A Left Hand Like God: A History of Boogie-Woogie Piano (Da Capo Paperback)

THIS IS THE FIRST HISTORY OF BOOGIE-WOOGIE PIANO, THE INFLUENTIAL STYLE THAT BECAME A NATIONAL PHENOMENON FROM THE LATE '20S THROUGH THE '40S. ORIGINATING IN BARRELHOUSES AND ENTERTAINMENT SPOTS THAT SERVED THE BLACK LABOR FORCE WHO WORKED IN THE LUMBER AND RAILROAD INDUSTRIES THROUGHOUT THE DEEP SOUTH, IT COULD BE HEARD LATER AT RENT PARTIES IN CHICAGO, BUFFET FLAT IN ST. LOUIS, AND OTHER BLACK URBAN CENTERS. WHEN IT ENTERED THE CAFE SOCIETY NIGHTCLUBS OF NEW YORK IN THE '30S, PIANTISTS SUCH AS ALBERT AMMONS, MEADE LUX LEWIS, AND PETER JOHNSON BECAME INTERNATIONAL CELEBRITIES. UNTIL THE EARLY '40S THERE WAS A NATIONAL CRAZE FOR BOOGIE WOOGIE AND ALMOST EVERY BIG BAND HAD A NUMBER WITH THAT NAME IN THE TITLE. IN THE '50S IT FADED QUICKLY BUT NOT BEFORE IT HAD INFLUENCED RHYTHM AND BLUES AND SUCH DISTINCTIVE JAZZ STYLISTS AS EARL HINES. THIS HISTORY STUDIES THE PATTERN OF ITS RISE AND DECLINE, THE DIVERSITY OF ITS PLAYERS-FROM JIMMY YANCEY TO AXEL ZWINGENBERGER-AND FOR THE FIRST TIME OFFERS AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT THE MUSICAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THIS ENDURING STYLE. PETER J. SILVESTER, WHO HOLDS A MASTER'S DEGREE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SURREY IN ENGLAND, BEGAN TO RESEARCH BOOGIE-WOOGIE IN 1980 AFTER HE REALIZED THE THE DEFINITIVE STUDY HAD NOT YET BEEN ATTEMPTED. THIS BOOK IS THE PRODUCT OF HIS EIGHT YEARS OF RESEARCH..