MSCI

i really dug this book on The KIng Of Pop.Adrian Grant has done great stuff on MIchael.this book gives dates of his Writting&Production and ALbums released.also Concerts.very well in depth Profile on THE Man.getting this book helped me get songs that he did for others oe sung on.MICHAEL JACKSON is STILL THE BADDEST ARTIST ALIVE TODAY.nobody can count MJ out.

I thought this book was absolutely wonderful. I have loved Michael Jackson all my life and this book helps people like me know more about what he went through. I thought the book was great and also I think MJ is the greatest.

This is the best book that was ever published about Michael Jackson. It is informative, accurate, well written and gives the world a very wonderful insight into Michael and his achievements. Adrian Grant has done it again!

Miss Woman is Ann Vaughan Richards' first novel. Married to a scientist, a self-proclaimed recluse, A.V. Richards is a member of a large Alabama family who she says all gathered in the same spot...for generations.

Victoria is a town where everyone knows each other and their business. Told from the viewpoint of Willie Kay, a divorcee who has returned to the bosom of her family, Miss Woman at first seems to be a typical Southern story about racism. "Miss Woman" is a sassily dressed African-American woman who suddenly appears on the scene of Victoria. When she throws open her window to treat the residents of Victoria to an impromptu, loving blues performance, people don't know what to think. Then Callie Thomas runs into the street and gets hit by a car, and Glenna Bedsole, whose personal problems leave her deranged, is suddenly murdered. Willie Kay is in the middle of the action, but feels powerless:

"We didn't know what happened, but Glenna Bedsole knew and Callie Thomas knew. And, sitting in the alley beside the Victoria Dry Cleaners, O.K. Maylo knew. He had seen it all. He had seen Glenna Bedsole heap curses upon Callie's head, and he had seen her enter her store and come back with a handful of wire coat hangers, he had seen her throw the coat hangers on Callie's unsuspecting body, and he had seen Callie start in fright and run into Mr. Stroud's car. O.K. Maylo knew, all right."

As Ms. Richards' quirky but fascinating tale unfolds, her equally quirky but completely compelling characters roll out one at a time. Her tale is slow and ponderous; the type of story that appeals to any woman on a mission of self discovery or any man who craves insight into the workings of the female mind. Miss Woman operates on many levels: social; political; emotional; intellectual; philosophical. It is as much a tale that Oprah would like as it is a tale with a whodunit theme.

Miss Woman showcases a strong Black role model with the ability to make our hearts sing. Willie Kay is probably more a character whom most of us can relate to. The story itself is fascinating. Willie Kay herself uncovers emotional levels unplumbed by most of us. A great tale.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

Ann Vaughan Richards' first novel is a lush celebration of all things Southern: a tale as rich as homemade pecan pie and as tangled as a kudzu vine.
"Miss Woman" is set in fictional Victoria, Ala., where nothing much has changed in decades. When 45-year-old Willie Kay, newly divorced, returns to her hometown to start over, she finds that litttle has changed since her departure. Even the unyielding attitudes of the local folks seem frozen in an earlier, less enlightened, era. Old loves and old hatreds are still firmly in place here, and old secrets still fester underneath a veneer of politeness.
The town's rigid social order is cracked wide open with the arrival of Miss Woman. She appears without warning in the upstairs window of the Victoria Thrift Store on a steamy summer day, and as she bangs chords on an upright piano and sends her "low down, gut wrenching...You Can Have Him I Don't Want Him Didn't Love Him Anyhow Blues" floating across the town square, she embodies everything that the town is not. Her ample body shimmers in rainbow satins, her smiling face is framed by a turban; she is flamboyant, mysterious, uninhibited, spontaneous and generous.
These qualities alone would be condemnation enough for Glenna Bedsole, a vicious gossip bent on unraveling the lives of her neighbors. But even more alarming, in Glenna's eyes, is the fact that Miss Woman is black.
Glenna's own father was a notorious bigot whose ruthlessness earned him a bullet through the heart long ago. When the embittered woman launches a campaign of personal destruction against her fellow townspeople, probing her neighbors' best-kept secrets, a late-night visitor uses a shotgun to silence her. As the evidence around the case slowly unfolds, the list of possible suspects grows, and a small-minded band of residents turn suspicious eyes on Miss Woman.
Unsuspecting Willie Kay finds herself at the heart of a struggle that will transform her own life, and change the townspeople of Victoria forever.

