Kansas City Lightning
The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker
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Narrated by:
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Kevin Kenerly
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By:
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Stanley Crouch
About this listen
Kansas City Lightning: The Rise and Times of Charlie Parker is the first installment in the long-awaited portrait of one of the most talented and influential musicians of the twentieth century, from Stanley Crouch, one of the foremost authorities on jazz and culture in America.
Throughout his life, Charlie Parker personified the tortured American artist: A revolutionary performer who used his alto saxophone to create a new music known as bebop even as he wrestled with a drug addiction that would lead to his death at the age of thirty-four. Drawing on interviews with peers, collaborators, and family members, Kansas City Lightning re-creates Parker's Depression-era childhood; his early days navigating the Kansas City nightlife, inspired by lions like Lester Young and Count Basie; and on to New York, where he began to transcend the music he had mastered. Crouch reveals an ambitious young man torn between music and drugs, between his domineering mother and his impressionable young wife, whose teenage romance with Charlie lies at the bittersweet heart of this story.
With the wisdom of a jazz scholar, the cultural insights of an acclaimed social critic, and the narrative skill of a literary novelist, Stanley Crouch illuminates this American master as never before.
©2013 Stanley Crouch (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Great...But
- By Diego on 05-02-10
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Keith Richards
- The Unauthorised Biography
- By: Victor Bockris
- Narrated by: Adrian Mulraney
- Length: 20 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1992, Victor Bockris' celebrated biography was the first to recognize Richards' pivotal role in the legend of the Rolling Stones. Now that book on rock's most incredible survivor has been expanded. Here are the true facts behind Richards' battles with his demons: the women, the drugs and the love-hate relationship with Jagger. His struggle with heroin and his status as the rock star most likely to die in the 1970s. His scarcely believable rebirth as a family man in the 1980s. Illuminated with revealing quotes and thoughtful insights into the man behind the band that goes on forever.
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doesn't comapre to LIFE
- By A. Garofalo on 02-20-14
By: Victor Bockris
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Me and a Guy Named Elvis
- My Lifelong Friendship With Elvis Presley
- By: Jerry Schilling, Chuck Crisafulli
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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On a lazy Sunday in 1954, 12-year-old Jerry Schilling wandered into a Memphis touch-football game, only to discover that his team was quarterbacked by a 19-year-old Elvis Presley, the local teen whose first record, That's All Right, had just debuted on Memphis radio. The two became fast friends, even as Elvis turned into the world's biggest star.
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Great Easy Read
- By Elliot on 03-10-08
By: Jerry Schilling, and others
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The Emperor of Sound
- A Memoir
- By: Timbaland, Veronica Chambers
- Narrated by: William Harper
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Timbaland is indisputably one of the most innovative music producers working today. The Grammy Award–wining producer, rapper, songwriter, and composer has collaborated with the mega-superstars of pop, rap, hip-hop, and R&B, from Jay Z to 50, Madonna to Justin, Nelly to Björk. His solo album Shock Value has sales tipped in the millions, and the video for his international chart-topping single "Apologize" has been viewed more than 100 million times on YouTube.
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It's called a De-esser
- By Ethan on 05-02-16
By: Timbaland, and others
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Thelonious Monk
- The Life and Times of an American Original
- By: Robin DG Kelley
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 25 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Thelonious Monk is the critically acclaimed, gripping saga of an artist's struggle to "make it" without compromising his musical vision. It is a story that, like its subject, reflects the tidal ebbs and flows of American history in the 20th century. To his fans, he was the ultimate hipster; to his detractors, he was temperamental, eccentric, taciturn, or childlike. His angular melodies and dissonant harmonies shook the jazz world to its foundations, ushering in the birth of "bebop" and establishing Monk as one of America's greatest composers.
