Drummin' Men: The Swing Years
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Oxford University Press Inc
Published:13th May '04
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This paperback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£22.49(9780195157628)
In the 1930s swing music was everywhere--on radio, recordings, and in the great ballrooms, hotels, theatres, and clubs. Perhaps at no other time were drummers more central to the sound and spirit of jazz. Benny Goodman showcased Gene Krupa. Jimmy Dorsey featured Ray McKinley. Artie Shaw helped make Buddy Rich a star while Count Basie riffed with the innovative Jo Jones. Drummers were at the core of this music; as Jo Jones said, "The drummer is the key--the heartbeat of jazz." An oral history told by the drummers, other musicians, and industry figures, Drummin' Men is also Burt Korall's memoir of more than fifty years in jazz. Personal and moving, the book is a celebration of the music of the time and the men who made it. Meet Chick Webb, small, fragile-looking, a hunchback from childhood, whose explosive drumming style thrilled and amazed; Gene Krupa, the great showman and pacemaker; Ray McKinley, whose rhythmic charm, light touch, and musical approach provided a great example for countless others, and the many more that populate this story. Based on interviews with a collection of the most important jazzmen, Drummin' Men offers an inside view of the swing years that cannot be found anywhere else.
"Korall's eagerly awaited sequel to his swing-era treatise is a lively, fascinatingly detailed text composed of narrative, exegesis, interviews and musical examples. Korall tells you exactly what these tub-thumpers did to make their music sound the way it did, from the obscure Lou Fromm to the familiar Kenny Clarke."--Seattle Times/Post-Intelligencer
"If you want to know what modern drumming is all about, this is your book. Burt Korall has done a remarkable job, and I strongly recommend it."--Artie Shaw
"Nobody writes about jazz drumming like Burt Korall. He gets inside the important drummers, the jazzmen who played with them, the arrangers and the leaders, to capture the excitement, the feel, even the sound of the Bebop Era. What an achievement!"--Dom Cerulli, The Jazz Word
"Attention drummers, jazz lovers, bebop lovers, and students of jazz history! Run--I repeat, run--do not walk to your local bookstore and purchase this absolutely wonderful book."--Allegro
"Korall digs deep into the hippest period in drumming history. A fascinating must-read for any drummer of style or lover of modern jazz."--William F. Miller, Editorial Director, Modern Drummer Magazine
"Burt Korall uses the topic of bebop drumming to range across the larger territory of music. Masterly in concept, scope and detail, his book tells the stories of the great bop drummers, and Korall is a superb story teller."--Doug Ramsey, author of Jazz Matters: Reflections on the Music and Some of its Makers
"Unexpected coverage of artists like Tiny Kahn, Stan Levey, Shadow Wilson, and Don Lamond provide diversity and a greater understanding of how bop drumming evolved. It is a readable tome that would appeal to jazz enthusiasts and jazz scholars alike."--Library Journal
ISBN: 9780195176643
Dimensions: 144mm x 229mm x 22mm
Weight: 431g
320 pages