Jazz is one of America's greatest gifts to the arts, and native Texas musicians have played a major role in the development of jazz from its birth in ragtime, blues, and boogie-woogie to its most contemporary manifestation in free jazz. Dave Oliphant began the fascinating story of Texans and jazz in his acclaimed book Texan Jazz, published in 1996. Continuing his riff on this intriguing musical theme, Oliphant uncovers in this new volume more of the prolific connections between Texas musicians and jazz.Jazz Mavericks of the Lone Star State presents sixteen published and previously unpublished essays on Texans and jazz. Oliphant celebrates the contributions of such vital figures as Eddie Durham, Kenny Dorham, Leo Wright, and Ornette Coleman. He also takes a fuller look at Western Swing through Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies and a review of Duncan McLean's Lone Star Swing. In addition, he traces the relationship between British jazz criticism and Texas jazz and defends the reputation of Texas folklorist Alan Lomax as the first biographer of legendary jazz pianist-composer Jelly Roll Morton. In other essays, Oliphant examines the links between jazz and literature, including fiction and poetry by Texas writers, and reveals the seemingly unlikely connection between Texas and Wisconsin in jazz annals. All the essays in this book underscore the important parts played by Texas musicians in jazz history and the significance of Texas to jazz, as also demonstrated by Oliphant's reviews of the Ken Burns PBS series on jazz and Alfred Appel Jr.'s Jazz Modernism.

Jazz Mavericks of the Lone Star State

Arts & Photography

Oliphant, Dave

Music

University of Texas Press

Jazz is one of America's greatest gifts to the arts, and native Texas musicians have played a major role in the development of jazz from its birth in ragtime, blues, and boogie-woogie to its most contemporary manifestation in free jazz. Dave Oliphant began the fascinating story of Texans and jazz in his acclaimed book Texan Jazz, published in 1996. Continuing his riff on this intriguing musical theme, Oliphant uncovers in this new volume more of the prolific connections between Texas musicians and jazz.
Jazz Mavericks of the Lone Star State presents sixteen published and previously unpublished essays on Texans and jazz. Oliphant celebrates the contributions of such vital figures as Eddie Durham, Kenny Dorham, Leo Wright, and Ornette Coleman. He also takes a fuller look at Western Swing through Milton Brown and his Musical Brownies and a review of Duncan McLean's Lone Star Swing. In addition, he traces the relationship between British jazz criticism and Texas jazz and defends the reputation of Texas folklorist Alan Lomax as the first biographer of legendary jazz pianist-composer Jelly Roll Morton. In other essays, Oliphant examines the links between jazz and literature, including fiction and poetry by Texas writers, and reveals the seemingly unlikely connection between Texas and Wisconsin in jazz annals. All the essays in this book underscore the important parts played by Texas musicians in jazz history and the significance of Texas to jazz, as also demonstrated by Oliphant's reviews of the Ken Burns PBS series on jazz and Alfred Appel Jr.'s Jazz Modernism.

Texan Jazz

Texas musicians and jazz share a history that goes all the way back to the origins of jazz in ragtime, blues, and boogie-woogie. Texans have left their mark on all of jazz's major movements, including hot jazz, swing, bebop, the birth of the cool, hard bop, and free jazz. Yet these musicians are seldom identified as Texans because their careers often took them to the leading jazz centers in New Orleans, Chicago, New York, Kansas City, and Los Angeles.
In Texan Jazz, Dave Oliphant reclaims these musicians for Texas and explores the vibrant musical culture that brought them forth. Working through the major movements of jazz, he describes the lives, careers, and recordings of such musicians as Scott Joplin, Hersal Thomas, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Sippie Wallace, Jack Teagarden, Buster Smith, Hot Lips Page, Eddie Durham, Herschel Evans, Charlie Christian, Red Garland, Kenny Dorham, Jimmy Giuffre, Ornette Coleman, John Carter, and many others.
The great strength of Texan Jazz is its record of the contributions to jazz made by African-American Texans. The first major book on this topic ever published, it will be fascinating reading for everyone who loves jazz.

The early swing era of jazz, from 1930 to 1941, represents both an extension of developments of the previous decade and an introduction of new tendencies that influenced subsequent periods of jazz history. Major big bands and individual artists established important styles that brought wide popularity to the music, while small groups created innovative approaches that determined the directions jazz would take in the years to come. This was a time marked by colorful band leaders, flashy instrumental soloists, showy orchestras, and engaging singers, and Oliphant's reference guide to this period is an invaluable source of information on its artists, methods, innovations, and recordings.
Directing readers to outstanding performances available on compact disc, it serves not only as a scholarly historical and cultural overview, but also as a helpful guide for the layman. Organized in a biographical format, the volume discusses many individuals and groups that have not been considered so fully before, and provides a critical assessment of a major period in American music.

The Early Swing Era, 1930 to 1941: (Jazz Companions)

Greenwood

The first major autobiography by a Texas poet, this noteworthy account traces the life and times of a poet, publisher, critic, and teacher from his childhood to the present day. This remarkable life is examined through the works it produced—25 books in the fields of poetry, fiction, translation, jazz history, and book reviewing. Proving that the literary and intellectual life in Texas far surpasses the state's stereotypes, this record shows how the poet was instrumental in connecting Texas with many Latin American writers as well as with a wide world of music.

Harbingers of Books to Come: A Texan's Literary Life

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Wings Press

Written in tightly constructed rhymed quatrains, this is the first biography of internationally acclaimed Texas jazz trumpeter Kenny Dorham. Beginning in 1963 with Dorham’s recordings in Denmark, this book-length poem traces the story of the Texan’s career performing with the greatest musicians of the bop and hard bop eras in jazz history—including Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane. Also discussing extensive traveling as a musician and his lamentably short-lived group the Jazz Prophets, this account demonstrates why Dorham remains something of a cult figure despite his premature death at age 48.

KD: A Jazz Biography

Humor & Entertainment

Poetry. Renowned American poet Dave Oliphant celebrates his home state in this unique collection of poetry. Oliphant consciously began this series in the autumn of 1974 and finished it twenty-five years later in the fall of 1999. Containing thirty sections, each devoted to a different town, MEMORIES OF TEXAS TOWNS &amp; CITIES brings together a wide ranging picture of Texas through the places, people, and poetry one man remembers and celebrates. Also featuring glorious full color illustrations by Mary Lou Williams.

Memories of Texas Towns & Cities

Literature & Fiction

Poetry

Host Publications

Backtracking

Poetry. Dave Oliphant's BACKTRACKING explores the influences and inspirations that shaped the work of this prolific American poet. The impact of Spanish culture on the poet is featured at the beginning of the collection, while his wife serves as the inspiration for an ongoing series of poems that celebrates the passion and mystery of their 37-year love affair. Oliphant also pays tribute to his forbearers and remembers literary and musical figures important to his life and those of his kinsmen. An eclectic gathering of poems on Texas landscapes and people, a Chinese film, the Connecticut composer Charles Ives, a Van Gogh painting and an elegy of Princess Diana are also included in this diverse and powerful collection of contemporary American poetry.

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

Books by Oliphant, Dave

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

Jazz Mavericks of the Lone Star State

Jazz Mavericks of the Lone Star State

Texan Jazz

Texan Jazz

The Early Swing Era, 1930 to 1941: (Jazz Companions)

Harbingers of Books to Come: A Texan's Literary Life

KD: A Jazz Biography

Memories of Texas Towns & Cities

Backtracking

Backtracking