The Devil's Horn: The Story of the Saxophone, from Noisy Novelty to King of Cool
- ISBN-10
- 142993087X
- ISBN-13
- 9781429930871
- Series
- The Devil's Horn
- Category
- Music
- Pages
- 336
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2005-10-15
- Publisher
- Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Author
- Michael Segell
Description
In The Devil's Horn, Michael Segell traces the 160-year history of the saxophone-a horn that created a sound never before heard in nature, and that from the moment it debuted has aroused both positive and negative passions among all who hear it. The saxophone has insinuated itself into virtually every musical idiom that has come along since its birth as well as into music with traditions thousands of years old. But it has also been controversial, viewed as a symbol of decadence, immorality and lasciviousness: it was banned in Japan, saxophonists have been sent to Siberian lockdown by Communist officials, and a pope even indicted it. Segell outlines the saxophone's fascinating history while he highlights many of its legendary players, including Benny Carter, Illinois Jacquet, Sonny Rollins, Lee Konitz, Phil Woods, Branford Marsalis, and Michael Brecker. The Devil's Horn explores the saxophone's intersections with social movement and change, the innovative acoustical science behind the instrument, its struggles in the world of "legit" music, and the mystical properties that seduce all who fall under its influence. Colorful, evocative, and richly informed, The Devil's Horn is an ingenious portrait of one of the most popular instruments in the world.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2006-08-22
- 352 pages
- Paperback
- Macmillan
-
- 2005-10-15
- 352 pages
- Paperback
- Macmillan
Similar books
-
The Saxophone
By Stephen CottrellMetronome article on instrumentation that saxophone players should be capable of playing the entire family of ... Harry L. Alford similarly noted that 'a saxophonist who doubles jazz clarinet for the “Blue” numbers is quite an asset; ...
-
Operation Devil Horns: The Takedown of MS-13 in San Francisco
By Michael Santini, Ray BolgerThe story follows a four-year investigation that begins in San Francisco and grows to include criminal networks spanning three countries’ borders. Politicians, cops, and criminals meet at center stage.
-
A Devil to Play: One Man's Year-Long Quest to Master the Orchestra's Most Difficult Instrument
By Jasper Rees"High Fidelity" meets "Touching the Void" in the improbably heroic adventure of an amateur French horn player who quite literally blows himself back into life again.--Bob Geldof, songer/activist.
-
Devil's Horn
By Anna NicholasOf course, we have to thank the English for putting our little mouse-goat on the map.' Isabel sat back in her chair. 'You're talking about Dorothea Bate, the English fossil hunter who first discovered myotragus in 1909?
-
Texas Orchids (The Devil's Horn Ranch Series)
By Samantha Christy"I’m a city boy, not a cowboy.
-
Behind the Devil's Horns
By Phoenix KingNora is the daughter of the most brilliant advisor to King Richard the Dragon Slayer, and she has grown up being best friends with his son, Crimson.
-
Jews, Horns and the Devil: An Illustrated History
By Anton FeltonSome of the cartoons in this book may shock our sensibilities; to many they are a vital shared social truth, to others a vile experienced reality.
-
The Devil's Horn
By Anna NicholasThe Devil's Horn
-
Tom Horn: Blood on the Moon : Dark History of the Murderous Cattle Detective
By Chip CarlsonHorn was a death sentence to rustlers and the devil incarnate to homesteaders in late nineteenth-century Wyoming. The most notorious of the range detectives and the pre-eminent name in Wyoming...
-
The Devil's Storybook
By Natalie BabbittAn ALA Notable Book Chosen by School Library Journal as one of the Best of the Best Books