Genres Books

The books arrived earlier than expected (just in time for Christmas) and we're a big hit. Thanx!!!

This is a great book to get ideas for Jazz licks. Excellent, not just for the saxophone, but other instruments in the same register can benefit from the instruction in this book. For me, coming from a classical music background, I'm using it with my violin to learn Jazz Violin and improvisation skills. This is quite a challenge, to say the least! These licks are very easy to learn, and not ridiculously difficult, which is what beginners to Jazz music really need.

I really like the book and always have it on my music stand.

The exercise in this book are commonly heard phrases that can be played over standard chord sequences. As practice material they are great and the explanations are simple and enlightening. This is a good book for developing dexterity and a feel for the keys and scales. Improvising is much more than repeated practiced licks but working through this book will give a player some chops to fall back on as well as a wider understaning of what is possible.

All of Arnie Berle's books present the info in a clear, concise and logical way. I recommend you get your hands on as many of them as you can, while you can, especially if you're learning on your own. Any aspiring jazz musician can't have too many pattern books, and this one is a gem. 'Improvisation For The Contemporary Musician' and 'Encyclopedia of Scales, Modes and Melodic Patterns' also by Arnie are also highly recommended.

John Rutter's elegant rendition of Handel's Messiah is terrific. Every selection is flawlessly performed. I truly appreciate the research behind the performance included in the liner notes. The solos are quite nice. I particularly enjoy "Rejoice greatly" and "How beautiful are the feet".
With only thirty singers, the Cambridge Singers are able to deliver this work in a light, buoyant way. Some performances of this work come across as too heavy and ponderous. Not so with Rutter at the podium. Joy exudes from every note.
This is a lyric masterpiece that I am sure will come to be the reference recording for performing groups all over the world.

As a fan of Rutter and the Cambridge Singers, I knew their take on Handel's Messiah was a natural for me. Although the sound of the Cambridge Singers has changed over the years, it has never lost its distinctive hallmarks, as on this recording. Rutter has a first-class group of young soloists, and I especially like the soprano and bass soloists. I know that Melanie Marshall might not be able to touch Anne Sofie von Otter's renditions of the alto parts on Pinnock's DG recording, but she gives a truly heartbreaking account of He was despised. Throughout, the tempi is brisk and bright, but yet the performance bubbles with conviction and commitment. Rutter also shines as a choral conductor, eliciting a superb overall sound from his choir and crafting avery nuance intricately in the manner of Robert Shaw. I think this would probably be one of my top dogs for Messiah, alongside Pinnock, Gardiner and the live Cleobury-King's College version.

This is perhaps the most definitive interpretation of Messiah that I have ever heard. Bravo.

John Rutter's recording of the Messiah is the best I have ever heard-- and I have heard many. The soloists have pure tone and precise pitch. The Cambridge Singers sing in balanced harmony and the choir blessedly lacks the shrillness and warble of some American choirs. Even John Rutter's program notes in the accompanying booklet are theologically sensitive and profound. The tenor soloist is particularly good. You will find this one the best Messiah recording you have heard.

I highly recommend this book to not only fans, but bands themselves! So much information to glean from. Past advice and current reflections make this a great book for groupies, fans, and bands alike. Darryl covers all metal and some hard rock; these are true metal bands too, not corporate forced fad entities. Some of these bands, I had only heard through the radio station I DJ for. The author gives insite from the little-known local bands to the major acts. Parents, give your kids this book and let's start a new generation with the music we grew up with....REAL Rock!

