Early 20th-Century
American Popular Music:
Ragtime, Jazz, Blues, Jug Band, ... etc.
Did you know?
Did you know that the popularity of 1900s ragtime was driven by peppy syncopated vocals? ... and not by the precious keyboard interpretations heard since the 1970s? Did you know that trumpet virtuoso Louis Armstrong, our pioneer jazz genius of the 1920s, also recorded tunes on the slide whistle? Did you know that in the 1880s-1890s, playing light sentimental music on the 5-string banjo was a fashionable parlor pastime for well-to-do Victorian ladies? ... in the urban North!? Books in this category explain, from both macro- and micro- perspectives, how musical styles with roots in the late-19th and early-20th-centuries all fit together to influence more modern derivations.
Below are publications in this category currently available. Click on any book title below and you'll go to a page with a more detailed description of the book, a preview of selected pages, and a link to purchase and pay via PayPal.
Click on any title below for more information,
and to read the contents and introduction.
HOT OFF THE PRESS!
Jazzin' On 4 Strings:
Hot Jazz in Chicago Tuning
for Tenor Banjo, Tenor Guitar,
Baritone Uke, Banjo Uke,
and More
by Reginald W. Bacon
(a.k.a. "Mr. Slim");
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2023);
6x9 softcover; 288 pages; with
300-plus photos, diagrams, and charts;
225 recommended recordings;
100-plus endnotes; 20 hot jazz
standards with notation,
chord symbols, & lyrics;
and a comprehensive bibliography.
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-8-5
LOC: 2023937435
In service to 4-string uke players and 6-string guitarists curious about the exuberant hot jazz of the 1920s-30s, Jazzin' On 4 Strings is a guide to the application of DGBE Chicago tuning on 4-string instruments like the tenor banjo and tenor guitar --- for a more varied sonic palette.
What is "hot jazz"? It's the sizzling, effervescent jazz that you won't hear in an elevator, supermarket, or dentist's office. More words could follow here, but instead have a listen to the recording of "Everybody Loves My Baby" by Fats Waller and His Rhythm. At present, hot jazz may be a musical foreign language to many, but if this high-energy music resonates with you --- and you have an itch to play it --- then you just might need this book.
The roots of the guitar-like "Chicago tuning" for the 4-string tenor banjo and tenor guitar are tangled, but the real-world application of the tuning is long-validated by New Orleans jazz banjo pioneers like Johnny St. Cyr --- and rock-and-pop recording session masters like Tommy Tedesco.
In Jazzin' On 4 Strings, you'll learn about the hot jazz of the1920s-30s; the rationale for Chicago tuning; 4-string chords and progressions; 4&8-string instruments suitable for Chicago tuning; and 20 hot jazz standards --- all to welcome you into a world of fun, challenge, and musical discovery.
$30.00 (US) includes media mail shipping in the U.S.
Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).
To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.
Chauncey Richmond
& "The Old Buckbee":
The Story of a Banjo,
its Maker, and Its Player
(Three studies in
musical micro-history)
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2018)
6x9 softcover, 224 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-3-0
LOC: 2018905457
$22.00 (US) includes
media mail shipping in the U.S.
Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).
To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.
Vintage from Vinyl: Early Recordings
of the Goodtime Ragtime
Vaudeville Revival (Book & CD set),
Presenting a Panorama
of Musical Americana,
a Collection of Music and Song
from the Ragtime, Jazz, & Vaudeville Years
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2017)
6x9 softcover, 192 pages;
includes music CD
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-0-9
LOC: 2016920942
$25.00 (US) includes media mail shipping in the U.S.
Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below, or on the full description page).
To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.
Relevant title in progress:
- The Curator's Guide to American Vaudeville 1880-1930, by R.W. Bacon.
