Cultural Literature

More than to any other musician, the credit for the birth of modern jazz belongs to Charles Yardbird Parker--known to his friends and fans simply as Bird.Parker's virtuoso technique, melodic genius, and inspired improvisations helped launch a whole new...

The best biography of any jazz musician that we have. Bird Lives! will stand for a long time as a major source of information and illumination not only of the great musician with whom it deals but of the entire jazz life in this society.--Ralph Gleason...

The goal and motivation for Publishing this book is to promote pride, faith, importance of goals education and achievement. I was blessed to have a great extended family, wonderful children Bobby Jr. and Alica and the greatest wife a man could be blessed...

In his debut memoir, Jean Mellor invites his readers to experience his life through his words. Whether he is holding things down in Queens, or making important connections in Hollywood, Mellor captures the struggles of a young man whose life is created...

Billy Engel was a ten-year-old boy who had lived all his life in a city in northern Illinois. One day his parents began thinking that they would like to live on a farm. They drove around and looked at several farms, and finally decided that they liked...

Anyone who has ever heard a Billie Holiday record knows the sound of her voice--sad, sexy, always relaxed but securely aware of the beat. Conveying a poignancy that cut to the heart of a song, she redeemed even trivial material with her impeccable sense...

The first-ever collection of interviews with the tortured but groundbreaking singer Billie Holiday, part of Melville House's beloved Last Interview series Legendary singer Billie Holiday comes alive in this first-ever collection of interviews from...

(Jazz Piano Solos). 24 essential Evans standards arranged for piano solo, including: Alice in Wonderland * Autumn Leaves * But Beautiful * Everything Happens to Me * Here's That Rainy Day * How Deep Is the Ocean (How High Is the Sky) * In a Sentimental...

From the author of A Short History of Nearly Everything and The Body comes a travel diary documenting a visit to Kenya. All royalties and profits go to CARE International. In the early fall of 2002, famed travel writer Bill Bryson journeyed to Kenya at...

In the city of Laquan McDonald and in the season when some white Americans are beginning to learn that black lives matter, it would be absurd to set myself up as an apologist for the white gaze. I seek to describe its interiority, and to suggest...

This book analyzes the process of composition, learning and performance of the Southern folk blues of black America. Never before has this musical form been examined so scrupulously. Evans traces the impact of commercialism, especially the phonograph...

Perhaps the greatest all-around player in basketball history, Oscar Robertson revolutionized basketball as a member of the Cincinnati Royals and won a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks. When he was twenty-three, in 1962, he accomplished one of...