Saxophone virtuoso Charlie "Bird" Parker began playing professionally in his early teens, became a heroin addict at 16, changed the course of music, and then died when only 34 years old. His friend Robert Reisner observed, "Parker, in the brief span of his life, crowded more living into it than any other human being." Like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, he was a transitional composer and improviser who ushered in a new era of jazz by pioneering bebop and influenced subsequent generations of musicians. Meticulously researched and written, Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker tells the story of his life, music, and career. This new biography artfully weaves together firsthand accounts from those who knew him with new information about his life and career to create a compelling narrative portrait of a tragic genius. While other books about Parker have focused primarily on his music and recordings, this portrait reveals the troubled man behind the music, illustrating how his addictions and struggles with mental health affected his life and career. He was alternatively generous and miserly; a loving husband and father at home but an incorrigible philanderer on the road; and a chronic addict who lectured younger musicians about the dangers of drugs. Above all he was a musician, who overcame humiliation, disappointment, and a life-threatening car wreck to take wing as Bird, a brilliant improviser and composer. With in-depth research into previously overlooked sources and illustrated with several never-before-seen images, Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker corrects much of the misinformation and myth about one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century.
Ranging from ragtime to bebop and from Bennie Moten to Charlie Parker, this work aims to capture the golden age of Kansas City jazz. It showcases the lives of the great musicians who made Kansas City swing, with profiles of jazz figures such as Mary Lou Williams, Big Joe Turner, and others.
Saxophone virtuoso Charlie "Bird" Parker began playing professionally in his early teens, became a heroin addict at 16, changed the course of music, and then died when only 34 years old. His friend Robert Reisner observed, "Parker, in the brief span of his life, crowded more living into it than any other human being." Like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane, he was a transitional composer and improviser who ushered in a new era of jazz by pioneering bebop and influenced subsequent generations of musicians. Meticulously researched and written, Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker tells the story of his life, music, and career. This new biography artfully weaves together firsthand accounts from those who knew him with new information about his life and career to create a compelling narrative portrait of a tragic genius. While other books about Parker have focused primarily on his music and recordings, this portrait reveals the troubled man behind the music, illustrating how his addictions and struggles with mental health affected his life and career. He was alternatively generous and miserly; a loving husband and father at home but an incorrigible philanderer on the road; and a chronic addict who lectured younger musicians about the dangers of drugs. Above all he was a musician, who overcame humiliation, disappointment, and a life-threatening car wreck to take wing as Bird, a brilliant improviser and composer. With in-depth research into previously overlooked sources and illustrated with several never-before-seen images, Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker corrects much of the misinformation and myth about one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century.
Ranging from ragtime to bebop and from Bennie Moten to Charlie Parker, this work aims to capture the golden age of Kansas City jazz. It showcases the lives of the great musicians who made Kansas City swing, with profiles of jazz figures such as Mary Lou Williams, Big Joe Turner, and others.
You love the show, now get the cookbook and get inspired Chef Chuck Hughes cooks in his restaurants all week, making sure that every dish he sends out at his two Montreal spots, Garde Manger and Le Bremner, is perfect, and that every client leaves happy. He cooks for love and for fun, and what he cooks up makes for fabulous and engaging television viewing on the hit Food Network Canada and Cooking Channel (U.S.) show Chuck’s Day Off. This cookbook features over 100 recipes: favourite dishes and menus from the long-running show, plus all-new recipes developed just for the book. The flavour-packed dishes are grouped into menus and connected to stories that Chuck tells, providing a behind-the-scenes look at Chuck’s life and the challenges he faces in balancing his dedication to great food with the daily realities of running restaurants. Food lovers and cooks of all levels will fall in love with Chuck’s open and honest cooking and easy and incredibly addictive style of comfort food.
The Baby Boom generation (those born between 1946-1965) are starting to reach three quarters of a century in age. Their youth came after the Great Depression and World War II; and Americans were longing for fun activities that sports provided. Baby Boomers grew up just as television was being welcomed into average households. The youth of this generation were the first to see sports events live on TV rather than listening to them on radio or reading about them in newspapers. This new visual medium enabled this generation to react together immediately to the same athletic competition. This autobiography presents a nostalgic look at the author’s reactions to the sports events that many of his readers also witnessed. This work is also a history book whose stories detail events in a personal, readable, enjoyable way. Baby boomers and sports fans in general will have fun exploring such enticing chapters such as: How the author’s uncle became a pro wrestler to pay his way through law school. Meeting a boyhood sports idol 40 years later. Two grandsons ride in a pace car with their Papa. Meeting the only major league ambidextrous pitcher. The first T-ball game played on “artificial turf”! Author plays international basketball game in Senegal. Author beats future Supreme Court justice in basketball! Larry Bird ruins local TV sports broadcast! Author participates in prison basketball game. Running with the “Vaulting Vicar”, Bob Richards! Author’s wife meets Michael Jordon....almost! The Detective Wrestling Dentist! Golfing on the Moon! Vietnam and a remembered fallen teammate. Patrice meets Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin. The most comfortable pole vault landing pit ever! Author Spinner was prompted to write his book after reading this quote from Toni Morrison: “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
Many of baseball¿s most memorable moments come from endings, otherwise known as ¿last licks.¿ But even the most celebrated last licks have aspects fans are not aware of. Indeed, there is no end to the anecdotes, humor and trivia associated with last licks. Some of the final acts described in this book include:Summary and analysis of some of the great postseason finishes, including:¿Bobby Thompson¿s ¿Shot Heard `Round the World¿ in the 1951 playoffs¿Dave Roberts steal of second base in Game Four of the 2004 ALCSA comprehensive list of every perfect game thrown in Major League History and analysis of the most impressive streaks, including:¿Joe DiMaggio¿s 56-game hitting streak¿Darren Lewis¿ streak of 369 errorless gamesGreat last moments in some of the most famous stadiums in history, including Old Comiskey, Crosley Field and the Polo Grounds. Eulogies and career statistics for ballplayers who passed before their time, including Urban Shocker, Roberto Clemente and the recent tragedy of Josh Hancock.Heroic, and not-so-heroic endings to Hall of Fame careers, including:¿Rogers Hornsby¿s career-ending, walk-off grand slam in 1922¿Ted Williams¿ scandalous final at-bat in 1960, a towering home run to center field that ended when Williams refused a curtain call for the 11,000 fans in attendanceContains box scores, line scores, career statistics and photos for some of the greatest games and players in MLB history. A must-have for any baseball library.
When the author’s son John suggested he write a book about fatherhood, he thought, with all the books on fatherhood, who needs another? He concluded, “Perhaps I do.” While the book is indeed about fatherhood and fathers, it also tells of other fitting paternal exemplars – father figures – who may not have had children of their own but nonetheless have or had the right stuff as men and mentors. A central tenet herein is that good strong fathers are essential to the character building and moral fiber of our young and the very fabric and future of our currently downward-spiraling society. One reviewer writes, “...the testimonials describing the influence for good one person can have over another, be he parent, son, friend, teacher, comrade, barber, sports coach, or even our children are remarkable. The vignettes sometimes evoke amusement, sometimes tears, but lift the spirit and stay in the memory.”
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