Hotel Mariachi
In Boyle Heights, gateway to East Los Angeles, sits the 1889 landmark "Hotel Mariachi," where musicians have lived and gathered on the adjacent plaza for more than half a century. This book is a photographic and ethnographic study of the mariachis, Mariachi Plaza de Los Angeles, and the neighborhood. The newly restored brick hotel embodies a triumphant struggle of preservation against all odds, and its origins open a portal into the Mexican pueblo's centuries-old multiethnic past.Miguel Gandert's compelling black-and-white images document the hotel and the vibrant mariachi community of the "Garibaldi Plaza of Los Angeles." The history of Hotel Mariachi is personal to Catherine L籀pez Kurland, a descendant of the entrepreneur who built it, and whose family's Californio roots will fascinate anyone interested in early Los Angeles or Mexican American history. Enrique Lamadrid explores mariachi music, poetry, and fiestas, and the part Los Angeles played in their development, delving into the origins of the music and offering a deep account of mariachi poetics. Hotel Mariachi is a unique lens through which to view the history and culture of Mexicano California, and provides touching insights into the challenging lives of mariachi musicians.
Roll With It
Roll With It is a firsthand account of the precarious lives of musicians in the Rebirth, Soul Rebels, and Hot 8 brass bands of New Orleans. These young men are celebrated as cultural icons for upholding the proud traditions of the jazz funeral and the second line parade, yet they remain subject to the perils of poverty, racial marginalization, and urban violence that characterize life for many black Americans. Some achieve a degree of social mobility while many more encounter aggressive policing, exploitative economies, and a political infrastructure that creates insecurities in healthcare, housing, education, and criminal justice. The gripping narrative moves with the band members from back street to backstage, before and after Hurricane Katrina, always in step with the tap of the snare drum, the thud of the bass drum, and the boom of the tuba.
Performing Englishness
Performing Englishness examines the growth in popularity and profile of the English folk arts in the first decade of the twenty-first century. In the only study of its kind, the authors explore how the folk resurgence speaks to a broader explosion of interest in the subject of English national and cultural identity. Combining approaches from British cultural studies and ethnomusicology, the book draws on ethnographic fieldwork, interviews with central figures of the resurgence and close analysis of music and dance as well as visual and discursive sources. Its presentation of the English case study calls for a rethinking of concepts such as revival and indigeneity. It will be of interest to students and scholars in cultural studies, ethnomusicology and related disciplines.
Panama's Story
INTRODUCTION My name is David Albert Francis. However, I am known in the music world as "Panama" Francis, a name that was given to me by Roy Eldridge when I joined his band in 1939. I was born in Miami, Florida, on December 21, 1918, four days short of becoming a Christmas present to my parents. I must tell you that I am a stutterer. Sometime, when I get excited or try to make a point, my voice goes up about two octaves. I come across to some people as being angry but, believe me, this [what?] is how I get the words to flow. My facial expression might appear to you to be an angry expression. What is happening is that I am concentrating on getting the words to come out, without interruptions. I am sick now from twenty years of life on the board, riding on a bus for hours on end, eating unhealthy (and sometimes unsanitary?) food, and traveling 300 to 500 miles at a time without a bathroom break. The current health of bodies of my fellow musicians and I bear witness to the pain and suffering we experienced on the road. I am among many, many musicians who are paying now for these deplorable conditions on the road. We have serious health ailments that are directly attributable to what we experienced on the road and have negatively impacted the very days of our lives when we should be reaping the benefits of our long years of hard work. We are paying the price.
This Music Leaves Stains
Few bands in the past three decades have proven as affecting or exciting as the Misfits, the ferocious horror punk outfit that lurked in the shadows of suburban New Jersey and released a handful of pivotal underground recordings during their brief, tumultuous time together. Led by Glenn Danzig, a singer possessed of vision and blessed with an incredible baritone, the Misfits pioneered a death rock sound that would reverberate through the various musical subgenres that sprung up in their wake. This Music Leaves Stains now presents the full story behind the Misfits and their ubiquitous, haunting skull logo, a story of unique talent, strange timing, clashing personalities, and incredible music that helped shape rock as we know it today. James Greene, Jr., maps this narrative from the band's birth at the tail end of the original punk movement through their messy dissolve at the dawn of the 1980s right on through the legal warring and inexplicable reunions that helped carry the band into the 21st century. Music junkies of any stripe will surely find themselves engrossed in this saga that finally pieces together the full story of the greatest horror punk band that ever existed, though Misfits fans will truly marvel at the thorough and detailed approach James Greene, Jr. has taken in outlining the rise, fall, resurrection, and influence of New Jersey's most frightening musical assembly.
