The Music Room: A Story of Art, Friendship, and Gathering in Betty Freeman's Beverly Hills Home

Arts & Photography

Johnson, Jake

Music

Oxford University Press

From 1981 to 1994, music patron and art collector Betty Freeman (1921--2009) hosted a series of monthly musicales, or salons, in Los Angeles. Most of these salons were held in a room off the den of Freeman's Beverly Hills home--a space she dubbed "the music room." Freeman saw these salons as an important space to foster the development of contemporary composition among leading and upcoming composers in both America and Europe. Over the span of thirteen seasons, 144 composers, performers, and dignitaries in the contemporary music world spoke, performed, and shared their music before a gathering of elite arts administrators, scholars, critics, patrons, and composers from the greater Los Angeles area. Freeman and her co-organizer, music critic Alan Rich (1924--2010), ensured that young, local composers were frequently featured alongside established ones with international reputations, constructing a network of mentors and mentees within contemporary music. The Music Room is a collection of transcriptions of tape recordings made at the salons and photographs Freeman took of these events that gives an unprecedented look inside one of the most significant musical gatherings of the last century. Among those famous today who appeared in the salons were John Cage, Libby Larsen, Pierre Boulez, Steve Reich, John Adams, György Ligeti, and Philip Glass. Featuring sixteen composers whose work and relationship with Freeman showcase the wide influence of her salon series, The Music Room is at once a record of these specific composers as well as a documented history of salon culture in America.

Mormons, Musical Theater, and Belonging in America (Music in American Life)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints adopted the vocal and theatrical traditions of American musical theater as important theological tenets. As Church membership grew, leaders saw how the genre could help define the faith and wove musical theater into many aspects of Mormon life. Jake Johnson merges the study of belonging in America with scholarship on voice and popular music to explore the surprising yet profound link between two quintessentially American institutions. Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Mormons gravitated toward musicals as a common platform for transmitting political and theological ideas. Johnson sees Mormons using musical theater as a medium for theology of voice--a religious practice that suggests how vicariously voicing another person can bring one closer to godliness. This sounding, Johnson suggests, created new opportunities for living. Voice and the musical theater tradition provided a site for Mormons to negotiate their way into middle-class respectability. At the same time, musical theater became a unique expressive tool of Mormon culture.

University of Illinois Press

Lying in the Middle: Musical Theater and Belief at the Heart of America (Music in American Life)

The local and regional shows staged throughout America use musical theater's inherent power of deception to cultivate worldviews opposed to mainstream ideas. Jake Johnson reveals how musical theater between the coasts inhabits the middle spaces between professional and amateur, urban and rural, fact and fiction, fantasy and reality, and truth and falsehood. The homegrown musical provides a space to engage belief and religion--imagining a better world while creating opportunities to expand what is possible in the current one. Whether it is the Oklahoma Senior Follies or a Mormon splinter group's production of The Sound of Music, such productions give people a chance to jolt themselves out of today's post-truth malaise and move toward a world more in line with their desires for justice, reconciliation, and community. Vibrant and strikingly original, Lying in the Middle discovers some of the most potent musical theater taking place in the hoping, beating hearts of Americans.

