Backstory in Blue: Ellington at Newport '56
by John F. Morton
List Price:
Our Price: $20.00
You Save: $14.95 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: John F. MortonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-30
ISBN: 0813542820
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Book Reviews of Backstory in Blue: Ellington at Newport '56
Book Review: great acount of one of jazz's greats
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful book about how Duke Ellington reviewed his career at Newport in the l950s and went on to triumph. But its not just about one incident - through the prism of that event, it encapsulates much of the history of jazz, music, and black-white relations in 20th century America.
Summary of Backstory in Blue: Ellington at Newport '56
It may be that the song most baby boomers identify from July 1956 is a simple twelve-bar blues, hyped on national television by a twenty-one-year-old Elvis Presley and his handlers. But it is a very different song, with its elongated fourteen-bar choruses of rhythm and dissonance, played on the night of July 7, 1956, by a fifty-seven-year-old Duke Ellington and his big band that got everybody on their feet and moving as one. More than fifty years later, "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue," recorded at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, still makes a profound statement about postwar America - how we got there and where it all went."Backstory in Blue" is a behind-the-scenes look at this epic moment in American cultural history. It is the story of who and what made Ellington's composition so compelling and how one piece of music reflected the feelings and shaped the sensibilities of the postwar generation. As John Fass Morton explains, it was music expressed as much by those who performed offstage as by those who performed on.Written from the point of view of the audience, this unique account draws on interviews with fans and music professionals of all kinds who were there and whose lives were touched, and in some cases changed, by the experience. Included are profiles of George Avakian, who recorded and produced Ellington at Newport 1956; Paul Gonsalves, the tenor sax player responsible for the legendary twenty-seven choruses that enabled the rebirth of Ellington's career; and the "Bedford Blonde," Elaine Anderson, whose dance ignited both the band and the crowd.Duke Ellington once remarked, "I was born at Newport." Here we learn that Newport was much more than the turning point for Ellington's career. It was the tipping point for a generation and a musical genre.Performing Arts Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Performing Arts Books
The Film Director: Updated for Today's Filmmaker, the Classic, Practical Reference to Motion Picture and Television Techniquesby Richard L. Bare
Wiley; Published: 2000-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.75
Price in other shops:
How Movies Workby Bruce F. Kawin
Allyn & Bacon; Published: 1987-03-13; Hardcover; Book
The Sun Soap Quiz Book: 2,000 Questions on Your Favourite TV Soap Operasby Chris Bradshaw
HarperCollins UK; Published: 2008-05-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
Make Your Own Adult Video: The Couple's Guide to Making Sensual Home Moviesby Petra Joy
Collins; Published: 2007-01-03; Paperback; Book
Blessings in Disguiseby Alec Guinness
Fontana; Published: 1986; Paperback; Book
Irish Dancing (Collins Pocket Reference)by Tom Quinn
Harpercollins Pub Ltd; Published: 1998-11; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Harmonyby Heinrich Schenker
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 1980-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $33.64
Price in other shops:
A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, Second Editionby Steven Louis Shelley
Focal Press; Published: 2009-10-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $38.82
Price in other shops:
The Theater Experienceby Edwin Wilson
Mcgraw-Hill College; Published: 1994-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $44.76
Price in other shops:
Bill Hicksby Kevin Booth
Harpercollins Entertainment; Published: 2005-03-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $40.00