Metal on Ice
A musical genre as tough and hard as the Canadian Shield. Canada has produced many successful proponents of the genre known as heavy metal, which grew out of the hard rock of the 1970s, exploded commercially in the 1980s, and then petered out in the 1990s as grunge took over, only to rise to prominence once again in the new millennium. The road to Canadian musical glory is not lined with the palm trees and top-down convertibles of the Sunset Strip. It is a road slick with black ice, obscured by blizzards, and littered with moose and deer that could cause peril for a cube van thundering down a Canadian highway. Drawing on interviews with original artists such as Helix, Anvil, Coney Hatch, Killer Dwarfs, Harem Scarem, and Honeymoon Suite, as well as prominent journalists, VJs, and industry insiders, we relive their experiences, motivations, and lifestyles as they strove for that most alluring of brass rings - the coveted record deal. It's a new perspective on the dreams of musicians shooting for an American ideal of success and discovering a uniquely Canadian voice in the process.
Armageddon Films Faq
Mankind has been predicting its own demise through various methods, from fables and religious scriptures to hard-core scientific studies since the dawn of time. And if there is one thing Hollywood knows how to exploit, it is the fears of Things to Come. Movies about the end of the world have been around since the early days of cinema, and Armageddon Film FAQ is a look into the various methods we have destroyed ourselves over the years: zombies, mad computers, uptight aliens, plunging objects from space, crazed animals, Satan, God, Contagions, the ever-popular atomic bomb, sometimes even a combination of these in the same movie! Armageddon Films FAQ goes from the silent days of filmmaking to the most recent (literally) earth-shattering epics, from cinema to television and even the novels, from comedies to dramas, from supernatural to scientific. It also explores other aspects of the genre, such as iconic but unfilmable apocalyptic novels, postnuclear car-racing flicks, domestic dramas disguised as end-of-the-world actioners, and more - from the most depressing to the happiest Armageddons ever!
Brad Elterman
Photographer Brad Elterman (born 1956) was at the center of Los Angeles' late 1970s and early 80s punk scene. He was backstage at the most legendary of concerts and present at the craziest parties. Among the stars Brad circulated with were Joan Jett, Bob Dylan, Duran Duran, The Dead Boys, Blondie and the Ramones; other celebrities from that era who crossed his lens include Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton and John Travolta. Employing an immediate, snapshot-like style, Elterman's photos effortlessly convey the ambiance of a scene whose particular type of gritty glamour has become increasingly influential in recent years. From the platinum-tinted shag hairdos of teenage glam rockers to the bare-breasted shenanigans of party girls, this is a pre-AIDS and pre-rehab world, where the sun never sets and the antics never end. Elterman saw it all, and his images faithfully record that world as he knew and experienced it. Always drawn to young emerging talent, Brad asked rising photographer Sandy Kim to trawl his archive and edit his photos into a book that would speak to today's readership. The resulting publication is somewhere between a tabloid and a zine, mixing rock and punk stars with mainstream legends. Olivier Zahm, editor and founder of Purple, provides a foreword.
A Bad Woman Feeling Good
An exciting lineage of women singers--originating with Ma Rainey and her prot矇g矇e Bessie Smith--shaped the blues, launching it as a powerful, expressive vehicle of emotional liberation. Along with their successors Billie Holiday, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, and Janis Joplin, they injected a dose of reality into the often trivial world of popular song, bringing their message of higher expectations and broader horizons to their audiences. These women passed their image, their rhythms, and their toughness on to the next generation of blues women, which has its contemporary incarnation in singers like Bonnie Raitt and Lucinda Williams (with whom the author has done an in-depth interview). Buzzy Jackson combines biography, an appreciation of music, and a sweeping view of American history to illuminate the pivotal role of blues women in a powerful musical tradition. Musician Thomas Dorsey said, "The blues is a good woman feeling bad." But these women show by their style that he had it backward: The blues is a bad woman feeling good.