A multi-author collection of eighteen original superhero tales ranging from the dark to the hysterical to the downright bizarre. “And Introducing the Scarlet Scrapper” by Leonard Apa: A Golden Age tale of an actor who hates playing a superhero on the radio but discovers a new role awaiting him. “Sovereign’s Last Hurrah” David Court: In a retirement home, elderly supervillains scheme to return an item of power to their greatest enemy. “RIGHTMAN! Loses the Faith” Gary Cuba: Being a superhero is what you make of it, and what you can make from it. “Dax and the Red Eyes” Adrienne Dellwo: Dax's disability prevents him from telling anyone about his brother using powers to hurt people. “Dum Dum” Leod D. Fitz: Some supervillains are geniuses, and others are simply well-trained. “Light Therapy” Che Gilson: Being a sidekick is a thankless job. “Pinning Portugal” Elliotte Rusty Harold: A group of supervillains hatches a new scheme that naturally goes awry. “When Fukayna Danced Her Libraries” Jake Johnson: Eventually even superheroes need to step away from the job. “Super Frenemies” Stephen Kotowych: A group of super-powered children take on the neighborhood bully with surprising results. “The Faces of the Wind” Laura Lamoreaux: After World War II, the country no longer needed superheroes, leaving the heroes with difficult decisions. “Capacity Crowds” Paul McMahon: He wants to be a real superhero, but can't seem to find a villain to match him. “Heart of the Matter” Robert J. Mendenhall: Cameron's powers are preventing the medical treatment that may save his life. “Ebony Boneshaft, Secret Superhero” Wendy Qualls: She didn't mean to discover Ebony Boneshaft's secret identity, and when she did, it caused no end of trouble for her. “Eye of the Beholder” Dave Ring: Being seen as the object of everyone's desire is a poor way to live life. “I Am Hathor” Aaron Michael Ritchey &amp; Jason Henry Evans: Balancing superheroics and motherhood is a difficult dance for Hathor. “The Romulus Proposition” Tim Rohr: When the mighty have fallen, it's probably because they were pushed. “Saul, Again” Eric Rosenfield: A time traveler takes a circuitous, long-term approach to facing a dangerous villain. “Damn the Dark, Damn the Light” K. H. Vaughan: There's a fine line between heroism and nihilism and sooner or later everyone crosses it.

Caped: An Anthology of Superhero Tales

Literature & Fiction

Harold, Elliotte Rusty

Healy, Ian Thomas

Court, David

Gilson, Che'

Dellwo, Adrienne

Fitz, Leod D.

Cuba, Gary

Apa, Leonard

Short Stories & Anthologies

Local Hero Press

(RECORDING INSTRUCTION). The Hal Leonard Recording Method is the perfect introduction for anyone interested in learning the basics of recording audio for bands, singer/songwriters, and more. Veteran studio engineer and author Jake Johnson takes you through the fundamentals of audio recording, from gear and set-up through mixing and mastering, sharing invaluable tips and guideposts along the way. Also features valuable audio demonstration tracks and video tutorials! Topics covered include: digital audio basics * basic gear and setup * inputs and outputs (I/O) * audio sources & microphones * capturing & editing audio * plug-ins, effects & signal processing * mixing * mastering * and more. Audio and video files are accessed online using the unique code inside the book and can be streamed or downloaded. The audio files include PLAYBACK+, a multi-functional audio player that allows you to slow down audio without changing pitch, set loop points, change keys, and pan left or right.

Hal Leonard Recording Method: for Bands, Singer/Songwriters & More with Online Audio and Video

Humor & Entertainment

Hal Leonard

(RECORDING INSTRUCTION). The Hal Leonard Recording Method is the perfect introduction for anyone interested in learning the basics of recording audio for hip-hop, pop, EDM, and more. Veteran studio engineer and author Jake Johnson takes you through the fundamentals of audio recording, from gear and setup through mixing and mastering, sharing invaluable tips and guideposts along the way. Also features audio demonstration tracks and video tutorials! It covers: the physics of sound; digital audio basics; basic gear and setup; inputs and outputs (I/O); hybrid production; MIDI, soft synths, and virtual instruments; capturing and editing audio; plug-ins, effects, and signal processing; mixing; mastering; and more. The book's audio examples and video lessons are accessed online for download or streaming using the unique code in each book.

Hal Leonard Recording Method for Hip-Hop, Pop, EDM, & More - by Jake Johnson with Online Audio and Video Demos

Reference

The funeral business is changing. Don't let it bury you. Since its inception, the funeral and cemetery business has stuck to the status quo. After all, other than taxes, death is the only sure thing in life. But the world is changing more rapidly than ever. As a funeral or cemetery professional, you have to keep up if you don't want to get buried. Written by Jake Johnson, president and CEO of the premier consulting firm for the funeral and cemetery business, Staying Alive in the Funeral Profession holds the insights you need to understand current trends and opportunities to buy, grow, and sell while building a legacy you can be proud of.

Staying Alive In The Funeral & Cemetery Profession: Building A Business, Weathering Changes, and Finding Growth

Business & Money

Industries

Advantage Media Group

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Books by Johnson, Jake