Ashley Kahn

Jimmy Cobb

The author takes readers behind the scenes of the making of a jazz classic, recreating the sessions that produced it to show how Miles Davis's musical genius worked in action. 40,000 first printing.

The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece

Kind of Blue

Few albums in the canon of popular music have had the influence, resonance, and endurance of John Coltrane's 1965 classic A Love Supreme-a record that proved jazz was a fitting medium for spiritual exploration and for the expression of the sublime. Bringing the same fresh and engaging approach that characterized his critically acclaimed Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, Ashley Kahn tells the story of the genesis, creation, and aftermath of this classic recording. Featuring interviews with more than one hundred musicians, producers, friends, and family members; unpublished interviews with Coltrane and bassist Jimmy Garrison; and scores of never-before-seen photographs, A Love Supreme balances biography, cultural context, and musical analysis in a passionate and revealing portrait.

The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album

A Love Supreme

A tribute to the saxophonist's top-acclaimed album is based on the testimonies of more than one hundred performers, producers, and witnesses to its creation, in a volume that includes previously unpublished interviews with Coltrane, cultural and historical backdrop information, and never-before-seen photographs. Reprint.

Elvin Jones

The Creation of John Coltrane's Classic Album

Love Supreme

In the early spring of 1959, six musicians went into the 30th Street Studio in New York. Nine hours later, they had recorded one of the finest albums of the twentieth century. Kind of Blue traces Miles Davis's development into an artist capable of making such a masterpiece, and explores the careers and struggles of the musicians who shaped him and played alongside him. Using interviews and pictures, studio dialogue and outtakes, the great jazz historian Ashley Kahn follows Miles and his group into the studio, to show precisely how the greatest jazz record of all time was made, how it was introduced to the world, and how it changed music forever.

Miles Davis and the Making of a Masterpiece

Kind Of Blue

Traces the story of Impulse Records and the pivotal contributions of avant-garde jazz musician John Coltrane in the 1960s and 1970s, explaining how the label was shaped by thirty-eight of his politically charged recordings. Reprint.

The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records

Ron Carter

Greg Tate

Robin D. G. Kelley

Clark Terry

Lenny White

Here is the illustrated history of Miles Davis, the worldâ€™s most popular jazz trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and musical visionary. Davis is one of the most innovative, influential, and respected figures in the history of music. Heâ€™s been at the forefront of bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz-rock fusion, and remains the favorite and best-selling jazz artist ever, beloved worldwide. Heâ€™s also a fascinating characterâ€”moody, dangerous, brilliant. His story is phenomenal, including tempestous relationships with movie stars, heroin addictions, police busts, and more; connections with other jazz greats like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, Gil Evans, John McLaughlin, and many others; and later fusion ventures that outraged the worlds of jazz and rock. Written by an all-star team, including Sonny Rollins, Bill Cosby, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Clark Terry, Lenny White, Greg Tate, Ashley Kahn, Robin D. G. Kelley, Francis Davis, George Wein, Vincent BessiÃ¨res, Gerald Early, Nate Chinen, Nalini Jones, Dave Liebman, Garth Cartwright, and more.

The Complete Illustrated History

Miles Davis

"A jazz-lover's delight."—Ray Olson, Booklist Noted jazz author Ashley Kahn brings to life the behind-the-scenes story of Impulse Records, one of the most significant record labels in the history of popular music. “Kahn mingles engaging stories of corporate politics with insider accounts of music-making and anecdotal takes on particular albums. His history of Impulse is also the story of the genesis of an American art form and the evolution of the record industry through the tumultuous 1960s—and will compel readers to seek out this label’s masterful albums,” says Publishers Weekly in a starred review. Kirkus Reviews calls the book “a swinging read,” adding that “Kahn covers all the aesthetic, business, social, and historical bases with crisp economy.” Don’t miss the exciting inside scoop behind some of the most enduring masterpieces of jazz!

Michael Cuscuna

Richard Seidel

"...5,000 word essay by journalist-author-producer-musician Greg Tate ; producers' notes by Michael Cuscuna and Richard Seidel...and Lenny White interview by author Ashley Kahn. The book features Mati Klarwein's painting Zonked (a psychedelic portrait of Miles Davis' wife, Betty, which also encodes a profile of Miles) on its cover, plus dozens of rare, unpublished photographs and record label memos."--Sell sheet.

Bitches Brew

Traces the story of Impulse Records and the pivotal contributions of avant-garde jazz musician John Coltrane in the 1960s and 1970s, explaining how the label was shaped by thirty-eight of his politically charged recordings.

George Harrison on George Harrison is an authoritative, chronologically arranged anthology of Harrison's most revealing and illuminating interviews, personal correspondence, and writings, spanning the years 1962 to 2001. Though known as the "Quiet Beatle," Harrison was arguably the most thoughtful and certainly the most outspoken of the famous four. This compendium of his words and ideas proves that point repeatedly, revealing his passion for music, his focus on spirituality, and his responsibility as a celebrity, as well as a sense of deep commitment and humor.

Interviews and Encounters

George Harrison on George Harrison

Carlos Santana

Hal Miller

The intimate and long-awaited memoir of guitar legend Carlos Santana. In 1967 at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium, a young guitarist played a blistering solo that announced a prodigious talent. Two years later he played a historic set at Woodstock, and the world came to know Carlos Santana by name. THE UNIVERSAL TONE is a tale of musical self-determination and self-discovery. It traces his journey from his teen days playing in Tijuana, and the establishment of his signature guitar sound; his roles as husband, father and rock star; and his recording of some of the most influential rock albums of all time, up to and beyond the sensational SUPERNATURAL, which garnered nine Grammy awards. The book abounds with a fearlessness that finds humour in the world of high-flying fame, speaks plainly of personal revelations, and celebrates the divine and infinite possibility Santana sees in each person he meets.

The Universal Tone

Pete Turner

A fifty-year overview of the photographer's one hundred most memorable album covers offers insight into his signature use of bold color and composition while discussing how his work set new standards for the medium, in a tribute that includes rare and out-of-print examples that have become collector's items.

Ashley Kahn

Books

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