Richard Koechli's Books

Tampa Red - The Forgotten King Of Blues

The very first biography about the pioneer of Chicago Blues

By: Richard Koechli

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Tampa Red - The Forgotten King Of Blues

The very first biography about the pioneer of Chicago Blues

By: Richard Koechli

Hardly any book tells more about the history of Chicago Blues. Hardly any biography reveals more anecdotes and secrets of the Blues. Tampa Red (ca. 1903 - 1981) should be mentioned in the same breath with legends like Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters or B.B. King. For more than 20 years Tampa Red set the tone in Chicago; the first with a brass guitar, one of the first with an electric guitar, pioneering slide virtuoso, author of more than 300 song pearls, mentor of many later stars. But Hudson Whittaker, as his real name was, lost glory and health towards the end of his life, died lonely as a forgotten man. To this day, no comprehensive book has been published, no film, nothing. Unbelievable! Now, finally, this great gap in blues literature is filled. The award-winning Swiss book author and blues musician Richard Koechli traces Tampa Red's life sensitively and historically precisely and prepares a worthy end for him with the help of a literary trick. Embedded in a fictional conversation with the young nursing assistant Anna and her music-obsessed friend Eric, Koechli lets Hudson Whittaker tell his own story right before his death: About life in Chicago, about love, about his music and his songs, about famous and less famous colleagues, about grief, despair, about the fear of dying - and finally about the happiness of reconciliation with his own history. "Thrilling like a thriller, touching like a drama, clarifying like a history book," raves the online magazine bluesnews.ch. "With this book, Koechli makes public an important and hitherto hardly noticed chapter in music history; for Blues fans a bubbling source of knowledge with plenty of aha moments." Finally, an English translation of the original German edition published in 2017 is now available; optionally as hardcover, softcover, e-book and large print book.

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Page Count

243

Publisher

tredition

Published Date

ISBN 10

3347624300

ISBN 13

9783347624306

Searching for the Blues

The whole truth about Robert Johnson and the Crossroads myth

By: Richard Koechli

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Searching for the Blues

The whole truth about Robert Johnson and the Crossroads myth

By: Richard Koechli

Robert Johnson did not sell his soul to the devil. But how did he crack the Blues code...? While modern music historians have now almost completely stripped the Blues of its myths, award-winning Swiss singer-songwriter, slide guitarist and book author Richard Koechli gives him back the soul in a philosophical way. With a mystical story that deeply explores the question of what exactly might be behind the legendary "mojo" of the great Blues masters. Koechli embarks on a trip to the temples of the African-American musical soul, gets involved in strange thought adventures, meets all kinds of stars of Blues and Rock history – and in the end is haunted in a dream by the most famous of all Blues figures, by Robert Johnson (1911-1938). Johnson 'tells' him what really happened in Mississippi back then, how he got the Blues secret – and whether the devil really played a role ... A stirring story for all Blues lovers; full of light-footed poetry, spiritual depth and music-historical precision. You can feel in every line that the author is not a theorist, but a Blues artist down to the core.

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Page Count

208

Publisher

tredition

Published Date

ISBN 10

3384040570

ISBN 13

9783384040572

Holy Blues

The 400-year trip of a musical soul

By: Richard Koechli

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Holy Blues

The 400-year trip of a musical soul

By: Richard Koechli

How African American Christian music influenced Western cultural history and forever changed the world of song. What do blues, jazz, soul, R&B, rock'n'roll, folk, country, rock, pop and hip hop have in common? Their origin, their fire! Holy Blues (Gospel Blues) is the source of all the roots music we love. The history of gospel music is 400 years old; its spirit even much older, and without it we simply would not be able to be enchanted by soulful music today. Reason enough to trace this good spirit, Holy Spirit. The award-winning Swiss musician and book author Richard Koechli embarks on an adventurous journey through American cultural history and shows with countless concrete examples how high the influence of faith on the music and its producers has been throughout the centuries, how decisive and mysterious the divine dimension shapes the music at every moment. Koechli does this in a double package: as a book author with a soul stirring history trip, and as a blues artist with very personal interpretations of timeless Holy Blues songs (free download).

