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Friends Along the Way
A celebrated jazz writer offers fascinating portraits of friends he's known during a lifetime in jazz For more than half a century, jazz writer and lyricist Gene Lees has been the friend of many in the world of jazz music. In this delightful book he offers minibiographies of fifteen of these friends--some of them jazz greats, some lesser-known figures, and some up-and-comers. Combining conversations and memoirs with critical commentary, Lees's insightful and intimate profiles will captivate jazz fans, performers, and historians alike. The subjects of the book range from the versatile orchestrator and arranger Claus Ogerman to legendary jazz broadcaster Willis Conover, from the gifted young Chinese violinist Yue Deng to undersung pianist Junior Mance. Lees writes about these figures both as musicians and as human beings, and he writes out of a conviction that jazz as an art form represents the highest values of American culture. Inviting us into the lives of these unique individuals, Lees offers an affectionate view of the jazz community that only an insider could provide.
Cats of Any Color
Looks at the pervasiveness of racism in jazz's past and present--both the white racism that long ghettoized the music of talented African-American musicians, and what Lees maintains is an increasingly virulent reverse racism aimed at white jazz musicians.
And Sleep Until Noon
"[The] story of Jack Royal, a troubled and lonely Chicago musician who finds fame he never asked for as a singer, actor, and darling of the young" --
Did They Mention the Music?
Best known for the "dead-ant" theme to the Pink Panther films, Henry Mancini also composed the music to Peter Gunn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Orson Welles' Touch of Evil, and the Academy Award winning soundtracks to Victor/Victoria and The Days of Wine and Roses. In a career that lasted over thirty years, Mancini amassed twenty Grammy awards and more nominations than any other composer. In his memoir, written with jazz expert Lees, Mancini discusses his close friendships with Blake Edwards, Julie Andrews, and Paul Newman, his professional collaborations with Johnny Mercer, Luciano Pavarotti, and James Galway, and his achievements as a husband, father, and grandfather. A great memoir loaded with equal parts Hollywood glitz and Italian gusto.
Portrait of Johnny
An intimate biography of the great songwriter, this is also a deeply affectionate memoir by one of Johnny Mercer’s best friends. “Moon River,” “Laura,” “Skylark,” ”That Old Black Magic,” “One for My Baby,” “Accentuate the Positive,” “Satin Doll,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” “Something’s Gotta Give”—the honor roll of Mercer’s songs is endless. Both Oscar Hammerstein II and Alan Jay Lerner called him the greatest lyricist in the English language, and he was perhaps the best-loved and certainly the best-known songwriter of his generation. But Mercer was also a complicated and private man. A scion of an important Savannah family that had lost its fortune...
You Can't Steal a Gift
You Can?t Steal a Gift is about the impact of American racism on America?s greatest gift to the world of music?jazz. In a work that combines memoir, oral history, and commentary, Gene Lees has crafted minibiographies of four great black musicians whom he knew well?Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Milt Hinton, and Nat ?King? Cole. Lees writes of them, ?All are men who had every reason to embrace bitterness . . . and didn?t.? When Lees left Montreal to become the music and drama critic of the Louisville Times in 1955, he was shocked by the racism and segregation he found in the United States. In jazz he found a community of like-minded souls who freely shared their gifts with all lovers of music, regardless of race and condition.
One Long Tune
"Breau's astonishing virtuosity influenced countless performers, but unfortunately it came at the expense of his personal relationships and happiness. When he was found dead in his apartment building's pool in 1984, police suspected his wife, but no one has ever been charged. Despite Breau's fascinating life story and his musical importance, however, no full-length biography has yet been published - until now. Forbes-Roberts has interviewed more than 200 people, including family members, fellow musicians, and the luthiers who created his instruments, and closely analyzed his recordings. The result is a detailed biography that sheds light on all areas of Breau's fascinating life with a particular emphasis on his evolution as a musician."--Jacket.
Arranging the Score
The essays in this volume are about arrangers, all of whom are also composers. They appeared first in [Lees'] publication Jazzletter.-Excerpt from Foreword, by Jeffrey Sultanof (p. ix).
Jazz Lives
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Waiting for Dizzy
From Bix Beiderbecke to Dizzy Gillespie, from swing to be-bop, from the 1920s to the 1990s, Lees provides portraits of some of the most important and beloved figures in jazz history.-Derived from book jacket.