Buy this book. I couldn't put it down once I started it. Did you buy THE CURSED cd "Room Full of Sinners" with myself on guitar and Blitz from Overkill singing low and bluesy? Kinda sounds like my old band NON-FICTION.Dan

I just finished to read this book and it is a great trip through the 80's scene! in LA,tucson AZ and iowa from a guy who used to run a metal magazine,great pics of bands and funny stories!about the wannabe's out there, about the ones who are on "rock star trips".oh this guy really hate road manegers and record labels!. i didnt give it 5 star cuz the guy is too negative about metal most of the time,too much glam for me( i really dont like glam)i also dont like at all that he mention that poser band called metallica come on! they are not a heavy metal band they are alternative and nu-metal and every trend out there but not metal,oh darryl keck call slayer,megadeth and flotsam and jetsam power metal! and that is a huge mistake! they arent power metal at all...by the way it is a great book about heavy metal

I read through Darryl Keck's book, METAL GENERATION, and I think it might be one of the best books ever written about Metal. It's great primarily because it's not the typical shocking stories that glorying (and somewhat amplify what really happened) regarding the sex, drugs and rock & roll of the time as told by the band members. No, it's written by a fan who had some access to the bands - enough to be nosy, but not enough to be influenced into lying for their decedent friendships that they developed. Darryl Keck should be applauded for telling it like it was!

One of the great architectural achievements of the second half of the 20th century is an exciting story in Ms. Shulman's well written book. This musicologist has been able to capture all of the fascinating nuances in this amazing project from its conception, political and economic issues, design, building, the grand opening and the Meyerson's very positive impact on the community.

A sumptuous read - Laurie Shulman's inimitable wit and style grace the pages of this handsome book. The details she shares are as fresh and lively as her trademark program notes. Like many others who worked in the Arts District, I watched the Meyerson being built - from crater to finished perfection. The knowledge Shulman imparts expands my appreciation and most certainly will enhance my enjoyment of another concert in this dream hall, the Meyerson.

This is a great book about a wonderful place for music. After reading the book, I purchased copies for my relatives who are professional musicians, and those who care about such music. One might ask how can you make a story about building a music hall interesting, but Laurie Shulman has done so.

Excellent and interesting book on a fantastic community effort.

What would make an otherwise devoted Christian wife and mother suddenly go berserk and ram her car into an innocent citizen waiting for a bus, crushing him against a brick wall? In this day of increasing stress, responsibilities and pressure - both from outside and what we do to ourselves - we all know of or have heard of the appalling incidents of "road rage" occurring almost every day all across the country. Why?

Debra Wiebe, in a fit of anger, charges out of her house, gets behind the wheel of her car and tears out onto the streets - a lethal weapon on the loose. As her anger surges, something snaps, and a young man - a total stranger - loses his life. Witnesses at the scene, who saw it happen, insist it was deliberate. Of course, Debra is arrested, charged with first-degree murder, and jailed - without bail. Debra doesn't remember anything. She can't believe she could have killed anyone - let alone in the cold-blooded way they tell her it happened.

Debra's husband, Jerry, hires defense attorney Marcia Dixon. As Marcia begins her investigation into what happened, and spending time with Debra, she sees the explosive nature of Debra's anger-unpredictable and violent. What could possibly cause that kind of rage? It is Marcia's job to find out. In order to defend her client, Marcia knows she has to do some serious digging.

We journey with Debra, Jerry and Marcia through the judicial system. Debra, after her initial hearing, is ordered to spend thirty days of evaluation at a psychiatric facility. Marcia's hope is to be able to plead temporary insanity. But Debra proves a difficult client, her anger erupting, wildly uncontrolled and dangerous, despite her terror at the prospect of spending the rest of her life behind bars - or worse.

I was captivated by this story. MIND TRAP is a gripping picture of what anger can do. So many of us have hidden pasts, buried trauma, unbearable hurt, dormant until something triggers an emotional upheaval that is beyond our control. Still, underlying and under-girding the Wiebe family is their faith in God, and the knowledge that, however difficult things become at times, He is with us, holding us up, loving us. Debra just has to be whacked upside the head to make her see it, too.

As is often the case with so many self-published books, there are a number of editing problems with this one. There have been times when I've refused to review these books because they are too difficult to read, and I can't, in all conscience, review them or recommend them. HOWEVER - this one is an exception. Yes, the errors are there - annoying and distracting at times - but Debra's story grabbed me and I kept reading, doing my best to ignore those errors. And - though I'm no authority - I feel the author has done a lot of research into the subject.

