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Lädt ... Donny Hathaway Live (2016)von Emily J. Lordi
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In January of 1979, the great soul artist Donny Hathaway fell fifteen stories from a window of Manhattan's Essex House Hotel in an alleged suicide. He was 33 years old and everyone he worked with called him a genius. Best known for A Song for You, This Christmas, and classic duets with Roberta Flack, Hathaway was a composer, pianist, and singer committed to exploring music in its totality. His velvet melisma and vibrant sincerity set him apart from other soul men of his era while influencing generations of singers and fans whose love affair with him continues to this day. The first nonfiction book about Hathaway, Donny Hathaway Live uses original interviews, archival material, musical analysis, cultural history, and poetry to tell the story of Hathaway's life, from his beginnings as a gospel wonder child to his final years. But its focus is the brutally honest, daringly gorgeous music he created as he raced the clock of mental illness-especially in the performances captured on his 1972 album Donny Hathaway Live. That album testifies to Hathaway's uncanny ability to amplify the power and beauty of his songs in the moment of live performance. By exploring that album, we see how he generated a spiritual experience for those present at his shows, and for those with the privilege to listen in now. Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)782.421644092The arts Music Vocal music Secular Forms of vocal music Secular songs General principles and musical forms Song genres Western popular songs MotownKlassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
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If you’re a fan of Donny Hathaway and have tried to read up on him with the few resources available, you’ll find some familiar stories and more, from comprehensive research. If you are not familiar with his work, this will catch you up to speed, and fill in some of the gaps in how his story has been told. Much more than just the live album, this touches on, in the short length accorded to the series, biography and the rest of his discography. There isn’t a real in-depth analysis of the music itself, other than his outstanding vocals, but again: listen. How to even describe such music? Gospel is an underlying foundation, as is soul, but he and his band rock, groove, and jam. They can improvise as well as the best jazzers. The first time I realized that Donny Hathaway was playing the keyboards as well as singing, my mind was blown. Especially on the Wurlitzer and Rhodes pianos, he was a virtuoso. Lordi writes of how Hathaway’s music was different from that of his contemporaries, thematically as well as vocally, and how his identity was a reflection of this, or how his identity reflected itself in his music.
Hathaway’s studio recordings, though few, are impeccable, yet a live album was chosen for this series. In performance, he and his band had a different sound, and the reasons for having live recordings for representation are evident in Lordi’s writing. Interesting background on the engineering and production that went into this particular album is included, as is the hype made for the shows – he wasn’t well known that early in his career. Even the names of the venues where these shows were recorded are striking to me: The Troubadour in Los Angeles, suggesting a traveling musician telling stories, and the Bitter End in New York, which was actually a dry venue – but that wasn’t the first thought anyway. The “heaviness” in this music is pronounced in his live recordings, and what that means is really explored in this book.
One remarkable quality in Hathaway’s music is how he took songs others had written and made them his own. Why he was perhaps more comfortable and successful in this approach is discussed. Again, when I heard his live version of “You’ve Got a Friend” I was amazed by the audience singing along, and was just as surprised when I learned that was not his song originally. Songs like “A Song for You” and “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” also fit in this category, and his interpretation of “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” is distinct from but just as moving as Nina Simone’s. On the other hand, songs he wrote or co-wrote are not the same when covered, with rare exception. I am going on a bit about my own feelings towards Donny Hathaway’s music, but I suppose I was just looking for an opportunity. But this isn’t about me.
This book, too much like Hathaway’s life, ends too soon, with so much more that could be said. The author discusses mental illness, and the reality of epidemics and misdirection that made conditions worse for Hathaway and for other men of color in the mid-twentieth century. Despite his tragic death, his legacy is profound, and his music remains powerful and emotional. Told in refreshing, accessible language, “Donny Hathaway Live” fills the need for a long-deserved extension of a biography.
Note: this e-book was provided through Net Galley. For more reviews, follow my blog at http://matt-stats.blogspot.com/ ( )