classical music” but also for the recognition of black musicians as key contributors to the American music repertoire. Peppered with anecdotes recalling encounters with other jazz legends such as Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, and many others, The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor is not only the life story of a jazz musician and spokesman but also a commentary on racism and jazz as a social force. 
   
  “This book (including Dr. Teresa L. Reed’s eloquent introduction) captures with great clarity and accuracy the character of this man. Taylor not only always aspired to excellence, he was also humble and generous of word and deed. The Jazz Life of Dr. Billy Taylor provides the backstory of why he must be remembered as one of the major leading lights of America’s classical music.” —New York City Jazz Record 
   
  “In this excellent collaboration with author Teresa Reed, Dr. Billy Taylor, one of the most beloved and iconic figures in the jazz world, tells his extraordinary life story in his own words with characteristic humility, warmth, and eloquence. This is a book of major importance not only to the jazz field but also to the study of the African American social and cultural experience in the 20th and early 21st centuries. It is a must read—I couldn’t put it down!” —Dr. David N. Baker, Chair, Jazz Studies, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music; National Endowment for the Arts American Jazz Master 
   
  “An impeccable memoir by one of America’s most celebrated renaissance men. . . . The writing is as fluid as it is gorgeous, captivating and inspiring. This monumental memoir offers an in-depth and critical analysis of American history through the lens of one the most decorated African American creative artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. . . . From amazing details of interactions with Malcolm X, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., John Coltrane and Mary Lou Williams to the behind-the-scenes inspirations for compositions such as “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free,” “Don’t Go Down South” and “Peaceful Warrior”; this is a must read by anyone who claims to be remotely interested in American music, history, arts and culture.” —Emmett G. Price III, Ph.D, Executive Editor of Encyclopedia of African American Music

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  Lou Harrison - American Musical...

  Brett Campbell, Bill Alves

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  A biography on the legendary gay American composer of contemporary classical music. 
   
  American composer Lou Harrison (1917–2003) is perhaps best known for challenging the traditional musical establishment along with his contemporaries and close colleagues: composers John Cage, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, and Leonard Bernstein; Living Theater founder, Judith Malina; and choreographer, Merce Cunningham. Today, musicians from Bang on a Can to Björk are indebted to the cultural hybrids Harrison pioneered half a century ago. His explorations of new tonalities at a time when the rest of the avant-garde considered such interests heretical set the stage for minimalism and musical post-modernism. His propulsive rhythms and ground-breaking use of percussion have inspired choreographers from Merce Cunningham to Mark Morris, and he is considered the godfather of the so-called “world music” phenomenon that has invigorated Western music with global sounds over the past two decades. 
   
  In this biography, authors Bill Alves and Brett Campbell trace Harrison’s life and career from the diverse streets of San Francisco, where he studied with music experimentalist Henry Cowell and Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, and where he discovered his love for all things non-traditional (Beat poetry, parties, and men); to the competitive performance industry in New York, where he subsequently launched his career as a composer, conducted Charles Ives’s Third Symphony at Carnegie Hall (winning the elder composer a Pulitzer Prize), and experienced a devastating mental breakdown; to the experimental arts institution of Black Mountain College where he was involved in the first “happenings” with Cage, Cunningham, and others; and finally, back to California, where he would become a strong voice in human rights and environmental campaigns and compose some of the most eclectic pieces of his career. 
   
  “Lou Harrison’s avuncular personality and tuneful music coaxed affectionate regard from all who knew him, and that affection is evident on every page of Alves and Campbell’s new biography. Eminently readable, it puts Harrison at the center of American music: he knew everyone important and was in touch with everybody, from mentors like Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg and Charles Ives and Harry Partch and Virgil Thomson to peers like John Cage to students like Janice Giteck and Paul Dresher. He was larger than life in person, and now he is larger than life in history as well.” —Kyle Gann, author of Charles Ives’s Concord: Essays After a Sonata

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  Stephen Donald - Beaver

  Scotty Stevenson

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  Stephen Donald etched himself into All Blacks folklore with that 'kick' in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final at Eden Park. Donald, one of the country's most popular All Blacks, had not originally been wanted for the World Cup squad. He was whitebaiting in the Waikato and effectively off the rugby grid when the SOS went out for his services. The rest, as they say, is history. That one penalty goal in the final has ensured him a special place in All Blacks history. Now, Donald is combining with the hugely talented rugby writer and commentator Scotty 'Sumo' Stevenson in a book which will cover not only Donald's sporting career and his part in the All Blacks' historic Cup win, but also poke the borax at both himself and his team mates. Stevenson's unique brand of humour - he collaborated with Cory Jane on the screaming funny Cory Jane: Winging It - will ensure Beaver's book will be one to be both remembered and most feared (especially if you're a high profile teammate!)

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  Rosa Parks - Black Americans of...

  Mary Hull

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  On December 1, 1955, seamstress Rosa Parks took a stand by refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. Her defiance against an unjust system triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped spark the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Parks demonstrated the effectiveness of unified peaceful protests, and throughout her life she advocated an end to violence, discrimination, and injustice, eventually establishing the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development. This updated edition of Rosa Parks includes fresh insights on the life and legacy of the woman known as the "mother of the civil rights movement". The book is published by Chelsea House Publishers, a leading publisher of educational material.

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  Richard Petty: The Life and...

  Charles River Editors

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  "I'd rather be called King than other things I've been called.” – Richard Petty 
  A person may not know anything about baseball, but they still likely know the name Babe Ruth. Others may not watch football, but they still likely know who Tom Brady is. And most people have never been to a stock car race, but they’ve likely heard of Richard Petty, along with his simple but fitting nickname: “The King.” 
  Of course, there are plenty of reasons why Petty is so legendary, and why “The King” is more than merely a nickname. The name is an acknowledgment that Richard Petty is quite possibly the greatest driver in the history of stock car racing, and while some may debate that, nobody can argue that he is the winningest driver in the history of National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing-sanctioned events. Over the course of 34 years, Petty won 200 races in his career, was the first driver to win the NASCAR Cup Championship seven times (the others being Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson), and to date is the only driver to win under different points systems. He won NASCAR’s biggest race, the Daytona 500, a record seven times, and he holds the record for the most wins in a single season (27 out of 49 races in 1967). Petty holds the record for number of starts from the pole (127), number of Top 10 finishes (over 700), and total starts (1,184). Such was his standing that he was one of the three drivers (along with Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson) inducted into the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010.

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  With 3 Para to the Falklands

  Graham Colbeck

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  A veteran of the Falklands conflict vividly recounts the actions of his elite parachute regiment in this Cold War military history. On Friday, April 9, 1982, a British task force set sail for the Falkland Islands. Three months later, after a short but brutal campaign, it had successfully ejected the Argentinean occupying forces. With 3 Para to the Falklands is the full story of that dramatic struggle from the point of view of a sergeant in the Third Battalion, Parachute Regiment (3 Para). This elite battle group played a significant part in the campaign, marching from Port San Carlos to Port Stanley and fighting in one of its most crucial, yet often-neglected battles—the night assault on Mount Longdon. Graham Colbeck’s vivid account reveals the stark realities harsh conditions of this stubbornly contested conflict.

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