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The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces (Fifth Continental Edition)
by Maynard MackA selection of Western literature containing only works written originally in the ancient and modern foreign languages.
Norwich's Military Legacy (Military Legacy)
by Michael ChandlerOriginally a town that was built of wood by the Anglo-Saxons, it was later burned down and then rebuilt as Englands second city, after London, by William the Conqueror. Riots between the church and the citizens saw Norwich at war with the Pope in 1272 when a gate was constructed as a penance. The Norfolk Regiment has seen its men in combat from the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the Boer War and both World Wars. The more recent conflicts in the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan have also witnessed the bravery of the Norfolks. A comprehensive list of military personnel who gave their lives is examined, including Norwich-born Second Lieutenant Wilfred Edwards VC, as well as an account of 9694 Private John Henry Abigail of the Norfolk Regiment who, on 12 September 1917, aged 21, was executed for being AWOL. It would not be until November 2006 that Private Abigail was pardoned by the British government.
Nostalgia for the Future: Luigi Nono's Selected Writings and Interviews (California Studies in 20th-Century Music #21)
by Luigi Nono Angela Ida De Benedictis Veniero RizzardiNostalgia for the Future is the first collection in English of the writings and interviews of Luigi Nono (1924–1990). One of the most prominent figures in the development of new music after World War II, he is renowned for both his compositions and his utopian views. His many essays and lectures reveal an artist at the center of the analytical, theoretical, critical, and political debates of the time. This selection of Nono’s most significant essays, articles, and interviews covers his entire career (1948–1989), faithfully mirroring the interests, orientations, continuities, and fractures of a complex and unique personality. His writings illuminate his intensive involvements with theatre, painting, literature, politics, science, and even mysticism. Nono’s words make vividly evident his restless quest for the transformative possibilities of a radical musical experience, one that is at the same time profoundly engaged with its performers and spaces, its audiences, and its human and social motivations and ramifications.
Not Afraid: The Evolution of Eminem
by Anthony BozzaThe sequel to the New York Times bestseller Whatever You Say I Am, chronicling the last 20 years of rapper Eminem's life, based on exclusive interviews with the artist, his friends, and associatesIn 1999, a former dishwasher from Detroit named Marshall Bruce Mathers III became the most controversial and polarizing musical artist in the world. He was an outlier, a white artist creating viable art in a black medium, telling stories with such verbal dexterity, nimble wit, and shocking honesty that his music and persona resonated universally. In short, Eminem changed the landscape of pop culture as we knew it.In 2006, at the height of his fame and one of the biggest-selling artists in music history, Eminem all but disappeared. Beset by nonstop controversy, bewildering international fame, a debilitating drug problem, and personal tragedy, he became reclusive, withdrawing to his Detroit-area compound. He struggled with weight gain and an addiction to prescription pills that nearly took his life. Over the next five years, Eminem got sober, relapsed, then finally got and stayed clean with the help of his unlikely friend and supporter, Elton John. He then triumphantly returned to a very different landscape, yet continued his streak of number one albums and multiplatinum singles.Not Afraid picks up where rock journalist Anthony Bozza's bestselling Whatever You Say I Am left off. Capturing Eminem's toughest years in his own words, as well the insights of his closest friends and creative collaborators, this book chronicles the musical, personal, and spiritual growth of one of hip hop's most enduring and enigmatic figures.
