Lorenz Hart, together with Richard Rodgers, created some of the most beautiful and witty songs ever written. Here is the story of the strikingly unromantic life of this songwriting genius. His lyrics spin with brilliance and sophistication, yet at their core is an unmistakable wistfulness. Rodgers and Hart, who wrote approximately thirty Broadway musicals and dozens of songs for Hollywood films, were an odd couple. Rodgers was precise, punctual, heterosexual, handsome, and eager to be accepted by society. Hart was barely five feet tall, alcoholic, homosexual, and more comfortable in a bar or restaurant than anywhere else. His lyrics are all the more remarkable considering that he never sustained a romantic relationship, living his entire life with his mother, who died only months before his own death at 48. Biographer Marmorstein superbly portrays the life of this exuberant yet troubled artist.--From publisher description.

This study shows rock and folk guitarist's how to make the most useful jazz chords and jazz progressions in the easiest way possible without reading music.

(Jazz Transcriptions). 35 Marsalis songs transcribed for B-flat instruments exactly from his recorded solos, with solo analysis sections and a complete discography. Includes: Au Privave * Black Bottom Stomp * Caravan * Cherokee (Indian Love Song) * Donna Lee * Embraceable You * Free to Be * Honeysuckle Rose * In Walked Bud * Johnny Come Lately * La Vie En Rose * Loose Duck * My Funny Valentine * Rubber Bottom * Stardust * A Train, a Banjo, and a Chicken Wing * Union Pacific Big Boy * When It's Sleepy Time down South * You Don't Hear No Drums * and more.

Lorenz Hart singlehandedly changed the craft of lyric writing. When Larry Hart first met Dick Rodgers in 1919, the commercial song lyric consisted of tired cliches and cloying Victorian sentimentality. Hart changed all that, always avoiding the obvious, aiming for the unexpected phrase that would twang the nerve or touch the heart. Endowed with both a buoyant wit and a tender, almost raw sincerity, Hart brought a poetic complexity to his art, capturing the everyday way people talk and weaving it into his lyrics. Songs had never been written like that before, and afterwards it seemed impossible that songs would ever be written any other way. Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway presents the public triumphs of a true genius of the American musical theatre, and the personal tragedies of a man his friend the singer Mabel Mercer described as "the saddest man I ever knew." Author Frederick Nolan began researching this definitive biography in 1968, tracking down and interviewing Hart's friends and collaborators one by one, including a remarkable conversation with Richard Rodgers himself. A veritable who's who of Broadway's golden age, including Joshua Logan, Gene Kelly, George Abbott and many more, recall their uncensored and often hilarious, sometimes poignant memories of the cigar-chomping wordsmith who composed some of the best lyrics ever concocted for the Broadway stage, but who remained forever lost and lonely in the crowds of hangers-on he attracted. A portrait of Hart emerges as a Renaissance and endearing bon vivant conflicted by his homosexuality and ultimately torn apart by alcoholism. Nolan skillfully pulls together the chaotic details of Hart's remarkable life, beginning with his bohemian upbringing in turn of the century Harlem. Here are his first ventures into show business, and the 24-year-old Hart's first meeting with the 16-year-old Richard Rodgers. "Neither of us mentioned it," Rodgers later recalled, "but we evidently knew we would work together, and I left Hart's house having acquired in one afternoon a career, a best friend, and a source of permanent irritation." Nolan captures it all: the team's early setbacks, the spectacular hour long standing ovation for their hit song, "Manhattan," the Hollywood years (which inspired Hart to utter the undying line, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean the bastards aren't out to get you"), and the unforgettable string of hit shows that included "On Your Toes," "The Boys from Syracuse," and their masterpiece, "Pal Joey." But while success made Rodgers more confident, more musically daring, and more disciplined, for Hart the rounds of parties, wisecracks, and most of all drinking began to take more and more of a toll on his work. When Hart's unreliability forced Rodgers to reluctantly seek out another lyricist, Oscar Hammerstein II, and their collaboration resulted in the unprecedented artistic and commercial success of "Oklahoma," Hart never truly recovered. Meticulously researched and rich with anecdotes that capture the excitement, the hilarity, the dizzying heights, and the crushing lows of a life on Broadway, Lorenz Hart is the story of an American original.

What links the popular songs "You'll Never Walk Alone", "Send in the Clowns", "Memory" and "I Am What I Am"? They all originated in Broadway musicals. Song of the Season is for those who believe that the score is at the heart of a musical and is the essential building block on which the rest of a show is built. Through a systematic historical survey from 1891 to 2023 it argues that the best musicals survive because of their songs, from early 20th century classics such as Show Boat and Oklahoma! through to the contemporary sound of Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton. looking at outstanding songs from each Broadway season, the development and history of the musical is illustrated with a fresh perspective. As song styles and popular music tastes changed throughout the decades this structure charts the progress of American showtunes alongside popular music forms as songs evolved from the waltz and ragtime to jazz, rock, rap and hip-hop. Factual analysis and historical context combine to offer a rich picture of the American songbook from Irving Berlin to Elton John. Song of the Season paints a fresh picture for musical theatre students and fans alike, illustrating significant changes in the form through the music. Analyzed in an accessible and engaging way that doesn't rely on music theory knowledge, and including a link to playlist where all the 'songs of the seasons' can be listened to, it is a must-have for those looking to expand their knowledge of the form and trace the social history of the American showtune.