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The definitive bio of Monk
- By ricardo on 12-27-17
By: Robin DG Kelley
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Outlaw
- Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville
- By: Michael Streissguth
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Waylon Jennings. Willie Nelson. Kris Kristofferson. Three renegade musicians. Three unexpected stars. Three men who changed Nashville and country music forever. Streissguth's new book brings to life an incredible chapter in musical history and reveals for the first time a surprising outlaw zeitgeist in Nashville. Based on extensive research and probing interviews with key players, what emerges is a fascinating glimpse into three of the most legendary artists of our times and the definitive story of how they changed music in Nashville and everywhere.
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Revealing little-known Details does Captivate!
- By Cody Meyer on 11-20-17
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1965
- The Most Revolutionary Year in Music
- By: Andrew Grant Jackson
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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During 12 unforgettable months in the middle of the turbulent '60s, America saw the rise of innovative new sounds that would change popular music as we knew it. In 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music, music historian Andrew Grant Jackson (Still the Greatest: The Essential Songs of The Beatles' Solo Careers) chronicles a groundbreaking year of creativity fueled by rivalries between musicians and continents, sweeping social changes, and technological breakthroughs.
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Seems like a good overview
- By wylie smith on 01-12-23
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Go Ahead in the Rain
- Notes to A Tribe Called Quest
- By: Hanif Abdurraqib
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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The seminal rap group A Tribe Called Quest brought jazz into the genre, resurrecting timeless rhythms to create masterpieces. This narrative follows Tribe from their early days as part of the Afrocentric rap collective known as the Native Tongues, through their first three classic albums, to their eventual breakup and long hiatus. Throughout the narrative, poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib connects the music and cultural history to their street-level impact and draws from his own experience to reflect on how its distinctive sound resonated among fans like himself.
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Beautiful
- By Joshua Lindell on 03-06-19
By: Hanif Abdurraqib
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Small Town Talk
- Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Friends in the Wild Years of Woodstock
- By: Barney Hoskyns
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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When musicians in the New York folk scene of the 1960s grew tired of city life, they decided to "get it together in the country". They headed for Woodstock - not to the site of the infamous music festival of 1969 but to the Catskills, to Bearsville, to Woodstock proper. Counterculture revolutionaries like Janis Joplin, Richie Havens, and Paul Butterfield got "back to the land", turning the once sleepy hollow into a funky Shangri-La.
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Captured the era - too many mistakes
- By Frank Canino on 04-17-16
By: Barney Hoskyns
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Django
- The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend
- By: Michael Dregni
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Django Reinhardt was arguably the greatest guitarist who ever lived, an important influence on Les Paul, Charlie Christian, B.B. King, Jerry Garcia, Chet Atkins, and many others. Yet there is no major biography of Reinhardt. Now, in Django, Michael Dregni offers a definitive portrait of this great guitarist. Handsome, charismatic, childlike, and unpredictable, Reinhardt was a character out of a picaresque novel. Born in a gypsy caravan at a crossroads in Belgium, he was almost killed in a freak fire that burned half of his body and left his left hand twisted into a claw.
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Django in context
- By George MP on 10-08-18
By: Michael Dregni
What listeners say about Kansas City Lightning
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- Carlos ferreyra
- 01-12-20
a must read!
tons of great info about kansas city and charlie parker. this book will keep u on ur toes
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- L. Caldwell
- 09-02-16
The rise and a bit more than half of the times
Though I have listened to a lot of Charlie Parker's playing, I did not know much about his life prior to listening to this. I did know that he was thought of as very influential in jazz, in particular Bebop, but this book gave me a feel for how he got to that place. Yes, the author used very "expressive" language but I think that was a good approach to trying to describe music with words. And the narrator I think was very close to perfect for reading that sort of language. I did speed up the author's presentation to 1.1 because I thought that toned down the expression a little bit - I tend to like more monotone types of reading. I do think the reader enhanced the book.
Be sure that you accept that the book stops just before Parker became very well known. For me that was not a problem because I was more interested in how he got to that pinnacle.
I admit that I am not much of a musician and therefore still don't know technically why Parker was so different but at least I have something of a feel for it ( and quite a lot of words to describe it).