Ms. Derksen has written a powerful story - one I think has a great potential, properly edited and with a traditional publisher. I would love to see this happen.

Peggy Phifer ©2004
(...)

This book is great for those who are interested in murder mysteries. Give this new author a chance... you won't regret it!

this fictional depiction of a mom who's mind finally snaps after years of stress in raising a family hits closer to home for most of us that we would like to admit. The way the mom Debra, and her family is affected by it and how she deals with it makes for a suspense filled book that keeps you guessing till the end. Looking forward to more from this author.

this fictional depiction of a mom who's mind finally snaps after years of stress in raising a family hits closer to home for most of us that we would like to admit. The way the mom Debra, and her family is affected by it and how she deals with it makes for a suspense filled book that keeps you guessing till the end. Looking forward to more from this author.

_Modern Twang_ is an amazing book that provides information on the artists as well as the infrastructure of alt.country. Goodman has written artist profiles and given information on internet resources, labels, radio and television outlets, and live venues. The prose is always readable and insightful. This is a must for the alt.country fan. Goodman has created a model for how music guides should be written. A+++

This book is a joy for fans and historians of country music. Patterned after Ira Robbin's succesful Trouser Press record guides, Modern Twang focuses on the alt.country movement, its history and its many offshoots, not the glossed-over country that dominates the airwaves today. Author David Goodman approaches his subject with obvious love. Capsule reviews of more than 500 artists, discographies, listings of compilation CDs-Goodman has done a fine job. Especially educational (for me) is the inclusion of such artists as the Byrds, Dylan, Neil Young, Parsons, Emmy Lou Harris-early major players in the alt.country scene whose influence remains vital today. This book works as a historical document, as well as a CD buyer's guide.

A good editor would have resulted in a five-star rating. Numerous typos and punctuation miscues (commas anyone?) detract slightly. There are some inconsistencies in style, as well-many of the reviews offer some form of critique, while a few read like letters from adoring fans, offering little insight as to how the band actually sounds.

An awesome, all-purpose, up-to-date guide to the alternative country "scene", this includes profiles of about five hundred bands, both big and small, with special emphasis on local scenes. It's an amazing resource, sure to fill in numerous blanks for just about any reader. Goodman's writing is straightforward, and not overly concerned with the "look, I'm a postgraduate!" rhetorical flashiness which plagues many contemporary music reviews. Let me put it this way, if I had a staff here at Slipcue, I'd hire this guy as a writer. Of course, with books like this, it's fun to flip around checking on bands you already know about... and the good news here is that Goodman is pretty thorough. For example, I looked up The Movie Stars, a Bay Area band whose late-'80s album preceded most of the current wave of twangsters by several years. They didn't have their own entry, but were mentioned under the listing of Red Meat, which is sort of a reconstituted version of the old band. Other '80s pioneers are included as well, though things start to get a little fuzzier and less consistent in the '70s (the Blue Ridge Rangers get listed, but what about Larry Hosford?). One problem I have, though, is the use of scene-specific catch phrases to denote "styles" of music... for example, Sun Volt as "No Depression" music, or any of the bands on Bloodshot as "insurgent country". Yeah, sometimes the things bands (or labels) call their music are cute, but they aren't necessarily that descriptive. But maybe I'm just being too crabby. Goodman also includes listings for radio stations, e-zines, websites and publications related to the current Twang-craze... obviously many of these listings will be quickly out of date, but we can hope that just means another, bigger, better edition will follow...

I am not sure how in the world David Goodman got all this together. It is obviously a work of love for Alternative Country Music. It will be a valuable resource for recording companys,festival and entertainment show managers,and radio and TV program planners and DJs. Think Dowling Press has found a true niche with their publications.

Susan Herbert is in fine form as she shifts into the realm of motion pictures, punny titles and all. She proves adept at both movie stars and famous movie scenes. The focus here is on the classics, and sneak peeks on the Internet indicate there will eventually be a second edition going all the way up to The Lord of the Rings. Cat lovers, rejoice!

