Backbeat Books Publishes "Jimi Hendrix: Musician"

Many books about Jimi Hendrix have concentrated on showmanship and rock ’n’ roll excess, but Keith Shadwick’s Jimi Hendrix: Musician (November 2012, Backbeat Books, $19.99) focuses on Hendrix’s musical  legacy and explains why Hendrix continues to enthrall succeeding  generations of musicians.

Hendrix was a larger-than-life figure and that has sometimes obscured the role of his music in other books written about him.  Jimi Hendrix: Musician puts the music center stage and celebrates the power and the glory of  Hendrix’s short but intense career, when he was without rival in his  power and his range.

Keith Shadwick explains the drama at the heart of his great work and  shows how one musician used everything going on around him to create  something entirely new. Jimi Hendrix: Musician was first  published in 2003; Shadwick died from cancer in 2008 at the age of 57.   This new edition in a compact format, published as a tribute to  Shadwick, features a new foreword by guitar historian and author Tony  Bacon, who also added information about Hendrix recordings released since 2003 to the body of the text.

Placing Hendrix’s work in the broadest possible musical context,  encompassing rock, pop, soul, funk, jazz, blues, fusion, and a range of  classical disciplines, Jimi Hendrix: Musician is the most detailed account anywhere of this legendary performer and his unforgettable music.

About the author

Keith Shadwick’s books include Bill Evans: Everything Happens to Me and The Guinness Book of Classical Composers. He wrote about rock, jazz, blues and classical music for The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, and Jazzwise magazine.  He  was a presenter on BBC radio and Classic FM and a consultant for many  music and media companies.  A professional saxophonist in his youth, he  continued to play for fun until his untimely death from mesothelioma in  2008.

Jimi Hendrix: Musician

November  2012

$19.99 Paperback

ISBN 978-0-87930-960-2

352 pages, 6" x 8½", 16-page photo insert

Backbeat Books is an imprintof Hal Leonard Performing Arts Publishing Group

halleonardbooks.com

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