The giants of jazz

Gelly, Dave

Schirmer Books

Lester Young was one of the great jazz masters, and his impact on the course of the art form was profound. He fundamentally changed the way the saxophone was played--his long, flowing lines brought new levels of expressiveness and subtlety to the jazz language, setting the standard for all modern players. In Being Prez, renowned British critic Dave Gelly follows Lester Young through his life in a rapidly changing world, showing how the music of this exceptionally sensitive man was shaped by his experiences. The reader meets a complicated, vulnerable, gentle individual who was brought up in his father's traveling carnival band. His early career was spent in the nightclubs and dancehalls of Kansas City and the Southwest, and he made his landmark recording debut at the peak of the Swing Era. But at the height of his powers, he was drafted into the US Army, where racism and his own unworldliness landed him in military prison. Following these events, Young grew increasingly withdrawn and suspicious, changes in his character reflected in the darkening mood of his music. Gelly, himself a jazz saxophonist, examines many of Young's classic recordings in illuminating detail. He reveals how as a saxophonist--and as major contributor to the Count Basie band--Young created a strong personal voice, a cool modernism, and a new rhythmic flexibility in the freely dancing rhythms of 4-beat swing. With his sax jutting oddly to one side, his bizarre oblique use of language, and his unique musical rapport with Billie Holiday (who famously nicknamed him "Prez"), Lester Young has become an icon and a cult figure. This marvelous biography illuminates the life and work of this giant of jazz.

Being Prez: The Life and Music of Lester Young

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Oxford University Press

The creator of the unforgettable “Girl from Ipanema” tenor sax tone, this son of Ukranian immigrants took his unique sound through five decades of swing, cool, bossa and beyond. From Getz's teenage gigs with Dorsey, Goodman and Stan Kenton, fame with Woody Herman, years as a masterful bandleader, and struggles with drugs and the law, this biography tells the bittersweet story of one of our most beloved jazz musicians. This is the first book to focus on Getz's musical legacy, exploring the lightness of touch, lyricism and warm glow that marked his sound. It also gives insight into his skills as a consummate improviser, capable of playing with a musical, tonal and emotional range matched by few other musicians. “We'd all sound like that if we could.” – John Coltrane on Stan Getz

Stan Getz: Nobody Else But Me

Humor & Entertainment

Backbeat

The music of Django Reinhardt is as important today as it has ever been. Blending jazz and gypsy influences, his exuberant solos and incisive rhythm playing have fascinated – and tantalized – guitarists for half a century. In this book, leading jazz writer Dave Gelly considers Django's life and recordings and explains exactly why he sounded the way he did. Meanwhile, guitarist and teacher Rod Fogg shows you how you can achieve that sound yourself, with the help of detailed transcriptions of six of Django's most celebrated and exciting numbers. Includes CD wth all six numbers accurately recorded from the transcriptions for you to follow along.

Django Reinhardt: Know the Man, Play the Music (Fretmaster)

For non-aficionados, jazz can be slippery and difficult to grasp. Jazz can leave a novice baffled, unsure how to listen, and with the question “How is it that they know what to play?” Know-It-All Jazz takes readers from the African-American roots and all the way to the global mix of styles and performers in today’s jazz scene. Along the way, it looks at the shape, style, and instruments of the discipline, key personalities and recordings in the jazz canon, and, finally, at what might be expected next from this most diverse of musical forms. Punchy and engaging entries help readers understand the basics in under a minute, ensuring that this is the ultimate companion for newcomers to the instinctive and diverse world of jazz.

Know It All Jazz: The 50 Crucial Concepts, Styles, and Performers, Each Explained in Under a Minute (Volume 11) (Know It All, 11)

Arts & Photography

Music

Wellfleet Press

For its initiates, jazz is instinctive and engaging the way that popular music should be. For non-aficionados, it can be slippery and difficult to grasp: without familiar forms or a hard-and-fast format, and largely ruled by improvisation, jazz leaves the novice baffled, not sure how to listen, and asking how is it that they know what to play? 30-Second Jazz explains, in easy, short riffs that keep you engaged, taking readers from the African-American roots of jazz all the way to todays global mix of musicians and styles. Along the way, it looks at the shape, style, and instruments of jazz, at key personalities and recordings in the jazz canon and at what might be expected next from this most diverse of musical forms.

30-Second Jazz: The 50 Crucial Concepts, Styles, and Performers, Each Explained in Half a Minute

Ivy Press

For its initiates, jazz is instinctive and engaging—the way that popular music should be. For non-aficionados, it can be slippery and difficult to grasp: without familiar forms or a hard-and-fast format, and largely ruled by improvisation, jazz leaves the novice baffled, not sure how to listen, and asking “how is it that they know what to play?” 30-Second Jazz explains, in easy, short riffs that keep you engaged, taking readers from the African-American roots of jazz all the way to today’s global mix of musicians and styles. Along the way, it looks at the shape, style, and instruments of jazz, at key personalities and recordings in the jazz canon—and at what might be expected next from this most diverse of musical forms.

30-Second Jazz: The 50 most fundamental concepts in physics, each explained in half a minute

Icons of Jazz A History in Photographs

The Brown Reference Group

Lester Young was one of the great jazz masters, and his impact on the course of the art form was profound.  He fundamentally changed the way the saxophone was played--his long, flowing lines brought new levels of expressiveness and subtlety to the jazz language, setting the standard for all modern players.      In Being Prez, renowned British critic Dave Gelly follows Lester Young through his life in a rapidly changing world, showing how the music of this exceptionally sensitive man was shaped by his experiences. The reader meets a complicated, vulnerable, gentle individual who was brought up in his father's traveling carnival band.  His early career was spent in the nightclubs and dancehalls of Kansas City and the Southwest, and he made his landmark recording debut at the peak of the Swing Era.  But at the height of his powers, he was drafted into the US Army, where racism and his own unworldliness landed him in military prison.  Following these events, Young grew increasingly withdrawn and suspicious, changes in his character reflected in the darkening mood of his music. Gelly, himself a jazz saxophonist, examines many of Young's classic recordings in illuminating detail. He reveals how as a saxophonist--and as major contributor to the Count Basie band--Young created a strong personal voice, a cool modernism, and a new rhythmic flexibility in the freely dancing rhythms of 4-beat swing.        With his sax jutting oddly to one side, his bizarre oblique use of language, and his unique musical rapport with Billie Holiday (who famously nicknamed him "Prez"), Lester Young has become an icon and a cult figure.  This marvelous biography illuminates the life and work of this giant of jazz.

Being Prez (Popular Music History)

Equinox Publishing Ltd

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gelly, Dave. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Gelly, Dave

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gelly, Dave. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The giants of jazz

The giants of jazz

Being Prez: The Life and Music of Lester Young

Stan Getz: Nobody Else But Me

Django Reinhardt: Know the Man, Play the Music (Fretmaster)

Know It All Jazz: The 50 Crucial Concepts, Styles, and Performers, Each Explained in Under a Minute (Volume 11) (Know It All, 11)

30-Second Jazz: The 50 Crucial Concepts, Styles, and Performers, Each Explained in Half a Minute

30-Second Jazz: The 50 most fundamental concepts in physics, each explained in half a minute

Icons of Jazz A History in Photographs

Being Prez (Popular Music History)