A Left Hand Like God: A study of Boogie-Woogie - Peter Silvester (Hardcover)

A Left Hand Like God A STUDY OF BOOGIE-WOOGIE

Boogie-woogie, an archaic but exhilarating form of piano music dating from the turn of the century, was first played by black American pianists in barrelhouses and joints serving as places of entertainment for the black labour force working in the lumber and railway construction industries of the Deep South Later, it was to be heard at rent parties in Chicago, buffet flats in Saint Louis, and in other urban centres where there was a sizeable, economically depressed black population. The piano style gained international recognition when it moved from the ghetto to the Cafe Society nightclubs of New York in the late 1930s. During the 1940s. boogie-woogie became a USA-wide craze. after being taken up enthusiastically by the period's popular songwriters, who added lyrics to its pounding rhythms. Leaders of swing bands also featured at least one novelty boogie number n their repertoires. Such exposure and the consequent dilution of its exciting qualities led to an inevitable decline of public interest, until now it is played only by a dedicated group of pianists spread across Europe and the USA.

A Left Hand Like God chronicles, for the first time, this stimulating musical style from "Pinetop's Boogie-woogie' through Honky Tonk Train Blues' to the present day, including detailed examination of all the main practitioners, from the big three (Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson and Meade Lux Lewis) through Jimmy Yancey to Axel Zwingenberger.

Slight Wear on Dust cover

Condition: 4