Other books that might interest you

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  Aretha Franklin's Amazing Grace

  Aaron Cohen

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  This is a fascinating and thoroughly researched exploration of the best-selling gospel album of all time. For two days in January 1972, Aretha Franklin sang at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles while tape recorders and film cameras rolled. Everyone there knew the event had the potential to be historic: five years after ascending to soul royalty and commercial success, Franklin was publicly returning to her religious roots. Her influential minister father stood by her on the pulpit. Her mentor, Clara Ward, sat in the pews. Franklin responded to the occasion with the performance of her life and the resulting double album became a multi-million seller - even without any trademark hit singles. But that was just one part of the story. Franklin's warm inimitable voice, virtuoso jazz-soul instrumental group and Rev. James Cleveland's inventive choral arrangements transformed the course of gospel. Through new interviews, musical and theological analyses as well as archival discoveries, this book sets the scene, traces the recording's traditional origins and pop infusions and describes the album's enduring impact.

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  Nothing Compares 2 U - An Oral...

  Touré

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  The real Prince in the words of those who knew him best—from award-winning author Touré. 
   
   
   
  Nothing Compares 2 U is an oral history built from years of interviews with dozens of people who were in Prince's inner circle—from childhood friends to band members to girlfriends to managers to engineers to photographers, and more—all providing unique insights into the man and the musician. 
   
   
   
  This revelatory book is a deeply personal and candid discussion of who Prince really was emotionally, professionally, and romantically. It tackles subjects never-before-discussed, including Prince's multiple personalities, his romantic relationships, his traumatic childhood and how it propelled him into his music career, and how he found the inspiration for some of his most important songs, including "Purple Rain," "Starfish and Coffee," and the unheard "Wally." 
   
   
   
  Nothing Compares 2 U paints the most complete picture yet written of the most important and most mysterious artist of his time.

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  Keyboard Lessons - A...

  Jessica Gilbert

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  Welcome to the world of piano playing! You may be feeling nervous, but don’t worry; you’ve come to the right place. This guide is here to help you embark on your musical journey, regardless of whether you’re a seasoned enthusiast or a curious beginner. With expert guidance, you’ll have all the necessary information and resources to become a skilled keyboard player. 
  Starting something new can be intimidating, especially if you have no prior experience. However, with this guide by your side, you’ll have all the knowledge and skills you need to confidently start your musical journey. Whether you want to play for leisure, as a pastime, or to make a living as a musician, this guide will allow you to realize your musical potential as a keyboard player.  
  Are you ready to take your keyboard skills to the next level? Then you’re in the right place! With some practice and expert advice, you’ll be playing all your favorite piano songs in no time. You’ll have support every step of the way. 

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  American Diva - Extraordinary...

  Deborah Paredez

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  What does it mean to be a "diva"? A shifting, increasingly loaded term, it has been used to both deride and celebrate charismatic and unapologetically fierce performers like Aretha Franklin, Divine, and the women of Labelle. In this brilliant, powerful blend of incisive criticism and electric memoir, Deborah Paredez—scholar, cultural critic, and lifelong diva devotee—unravels our enduring fascination with these icons and explores how divas have challenged American ideas about feminism, performance, and freedom. 
   
   
   
  American Diva journeys into Tina Turner's scintillating performances, Celia Cruz's command of the male-dominated salsa world, the transcendent revival of Jomama Jones after a period of exile, and the unparalleled excellence of Venus and Serena Williams. Recounting how she and her mother endlessly watched Rita Moreno's powerhouse portrayal of Anita in West Side Story and how she learned much about being bigger than life from her fabulous Tía Lucia, Paredez chronicles the celebrated and skilled performers who not only shaped her life but boldly expressed the aspiration for freedom among brown, Black, and gay communities. Paredez also traces the evolution of the diva through the decades. 
   
   
   
  Filled with sharp insights and great heart, American Diva is a spirited tribute to the power of performance and the joys of fandom.

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  Seasons for the Soul - Spells of...

  Julia van den Bosch

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  The beauty and magic of nature seen through the eye of a needle.
  Colours of flowers and shapes of plants; bleached grass and golden cornfields at harvest time; spiders webs on the structures of decayed seedheads; a metallic green chafer beetle landing on a deep crimson rose; a shooting star. Beguiling discoveries that are part of the world full of secrets, minute details and the sumptuous colours and textures of nature that lend themselves to their translation into rich embroidery.
  This embroidered path of the seasons uses hand embroidery in its traditional role of storytelling to share nature's gifts. Each stitch holds the emotion of the moment and keeps a record.
  The book tells the story of the companionship and healing offered by the seasons during the enforced isolation of the pandemic, and how it enabled the artist to find beauty in solitude.

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  Leonard Cohen - The Man Who Saw...

  Christophe Lebold

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  Leonard Cohen has aimed high: to be all Jewish heroes at once. Like Jacob, he struggled with angels. Like David, he sang psalms and seduced women. But he never ceased doing what he did best: going from city to city and reviving our hearts. Leonard Cohen: The Man Who Saw the Angels Fall follows the singer’s cosmopolitan life from Montreal and New York to the Greek island of Hydra and examines his perpetual dialogues with himself, God, and avalanches.
  		 
  We see how six decades of radiant pessimism and a few thousand nights in hotel rooms transformed a young Jewish poet who longed to be a saint into an existentialist troubadour in love with women and a gravelly-voiced crooner who taught a thousand ways of dissolving into love.
  		 
  After more than two decades of research and travels, Christophe Lebold, who befriended the poet and spent time with him in Los Angeles, delivers a stimulating analysis of Cohen’s life and art. Gracefully blending biography and essay, he interrogates the mission Cohen set out for himself: to show us that darkness is just the flip side of light.

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