Shimmering Shadows
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Home > Art, Film & Photography > Music > Music: styles and genres > Popular music > Shimmering Shadows: The Music and Life of Ran Blake
Shimmering Shadows: The Music and Life of Ran Blake

Shimmering Shadows: The Music and Life of Ran Blake


     0     
5
4
3
2
1



International Edition


X
About the Book

Shimmering Shadows recounts the life of genre-defying pianist and maverick educator, Ran Blake. Written over a 15-year-period, the book is based on interviews between Ran and his student, Leo McFadden. Author Janet McFadden weaves these into the narrative, allowing Blake to tell his own story. This story includes all the major details one would expect to find in a book about Ran Blake - early childhood memories and formative experiences, his time at Bard College and the Lenox School of Jazz, meeting key life figures and collaborators like Jeanne Lee, George Russell and Gunther Schuller, his time in New York, European tours with Lee, and his subsequent move to Boston to become the inaugural chair of the Third Stream department at the New England Conservatory. It's the glimpses the book offers into another world that make it such an enjoyable read. Blake's enduring obsession with film noir, a formative influence in his music, finds its roots in radio mysteries he hears as a small boy on a transistor that he has smuggled into his bedroom. The reader is there when an eleven-year-old Blake walks into the Capitol movie theatre in Springfield to see Spiral Staircase, for the first time (an experience he frequently describes as life defining). Blake recounts with palpable excitement discovering heroes like Kenton and Monk playing on his local radio station in the early 50s, and describes New York's jazz scene of the 1960s including now mythic clubs such the Jazz Gallery, where, in his twenties, he landed a job as a waiter - mainly to be around heroes like Thelonious Monk. Ran Blake's life played out against the backdrop of a changing world. His reflections often circle back to watershed moments such as the civil rights' movement and the Greek coup of 1967. Unique insights about music, food, philosophy, and life figure throughout, and with numerous film and book recommendations along the way, the reader's world will be enriched for having spent time in Blake's world of Shimmering Shadows.


Best Sellers


Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9780645604610
  • Publisher: Blackbag Books
  • Publisher Imprint: Blackbag Books
  • Height: 229 mm
  • No of Pages: 632
  • Returnable: N
  • Returnable: N
  • Sub Title: The Music and Life of Ran Blake
  • Width: 152 mm
  • ISBN-10: 0645604615
  • Publisher Date: 22 Oct 2025
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Language: English
  • Returnable: N
  • Returnable: N
  • Spine Width: 32 mm
  • Weight: 884 gr


Similar Products

Add Photo
Add Photo

Customer Reviews

REVIEWS      0     
Click Here To Be The First to Review this Product
Shimmering Shadows: The Music and Life of Ran Blake
Blackbag Books -
Shimmering Shadows: The Music and Life of Ran Blake
Writing guidlines
We want to publish your review, so please:
  • keep your review on the product. Review's that defame author's character will be rejected.
  • Keep your review focused on the product.
  • Avoid writing about customer service. contact us instead if you have issue requiring immediate attention.
  • Refrain from mentioning competitors or the specific price you paid for the product.
  • Do not include any personally identifiable information, such as full names.

Shimmering Shadows: The Music and Life of Ran Blake

Required fields are marked with *

Review Title*
Review
    Add Photo Add up to 6 photos
    Would you recommend this product to a friend?
    Tag this Book Read more
    Does your review contain spoilers?
    What type of reader best describes you?
    I agree to the terms & conditions
    You may receive emails regarding this submission. Any emails will include the ability to opt-out of future communications.

    CUSTOMER RATINGS AND REVIEWS AND QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TERMS OF USE

    These Terms of Use govern your conduct associated with the Customer Ratings and Reviews and/or Questions and Answers service offered by Bookswagon (the "CRR Service").


    By submitting any content to Bookswagon, you guarantee that:
    • You are the sole author and owner of the intellectual property rights in the content;
    • All "moral rights" that you may have in such content have been voluntarily waived by you;
    • All content that you post is accurate;
    • You are at least 13 years old;
    • Use of the content you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity.
    You further agree that you may not submit any content:
    • That is known by you to be false, inaccurate or misleading;
    • That infringes any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy;
    • That violates any law, statute, ordinance or regulation (including, but not limited to, those governing, consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising);
    • That is, or may reasonably be considered to be, defamatory, libelous, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any individual, partnership or corporation;
    • For which you were compensated or granted any consideration by any unapproved third party;
    • That includes any information that references other websites, addresses, email addresses, contact information or phone numbers;
    • That contains any computer viruses, worms or other potentially damaging computer programs or files.
    You agree to indemnify and hold Bookswagon (and its officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures, employees and third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.), harmless from all claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of a breach of your representations and warranties set forth above, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.


    For any content that you submit, you grant Bookswagon a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable right and license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell, transfer, and/or distribute such content and/or incorporate such content into any form, medium or technology throughout the world without compensation to you. Additionally,  Bookswagon may transfer or share any personal information that you submit with its third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc. in accordance with  Privacy Policy


    All content that you submit may be used at Bookswagon's sole discretion. Bookswagon reserves the right to change, condense, withhold publication, remove or delete any content on Bookswagon's website that Bookswagon deems, in its sole discretion, to violate the content guidelines or any other provision of these Terms of Use.  Bookswagon does not guarantee that you will have any recourse through Bookswagon to edit or delete any content you have submitted. Ratings and written comments are generally posted within two to four business days. However, Bookswagon reserves the right to remove or to refuse to post any submission to the extent authorized by law. You acknowledge that you, not Bookswagon, are responsible for the contents of your submission. None of the content that you submit shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of Bookswagon, its agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners or third party service providers (including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.)and their respective directors, officers and employees.

    Accept


    Inspired by your browsing history


    Your review has been submitted!

    You've already reviewed this product!