Beethoven’s Piano Playing
Originally written as an introduction to a critical edition of Beethoven's piano concertos, this informative performance guide is the work of an accomplished pianist, composer, and conductor. Franz Kullak presents more than 100 annotated and analyzed musical examples along with biographical information about the composer and general rules for the performance of the concertos. In addition, a separate essay offers pointers on the proper execution of the trill. Suitable for intermediate- and advanced-level pianists, this volume is newly edited and supplemented with additional examples by celebrated concert pianist and composer Anton Kuerti, who provides an informative Introduction with musical examples.
How to Rap 2
This sequel to How to Rap breaks down and examines techniques that have not previously been explained--such as triplets, flams, lazy tails, and breaking rhyme patterns. Based on interviews with hip-hop's most innovative artists and groups, including Tech N9ne, Crooked I, Pharcyde, Das EFX, Del the Funky Homosapien, and Big Daddy Kane, this book takes you through the intricacies of rhythm, rhyme, and vocal delivery, delving into the art form in unprecedented detail. It is a must-read for MCs looking to take their craft to the next level, as well as anyone fascinated by rapping and its complexity.
Elvis Music Faq
ELVIS MUSIC FAQ: ALL THAT'S LEFT TO KNOW ABOUT THE KING'S RECORDED WORKS
Jamerica
The term "jam band" is used to categorize a type of music that favors improvisation and musicianship over concise riffs, hooks, and traditional songwriting structure. The term also helps define the fiercely dedicated fans of the music as accurately as it does the bands. Much as with the Grateful Dead -- the progenitors of the jam band scene -- the survival of the scene depends upon a symbiotic relationship with fans. Jam bands nurture a close relationship with their fans, fostered through constant touring and the mutual belief that each performance is a unique, shared event. JAMerica tells the story of the roots, evolution, values, and passion of the jam band scene in the words of those who know it best. Modeling itself on such books as Edie: American Girl by George Plimpton and Jean Stein (an oral history of the life of Edie Sedgewick ) and Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, the book is an oral history of the jam band scene, integrating stories from such bands as the Grateful Dead, Phish, Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews Band, moe., Leftover Salmon, String Cheese Incident, Umphrey's McGee, and dozens more. Interviews focus on the history of individual bands and how they communally shaped the larger jam band community, along with songwriting, relationships with fans, business models, and the importance (including the joys and war stories) of touring, including early gigs and venues (e.g. the Wetlands in New York City and the landmark H.O.R.D.E. Festival) that supported the emergence of the jam band scene.
Never Fade Away
Never Fade Away is Dave Thompson's inside look at the life of one of the most thought-provoking men of all time - Kurt Cobain. Examining an artistic grunge rock genius who was light years ahead of his time, this is an unfailing account of Nirvana's rise and Cobain eventual descent.
Austin Music Scene
What do Muddy Waters, Earl Scruggs, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Mose Allison have in common? Or Guy Clark, Fats Domino, Roy Buchanan, and Janis Joplin? The answer lies in the pages of photographs taken by veteran photographer Burton Wilson of Austin. The book is a collection of more than two hundred black and white photos of the American music scene made by Burton from 1965 to 1994. Burton Wilson became interested in jazz and blues while a student at the Rhode Island School of Design in the 1930s. After training under internationally known photographer Russell Lee, he began to chronicle music visually. In 1970 Eddie Wilson, founder of the now-legendary Amadillo World Headquarters, said to Burton, "Just tell anybody that asks that you own the place. That way, you'll never need a backstage pass." Burton became the house photographer. It was an extraordinary time in music, when the old guard of blues legends and the younger generations of rock-n-roll musicians inspired by them came together. It was a time when talents such as Willie Nelson sought an alternative to Nashville and found it in Austin, Texas, launching the progressive-country movement. Rather than taking photos of "stars," Burton documented musicians and performers, some of whom happened to be or became famous. The results are authoritative, intimate, and honest images of a trusted insider. For those who were there, this book will remind them of how it really was. For those who weren't, these photographs are the next best thing.