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Page Count

150

Publisher

tredition

Published Date

ISBN 10

3347627520

ISBN 13

9783347627529

Music and Transcendence - Story of a Dream Team

The mystery of sounds, from Antiquity to Psychedelic Rock

By: Richard Koechli

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Music and Transcendence - Story of a Dream Team

The mystery of sounds, from Antiquity to Psychedelic Rock

By: Richard Koechli

Music exhilarates, enchants, fires, liberates, calms, comforts, heals. Like hardly any other medium, it lets us take off into a world beyond time and space. How does that work? What is the mystery of sound? There are theories, suppositions and hunches from the most diverse fields, but in no epoch has it been possible to lift the veil definitively. Tenaciously, playfully and at times ironically, Swiss musician and book author Richard Koechli searches for answers as to how and why music touches us and, in the sense of transcendence, even takes us beyond ourselves. What processes are going on there, in the brain and in the soul? How has all this influenced the history of humanity? Meticulously, Koechli examines explanations from musicology, natural science, psychology, music therapy, sociology, literature, philosophy, mysticism, spirituality and metaphysics. He passionately quotes legendary stars as they experience the magic. Worried, he also asks why, since time immemorial, the «drug» of music is often not enough for us, why we believe we can top the high with some substance or occult practice. Last but not least, Richard Koechli ends the 200-page book with a fascinating foray through the history of «Psychedelic Rock», because it was this music from the hippie era that taught him how to take off. And in his role as a multiple award-winning blues musician and singer-songwriter, he complements it all with a very personal album: «Transcendental Blues» (download link in the book), a complex musical trip through the ups and downs of being human. For anyone involved in music in any way. A relevant book because it multiplies respect for the mystery of sounds. A stirring one, because it takes the love for music to infinity.

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Page Count

218

Publisher

tredition

Published Date

ISBN 10

3347928385

ISBN 13

9783347928381

Music and Transcendence - Story of a Dream Team

The mystery of sounds, from Antiquity to Psychedelic Rock

By: Richard Koechli

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Music and Transcendence - Story of a Dream Team

The mystery of sounds, from Antiquity to Psychedelic Rock

By: Richard Koechli

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218

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tredition

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ISBN 10

3347928385

ISBN 13

9783347928381

Boogiemania - 88 keys to the soul

40 years live on stage

By: Nico Brina

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Boogiemania - 88 keys to the soul

40 years live on stage

By: Nico Brina

In over 4,000 performances in 19 countries to date, the award-winning Swiss boogie and blues pianist Nico Brina has experienced the magic of improvised music, how it affects people and what it triggers in their souls. Music as a world language. Already in his German-language book "Von 100 auf 0 in 1 Sekunde" (From 100 to 0 in 1 second), published in 2022, he talked humorously and up close about his career and about unusual projects that enabled him to keep the flame alive even during the coronavirus pandemic. Just in time for his 40th stage anniversary, a direct continuation of this successful author's journey is now being published, and this time also in an English translation: "Boogiemania - 88 keys to the soul" Nico Brina takes a deeper look into his life, telling funny and sometimes even totally crazy anecdotes from his multifaceted career. A thrilling book that in personal, direct language provides valuable insights into the nature of uncompromising dedication on stage. Brina repeatedly succeeds in creating a philosophical link between the art of improvising on 88 keys and normal life. In this way, he draws highly inspiring images that give people the courage and strength to engage with the moment and surrender to the so-called "flow". In doing so, he perhaps even provides something of an explanation for the timeless secret of boogie and blues magic.

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Page Count

153

Publisher

tredition

Published Date

ISBN 10

3384115120

ISBN 13

9783384115126

Holy Blues

The 400-year trip of a musical soul

By: Richard Koechli

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Holy Blues

The 400-year trip of a musical soul

By: Richard Koechli

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

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Page Count

150

Publisher

tredition

Published Date

ISBN 10

3347627520

ISBN 13

9783347627529

Book's by Richard Koechli

Tampa Red - The Forgotten King Of Blues

Tampa Red - The Forgotten King Of Blues

Searching for the Blues

Searching for the Blues

Holy Blues

Holy Blues

Music and Transcendence - Story of a Dream Team

Music and Transcendence - Story of a Dream Team

Music and Transcendence - Story of a Dream Team

Music and Transcendence - Story of a Dream Team

Boogiemania - 88 keys to the soul

Boogiemania - 88 keys to the soul

Holy Blues

Holy Blues

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