I love books with descriptions so vivid, I can smell the flowers, hear the rain, and feel the sweat drip down my neck. Miss Woman by Ann Vaughan Richards is exactly that kind of book. And her characters!! If you've ever felt overwhelmed or outflanked by your family, you will feel an immediate connection with Willie Kay, the narrator. The rest of the towns people of Victoria quickly become people as well, leaving you at times laughing at their antics and then completely shocked by their behavior. But don't make the mistake of dismissing this book as a light, frothy description of southern charm. This book also tackles serious subjects like adultery, abortion, racism, and murder. The framework of the novel is a murder mystery but it is really an in-depth look at the characters in a small southern town and their interactions with each other. I especially appreciated Ms. Richards' treatment of race relations. Although she does describe the racism most associate with the South (white man kills black man for being "uppity"), she also explores another, far less publicized side of these interactions. The love and care provided for an aging black woman by her "white family" and the courageous determination of a group of white people to provide Miss Woman a safe place to live are vivid counterpoints to the racism brutally portrayed in other parts of the book. Even a week after I have finished this book, I find myself revisiting the town of Victoria in my mind, wondering about the little mysteries left unsolved and the big question of "What happens next?" Good books always leave you wanting more and Miss Woman has done an excellent job of just that. So, grab a comfy chair, turn on your favorite blues music and let Miss Woman take you to that rainy, hot day in June when the blues notes first started falling from a second story window. . .

I just had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Terrance Hayes read at the University of Idaho. He was nervous, I think, and the room was big and strange, but this young man can write. He can really write. The new book--HIP LOGIC--is going to be terrific, and I'll bet each book that comes after will be better yet. A really splendid new talent.

I first became familiar with Mr. Hayes' work, when i saw his poem "Blackbird" in a 1995 double issue of ObsidianII: Black Literature In Review. It appeared opposite a poem I publshed in the journal. Every poem in Muscular Music, is a snapshot about African American life, and sings a song of america: "Late," "Goliath," "Something For Marvin," "Blackbird," "The Yummy Suite," " What I am..." The Black experience is all in here... I was laughing my ass off at " I want to be fat" and I'm a big guy.Expect Terrence Hayes to be a major poet in the literary canon.

Terrance Hayes has written a book where the poems have bite. These poems are hard-hitting, honest, sincere and yet suffused with "tenderness." "Yummy Suite" is one of the most powerful sequence of poems I have read anywhere that confront what is going on in our urban neighbourhoods today. I also loved "Late," "Goliath" and too many more to name. Here is a writer well worth getting to know. If I may riff on the Reuben Jackson quote that serves as an epilogue, Terrance Hayes' Muscular Music is a book that also "reveals itself" one splendid "black note at a time." Buy this book -- read it aloud and share it with a friend!

I found this book by browsing Amazon.com and bought it based on other people's recommendations. I just received my copy and am totally thrilled with it! It is a visually stunning book and beautifully written. I am so happy to have found this book; it is very likely I would never have heard of it otherwise. Many of the pieces are beyond my playing level at this point, but it is a wonderful inspiration to me and gives me a great incentive to push forward with my studies. The accompanying CD is awesome; the pieces are played by the author and provide needed listening experience -- a very important feature missing in other books of this type.

