Scenes, Songs & Solos: A Composition and Improvisation Workbook for the Creative Musician
Steve Slagle
Drawing on three decades of songwriting, performing and arranging with the Mingus Big Band, Joe Lovano Nonet, Lionel Hampton Big Band, Carla Bley, Ray Barretto, and many others, world-renowned saxophonist and Grammy Award-winning musician, composer and arranger Steve Slagle demonstrates that it is with the understanding of the song in all its aspects that the creative musician will open the door to composition and improvisation. Using his own songs taken from his many recordings as examples, Slagle explains in detail the inner workings of each piece in terms of its melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and structural components. Sure to be an invaluable source for musicians of all levels, SCENES, SONGS & SOLOS demystifies the arts of composition and improvisation, and offers profound insight into the creative process.
Reviews and Comments
"Part songbook, part method book, part memoir, and part philosophical dissertation.... Slagle's tunes, preceded by smart performance notes, make themselves worthy of study by utilizing common forms in interesting way.... Even more penetrating—and entertaining—is Slagle's prose, which topically ranges far and wide ... how many instructional books have included tales of deceptively beautiful Brazilian transvestites?"
Jazz Times, December 2011
"A great book full of insights and illumination.... [T]ruly a labor of love put together by one of the leading jazz musicians of his generation. I highly recommend Scenes, Songs & Solos to ANY serious musician, regardless of their instrument and genre."
Bobby Watson, acclaimed saxophonist, Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music
"An impassioned book, like diving inside the composer's brain, a unique approach among the important books on this subject."
Olivier Hutman, acclaimed Parisian jazz pianist/composer
"Within these pages you will find the wisdom, insights and perspectives on life and music shared with us by one of today's leading Saxophonists , Composers and Educators on the scene.. Thank You, Steve Slagle. Bravo !!!"
Joe Lovano, Internationally famous musician, Grammy Award winning saxophonist and composer, arranger and bandleader
"I loved this book! And I'm not even a professional musician. Steve Slagle is a wonderful communicator. SCENES, SONGS & SOLOS is lively and informative!"
Sue Mingus, author Tonight at Noon: A Love Story, producer, and founder of the Charles Mingus Big Band and Mingus Dynasty
"Whenever I think there's no room for another book, someone comes up with something great. Steve Slagle's SCENES, SONGS & SOLOS, is full of fresh, original, and inspirational ideas on how to channel your creative process."
Randy Brecker, Grammy Award-winning and internationally famous trumpet player, performer and recording star
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