Influenced by his father’s and grandfather’s poetry, Ryan Hennessy started writing poems as a young boy growing up in Co. Kildare. As lead singer of Picture This, Ryan’s songwriting reveals the unguarded spirit of a young man unafraid to wear his heart on his leopard-print sleeve. In his first book of poetry, Ryan reveals his natural gifts of self-expression to cover topics such as love, relationships, growing up and identity. At once defiantly romantic and nakedly vulnerable, he deftly chips away at the barriers many young men build in self-defence as he explores the euphoria of young love and its subsequent heartbreak. With striking illustrations by Irish illustrator Megan Luddy, Syncopated Blue features over ninety relatable yet deeply intimate poems, resulting in an extraordinary collection that reflects the free spirit of its creator.

Designed to introduce the young intermediate-level pianist to playing the blues, Jazzin' the Blues presents fifteen original blues compositions in various keys, styles and grooves together with downloadable recordings of 40 of the 50 examples in the book. The audio tracks are presented both with and without the lead piano part, so the student can play along with a professional rhythm section which includes piano, vibraphone, alto flute, drums, and bass. Historical and performance notes are provided with each blues composition. The author enlisted the skills of jazz pianist Charlie Freeman in editing the book and providing fingering for both the treble and bass piano parts, making these pieces more accessible to novice players.Ê If your knowledge of blues theory or terminology is lacking, this is the book for you! Author Vince Corozine thoroughly explores and demonstrates: blues and pentatonic scale theory, blue notes, grace notes, pedal-points, tremolos, trills, syncopation, anticipation, delayed beats, slash chords, boogie-woogie left-hand patterns, walking bass, stride piano style, straight eighths, swing eighths, passing tones, rolled chords, riffs, "filler" chords, substitutions, and comping styles.Ê This book also includes essential blues chord theory as well as tips on tasteful chord voicing presented in the context of accompanying a soloist (comping); in addition, the chord progressions represented by the written notation are carefully annotated in every example in the book. The Appendix includes helpful tips on comping, practice, and jazz soloing, plus a list of noteworthy jazz pianists, a key to chord symbols, and a glossary of jazz terms used in the book. If you are not a competent blues pianist when you first pick up this book, you will be by the time you complete it! Includes access to online audio.

Voted second on Modern Drummer's list of 25 Greatest Drum Books in 1993, Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer is one of the most versatile and practical works ever written for drums. Created exclusively to address syncopation, it has earned its place as a standard tool for teaching beginning drummers syncopation and strengthening reading skills. This book includes many accented eighths, dotted eighths and sixteenths, eighth-note triplets and sixteenth notes for extended solos. In addition, teachers can develop many of their own examples from it.

This engaging book helps readers understand how to write poetry, conveying this writing’s purpose, its essential elements, and all steps of the writing process.

"The Wizard is a lovable humbug, an artful salesman who gives his customers something to believe in, even if the thing is known to be pretend. Playing a role, he presents Dorothy's friends with talismans of brains, heart and courage and takes pride in showing them how he accomplished his illusions. Why do Dorothy's friends put their faith in the Wizard's abilities to grant their requests even after he has shown them that he has only been putting on a show? Perhaps his virtuoso performances inspire their own, and ours too. His humbug guides the philosophy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the theatrical style of the first Oz musical, the extravaganza of 1902, with implications for "American" performance and participation"--

"In his title poem Stan Banks makes reference to Langston Hughes. I like that. Hughes would be one hundred years old this year. Blue Beat Syncopation could be a tribute to him. It's obvious one will find a little Langston DNA in this book. This is not a crime but a link. Banks writes like someone just back from the Crossroads. Did he sell his soul to give us a collection of poems this good? This book is filled with survival music. The poems are like something Jacob Lawrence or Romare Bearden might have painted. Banks is a poet who has his face in the right window. I know many writers who have moved from the neighborhood and still try to call themselves blues people. If the year was 1926 Countee Cullen would be shaking his head about this collection too. Why is Banks so black and blue? The poems in Blue Beat Syncopation were written during the last twenty-five years. Banks has seen it all. Here is his montage of a poeple still not giving up on a dream." -- E. Ethelbert Miller, Foreword.

This is the most comprehensive and insightful reference available on Broadway theater as an American cultural phenomenon and an illuminator of American life. Broadway: An Encyclopedia of Theater and American Culture is the first major reference work to explore just how much the "Great White Way" illuminates our national character. In two volumes spanning the era from the mid-19th century to the present, it offers nearly 200 entries on a variety of topics, including spotlights on 30 landmark productions—from Shuffle Along to Oklahoma! to Oh Calcutta! to The Producers—that not only changed American theater but American culture as well. In addition, Broadway offers thirty extended thematic essays gauging the powerful impact of theater on American life, with entries on race relations, women in society, sexuality, film, media, technology, tourism, and off-Broadway and noncommercial theater. There are also 110 profile entries on key persons and institutions—from the famous to the infamous to the all but forgotten—whose unique careers and contributions impacted Broadway and its place in the American landscape.