Thank you, Carl Humphries, for this book. I have used similar techniques in teaching my students over the last 20 years. I have been trying to write this book for about 3 years, but find myself too damn busy teaching lessons and performing. This book includes everything, from the basics to the most advanced. AND, it doesn't ignore the 20th century. What I mean is that so much great music was made in jazz, rock and latin music in the past 100 years and I find that the local "Ivory Tower" (the BYU piano department) tends to either ignore it or pooh-pooh it.

Also, Humphries shows how these recent styles are related to their influences, including "classical" composers like Debussy and Schoenberg, without making the styles seem like lesser entities of their "legit" ancestors. Now I can start giving my students this book, instead of continuing to promise them that I'll get my book done--and then not delivering for God knows how many years.

My critiques of this book are that I wish there had been more emphasis on ear training, application of jazz voicings and structures and improvisation. There is a CD included, which I love, of all the written material in the text. But while Mr. Humphries does write that ear training is vital, there is little in the text to work with. I have my own approach to this, so it's okay, but I'd love to see it in his book because not only was it the original way to communicate music, it is also the more effective. Don't get me wrong; I am into the whole sight reading thing, but it is so limited in conveying emotion and "feel" that you can get from learning music by ear.

Also, he has a few exercises dealing with jazz voicing, but only from Bill Evans (who happens to be a brilliant example), but I find that quite limiting--especially when the book refers to so many other Early Jazz, Swing, Bop, Post Bop, West Coast and Modern Jazz players. Perhaps a rounding out of these ideas that Humphries brings up would make the book more complete--and that would go for the discussion of Latin and Rock as well.

While I appreciate the discussion of the various scales used in improvisation, I was disappointed to find little or no discussion on improvisation itself, which might include sections on motifs, motif development, counterpoint improvisation, 'comping, and include some transcriptions of great improvisors such as a few lines from Jarrett's Koln Concert.

All in all though, Humphries' book is (to use the critic's ancient term) a TRIUMPH! Bravo; I look forward to a second edition with more cool stuff.

David Cannon

This really is the best of the few decent books in this category - and one of only a small handful that don't treat you like an idiot. Concomitantly, if you ARE in idiot, this book won't work for you. As other reviewers have noted, the pace is definitely fast compared to the 'graded' lesson books commonly used by piano teachers. But using the CD, and practicing every exercise until you truly understand it - you WILL go far, and fast, with this one. I've carefully checked every other "teach yourself piano" title I've seen in the local stores, and even bought and returned a few. This one, however, is a keeper. By the end of the book, you'll be playing some fairly impressive classical pieces (more than enough to impress your friends - unless they're experienced pianists!). Along the way, you get a very nice background in piano history (great photos an illustrations!), and you'll gain a good, solid understanding of reading music. (hm - except for all those british musical terms. Feh. Luckily, American-style is included as well.)

Generally, you really, really should try to get a teacher. But if you just can't afford it, this book is the next best thing. Combine it with a few videos/DVDs (like the "Van Cliburn competition" - YES!, or even buy "The Pianist" or "Shine" right here on Amazon) so you can get an idea of how pianists hold and move their hands. (not that you'll move like these people for a long while!).

There is a crazy typographical error in my edition of the book, where an entire paragraph is repeated! This is only a little sad, because the space could have been put to use for more of the author's great information. It's not enough to drop my rating! The binding (at least in my edition) is spiral - a VERY SMART move, as it sits nicely on the music desk. I have to make photo copies to use the sheet music in other books!

This one has got my full recommendation. And better yet, if you have any musical background at all, or have had some piano lessons (even in your distant past) this book will have you flying along in no time.

