Explaining Music: Essays and Explorations (Signed)

[Association copy, inscribed by Leonard B. Meyer to Gene Norman on front end page.] Hardcover. No dust jacket. Good binding and cover. Light marks, marginalia. "Leonard B. Meyer, a pioneering musicologist whose 1956 book, 'Emotion and Meaning in Music,' remains one of the most significant scholarly works in the field of music cognition. Mr. Meyer was among the first scholars to explore the relationship between game theory and music composition, and suggested that the value of a musical work was in direct correlation to how well the complexity of the work engaged the listener." - New York Times Obit. In 1954, Gene Norman opened the Crescendo nightclub on the Sunset Strip which featured an adjunctal venue, the Interlude, upstairs. There he presented virtually every record and cabaret star of the era, including Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Newhart, Johnny Mathis, Stan Kenton, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, Lenny Bruce, Don Rickles, Rusty Warren, Mort Sahl, Woody Allen and Louis Armstrong. Norman continued to put on big concerts, and produced a series of live albums and studio recordings based around his promotions. His own record imprint, GNP Crescendo, was therefore a natural next step, and indeed the label became the focus of the rest of his life. He served as one of the directors of the RIAA, and was elected into the Hall of Fame of the American Association of Independent Music in 1991. Norman's jazz recordings formed the base of what was to evolve into a vast and varied catalog, including acts such as The Seeds, Joe & Eddie, Queen Ida (who garnered a Grammy for the label), Wrecking Crew regular Billy Strange, Bing Crosby, Gary Richrath and many original film and television soundtracks. The label operated out of offices on the Sunset Strip for more than five decades, moving to less hectic quarters in later years.…