By ”times" the author is letting you know that he gives quite a lot of detail about things that are going on during the time that Charlie Parker is growing up. If digressions bother you then you might want to try some other biography (and certainly never read a Bill Bryson book!). Personally I thought it was all quite appropriate and interesting.
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- arsenaux
- 06-14-23
Very informative if you are a Charlie Parker fan
Grew up with my dad revering Charlie Parker. I found this book very informative and wish my pops was still around to discuss more about this complicated and mysterious man.
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- Tom
- 09-24-20
Read this for Crouch’s Lyrical Prose and his Evocation of an Important Period in American Music
Stanley Crouch takes the reader back into the Kansas City, Chicago and New York City of the Thirties and Forties, recreating the atmosphere of the Politics, People and the Black Musicians’ Life of the City and its Times.
What is amazing is that he weaves Bird’s mind and attitude toward to his Music into the everyday life of the competitive World of working players. He captures the intensity of his practice, his daredevil inventions, and his willingness to soak up the influences of the players he admired.
Listening along with reading, I learned to appreciate Cru Berry, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Buster Smith and others that Charlie incorporated into his style. Reading how difficult a time he had being accepted by the established Musicians of the Day was eye-opening. After all Parker was always an Idol, wasn’t he?! Not at the beginning. He had to endure rejection and even mockery. One drummer, Philly Joe Jones, even threw his cymbal to the floor in frustration at his rendition of Body and Soul.
Charlie Parker’s fascinating career recounted in Crouch’s musical prose is a terrific combination that makes for a wonderful read. Enjoy it.
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- Darryl Joyner
- 04-24-22
Great book that reads like a movie.
I was amazed and impressed at this book. The attention to detail is exquisite. As a jazz fan and I was impressed with the knowledge of the author and also the ability to delve into the art form when necessary. The tone and the cadence of this book feels like a masterful jazz composition and solo. All the elements are there. the style the flare and the substance. Thank you for this first installment. Also this book does such a great job to get inside the mind of the musician. All of the history in the back ground that make the artist who they are. The things that motivated them and the elements that would lead to their artistic approach.
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- Teacher/Administrator
- 04-12-22
Best Jazz Bio Ever!
Fabulous! Absolutely superb as researched, written, and performed! A must read/listen for all Jazz sax lovers. Especially lovers of Charlie Parker!
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- edward b. carmona
- 04-07-24
Charlie Parker's Story
You get a thorough recap of Charlie Parker growing up, his private life, ups and downs, plus a elementary look about how jazz was played during the 30s. I'm a novice with Jazz music so it wasn't too complicated to follow alone. highly recommend
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- Anonymous4643
- 04-25-22
Fantastic writer
Crouch places the listener there. What an amazing writer. He tells us the story of Parker until the point he is about to launch into success.
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- Sannah McDonough
- 11-13-23
It was fine!
The cadence of the narration was a little noticeable to me. (Tonally, many of the sentences would follow the pattern of “high-mid-low-high-mid-low mid, mid-mid, mid-mid”. Probably won’t make sense unless you found it distracting as well.)
They did a pretty good job though overall, I was curious to hear about the end of Parker’s life as well so was sorry that it ended before that. I’m sure jazz fans and Kansas City history fans will learn something!
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- Arthur
- 10-04-14
BeBop Prose; great book!
I actually had to wait a while after finishing Kansas City Lightning before I could sit down to write a review of it. This is not one of those name and date kind of history books.
Stanley Crouch's approach to his biography of Charlie Parker is much the same as Parker's approach to playing a jazz tune. He will begin a chapter with some general info about Parker's early life or career and then make a radical departure to something else. These could be anything from info about certain musicians, history of jazz, or the social mores of the time. These departures were all intelligent, articulate, informative and usually seemed to have nothing to do with Charlie Parker. Crouch then tied them up really nicely and got back to the subject; it is very much like a well crafted BeBop solo.
This book only covers the early years of Parker's life. I hope Mr. Crouch has a part two in the works.
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3 people found this helpful