I have read many personal accounts of incest (and other forms of sexual abuse). I am also a survivor of incest (and other sexual abuse as well), and I am a dancer. This book very accurately depicts the effects of child abuse on art, memory, and expression. Linda Cutting achieves this through an honest memoir of her own experience of memory recovery in adulthood, and it's effect on her life and art. Often her words spoke my own experience, particularly in her descriptions of having a flashback. Severe child abuse alters the structure of our minds, but through truth we can transcend. This book is superbly written. With very little description of the actual incest I was transported into her world. I could see her as a child, and the life she lived in. My heart reached out to her. If I ever want someone to understand what life is like for an adult survivor of incest this will be top on my list of recommendations. After reading this book I felt as if I had sat down with Linda, and she had told me her story. I thank her for having the courage to share her story with us. Her book is a great help to other survivors and for anyone who seeks to understand the life of an artist who is also a survivor of child abuse. This book helped me to get in touch with my own strength and empowerment to stand tall despite my past, and to continue my artistic work.

An absolutely stunningly clear account of losing memory- and many of the complexities within this experience- and of reclaiming resilience, balance, and self. As Cutting loses her memory of the music she is performing (music she has memorized and played over and over) in the process of working through her child abuse history, her story is a highly interesting account of the complexities of "memory slips" in an adult. Cutting navigates her history of child abuse with incredible strength and determination, and ultimately with great compassion for her family. Beautifully read by Cutting- some of her piano playing is on this audio cassette which is one reason I would recommend the audio version. Her musical expression is an important part of her story. The audio may be helpful for both women and men who have experienced sexual abuse as children/ adolescents as well as for those who want to understand the impact of this kind of an abuse history. In addition, this audio may be highly valuable in exploring the specific psychological dynamics that can arise with those who are or have been musical performers. The depth of this audio is difficult to articulate- the exploration of family psychological dynamics is worth every penny.

In "Memory Slips", concert pianist Linda Katherine Cutting chronicles her gradual breakdown and healing as she comes to terms with the horrendous abuse, physical, emotional and sexual, that she suffered at the hands of her parents as a child. Included in this memoir is the erosion of her career due to memory loss; her hospitalization and treatment, the disintegration of her first marriage, and her slow, painful, climb back to life.

This book testifies to both the worst and best of the human spirit: agonizing, as one relives the abuse Ms. Cutting suffered, and heroic, as she fights to reclaim her life and music. The abuse she suffered becomes all the more real under the dignified, poised and restrained words she uses. A deeply wrenching and uplifting book.

Opera is a costly art. Producing recordings of operas is a costly business. Opera enthusiasts who wish to own recorded versions of their favorite operas, must thus expect to have credit cards that can call up large funds. Hence, the usefulness and value of another art form, one that developed in the C20th. This new art form is the guide to recorded opera, a collection of critical assessments and recommendations intended to help readers avoid wasting their money.

Of all such publications - and they can provide endless hours of absorbing reading even if the aim is not necessarily to get a well-informed recommendation - an outstanding example is The Metropolitan Opera Guide to Recorded Opera. Developed from an idea by Roland Gellat, and edited by Paul Gruber, it surveys and assesses virtually all opera sets on record up to 1993, the year of its publication. The roster of reviewers is impressive, comprising a team of twenty highly qualified contributors working in the USA and England.

Something I always look for in books of this type is a detailed index. The one here meets all my requirements. It enables me to find all references in the book to, for example, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, a singer you might think is represented in recorded opera sets more than anybody else. It is Placido Domingo, however, whose index entries occupy more space here than those of any other singer.

An alphabetical order of composers dictates where the recorded opera reviews are found. Once you have found "M" near the center of the book, for example, you can locate Mozart, and find his operas discussed in chronological order. There is also an index of opera titles, if you prefer that means of finding what you want. There are no illustrations, and pages are laid out in two-column format, so the book is reasonably compact and not too weighty.

Each reviewer is set the task of assessing all available recorded sets of a particular opera (a luxury few of us can enjoy) and providing a recommendation. Perhaps it is in the nature of opera, an art form with so many inter-relating components, that few single versions of a particular opera are found to excel on all counts. One of the few is the de Sabata "Tosca". Nevertheless the reviewers always attempt to "narrow the field" and indicate strengths and weaknesses along the way.

