Music & Movies

Always elusive, constantly moving, incessantly changing, John Coltrane stood astride the jazz world of the late '50s and '60s. He was a giant of the saxophone and a major composer. His music influenced both rock stars and classical musicians. There was a...

For many, the story of jazz guitar begins with Charlie Christian. In 1939, at 23 years old, Charlie joined the Bennie Goodman Sextet, already one of the most famous jazz bands in the world. Over the next two years of his all-too-brief life Charlie...

Saxophonist and composer Charles Lloyd has been a strong and important voice in the jazz world since the late 1950s. This freewheeling, fascinating unauthorized biographybased on twenty years' worth of interviews covers the extreme ups and downs of an...

A New Yorker writer's intimate, revealing account of Tupac Shakur's life and legacy, timed to the fiftieth anniversary of his birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death. In the summer of 2020, Tupac Shakur's single "Changes" became an anthem for the...

A New Yorker writer's intimate, revealing account of Tupac Shakur's life and legacy, timed to the fiftieth anniversary of his birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death.In the summer of 2020, Tupac Shakur's single "Changes" became an anthem for the...

A profound remembrance of an extraordinary life cut short, celebrating Chadwick Boseman's brilliance on screen as well as his rich existence as a generous friend, family member, and activist. Chadwick Boseman will forever be remembered as a sublime...

If you want to know what real jazz criticism is, read Celebrating the Duke. It is a fitting memorial to an outstanding critic and writer.--Jazz JournalCelebrating the Duke offers readers a perceptive, panoramic survey of jazz as revealed, in illuminating...

CDs, Records, & Tapes is a nostalgic Hip Hop essay collection. Told from the perspective of a creative writer who came of age with the culture, it revisits posse tracks, release dates, and classic albums. Each entry captures love for the culture,...

In a series of candid interviews with jazz players, composers, and critics, Gene Lees explores racism in the past and present of jazz--both the white racism that for decades ghettoized black musicians and their music, and the prejudice that Lees...

The classic biography of reggae legend Bob Marley, updated and revised for the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death Bob Marley left an indelible mark on modern music, both as a reggae pioneer and as an enduring cultural icon. Catch a Fire, now a classic...

Duke Ellington's masterpiece, Caravan, has long been a favorite of musicians and audiences. Jeff Moore has arranged Ellington's classic song for nine percussionists and optional bass guitar. This arrangement sets the familiar Caravan melody in different...

The first notes of jazz hit Cape Cod in the very early days of the genre. Bournehurst-on-the-Canal hosted top bands, and emerging swing era dancers packed the hall. Cape Cod's "First Lady of Jazz," Marie Marcus, was a child prodigy in Boston and found...