I adore Susan Herbet, who does an amazing job painting pictures of cats and incorporating them into famous stories and works of art. In "Movie Cats," Herbert recreates scenes from some of Hollywood's most famous motion pictures. My personal favorites include Mammy and Scarlett O'Hara from "Gone with the Wind," James Bond and his "Pussies Galore" from "Goldfinger," characters from "The Wonderful Whiskers of Oz," and a portrait of "Charlie Catlin." If you're a cat lover and a movie buff, you have to have this book!

Susan Herbert's cats have appeared as characters in paintings, Victorian settings and now they are going to the movies. Another sublime book of cat paintings as characters from a dozen movies. The one of the Godfather is worth the price of the book. As usual Herbert has done a marvelous job and the characters have charm and wit and certainly are a reason to smile.

This is really the most enchanting book of cat illustrations I've seen in a very long time. Even people who don't love cats that much seem to be charmed by it. Anyone who loves movies will wish there were cat versions starring Susan Herbert's movie cats.

this is a great cd/book combination to learn some wonderful blues tunes. the book is well written and the tablature is very easy to follow. the music isn't easy to play, but it's very well written and anyone who puts their mind to it will be playing some of john hurt's great tunes. the best part of the combination is the cd's. two cd's covering each tune in the book and all done by john hurt himself. it's a great way to learn or just listen. highly recommended.

I was interested in learning the guitar style of Mississippi John Hurt after checking out one of his CDs (Satisfied Blues)from the library. The CD did not come out of my CD player for over a month, and I felt driven to learn his style. This book was extremely useful in helping me learn this style. I have had the book about 4 months and can play about half the songs. The learning process involves following the tab and listening to the CDs over and over. The first song I attempted to learn (Spikedriver's Blues)took some time and a lot of patience. You have to learn to play the alternating base while putting in the melody lines. Now that I have practiced his style for four months, many of the other songs are coming much easier. The book includes the lyrics, so that after learning the song, one can practice singing over the guitar. I have been playing guitar 17 years, and haven't found a particular style that sucked me in so much. The CDs that accompany the book are excellent as well, and include some songs which I haven't found on many of his popular recordings. The songs are excellent. I actually practice more guitar each day, because of this style and this book. I bought an instructional DVD for Mississippi John Hurt as well, but use this book far more often.

I've had this book for three years or so. Lately, I've switched from playing mostly acoustic fingerstyle to electric blues, but I still like to get out the acoustic and this book from time to time. It has a bunch of Hurt's best songs, and the skill range is from fairly easy to quite difficult.

Keep in mind that you won't find complete tabs for all of the songs. Sometimes, you get just the 12-bar pattern for the song. Learning the breaks and extras will be up to you. But if you're a fingerstyle player with at least a little experience under your belt, Hurt's songs are a great way to build up your chops.

Not to mention that the book includes two CD's full of Hurt performing his music. If you like his music, then the purchase price is a good deal just for the CDs! The book also has an essay by the author who found Hurt living in poverty and obscurity, and brought him to New York for the early 60s folk-blues revival. And there are some great pictures in the book.

Please keep in mind that if you're a raw beginner at fingerstyle guitar when you get this book (as I was), even the easiest of the songs will seem impossibly difficult at first. The book simply contains tab. It has zero information on how to play the songs; just the tabs. If you're a raw beginner, and you're determined to learn to play Hurt's music, I suggest getting the book, and bringing it to a good teacher. That's what I should have done!

When a guitar player hears Mississippi John Hurt's playing athey are generally struck by the simple beauty of it. To master the Hurt style is quite complex, but this book with its combined CD's (which feature MJH himself!) offer a good roadmap for unlocking the style of this master. Definitely not for the beginner, but one great feature is the way the tablature is presented. It is large and easy to read. To me, this makes a world of difference when attempting to learn a new piece using tablature.

When is Mr. Bond going to release an updated version? It is missing info on season seven of deep space nine, seasons six and seven of voyager, Star Trek: Nemesis and all four seasons of Enterprise.

