Music and Audio Books

This is a great book. It is filling in the gaps of what I already know about jazz. It is also illustrated very well. B. Hall

this book is an excellent source of information for anyone interested in not only tracing the history of jazz music, but also for anyone interested in learning the different movements, styles and influences of jazz music with sociopolitical and historical references. The CD is an asset to understanding the forms.

This is the best I have seen on Lennon, or any music book for that businesss.

This book, which includes a multimedia cd, is out of this world. THe cd can even be played on my stereo (and my Mac and PC). Love the beatltes? John Lennon? This is the book.

I'm enjoying reading this especially since I'm aquainted with the author of the book. This is a true story of real people.

Growing up in the golden age of radio, long before TV,CD's or even LP records, one remembers the sheer joy of that medium as a connection to a world of performing artists, singers and musicians. Gospel music in the South was exemplified by a small number of groups, often comprised of members of a family. In Charlotte, NC, the Johnson Family Singers was a byword on WBT radio for many years beginning in the early 40's. Ma and Pa were accompanied by Betty, the twin boys, and Kenneth, who authored this book. There music was mostly gospel until they stretched their wings into some more secular music at the encouragement of their talented pianist-accompanyist, Larry Walker. There is a charming story with many interesting anecdotes behind the scenes of this well scrubbed and wholesome family, who worked hard to make a living with their music. There were struggles and challenges abounding in this pursuit, which like so many other public exposures of the day, including professional sports, big bands, and singers of national prominence,were a result of compensation that in no way compares to that of today's entertainers and athletes. Kenneth writes of these challenges in a candid and straightforward manner that captures the interest of anyone who wants to remember or discover what life in those times held for struggling musicians. There were log cabins, primitive but wholesome facilities, and a rural life that entailed gardening duties and other activities to supplement and make possible the musical careers. Kenneth explains well how the busy life with gospel music, always looking for new songs to introduce, did not always leave enough time for the family's own spiritual sustenance. In later years, achieving national notoriety, and at the same time with the children following their own instincts to spread out to other locations and pursuits,the family faced the forces that tend to spread families apart. The Johnson family survived these times with stronger faith in God and a unifying force that kept the family together in spirit as Betty, Ken, and the twins went their own ways. Ken became a minister and Betty achieved fame with her music, placing several records on the charts and becoming a regular on morning and tonight show ventures such as Don McNeil and Jack Paar. Ken draws attention and interest to the individual roles of the family members as they found a cohesion and team approach to the music business. They were favorites of mine and thousands in the South during two decades. Betty now records with her two grown daughters in a rennaisance of the Johnson family's tradition, applied to more contemporary music. Once reading this book, a person, whether familiar or not with their music, will surely want to hear the accompanying CD and pursue the many others available today with samples of the old and the new songs...music of three generations that represent the very best of American talent.

I just LOVE PROPHETESS BYNUM! This cassette/CD is soooooooooooo uplifting! It literally brings hope to the hopeless and peace to the troubled. There has been many occassions in which I have been going through something and felt like giving up completely, but the songs and prophetic words that Prophetess Bynums shares "shook me" and restored my peace. GORLY BE TO GOD! It is also EXCELLENT for early morning praise and whorship. IT WILL USHER YOU INTO HIS PRESENCE FOR SURE! I know the title says "Morning Glory" but it has also caused me to have many peaceful nights. I strongly encourage YOU! to add this to your music collection. PEACE!

I love this CD It brought me just what the title said Peace this is a must have. Ms Bynum is a powerful speaker and truly annointed by God and the music is wonderful.

I have been wanting this book awhile and am thrilled I finally have it! It has wonderful songs to teach preschoolers and babies that are child-friendly and pleasing for adults! Orff teachers will be happy to find a songbook for young children that is good for Orff process.

This book is a must for parents and early childhood music educators! It gives you not just songs (although there are many excellent ones) but ideas on how to explore sound, music and classroom instrument playing with the children in your care. The songs are simple and easy to learn, being pentatonic, and there are useful patterns and instructions for making the puppets to sing with at the back.

All the others I have showed this book to agree - a fantastic resource and great value for money!

I listened to this tape as a kid growing up, as well as my brothers and sisters, and we all loved it! It has really good running around and slower, more peaceful music that is known. Our favoite was always "Knees up Mother Brown", which I still get stuck in my head today. Good memories!

This song book is great! My mom bought it for me numerous years ago, and still sing songs from it today! One of my favorites is the song about the chicken, it's great! If you are dubious about buying this for yourself or your children, I'm telling you right now that you should, you won't regret it. The songs are great and everyone can sing along to them like When the Saints Go Marching In, I mean everyone knows that song and I promise you that your experience in the car will get much better once you put this tape in the cassette player! I hope you take my advice!

Lang Lang's story is one of struggle, sacrifice, conflict, and determination. In this autobiography, Lang Lang recounts his life the way he remembered it.

I loved reading this story because there was always something interesting on every page. Whether it was another conflict with his father or an upcoming competition, I could never find good place for me to stop reading. Therefore, I read the whole book in one sitting, and it was all worthwhile. I loved how he explained everything he felt at any given moment - I felt as though I am in Lang Lang's mind. His relationship with his father is an interesting one, but they always reconcile at the end. In my opinion, this book was not as emotional and moving as it could have been. There were many themes and motifs in the story that the author could have take more advantage of. For example, Lang Lang received a stuffed dog as a consolation price in an early competition (he finished 7th). Although he briefly mentioned it as his lucky symbol, I believe the message could have been a lot stronger had he mentioned it at the end of the book. Also, his father's standard pat on the back before every competition could have been used to a larger degree. Lang Lang spent a lot of time describing his childhood years, but not as much on his adult career (less than 20 pages). I would love to hear more about what he's doing as a professional pianist. But overall, I think Lang Lang did an excellent job sharing his story about the journey he took to become one of the best pianists in the world. This book is appropriate for readers of all ages - children and adults, and it will inspire all those who read it. I learned a very important lesson from this book, and it is that you can't succeed without hard work (in Lang Lang's case, hard work means six to eight hours of per day). If I were his father, I would be very, very proud.

In his extremely reader friendly format, internationally celebrated Chinese pianist, Lang Lang with the help of well-known author Michael French candidly discusses his young life and his gruelling voyage to success on the global stage.

Written for young readers ages 9 and up, Lang Lang: Playing with Flying Keys is more than a simple memoir, but rather a vivid and emotional portrait of a child prodigy who believes that making music is like breathing and who cannot fathom life without music.

As we discover, Lang Lang began his musical career at the age of three and today at twenty-six he has performed with some of the most renowned orchestras in the world.
As Lang Lang explains, "maybe it all started with Monkey King and my belief in this supernatural gifts, or my father's pat on the back before I marched onstage, or the 0Chinese belief that certain colors, such as red, or the Chinese numbers, such as 8888, brought power and good fortune. I was an artist who knew that talent alone would never help me realize my dreams. Luck, timing, and connections were up to the gods."

Lang Lang always wanted to be number one and for the most part he had been successful in winning many prestigious piano competitions in China and elsewhere. However, he certainly did not live a normal child's life as he was compelled to practice several hours a day and obey a father who was a very stern and unyielding disciplinarian.
As for his mother, she unfortunately was obliged to live in a different city than Lang Lang and her husband in order to support her family and to enable her son to receive the best possible musical training.

Lang Lang's first huge break when one day he had received a letter from Gary Graffman, the famous concert pianist who had been a child prodigy. Graffman had also been a student of Vladimir Horowitz and was serving as president of the esteemed Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Lang Lang was invited to submit an application to the school and if accepted he would receive a full scholarship along with free room and board. Lang Lang was triumphant and he and his father spent the next few years in Philadelphia.

According to a press release I received, Lang Lang's natural talent and harrowing story has already captivated young fans all over the world. As he mentions in the final few pages of his memoir, my goal is to "make classical music known to all young children around the world, to make classical music cool!"

Today, as his way of giving something back to society, Lang Lang has established The Lang Lang International Music Foundation with the objective of supporting education for musical training providing scholarships for young people from all over the globe.

Among the many triumphs of this memoir, none surpasses its attestation to how sacrifice, passion, hard work and discipline can go a long way in achieving one's goals.

Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures

I found the breif account of Hank's life to be one of the most accurate in modern times of overhype sensationalism. It shows and tells about the real down on earth Hank who was all too familar with pain and sorrow as well as love and joy. Like many other Greats, Hanks' life was not a very easy one. It shows Hank as just a regular guy who enjoyed doing his Thing... MUSIC!!!

I found the breif account of Hank's life to be one of the most accurate in modern times of overhype sensationalism. It shows and tells about the real down on earth Hank who was all too familar with pain and sorrow as well as love and joy. Like many other Greats, Hanks' life was not a very easy one. It shows Hank as just a regular guy who enjoyed doing his Thing... MUSIC!!!

Mozart is a delight in his own right. But this "rendition," using music to accompany the story, makes it seem so much more complete. Including the music with various part of his life helps the reader to see/hear the progress of his genius.

It seems the most popular budget classical music label, Naxos, not only makes most of the Western musical output available at very reasonable prices (no top stars who demand absurd fees make this possible), but it has also issued three very nice boxed sets of recordings on cassettes and CDs (I have the latter) that together give you a quick, fairly accurate, and quite enjoyable survey of three major topics. Perry Keenlyside's (NA 314412) is on three tapes or CDs and more or less delivers what the title promises in about 3 hours and 40 minutes. The text is considerately divided into sections--"Mozart, the child prodigy," "January 1762, the first journeys," "Paris and London, 1763-4," and so on--with tracking cues for each section. The narration and quotations from letters and journals of the time are accompanied by the appropriate music drawn from the bottomless Naxos catalogue. Nigel Anthony is the narrator, aided by Paul Rhys (Mozart), Edward de Souza (Leopold Mozart), with David Timson and Anna Patrick in "other parts." I have not seen the original books to see how much of an abridgment this is, if at all, but that is immaterial. The voices are personable, the information digestible, the whole project very worth while, especially at the price. My only objection to the Naxos recordings of books in the low recording level that makes it a bit difficult to hear on a walkman set up on (say) a noisy train. But this should offer no problem to home hearing or even in your car. These sets are really perfect listening for long trips.

David Attenborough's 'Life on Air' gives a fascinating insight into the work of a true gentle man of the airwaves.

The book is entirely readible with several unexpected laughs in store.

A master at understating his own achievements, Attenborough tells the story of his work with the BBC, spanning an incredible fifty years. Often facing the worst inconveniences of tropical insects for days on end to get illusive shots of nature's wonders, he has tirelessly laboured to bring precious knowledge to the world of the richness of our planet.

Highly recommended.

While mentioning several highpoints in his childhood, David Attenborough's book mainly covers his working career upon graduation from university. Most people will be familiar with his animal and natural world documentaries from the late 80s onwards. I was surprised that he almost fell into the BBC and that he first started his involvement in natural history in the 1950s. He covers in great detail the problems encountered in broadcasting live from the studio during the infancy of television and the limitations of filming in the wild with basic equipment. David Attenborough, besides being famous for his documentaries, is also one of TV's pioneers. For a long time as well, he was senior management within the BBC and largely responsible for a lot of the programming that that boradcaster produced in the 60s and 70s. This surprised me as I was only familiar with his later documentary work.

Told with a lot of humour, the reader will meet all manner of fascinating people and animals in every corner of the world. This man has done more in his life than any of us will ever do and he has shared it with us on screen and in this marvellous book.