Here's one of the great untold stories in American music, revealed at last! Harry Choates was a natural-born musician. He's famous as a Cajun fiddle player, but he could play matchless Western Swing fiddle and jazz guitar to rival Django Reinhardt. His fellow musicians say he played piano and mandolin superbly, too. In 1946, Harry Choates recorded the Cajun classic Jolie Blonde, forever mistitled Jole Blon. It was cut for a tiny local label, but became a nationwide smash, inspiring numerous cover versions, sequels, and prequels. For the first time, the story is revealed here.
In Life Lessons from the Great Books, Professor J. Rufus Fears of the University of Oklahoma—a marvelous storyteller with deep historical knowledge—shows you how some of Western civilization's greatest literary masterpieces can speak to you and provide guidance in your life across the gulf of time and culture. Rich in historical perspective and infused with layers of meaning, these 36 lectures reveal the wealth of insight these enduring works can provide in your life. You'll come to see that each of these works—whether written 2,000, 200, or 20 years ago—remain relevant to all of us.
You definitely know how to read. But do you know how to read artfully? Unlike everyday reading, artful reading—the way we read novels and short stories—is less about reading for specific information and more about reading to revel in the literary experience.
Tango is currently en vogue, the spirit of the time. Almost everyone hears it, and many play it. Sometimes they add the word "Nuevo", add a dash of jazz, like to mix in the sweet brew of pop in their recipe to spice it up a bit and make it "palatable" for a broad range of tastes in music. Why is that? Because the tango in its original, pure form with all its dark facets, all its melancholy and dreariness might not be so popular anymore?