I guess most of this info is available on the net, but would be nice to have in depth cue sheets for the TNG films...Mr. Bond re-release this! Please. :D

PLEASE i WANT MORE SONGS FOR WHITEN HOUSTEN FRE

Very through coverage of each series and the movies. I found it fascinating how much music existed for the movies that was left off the soundtrack releases. If you enjoy the soundtrack music for the Str Trek shows/films at all, you will enjoy this in-depth look at the creation of the music and the minds behind it.

The first sentence of this treat for film music nuts, as well as Trekkers, asserts that more music has been produced for Star Trek than any other series of films. Bond discusses the scores for the original TV series and all the movies. Pertinent interviews with the composers conclude most chapters....A fascinating interview with Star Trek: Voyager music editor Garry Sackman and a very helpfully annotated discography of ST music wrap things up splendidly.

This is the best pre-Bach harpsichord music I've heard. You just enjoy listening to it. I did have one question. I am ready to purchase the book, but I know that music written before around 1700 had some very different clefs/staffs, Other than the normal treble and bass clefs, and the 5 line staff. Does this book contain any of those? If they do, someone please say so.

William Byrd wrote a lot of church music, and it's still performed. His keyboard music isn't performed, but I think that this music is really "listenable". It's not like most "classical" music. It's not "heavy". It's not bombastic like Beethoven, soporific like Mozart, sappy like Chopin, or chaotic like Schumann. It's pretty, it has cool rhythms, and there's a tonne of counterpoint for nerds. I can't see why anyone would dislike this stuff!

1. MY LADYE NEVELS GROWNDE
2. QUI PASSE: for my ladye nevell
3. THE MARCHE BEFORE THE BATTELL
4. THE BATTELL
5. THE GALLIARDE FOR THE VICTORIE
6. THE BARELYE BREAKE
7. A GALLIARDS GYGGE
8. THE HUNTES UPP
9. UT RE MI FA SOL LA
10. THE FIRSTE PAVIAN
11. THE GALLIARDE TO THE FIRSTE PAVIAN
12. THE SECONDE PAVIAN
13. THE GALLIARDE TO THE SECONDE PAVIAN
14. THE THIRD PAVIAN
15. THE GALLIARDE TO THE THIRD PAVIAN
16. THE FOURTH PAVIAN
17. THE GALLLIARDE TO THE FOURTH PAVIAN
18. THE FIFTE PAVIAN
19. THE GALLIARDE TO THE FIFTE PAVIAN
20. PAVANA THE SIXTE: KINBRUGH GOODD
21. THE GALLIARDE TO THE SIXTE PAVIAN
22. THE SEVENTH PAVIAN
23. THE EIGHTE PAVIAN
24. THE PASSINGE MESURES: THE NYNTHE PAVIAN
25. THE GALLIARDE TO THE THE NYNTHE PAVIAN
26. A VOLUNTARIE : for my ladye nevell
27. WILL YOW WALKE THE WOODS SOE WYLDE
28. THE MAIDENS SONGE
29. A LESSON OF VOLUNTARIE
30. THE SECOND OF GROWNDE
31. HAVE WITH YOW TO WALSINGAME
32. ALL IN A GARDEN GRINE
33. LORD WILLOBIES WELCOME HOME
34. THE CARMANS WHISTLE
35. HUGHE ASHTONS GROWNDE
36. A FANCIE
37. SELLINGERS ROWNDE
38. MUNSERS ALMAINE
39. THE TENNTHE PAVIAN: MR. W. PETER
40. THE GALLIARDE TO THE TENNTHE PAVIAN
41. A FANCIE
42. A VOLUNTARIE

William Byrd was the first composer to write music specially for the harpsichord or Virginal. His music is among the best for harpsichord and among my favorite music (I am a professional harpsichord player). This book gives you a splendid edition of his best music for a very low price. Highly recommended for all harpsichord players and others interested in Early Music or the harpsichord repertoire.