Play, Louis, Play!


Book Description

Presents the early life of the famous African American cornet player, describing his humble beginnings on the streets of New Orleans to his emergence as a legend among the biggest jazz clubs of the city.




A Horn for Louis


Book Description

How did famous New Orleans jazz trumpet player Louis Armstrong get his first horn? Seven-year-old Louis Armstrong was too poor to buy a real instrument. He didn’t even go to school. To help his mother pay the rent, every day he rode a junk wagon through the streets of New Orleans, playing a tin horn and collecting stuff people didn’t want. Then one day, the junk wagon passed a pawn shop with a gleaming brass trumpet in the window. . . . With messages about hard work, persistence, hope, tolerance, cooperation, trust, and friendship, A Horn for Louis is perfect for aspiring young musicians and nonfiction fans alike! History Stepping Stones now feature updated content that emphasizes Common Core and today’s renewed interest in nonfiction. Perfect for home, school, and library bookshelves!




Modern Reading Text in 4/4


Book Description

This book has become a classic in all musicians' libraries for rhythmic analysis and study. Designed to teach syncopation within 4/4 time, the exercises also develop speed and accuracy in sight-reading with uncommon rhythmic figures. A must for all musicians, especially percussionists interested in syncopation.




Watson's Classic Book


Book Description

This book, by one of the first and foremost authorities on contract bridge, is regarded as the classic exposition of playing strategy. Practically all variations of play, both in attack and in defense, are explained and illustrated in it.




Louis Armstrong Plays Standards (Songbook)


Book Description

(Artist Transcriptions). The All Music Guide regards trumpet virtuoso Louis Armstrong as "the most important musician in (jazz's) history." This collection assembles note-for-note transcriptions of his trumpet playing on 16 fantastic standards: Ain't Misbehavin' * All of Me * Body and Soul * Hello, Dolly! * Lazy River * Mack the Knife * Stardust * and more. Includes a bio and discography.




What a Wonderful World


Book Description

In this richly detailed and prodigiously researched book, jazz scholar and musician Ricky Riccardi reveals for the first time the genius and remarkable achievements of the last 25 years of Louis Armstrong’s life, providing along the way a comprehensive study of one of the best-known and most accomplished jazz stars of our time. Much has been written about Armstrong, but the majority of it focuses on the early and middle stages of his career. During the last third of his career, Armstrong was often dismissed as a buffoonish if popular entertainer. Riccardi shows us instead the inventiveness and depth of his music during this time. These are the years of his highest-charting hits, including “Mack the Knife” and “Hello, Dolly"; the famed collaborations with Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington; and his legendary recordings with the All Stars. An eminently readable and insightful book, What a Wonderful World completes and enlarges our understanding of one of America’s greatest and most beloved musical icons.







Swing That Music


Book Description

The first autobiography of a jazz musician, Louis Armstrong's Swing That Music is a milestone in jazz literature. Armstrong wrote most of the biographical material, which is of a different nature and scope than that of his other, later autobiography, Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (also published by Da Capo/Perseus Books Group). Satchmo covers in intimate detail Armstrong's life until his 1922 move to Chicago; but Swing That Music also covers his days on Chicago's South Side with ”King” Oliver, his courtship and marriage to Lil Hardin, his 1929 move to New York, the formation of his own band, his European tours, and his international success. One of the most earnest justifications ever written for the new style of music then called ”swing” but more broadly referred to as ”Jazz,” Swing That Music is a biography, a history, and an entertainment that really ”swings.”




Louis Armstrong


Book Description

This illustrated biography of Louis Armstrong contains a CD with the narrative of the book, plus highlights of some of his recordings.




The Dogs Who Play Baseball


Book Description