Star Trek FAQ 2.0
STAR TREK FAQ 2.0: EVERYTHING LEFT TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEXT GENERATION THE MOVIES AND B
Cosmik Debris
An early work on the mathematics of gambling and how to use statistics and probability to improve your ability to win games of chance. The backgrounds of each game are accompanied by mathematical tables and calculations to assist the reader. The author is Francis V Zappa, father of the legendary musician Frank Zappa.
Britney
21 million fans on Facebook, and rising, it's the smile, it's the struggle, Britney is a teen sensation. 15 years in the bright lights of fame, the harsh glare of public adoration and the ever-present danger of sliding into the mocking pens of jealous critics but still she carries on. Somehow she has survived the Michael Jackson effect of early success and now commands the respect of a new generation of teens. Since 2004, she has released 10 fragrances, adding up to 1.5 billion (yes, billion) in perfume sales and the director's cut version of her "Womanizer" video is her most-watched video on YouTube, with 88 million views and counting. Glee, X-factor, Britney is a fabulous, popular and enduring star with everyday qualities that make her fans love her and her music more and more as the years go by.
Mingus Speaks
Charles Mingus is among jazz's greatest composers and perhaps its most talented bass player. He was blunt and outspoken about the place of jazz in music history and American culture, about which performers were the real thing (or not), and much more. These in-depth interviews, conducted several years before Mingus died, capture the composer's spirit and voice, revealing how he saw himself as composer and performer, how he viewed his peers and predecessors, how he created his extraordinary music, and how he looked at race. Augmented with interviews and commentary by ten close associates--including Mingus's wife Sue, Teo Macero, George Wein, and Sy Johnson--Mingus Speaks provides a wealth of new perspectives on the musician's life and career.As a writer for Playboy, John F. Goodman reviewed Mingus's comeback concert in 1972 and went on to achieve an intimacy with the composer that brings a relaxed and candid tone to the ensuing interviews. Much of what Mingus shares shows him in a new light: his personality, his passions and sense of humor, and his thoughts on music. The conversations are wide-ranging, shedding fresh light on important milestones in Mingus's life such as the publication of his memoir, Beneath the Underdog, the famous Tijuana episodes, his relationships, and the jazz business.
Bonfire of Roadmaps
Since he first hitched a ride out of Lubbock, Texas, at the age of sixteen, singer-songwriter and Flatlanders band member Joe Ely has been a road warrior, traveling highways and back roads across America and Europe, playing music for "2 hours of ecstasy" out of "22 hours of misery." To stay sane on the road, Ely keeps a journal, penning verses that sometimes morph into songs, and other times remain "snapshots of what was flying by, just out of reach, so to savor at a later date when the wheels stop rolling, and the gears quit grinding, and the engines shut down." In Bonfire of Roadmaps, Ely takes readers on the road with him. Using verse passages from his road journals and his own drawings, Ely authentically re-creates the experience of a musician's life on tour, from the hard goodbyes at home, to the long hours on the road, to the exhilaration of a great live show, to the exhaustion after weeks of touring. Ely's road trips begin as he rides the rails to Manhattan in 1972 and continue up through recent concert tours with fellow Flatlanders Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock. While acknowledging that "it is not the nature of a gypsy to look in the rearview mirror," Joe Ely nevertheless offers his many fans a revelatory look back over the roads he's traveled and the wisdom he's won from his experiences. And for "those who want to venture beyond the horizon just to see what is there... to those, I hope these accounts will give a glint of inspiration..."
The Scotch Irish Influence on Country Music in the Carolinas
Country music in the Carolinas and the southern Appalachian Mountains owes a tremendous debt to freedom-loving Scotch-Irish pioneers who settled the southern backcountry during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These hardy Protestant settlers broug
Temperature’s Rising
Temperature's Rising is a fascinating oral history of one of American indie rock's most enduring and influential acts. Slow, deliberate, and deceptively simple, the music of Boston-based band Galaxie 500 was wonderfully at odds with the prevailing underground sounds of the mid-to-late-1980s. The primary contributors are the three band members -- Naomi Yang, Damon Krukowski, and Dean Wareham -- but dozens of people were interviewed in all -- fellow musicians and record business folks, music critics, and scenesters. This book provides a complex, sometimes contentious account of the band's rise to indie stardom and their acrimonious breakup -- a multiperpectival view of the events Wareham describes in his acclaimed memoir, Black Postcards. It also includes dozens of rare and never-before-seen photographs, as well as posters and other ephemera from the collections of the band members and their friends and colleagues.
