(Tenor and soprano saxophones, b. 1937) Acid-toned saxophonist Archie Shepp was a principal figure in the second wave of free-jazz artists. Also recognized as a playwright and poet, Shepp was an articulate spokesman for Black Power. He emerged in 1960 as a member of Cecil Taylor’s group, then collaborated with trumpeter Bill Dixon, Don Cherry and John ...
(Cornet, 1936–95) Besides serving as the perfect complement for Ornette Coleman in the saxophonist’s early quartet, cornettist Don Cherry was a pioneer of the now-popular ‘world music’ movement. His musician father brought the family to Los Angeles from Cherry’s birthplace in Oklahoma, where Cherry played in the Jazz Messiahs before meeting Coleman. After leaving the Coleman group and ...
By the time John Coltrane died in 1967 at the age of 40, he had experienced one of the most remarkable careers in music. ‘Trane’ was a compelling voice who contributed to some of jazz’s greatest innovations, from bebop to free jazz, resulting in both controversy and enduring success through critical and popular acclaim. Revered during his lifetime ...
(Guitar, vocals, b. 1934) Rush, who was born in Philadelphia, Mississippi, was – along with Buddy Guy and Magic Sam – part of the defining trinity of Chicago’s West Side sound. His 1950s Cobra Records singles ‘All Your Love (I Miss Loving)’ and ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’ became standards. Rush is undoubtedly a genius, ...
A forerunner of jazz, ragtime was derived from brass-band music and European folk melodies, African-American banjo music and spirituals, minstrel songs, military marches and European light classics. The ‘raggy’ style, or ragged-time feeling, of this jaunty, propulsive, toe-tapping piano music refers to its inherent syncopation, where loud right-hand accents fall between the ...
It makes sense that Australia would be the one country outside North America to develop an important country-music scene of its own. Like the USA and Canada, Australia had a large, under-populated frontier that was settled by English, Irish and Scotch immigrants who brought their folk songs with them. Roughened and toughened by frontier life, those songs ...
The Everlys were born into a country music family; Don on 1 February 1937 in Brownie, Kentucky; Phil in Chicago – where father Ike had moved to play in bands with his brothers – on 19 January 1939. The family moved to Shenandoah, Iowa, to a regular slot on a local radio station, and Ike and Margaret’s ...
Oceania covers a vast portion of the world’s surface, and each island or archipelago is separated by thousands of miles of Pacific, yet these distinct cultures share one source: the southward migration of seafarers from Southeast Asia, who arrived on the single landmass that was New Guinea, Australia and Tasmania approximately 50,000 years ago. It would ...
The period between the late-1940s and the mid-1960s is described as the Golden Age of gospel music. During this time, attention was focused mainly, but not exclusively, on the quartets that crisscrossed America on what was known as the Gospel Highway, filling the role of pop stars for the black religious community of the times. These aggregations ...
Folk music in Britain has an erratic history, susceptible to the fickle fates of fashion and image and almost eradicated completely by the apathy of the people whose culture it represents. Yet a hugely colourful treasure chest of music and traditions survives in the network of folk clubs that still exist up and down the country. British folk clubs have ...
AUTHORITATIVE
An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
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Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.