Synopsis
The non-jazz improvisation series is a concept that germinated in Dick Weissman's mind while he was attending music school. He wrote a 15-piece arrangement of the old square dance tune, Cripple Creek, and wanted the trombone to take a solo as part of the arrangement. When the trombonist kept playing a bebop solo that was totally unsuitable for the chart, Dick realized that - in addition to the many musicians who do not improvise - there are even jazz musicians who don't know how to improvise outside the limits of their own stylistic backgrounds. This book approaches the five-string banjo as a musical instrument freed from the prison of specific musical genres. Old-time music, clawhammer, bluegrass and many eclectic adaptations of the banjo are utilized to demonstrate a variety of musical styles. A number of the selections are in different tunings. All examples are written out in traditional and tablature notation.
About the Author
Dan Fox has been arranging music for publication for over 50 years. He has worked with many legendary performers including The Beatles; Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young; John Denver; Billy Joel; Elton John and many others. He also arranged a series of fabulously successful songbooks for such prestigious clients as The Readers Digest and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dan has also published many instructional books including a manual of music notation, "Write it Right" and "The Rhythm Bible", a detailed exploration of the rhythms associated with jazz and rock. He has also been editor of two major publishing companies and recently retired from a playing career on guitar, banjo and mandolin that spanned over five decades. He holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Manhattan School of Music in New York and presently lives with his artist wife June, in Florida and the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Dick Weissman is the author of 19 published books about music and the music business. The Folk Music Sourcebook, co-authored with Larry Sandberg, won the ASCAP Music Critics Award. His other books include: The Music Business: Career Opportunities & Self Defense (Crown, revised ed. 1990), a best seller on the Random House back list; Audio in Advertising (co-authored with Ron Lockhart); Music Making in America, Survival; Making a Living in Your Local Music Market, and Creating Melodies. He has also written over 35 published instructional manuals for banjo, guitar, and on songwriting. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado at Denver and an instructor at Portland Cummunity College. Dick has a long career as a studio musician, record producer, songwriter, composer, and performer. In the sixties, he recorded for Capitol Records in the folk-pop group The Journeymen. His 2007, "Four Directions," is a double CD of instrumental music and songs. His original music has appeared on BBC-TV, and his songs were used on BBC-Tv and the NBC TV show My Name Is Earl. Dick also edited the book America's Music: Bluegrass.
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