The Little Piano Girl

The Little Piano Girl
Author: Ann Ingalls
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 37
Release: 2010
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0618959742

An illustrated account of the childhood of jazz pianist, composer, and arranger Mary Lou Williams in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in the early twentieth century.

Piano Girl

Piano Girl
Author: Robin Meloy Goldsby
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2006-05
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780879308827

This entertaining memoir provides a glimpse into the comedies, tragedies, and mundane miracles witnessed from the business perspective of a world-traveling lounge musician.

The Jazz-Girl, the Piano, and the Dedicated Tuner

The Jazz-Girl, the Piano, and the Dedicated Tuner
Author: Nicky Gentil
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2018-03-13
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1788037634

“The natural tone of Nicky Gentil’s richly anecdotal narrative will delight not only pianists and jazz enthusiasts but anyone who just happens to like pianos in general.” - Cadence Info Magazine A collection of humorous, touching, unputdownable stories set in Paris, The Jazz-Girl, the Piano, and the Dedicated Tuner transports you into a feel-good world of jazz, pianos and the little-known art of piano tuning. An entertaining slice of life, regardless of whether or not you play a musical instrument, this book explores the world of Nina Somerville, an Englishwoman who - while others are going through a mid-life crisis - discovers by complete chance her true calling: jazz improvisation. In a bid to enjoy that passion to the full, she purchases the piano of her dreams - a Steinway baby grand - leading her to make yet another discovery: the intricate mysteries of the fascinating piano tuning profession. Against the backdrop of the Eiffel tower and the Champs-Élysées, from the quest for the perfect sound to an unexpected chance to perform in public, music takes Nina on a journey which is at times improbable and hilarious, but equally moving, not to mention extremely informative. Previously published in France, The Jazz-Girl has been greatly received, and has the interesting addition of being musically illustrated on the author’s YouTube channel with some characters playing pieces alluded to in the stories.

Morning Glory

Morning Glory
Author: Linda Dahl
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 506
Release: 2001-04-23
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780520228726

"Imagine a pianist playing concerts with Benny Goodman and Cecil Taylor in successive years (1977-78). That pianist was Mary Lou Williams. In a career which spanned over fifty years, Mary was always on the cutting edge."--Bob Jacobsen, www.allaboutjazz

Hazel Scott

Hazel Scott
Author: Susan Engle
Publisher: Change Maker
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2021-06
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9781618511942

Hazel Scott was a champion for civil and women's rights. Born in Trinidad in 1920, she moved with her family to the United States in 1924. She was a musical wonder-- studying and performing on the piano from the time she was a child. She became an accomplished singer as well, and appeared in Broadway musicals, films, and recorded her own albums. She also made headlines by standing up for the rights of women and African Americans, and she refused to play for segregated audiences. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led the March on Washington, Hazel led a march in Paris, where she was living, in front of the American Embassy. She learned about the Bahá'í Faith from Dizzy Gillespie and became a Bahá'í on December 1, 1968. She passed away in 1981. We invite you to learn more about this "Change Maker" and the enduring impact she had on race relations through her performing arts.

Dancing Hands

Dancing Hands
Author: Margarita Engle
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 40
Release: 2019-08-27
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 148148740X

Winner of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book In soaring words and stunning illustrations, Margarita Engle and Rafael López tell the story of Teresa Carreño, a child prodigy who played piano for Abraham Lincoln. As a little girl, Teresa Carreño loved to let her hands dance across the beautiful keys of the piano. If she felt sad, music cheered her up, and when she was happy, the piano helped her share that joy. Soon she was writing her own songs and performing in grand cathedrals. Then a revolution in Venezuela forced her family to flee to the United States. Teresa felt lonely in this unfamiliar place, where few of the people she met spoke Spanish. Worst of all, there was fighting in her new home, too—the Civil War. Still, Teresa kept playing, and soon she grew famous as the talented Piano Girl who could play anything from a folk song to a sonata. So famous, in fact, that President Abraham Lincoln wanted her to play at the White House! Yet with the country torn apart by war, could Teresa’s music bring comfort to those who needed it most?