Not Dead & Not for Sale: The Earthling Papers, a Memoir
by Scott Weiland David RitzThe “shockingly honest” memoir by the iconic musician who fronted Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, including personal photographs (Rolling Stone).In the early 1990s, Stone Temple Pilots—not U2, not Nirvana, not Pearl Jam—was the hottest band in the world. STP toppled such mega-bands as Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses on MTV and the Billboard charts, and lead singer Scott Weiland became a compellingly charismatic front man in the tradition of Mick Jagger, David Bowie, and Robert Plant.Then, when STP imploded, it was Weiland who emerged as the emblem of rock star excess, with his well-publicized drug busts and trips to rehab. Written just a few years before his tragic death, this raw and revealing memoir delves into these experiences and more—his early years as an altar boy, his yearning for his father after his parents’ divorce, his complex relationship with the love of his life, Mary Forsberg Weiland, his traumas and heartbreaks. Readers also learn the fascinating stories behind his most well-known songs and what it was like to be there at the beginning of the grunge phenomenon. Not Dead & Not for Sale is a hard rock memoir to be reckoned with—a passionate, insightful, and at times humorous book that reads with extraordinary narrative force.“The tales he sketches out often are as poignant as they are cautionary.” —USA Today“A compelling and worthwhile read.” —Associated Press
Not Dead Yet: The Memoir
by Phil CollinsPhil Collins pulls no punches—about himself, his life, or the ecstasy and heartbreak that’s inspired his music. In his much-awaited memoir, Not Dead Yet, he tells the story of his epic career, with an auspicious debut at age 11 in a crowd shot from the Beatles’ legendary film A Hard Day’s Night. A drummer since almost before he could walk, Collins received on the job training in the seedy, thrilling bars and clubs of 1960s swinging London before finally landing the drum seat in Genesis. Soon, he would step into the spotlight on vocals after the departure of Peter Gabriel and begin to stockpile the songs that would rocket him to international fame with the release of Face Value and “In the Air Tonight.” Whether he’s recalling jamming with Eric Clapton and Robert Plant, pulling together a big band fronted by Tony Bennett, or writing the music for Disney’s smash-hit animated Tarzan, Collins’s storytelling chops never waver. And of course he answers the pressing question on everyone’s mind: just what does “Sussudio” mean? Not Dead Yet is Phil Collins’s candid, witty, unvarnished story of the songs and shows, the hits and pans, his marriages and divorces, the ascents to the top of the charts and into the tabloid headlines. As one of only three musicians to sell 100 million records both in a group and as a solo artist, Collins breathes rare air, but has never lost his touch at crafting songs from the heart that touch listeners around the globe. That same touch is on magnificent display here, especially as he unfolds his harrowing descent into darkness after his “official” retirement in 2007, and the profound, enduring love that helped save him. This is Phil Collins as you’ve always known him, but also as you’ve never heard him before.From the Hardcover edition.
Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops
by Ken MandelbaumIf you love Broadway musicals, this book is for you. While Broadway has had its share of musical triumphs, it has also seen hundreds of musicals that had brief runs, lost millions of dollars, and broke the hearts of their creators and performers. For every hit musical, there are roughly five others that are quick flops, and even the most celebrated names in show business are not immune to them. Ken Mandelbaum offers the behind-the-scenes story of the development of almost two hundred musical flops that played Broadway between 1950 and 1990, along with a reevaluative and often revisionist study of their quality. Here they all are, from such legendary catastrophes as Carrie, Kelly, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Legs Diamond, to flops that starred Lucille Ball and Bette Davis, to the failures of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Jule Styne, Jerry Herman, Alan Jay Lerner, Gower Champion, and many others. Not Since Carrie makes a case for the strengths of certain unsuccessful works, points out some that might be worthy of revival, and allows the reader to relive some of Broadway’s most infamous moments. A reexamination of neglected, forgotten, and often catastrophic musicals, Not Since Carrie will remain the definitive volume on a colorful and vital segment of "lost” theatre history. Ken Mandelbaum has written on musical theatre for The New York Times, Playbill, Stagebill, Billboard, Show Music, and Sony/Columbia Records. He is currently the musical theatre critic for Theater Week magazine. In 1989, he won acclaim for his first book, A Chorus Line and the Musicals of Michael Bennett (St. Martin’s Press). He lives in New York City, and his favorite song is "I Wish It So” from the flop Juno. If you subscribe to a music service like Amazon or Spotify, you can listen to many of the songs described. At the end of the book there is a Shows Index and a Names Index.
Not Without Madness: Perspectives on Opera
by Fabrizio Della SetaOpera often seems to arouse either irrational enthusiasm or visceral dislike. Such madness, as Goethe wrote, is indispensable in all theater, and yet in practice, sentiment and passion must be balanced by sense and reason. Exploring this tension between madness and reason, Not without Madness presents new analytical approaches to thinking about eighteenth- and nineteenth-century opera through the lenses of its historical and cultural contexts. In these twelve essays, Fabrizio Della Seta explores the concept of opera as a dramatic event and an essential moment in the history of theater. Examining the meaning of opera and the devices that produce and transmit this meaning, he looks at the complex verbal, musical, and scenic mechanisms in parts of La sonnambula, Ernani, Aida, Le nozze di Figaro, Macbeth, and Il trovatore. He argues that approaches to the study of opera must address performance, interpretation, composition, reception, and cultural ramifications. Purely musical analysis does not make sense unless we take into account music's dramatic function. Containing many essays available for the first time in English, Not without Madness bridges recent divisions in opera studies and will attract musicologists, musicians, and opera lovers alike.
Not Yo' Butterfly: My Long Song of Relocation, Race, Love, and Revolution (American Crossroads #60)
by Nobuko MiyamotoA mold-breaking memoir of Asian American identity, political activism, community, and purpose.Not Yo’ Butterfly is the intimate and unflinching life story of Nobuko Miyamoto—artist, activist, and mother. Beginning with the harrowing early years of her life as a Japanese American child navigating a fearful west coast during World War II, Miyamoto leads readers into the landscapes that defined the experiences of twentieth-century America and also foregrounds the struggles of people of color who reclaimed their histories, identities, and power through activism and art. Miyamoto vividly describes her early life in the racialized atmosphere of Hollywood musicals and then her turn toward activism as an Asian American troubadour with the release of A Grain of Sand—considered to be the first Asian American folk album. Her narrative intersects with the stories of Yuri Kochiyama and Grace Lee Boggs, influential in both Asian and Black liberation movements. She tells how her experience of motherhood with an Afro-Asian son, as well as a marriage that intertwined Black and Japanese families and communities, placed her at the nexus of the 1992 Rodney King riots—and how she used art to create interracial solidarity and conciliation. Through it all, Miyamoto has embraced her identity as an Asian American woman to create an antiracist body of work and a blueprint for empathy and praxis through community art. Her sometimes barbed, often provocative, and always steadfast story is now told.
The Notation Is Not the Music: Reflections on Early Music Practice and Performance (Publications of the Early Music Institute)
by Barthold KuijkenWritten by a leading authority and artist of the historical transverse flute, The Notation Is Not the Music offers invaluable insight into the issues of historically informed performance and the parameters—and limitations—of notation-dependent performance. As Barthold Kuijken illustrates, performers of historical music should consider what is written on the page as a mere steppingstone for performance. Only by continual examination and reexamination of the sources to discover original intent can an early music practitioner come close to authentic performance.
Note by Note: A Celebration of the Piano Lesson
by Tricia TunstallIn this luminous book, Tricia Tunstall explores the enduring fascination of the piano lesson. Even as everything else about the world of music changes, the piano lesson retains its appeal. Drawing on her own lifelong experience as a student and teacher, Tunstall writes about the mysteries and delights of piano teaching and learning. What is it that happens in a piano lesson to make it such a durable ritual? In a world where music is heard more often on the telephone and in the elevator than in the concert hall, why does the piano lesson still have meaning in the lives of children? What does it matter whether one more child learns to play Bach's Minuet in G? Note by Note is in part a memoir in which Tunstall recalls her own childhood piano teachers and their influence. As she observes, the piano lesson is unlike the experience of being coached on an athletic team or taught in a classroom, in that it is a one-on-one, personal communication. Physically proximate, mutually concentrating on the transfer of a skill that is often arduous, complicated and frustrating, teacher and student occasionally experience breakthroughs-moments of joy when the student has learned something, mastered a musical passage or expressed a feeling through music. The relationship is not only one-way: teaching the piano is a lifelong endeavor of particular intensity and power. Anyone who has ever studied the piano-or wanted to-will cherish this gem of a book.
The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins
by Sonny RollinsAn illuminating selection of writings on a wide variety of topics—everything from technique, music theory, and daily routine to spirituality and systemic racism—from the personal journals of Sonny Rollins, master of the tenor saxophone and &“jazz&’s greatest living improviser&” (The New York Times).Sonny Rollins is one of the towering masters of American music, a virtuoso of the saxophone, and an unequaled improviser whose live performances are legendary and who has reshaped modern jazz time and time again over the course of a career lasting more than sixty years. A turning point in that legendary career came in 1959, when Rollins stepped back from performing and recording to begin a new regime of musical exploration, which saw him practicing for hours, sometimes all through the night, on the Williamsburg Bridge. This was also the moment when he started the notebook that would become a trusted companion in years to come—not a diary so much as a place to ponder art and life and his own search for meaning in words and in images.At once quotidian and aphoristic, the notebooks mingle lists of chores and rehearsal routines with ruminations on nightclub culture, racism, and the conundrums of the inner life. And always there is the music—questions of embouchure, fingering, and technique; of harmony and dissonance; of his own and others&’ art and the art of jazz. &“Any definition,&” Rollins insists, &“which seeks to separate Johann Sebastian Bach from Miles Davis is defeating its own purpose of clarification. . . .The Musings of Miles is then the Bouncing of Bach both played against each other.&” Edited and introduced by the critic and jazz scholar Sam V.H. Reese, The Notebooks of Sonny Rollins provides an unequaled glimpse into the mind and workshop of a musical titan, as well as a wealth of insight and inspiration to readers.
Notenlesen für Dummies Das Pocketbuch (Für Dummies)
by Michael Pilhofer Holly Day Oliver FehnSpielen Sie mit dem Gedanken, ein Instrument zu erlernen? Oder sind Sie schon seit Jahren passionierter Gitarrist, der wunderbar nach Tabulaturen spielt, bei Notenblättern jedoch kapituliert? In jedem Fall werden Sie Ihr musikalisches Potenzial enorm erhöhen, wenn Sie die Sprache der Musik beherrschen. Dieses Buch erklärt Ihnen leicht verständlich, was es mit Noten- und Pausenwerten auf sich hat, welche anderen Symbole wichtig sind und was Sie über Rhythmus und Co. wissen müssen. Die neue Auflage wurde um praktische Übungen erweitert.
Notes Become Music: A Guidebook from the Viennese Piano Tradition
by Walter FleischmannNotes Become Music: A Guidebook from the Viennese Piano Tradition addresses the many unwritten nuances of dynamics, articulation and agogics as an expression of fundamental principles of a common European musical language. It treats the score as an incomplete musical shorthand that outlines the compositional and interpretive imperatives implicit within it, drawing on historical records from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and detailed comparisons of works to underline the author’s presentation of Viennese tradition. This book is not primarily concerned with questions of style or interpretation. Rather, it explains the many facets of musical notation that were taken for granted by composers who assumed a knowledge of the piano tradition of their day. Notes Become Music informs not only those students in countries where the central European music tradition is still unfamiliar, but also a younger generation of Europeans who have grown up without a living connection to their musical past.
Notes From An Accidental Band Geek
by Erin DionneFrom the author of Models Don’t Eat Chocolate Cookies comes a middle grade novel hailed by Linda Urban as "A perfect blend of laugh out loud funny and real-world heart. ” Elsie Wyatt wants to be an orchestra superstar, like her dad and grandfather. The first step? Get into a super-selective summer music camp. In order to qualify, Elsie must "expand her musical horizons” by joining her high school’s marching band. Not only does this mean wearing a plumed hat and polyester pants, but it also means she can’t play her own instrument, can’t sit down, and can’t seem to say the right thing to anyone...let alone Jake, the cute trumpet player she meets on the first day. Plus, everything she does seems to cause a disaster. Surviving marching band is going to be way harder than Elsie thought. For fans of funny, realistic, every-girl novels like Wendy Mass’s 13 Gifts and Lisa Greenwald’s My Life in Pink & Green. "It has humor, heart, and a touch of romance that will provide ample fodder for booktalks. ”-School Library Journal "Marching-band kids everywhere will enjoy this believable celebration of a life-changing, musical rite of passage. ”-Kirkus .
Notes from the Metalevel: An Introduction to Computer Composition
by Heinrich TaubeFirst Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Notes from the Pianist's Bench: Second Edition, Multimedia Edition
by Boris BermanA master class on piano performance and pedagogy from the world-renowned concert pianist In this newly revised edition of a comprehensive guide to piano technique, performance, and music interpretation, renowned performing musician, recording artist, and teacher Boris Berman addresses virtually every aspect of musical artistry and pedagogy. Ranging from such practical matters as sound, touch, and pedaling to the psychology of performing and teaching, this essential volume provides a master class for the performer, instructor, and student alike. It is also available as a multimedia e-Book.
Notes of a Pianist: During His Professional Tours In The United States, Canada, The Antilles, And South America: Preceded By A Short Biographical Sketch With Contemporaneous Criticisms
by Louis Moreau GottschalkExperience the life and thoughts of a musical prodigy through the captivating memoir, "Notes of a Pianist," by Louis Moreau Gottschalk. This extraordinary book offers a rare glimpse into the mind of one of the 19th century's most celebrated pianists and composers, providing readers with an intimate portrait of his artistic journey and the vibrant world of classical music.Louis Moreau Gottschalk, a virtuoso pianist renowned for his exceptional talent and innovative compositions, takes readers on a fascinating journey through his life, from his early years in New Orleans to his international tours and triumphs. "Notes of a Pianist" is a collection of diary entries, letters, and reflections that chronicle Gottschalk's experiences, thoughts, and observations as he navigates the highs and lows of a career in music.The book delves into Gottschalk's creative process, offering insights into his inspirations, influences, and the challenges he faced as a pioneering artist. He shares his encounters with other musical legends, the cultural and political landscapes of the places he visited, and the personal joys and sorrows that shaped his music.Gottschalk's writing is infused with wit, passion, and a keen sense of observation, making "Notes of a Pianist" not only a valuable historical document but also a compelling and entertaining read. His vivid descriptions of performances, audiences, and the artistic milieu of the 19th century bring to life the world of classical music in a way that is both informative and engaging.This memoir is an essential read for music lovers, historians, and anyone interested in the life of a remarkable artist. Gottschalk's reflections provide a unique perspective on the development of American classical music and the global influence of his work.
Notes on Chopin
by André GideAn inspiring discourse on the power of music from one of the twentieth century&’s most important figures, André Gide André Gide, one of the great intellectuals of the twentieth century and a devoted pianist, invites readers to reevaluate Frédéric Chopin as a composer &“betrayed . . . deeply, intimately, totally violated&” by a music community that had fundamentally misinterpreted his work. As a profound admirer of Chopin&’s &“promenade of discoveries,&” Gide intersperses musical notation throughout the text to illuminate his arguments, but most moving is Gide&’s own poetic expression for the music he so loved. This edition includes rare pages and fragments from Gide&’s journals, which relate to Chopin and music.
Notes on Chopin
by André GideAn inspiring discourse on the power of music from one of the twentieth century&’s most important figures, André Gide André Gide, one of the great intellectuals of the twentieth century and a devoted pianist, invites readers to reevaluate Frédéric Chopin as a composer &“betrayed . . . deeply, intimately, totally violated&” by a music community that had fundamentally misinterpreted his work. As a profound admirer of Chopin&’s &“promenade of discoveries,&” Gide intersperses musical notation throughout the text to illuminate his arguments, but most moving is Gide&’s own poetic expression for the music he so loved. This edition includes rare pages and fragments from Gide&’s journals, which relate to Chopin and music.
Notes on the Piano (Dover Books on Music)
by Sara Davis Buechner Ernst Bacon"Should be a bedside reader for every author, composer, singer, critic, or layman interested in music." -- Critic's ChoiceAn accomplished composer, pianist, writer, and teacher presents an easy and entertaining guide for players at all levels of expertise. Ernst Bacon offers valuable tips on working, listening, and playing habits in five sections that cover "The Performer," "The Learner," "The Player and Writer," "The Observer," and "Technically Speaking." This edition features an informative Introduction by virtuoso pianist and professor Sara Davis Buechner.
Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion
by Tom Beaujour Richard BienstockThe New York Times BestsellerThe Explosive National Bestseller"A backstage pass to the wildest and loudest party in rock history—you'll feel like you were right there with us!" —Bret Michaels of PoisonNothin' But a Good Time is the definitive, no-holds-barred oral history of 1980s hard rock and hair metal, told by the musicians and industry insiders who lived it. Hard rock in the 1980s was a hedonistic and often intensely creative wellspring of escapism that perfectly encapsulated—and maybe even helped to define—a spectacularly over-the-top decade. Indeed, fist-pumping hits like Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” Mötley Crüe’s “Girls, Girls, Girls,” and Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” are as inextricably linked to the era as Reaganomics, Pac-Man, and E.T.From the do-or-die early days of self-financed recordings and D.I.Y. concert productions that were as flashy as they were foolhardy, to the multi-Platinum, MTV-powered glory years of stadium-shaking anthems and chart-topping power ballads, to the ultimate crash when grunge bands like Nirvana forever altered the entire climate of the business, Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock's Nothin' But a Good Time captures the energy and excess of the hair metal years in the words of the musicians, managers, producers, engineers, label executives, publicists, stylists, costume designers, photographers, journalists, magazine publishers, video directors, club bookers, roadies, groupies, and hangers-on who lived it. Featuring an impassioned foreword by Slipknot and Stone Sour vocalist and avowed glam metal fanatic Corey Taylor, and drawn from over 200 new interviews with members of Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Poison, Guns N’ Roses, Skid Row, Bon Jovi, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Winger, Warrant, Cinderella, Quiet Riot and others, as well as Ozzy Osbourne, Lita Ford and many more, this is the ultimate, uncensored, and often unhinged chronicle of a time where excess and success walked hand in hand, told by the men and women who created a sound and style that came to define a musical era—one in which the bands and their fans went looking for nothin’ but a good time…and found it.
Nothin' to Lose: The Making of KISS (1972–1975)
by Ken Sharp Gene Simmons“Nothin’ to Lose brought back great memories of our days touring with KISS in the ‘70s. The book is an incredible ride through KISS’s early days and a must read for any KISS fan!” — Don Powell, Slade“Like taking a time machine back to the ‘70s, Nothin’ to Lose is a wild and no holds barred look at the rise of KISS.” — Eric Carmen, Raspberries“In Nothin’ to Lose you witness first-hand the extraordinary transformation of four struggling musicians from New York City overcoming almost insurmountable odds to become worldwide superstars. This is the definitive account of KISS’s early years.” — Kevin Cann, author of David Bowie: Any Day Now“The KISS boys will go down in history for their indefatigable work ethic, spirit, and insatiable appetite for all things honest-to-God outrageous rock ‘n’ roll. KISS is the real deal and this book is the real story of the American rock ‘n’ roll dream.” — Ted Nugent“Nothin’ to Lose is an electrifying look at a band that changed the course of rock and roll history by sticking to their guns and blazing their own trail of heavy metal thunder. I couldn’t put it down. Two thumbs up!” — Joe Perry, Aerosmith“Rises above the standard cookie-cutter anecdotes... [for] a unique look at the origins of one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Anyone who wants to know what it was like to make it in rock ‘n’ roll in the seventies will need to pick this up.” — Dale Sherman, author of Black Diamond: The Unauthorized Biography of KISS“Told with complete accuracy and attention to detail... Mandatory reading for every new artist. This is a masterpiece!” — Kenny Kerner, Co-producer of KISS and Hotter Than Hell“A joyous and mesmerizing exploration of the early history of the ‘Hottest Band in the World’... This book is addictive. You won’t be able to put it down!” — Julian Gill, author of the Kiss Album Focus series“From KISS’s earliest days playing crummy bars in front of 50 people to headlining arenas, Nothin’ to Lose is a gripping look at the underbelly of rock ‘n’ roll. And as one of the members of KISS’s original road crew, I should know, I was there.” — Peter "Moose" Oreckinto, KISS roadie (1973-1976)“The ultimate KISS book. . . Nothin’ to Lose gives the insider’s perspective any KISS fan must have — Charles R. Cross, author of Heavier than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain“Even casual fans will be enthralled.” — Robert Rodriguez, author of Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock 'N' Roll“Revel in the roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd as they share it all, blow-by-blow, first hand.” — Paul Myers, author of A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio“A fascinating read about one of rock’s most outrageous bands.” — Simon Kirke, Bad Company/Free“I found the story of KISS’s fanatical determination, shockingly rare matter-of-fact common sense, raw luck, exquisite timing-not to mention the sheer brinksmanship of the whole lunatic enterprise-exhilarating and inspiring.” — Binky Philips, My Life in the Ghost of Planets: The Story of a CBGB Almost-Was“A vivid oral history of the early days of one of rock’s most outrageous and enduring bands, Nothin’ to Lose makes every reader an eyewitness to the dawn of Kiss. Here’s a book that screams out: C’mon and read me.” — David Browne, author of Goodbye 20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth“An incredibly vivid and gripping oral history that illustrates how Kiss went through a slow and steady transformation from a loft party band to the hottest concert attraction capable of blowing anybody and everybody off the stage.” — Daniel Siwek, House of Blues“If you thought you knew everything there was to know about KISS . . . wel
Nothing: John Cage and 4'33"
by Nicholas DayWhat does nothing sound like? An offbeat history of John Cage&’s 4&’33&”, a musical composition of blank bars, illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka.One night in 1952, master pianist David Tudor took the stage in a barnlike concert hall called the Maverick. A packed audience waited with bated breath for him to start playing. Little did they know that the performance had already begun. A rain patters.A tree rustles.An audience stirs. David was performing John Cage&’s 4&’33&”, whose purpose is to amplify the ambient sounds of whatever venue it inhabits. That shocking first performance earned 4&’33&” plenty of haters; and yet the piece endures, &“performed&” by the smallest garage bands and the grandest symphonies alike, year after year. Its fans hear what John Cage hoped we would hear: &“Nothing&” is never silent, and you don&’t need a creative genius, a concert hall, or even a piano to hear something worthwhile. All you have to do is stop and listen.Nicholas Day&’s text is reverent with a healthy drop of humor, warm and refined; two-time Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka&’s childlike pencil-on-watercolor artwork is uninhibited and electrifying, with all the visionary spirit of the work it chronicles. Guaranteed to spark generative thought and lively debate among readers of all ages, Nothing is not to be missed.A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Nothing but Love in God's Water: Volume 1: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement
by Robert DardenThe first of two volumes chronicling the history and role of music in the African American experience, Nothing but Love in God’s Water explores how songs and singers helped African Americans challenge and overcome slavery, subjugation, and suppression. From the spirituals of southern fields and the ringing chords of black gospel to the protest songs that changed the landscape of labor and the cadences sung before dogs and water cannons in Birmingham, sacred song has stood center stage in the African American drama. Myriad interviews, one-of-a-kind sources, and rare or lost recordings are used to examine this enormously persuasive facet of the movement. Nothing but Love in God’s Water explains the historical significance of song and helps us understand how music enabled the civil rights movement to challenge the most powerful nation on the planet.