A "guide" to recorded opera is tricky. First of all, every opera critic is likely to have his or her own biases when it comes to singers, conductors, sound quality, etc. That being said, this book is an extremely fair, balanced, guide to the recordings of many operatic staples, as well as lesser-known works. Each opera's discography is reviewed by a single critic, so there's consistency. However, a problem arises when the different critics offer conflicting views of the same singer in different operas. Joan Sutherland is criticized by some critics for her poor diction and placid portrayals, but other critics choose to focus on the beauty of her voice and her impeccable technique. Who do you believe? It's your choice. Also, this book was written in 1993, so many recent studio recordings, historical releases from Naxos, and more "legitimized" pirates are not covered here. Overall, however, it's an entertaining, comprehensive guide to many famous recordings.

This book is an older sister of the "Metropolitan Opera Guide to Opera on Video". Both are edited by P.Gruber, which at least partly explains their similar design, but feature different teams of reviewers (only few names overlap) and maybe this is the reason why this guide reads so much better than its video sequel. Nevertheless, it is not difficult to imagine that the main reason for this discrepancy is the medium itself: recordings play much greater a role in our musical lives than video (or DVD) and that's probably why it is easier to write about them with fondness. The reviews collected here are very human and it is clear that their authors not only lived with the reviewed recordings for quite a while, but were quite eager to share their comments with the broader public - I didn't have that impression while reading the MET team's generally sour video guide. This is a very likeable book! Most of the reviews are written with sympathy and warmth, not very common in this kind of critical writings. There is also a tendency to emphasize the good even in seriously flawed recordings. These are highly subjective reviews and there is no attempt at concealing it: the language is always very personal and leaves no doubt that in many cases some high emotions were involved - again a feature that I found missing in the video guide. To make the book even more "human", the editors thought about including some dozen charts presenting favorite opera recordings of some celebrities (for whatever it is worth to know Joan Rivers's tastes in operatic matters; other choices are less problematic since most of the people are to some degree professionally involved with opera or theater). This guide is of course outdated but this shouldn't make it less attractive to true opera lovers. What is very important with this kind of publications - apart from its obvious practical value - is the fact that they preserve in a compact form a selection of well written essays not only on opera recordings, but also on our musical life and they give the lie to a generally felt impression that music criticism is a dying art. However, on the strictly practical side, the MET's guide will never be quite outdated, since the reviews collected here apply NOT only to CDs, but also to vinyl discs, at the time of printing still a popular medium. Many of then LPs (some transferred from 78s) are being reissued now in all sorts of series of "legendary recordings" launched by the record companies. As to the new releases, we can only wish that the guide will be updated from time to time. A large section on baroque opera recordings would be an important feature of this imaginary "new edition" (I have to admit that in its current form, the guide doesn't have much to offer for the fans of early opera) But even without these changes, the MET's guide is a very important addition to the music library of any record collector - if not strictly as a guide, then simply as a collection of wonderful musical essays. One can agree with them or not, but they never leave the readers with an impression of having been written by people bored with the topic. Enjoy!

This is an excellent book on Nirvana, and it is too sad that it is out-of-print. It contains important interviews and write-ups from several pop culture mags of that era on the band--on performances--on their overall views...

Does this signal that Kurt was right: Grunge is dead?

Well, perhaps dead but not yet interred into the earth.

It tells alittle bit about the history of Nirvana but its mostly about the making of Nevermind and about the songs. Its pretty good.

Yeah, yeah, it's really lame to buy a book about them and all, but this isn't just another stupid ripoff fan book- this is really good stuff. It's funny. It's sad. It gives Courtney a chance to look less evil- I changed my mind about her because of this book. And it's not just about Kurt like most Nirvana books are- there's a good amount of stuff on Krist and the various drummers as well. Serious Nirvana fans really need to read this.