Juke Box Hero
Lou Gramm rose from humble, working-class roots in Rochester, New York, to become one of rock's most popular and distinctive voices in the 1970s and '80s, singing and cowriting more than a dozen hits with the band Foreigner. Songs such as "Cold As Ice," "I Want to Know What Love Is," "Waiting for a Girl Like You," "Double Vision," "Urgent," and "Midnight Blue" are among 20 Gramm songs that achieved Top 40 status on the Billboard charts and became rock classics still played often, nearly three decades after they first hit the airwaves and the record store shelves. Juke Box Hero: The My Five Decades in Rock 'n' Roll chronicles, with remarkable candor, the ups and downs of this popular rocker's amazing life--a life which saw him achieve worldwide fame and fortune, then succumb to its trappings before summoning the courage and faith to overcome his drug addiction and a life-threatening brain tumor. Gramm takes the reader behind the scenes--into the recording studio, back stage, on the bus trips and beyond--to give an insider's look into the life of the man Rolling Stone magazine referred to as "the Pavarotti of rock."
When I Left Home
According to Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy is the greatest blues guitarist of all time. An enormous influence on these musicians as well as Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck, he is the living embodiment of Chicago blues. Guy's epic story stands at the absolute nexus of modern blues. He came to Chicago from rural Louisiana in the fifties--the very moment when urban blues were electrifying our culture. He was a regular session player at Chess Records. Willie Dixon was his mentor. He was a sideman in the bands of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. He and Junior Wells formed a band of their own. In the sixties, he became a recording star in his own right.When I Left Home tells Guy's picaresque story in his own unique voice, that of a storyteller who remembers everything, including blues masters in their prime and the exploding, evolving culture of music that happened all around him.
Doctor Who Faq
DOCTOR WHO FAQ: EVERYTHING THATS LEFT TO KNOW ABOUT THE MOST FAMOUS TIME LORD IN THE UNI
Impromptus, Cw IV
(PWM). The most famous and popular edition of Chopin's works prepared by I. J. Paderewski, L. Bronarski and J. Turczynski. The edition has been based primarily on Chopin's autograph manuscripts, copies approved by him and first editions. The principal aim of the Editorial Committee has been to establish a text which fully reveals Chopin's thoughts and corresponds to his intentions as closely as possible. The full version of this edition includes 21 volumes.
Fantasia, Berceuse, Barcarolle, Cw XI
(PWM). The most famous and popular edition of Chopin's works prepared by I. J. Paderewski, L. Bronarski and J. Turczynski. The edition has been based primarily on Chopin's autograph manuscripts, copies approved by him and first editions. The principal aim of the Editorial Committee has been to establish a text which fully reveals Chopin's thoughts and corresponds to his intentions as closely as possible. The full version of this edition includes 21 volumes.
Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock 'n' Roll Group
"Like its author, Supernatural Strategies is part tongue-in-cheek, part deadly serious--a satire of rock's consumerist origins but also a thoughtful treatise on what it means to devote yourself to a collective . . . Drawing from the wisdom of rock 'n' roll's most famous ghosts, Svenonius's advice ranges from hilarious to cryptic to surprisingly useful." --PitchforkIan F. Svenonius's experience as an iconic underground rock musician--playing in such highly influential and revolutionary outfits as The Make-Up and The Nation of Ulysses--gives him special insight on techniques for not only starting but also surviving a rock 'n' roll group. Therefore, he's written an instructional guide, which doubles as a warning device, a philosophical text, an exercise in terror, an aerobics manual, and a coloring book.This volume features essays (and black-and-white illustrations) on everything the would-be star should know to get started, such as Sex, Drugs, Sound, Group Photo, The Van, and Manufacturing Nostalgia. Supernatural Strategies will serve as an indispensable guide for a new generation just aching to boogie.
