Category Archives: Books

Recommended Book: Banning Eyre’s “Lion Songs: Thomas Mapfumo and The Music That Made Zimbabwe”

Banning Eyre Author: Banning Eyre
Title: Lion Songs: Thomas Mapfumo and The Music That Made Zimbabwe
Format: book (hard cover 416 pages) & CD
Publisher: Duke University Press Books (May 22, 2015)
Buy book here:#lion-songs-book-section" target="_blank"> http://www.banningeyre.com/lion-songs/#lion-songs-book-section

Author and guitarist Banning Eyre has spent over 20 years exploring music and history in Zimbabwe. The country’s greatest singer/bandleader, Thomas Mapfumo, began his epic career in the early 1970s. Now in exile, Mapfumo is both a brilliant musical innovator, a reviver and re-inventor of ancient traditions, and a persistent gadfly in the affairs of corrupt politicians, whether in white ruled Rhodesia or black ruled Zimbabwe. Mapfumo’s dramatic story, never before told in such detail, stands beside those of Bob Dylan, Bob Marley and Fela Kuti.

Banning will be doing events in many locations around the country this summer. (See banningeyre.com/events for more).

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Book Review: Sun Ra ” The Execution of Sun Ra…” a must-read book!

Sun Ra book by Thomas StanleyAuthor: Thomas Stanley
Title: The Execution of Sun Ra: The Mysterious Tale of a Dark Body Sent to Earth to Usher in an Unprecedented Era of Cosmic Regeneration and Happiness (Volume II)
Format: Paperback
Publisher:  Wasteland Press (April 18, 2014)
Buy book here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Execution-Sun-Unprecedented-Regeneration/dp/1600479979
About the book: The Execution of Sun Ra is a 6 x 9″, 242-page paperback with b&w images by William Brower, Leon Collins, Yusef Jones, Lee Santa, Paula Stanley, Charles Steck, and Michael Wilderman. The cover illustration was done by Erica Fallin and the book design by Al Morrow. Author and cyberpunk theorist Kirby Malone provided editing. Kifah Foutah provided editorial assistance.

Review by Richard Bennett

Photo courtesy of Luke Stewart

Photo courtesy of Luke Stewart

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Recommended Book: “NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980–1990” by Tony Rettman and Freddy Cricien (Dec 30, 2014)

NYHC: New York Hardcore 1980–1990, by Tony RettmanISBN 978-1935950-12-7
High-quality trade paperback
450 densely illustrated pages
Foreword by Freddy Cricien
Dimensions: 6.75″ x 9.5″ x 1.5″ (170mm x 240mm x 40mm); 3 lbs. (1.2 kg)

“One of the greatest things ever for me was having a full belly of macaroni and meatballs, standing in front of CBGB at a hardcore matinee, and seeing my grandfather’s pigeons flying over.”—Vinnie Stigma, Agnostic Front

Known for its glamorous 1970s punk rock scene, New York City matched the grim urban reality of the 1980s with a rawer musical uprising: New York hardcore. As bands of misfits from across the region gravitated to the forgotten frontier of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. With a a backdrop of despair, bands like Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, Murphy’s Law, and Youth of Today confronted their reality with relentlessly energetic gigs at CBGB, A7, and the numerous squats in the area.

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Book Reviews: “Getting Started on Djembe” & “Getting Started on Cajon” by Michael Wimberly

Book reviews by Dawoud Kringle

Michael Wimberly HOW TO DJEMBETitle: Getting Started on Djembe
Author: Michaael Wimberly
Format: book & DVD
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corp
Genre: music education

Getting Started on Djembe / Getting Started on Cajon are new book instruction releases by master drummer/percussionist Michael Wimberly‘.

After greeting the viewer, Wimberly begins the video with an historic overview of the djembe, and it’s roots in 13th century Mali. A brief but comprehensive overview of the physical and mechanical characteristics of the djembe are discussed, along with some tips on maintenance.

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Reading and Book Signing: Robert Gordon – Respect Yourself – Stax Records and the Soul Explosion

312860-250Date: Sunday, January 19, 2014
Time: 7pm
Venue: Wythe Hotel Screening Room (80 Wythe Ave @ N. 11th, Brooklyn, NY 11249)
Ticket: free

Join us for an evening with award-winning writer, Robert Gordon, who will be discussing his latest book, Respect Yourself–Stax Records and the Soul Explosion (Bloomsbury), about which the New York Times exclaimed,”Gordon’s deep knowledge of Memphis, give the book a significance that extends beyond a single recording studio. Robert Gordon knows the place, and he’ll take you there.”

The book tells a story of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of Black Power through the lens of southern soul music. Gordon will also read from his other books including It Came From Memphis and Can’t Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters.

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