This book by Shinichi Suzuki is part-description of the principles of his Talent Education method, part-snapshots of personal history, part-statements on his philosophy of life. It is written with great optimism and love for humane development of children into noble people. Based on his observation that all children speak their mother tongue fluently (and are thus highly capable to be educated in many disciplines) and on his belief that talent is not inherited but learned, Suzuki's method concentrates on creating the best environment for child development. His famous violin teaching method incorporates parent involvement, listening to the same piece many times and extensive practice, among others. Importance of memory training and good mentors (Einstein was one of Suzuki's) is stressed. Many real-life stories illustrate his points.

By way of criticism, while themes of compassion and developing a noble character recur throughout the book, it takes some effort to piece it all together. The book reads like a series of short improvisations on the themes of love and rearing of children. The parts of personal history, for example, with the description of illness, war and Suzuki's father's starting violin manufacturing business, while interesting, do not blend with the rest of the book. A chapter entitled "If you think of something do it" has nothing to do with its title (there is a chapter that talks about people of action in his other book, "Ability development from age zero", which repeats many of the stories verbatim). Some bits of Suzuki's take on life's truths, such as "an unfair advantage leads to evil" sound out of place.

In spite of some shortcomings, I would recommend this book. Not as a practical guide, but as an inspirational material for parents.

This book is required reading for the parents of students enrolled in the Suzuki string program, thank goodness! The message is profound. Several passages are thought-provoking. I found it easy reading and very beneficial. The Suzuki method is right on target for bringing out the best in our children.

I recomend this book to anyone raising children!! This is not only a book about talent education and music learning, but a book about life and faith in humanity and children. What Mr. Shinichi Suzuki contibuted to the world with his findings is far beyond our comprehension, if every parent out there were to follow Mr. Suzuki's philosophy the world might be a very different place! Please do read this book, is life changing.

When I purchased the vocal selections for this show I received exactly what I expected. The songs were not difficult to play at all, yet it had almost every song from the show. If trying out for the show or just want some simple music to play...this is the book to buy.

I was the pianist for my high school's performance of this musical, and when I heard the music (the 1997 CD), I fell in love immediately. As the rehearsal pianist, I played through this book three hours a day for two months, but the original appeal has not faded! In fact, since I have to return the book (it's a rental), I plan on purchasing it as soon as the show's over.

We all know the story of the Princess and the Pea, right? Well, this musical and its music book give it some well needed humor! Origianlly starring Carol Burnett, MATTRESS went on to make 2 TV movies and eventually star Ms. Sarah Jessica Parker, a now Emmy award winning actress. MATTRESS entered my life 12 months ago, and it is still here! For me, MATTRESS seems to have started my acting career. Buy this book if you need to learn songs for a role, or if you just want to add it to your Broadway collection!

JUST ANOTHER MASTERED PIECE ABOUT THE PUNK GREAT ( PATTI SMITH )
ANYTHING ABOUT THIS BRILLIANTLY TALENTED WOMAN IS AN ART FORM OF IT'S OWN. I REMEMBER WHEN ( BECAUSE THE NIGHT CAME OUT, I WAS
A TEENAGER IN HIGH SCHOOL. MY FIRST IMPRESSION WAS I WANNA BE JUST LIKE HER. SHE IS ONE MUSICIAN OF POETRY, WHO IS ACTUALLY,
THE SAME AS HER MUSIC. WHAT CAN I SAY SHE HAS GIVEN ME THE PLEASURE OF HER TALENTED MUSIC FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS.
THIS BOOK IS DEFINATELY A CLASSIC IN ITSELF.
"PATTI" THE WOMAN,THE POET,THE CLASSIC MUSICIAN.

Through the years I have always been frustrated by the lack of a lyric sheet with Patti Smith's albums. I thought her marriage of poetry and rock deserved better. And there were many parts of her songs that I just couldn't make out, what with her broad NY drawl, so this book came as a godsend. And yes, I was invariably wrong in my guessing! So to the book: excellent photographs, insightful annotations and those wonderful songs that work equally well on the printed page but really come alive with her music. Excellent design, typography, layout; highly recommended.

thanks patti. love the book. everyone should have one.