Nocturnes- Piano Wn Av
(PWM). Includes the Nocturnes, Op. 9-62. In accordance with the tradition of the genre, these are characterized by emotion, intimacy and programmatic tendencies. There is often a turbulent middle section and a richly ornamented reprise. The National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk Chopin Published by PWM Exclusively Distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation Co-Editors Jan Ekier and Pawel Kaminski The objective of the National Edition is to present Chopin's complete output in its authentic form, based on the entire body of available sources. Sources were analyzed with up-to-date scientific and musicological methodology. The National Edition was based on sources originated from the composer, mainly autographs, copies of autographs and first editions with the composer's corrections, and pupils' copies with Chopin's annotations. In cases when original sources were lacking, the closest possible materials were used. Collecting the source materials was a laborious task which took years of effort. The characteristics of sources, the links and discrepancies between them as well as the reasons for particular editorial decisions are discussed in the Source Commentary in each volume. The Performance Commentary appended to each volume includes: the realization of ornaments, comments on pedal markings (the original markings sometimes are inadequate, due to the difference in sound between pianos used in Chopin`s times and modern pianos), suggestions as to the "harmonic legato" (a performance technique often used by Chopin and now forgotten). About the National Edition Full Introduction to the Polish National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk Chopin
Concertos CW XIV - Piano Red
(PWM). The most famous and popular edition of Chopin's works prepared by I. J. Paderewski, L. Bronarski and J. Turczynski. The edition has been based primarily on Chopin's autograph manuscripts, copies approved by him and first editions. The principal aim of the Editorial Committee has been to establish a text which fully reveals Chopin's thoughts and corresponds to his intentions as closely as possible. The full version of this edition includes 21 volumes.
Dylan
Bob Spitz takes his place... among the most able chroniclers of the many myths, poses and postures of the middle-class Jewish boy from Minnesota and his dogged and at times ruthless pursuit of superstardom.--Boston Herald"The great strength of this biography, apart from the massiveness of Spitz's research, is its respect for Dylan's talent, and an understanding of his social and musical talent."--London Sunday TelegraphBob Spitz is best known for Barefoot in Babylon, his eye-opening account of the Woodstock music festival. Before that, he represented Bruce Springsteen and Elton John, for which he was awarded four gold records. The author of hundreds of articles, Spitz has been published in Life, the New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Mirabella, and the Washington Post. He lives in New York City with his wife and is currently at work on a novel and two books of nonfiction.
The Creative World of Beethoven
After the editor's introduction, devoted to an overall view of Beethoven's significance, there are essays by Joseph Kerman and Boris Schwarz concerning the composer's sketches. Alan Tyson discusses the oratorio Christus am Oelberge; Philip Downes, the Eroica Symphony; F. E. Kirby, the Pastoral Symphony; Warren Kirkendale, the Missa Solemnis; and Myron Schwager, and arrangement of the Septet. Lewis Lockwood explores the question of the unfinished piano concerto of 1815; Alfred Mann takes up Beethoven's counterpoint studies with Haydn, and Alexander Ringer discusses Beethoven and the London Pianoforte School. Other topics include "Beethoven and Romantic Irony," by Rey M. Longyear; "Beethoven's Birth Year," by Maynard Solomon; "On Beethoven's Thematic Structure," by D矇nes Bartha; and Edward T. Cone examines a striking instance of Beethoven's influence on Schubert.
The High and Lonesome Sound
In 1959 John Cohen travelled to East Kentucky looking for what he calls old music. Cohen asked for names at local gas stations but soon ran out of leads, and drove off the highway onto the next dirt road. Here he stumbled across Roscoe Holcomb playing the banjo and singing on his front porch in a way says Cohen, "that made the hairs on my neck stand up on end." And so by pure chance began the lifelong friendship that is the background for The High and Lonesome Sound. Cohen visited Holcomb frequently over the next three decades, and made many photographs, films and records of his music. In time Holcomb, a poor coal miner by trade, became a regular feature on the American concert and festival circuits. The strange beauty and discomfort of his music--a mixture of blues, ballads and Baptist hymns, and unique through his high strained voice--was exposed to a larger audience. Nevertheless, Holcomb died alone in a nursing home in 1981. The High and Lonesome Sound combines Cohen's vintage photos, film and musical recordings as well as an anecdotal text into a multimedia tribute to this underappreciated legend of American music whose every performance was, in Cohen's words, "not just a rendition of music, but a test of something to be overcome."