The Piano Recital

The Piano Recital
Author: Akiko Miyakoshi
Publisher: Kids Can Press Ltd
Total Pages: 38
Release: 2019-09-03
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1525302574

An enchanting new story from Akiko Miyakoshi. It’s Momo's first piano recital. As she nervously waits to play, she tells herself, “I’ll be okay … I’ll be okay …” Then she hears a voice nearby saying, “I’ll be okay … I’ll be okay …” It’s a mouseling, also nervous about her first performance! Momo follows her backstage, where she’s amazed to discover a miniature mouse theater. Momo accompanies her new friend on piano, and the mouse audience is so appreciative. Except, suddenly, she discovers — it’s not a mouse audience at all! Sometimes a bit of magic can make all the difference!

The Bear and the Piano

The Bear and the Piano
Author: David Litchfield
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Total Pages: 32
Release: 2019-03-04
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 178603560X

This best-selling tale of exploration and belonging, which won the Waterstones Childrens Book Prize 2016, Illustrated Book Category, is now available in board book.

Waltz of the Asparagus People

Waltz of the Asparagus People
Author: Robin Meloy Goldsby
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre: Americans
ISBN: 9781456477547

The Piano Girl journey continues. Waltz of the Asparagus People follows Robin Meloy Goldsby and her family to Europe, recounting their adventures and frustrations as they learn a new language, adapt to a new culture, and find new friends. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, and always insightful, Goldsby's lyrical stories reveal the trials and triumphs of an expatriate musician's life, as Goldsby connects her music to family, friends, and home, past and present. "Goldsby has a wicked sense of humor and a keen eye for the absurd. This is big-hearted, funny, truly eye-opening memoir." Publishers Weekly Starred Review of Piano Girl "Goldsby's witty sequel to her memoir Piano Girl matches its predecessor's humor and breeziness. The first book recounted her experiences playing piano in New York City hotel lounges before moving to Germany. This collection of more than 20 essays includes episodes from before and after her move, starting slowly with "Mr. President," a tale about how she crossed paths with former president Bill Clinton while recording a segment for National Public Radio. Goldsby hits her stride with the title essay, in which she recounts a bizarre display at the Grand Hyatt of over 200 asparagus stalks arranged to form a village and "hand-painted, shellacked, and dressed in little outfits." Her trials and tribulations while trying to obtain a driver's license in Germany--complete with a road test on the Autobahn at a speed of 100 miles per hour and a written test with extremely esoteric questions--is another high point. But pride of place must go to "The House on Sorority Row," which describes Goldsby's portrayal of a doomed sorority sister in a 1980s cult slasher film--a role that gained her a degree of celebrity." Publishers Weekly "Robin Meloy Goldsby's collection of short-story memoires is as palatably more-ish as a fresh fruit sorbet. Goldsby is a pianist, mother and writer, an American living in Germany. Her stories are varied and whimsical, ranging through a terrific amount of incident and emotion, all of them evoked with a keenly observant eye and well-wrought language that never takes itself too seriously. If this is all part of life's rich tapestry, then Goldsby's stitching sparkles with detail, while its background is infused with a sense of beauty that manages to wear its lyricism lightly." JESSICA DUCHEN, International Piano "Goldsby's tales are often laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes poignant, and always abundantly human." Kathy Parsons, Mainly Piano "Robin Meloy Goldsby is a great storyteller. You'll feel as if you're sitting beside her on the piano bench, observing all the people she recalls with such intimacy and personal warmth." Barbara Cloud, Pittsburgh Post Gazette "Be it a ballad or an up tune, this plucky lucky pianist arranges her memoir medley for us and plays it in the key of life." Cheryl Hardwick, Saturday Night Live musical director, 1987-2000 "Goldsby's wide-ranging stories possess a low-key, party-girl sense of humor. Exuberant, keen, and at times very funny." Adam Bregman, Seattle Weekly

The Red Piano

The Red Piano
Author: André Leblanc
Publisher: Wilkins Farago Pty Limited
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009
Genre: Children's stories
ISBN: 9780980607017

Examines the life of the renowned pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei, who grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution.