BOOKS
Many of my books are collaborative or collective in the spirit of Karl Marx and the Marx Brothers — singing the unsung, hearing from people not ordinarily found in books.
URBAN BLUES
The expressive role of blues bands and performers and stresses the intense interaction between performer and audience. While writing Urban Blues in the mid-1960s, Keil optimistically saw this cultural expression as contributing to the rising tide of raised political consciousness in Afro-America. His new Afterword examines black music in the context of capitalism and black culture in the context of worldwide trends toward diversification.
"Urban Blues expresses authentic concern for people who are coming to realize that their past was . . . the source of meaningful cultural values."—Atlantic
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The expressive role of blues bands and performers and stresses the intense interaction between performer and audience. While writing Urban Blues in the mid-1960s, Keil optimistically saw this cultural expression as contributing to the rising tide of raised political consciousness in Afro-America. His new Afterword examines black music in the context of capitalism and black culture in the context of worldwide trends toward diversification.
"Urban Blues expresses authentic concern for people who are coming to realize that their past was . . . the source of meaningful cultural values."—Atlantic
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE
BORN TO GROOVE
This "unpressed" or "on-demand" book is a chance to create a synthesis beyond the "olde dialectics, beyond a "politically neutral" textbook. The main proposition here is that children need to feel happy, confident, competent, skilled, in fully expressive motions and emotions.
The original book, with all 62 chapters. A new edition of Born to Groove will be published Fall 2017.
»» READ MORE + ACCESS THE ORIGINAL 62 BTG CHAPTERS
This "unpressed" or "on-demand" book is a chance to create a synthesis beyond the "olde dialectics, beyond a "politically neutral" textbook. The main proposition here is that children need to feel happy, confident, competent, skilled, in fully expressive motions and emotions.
The original book, with all 62 chapters. A new edition of Born to Groove will be published Fall 2017.
»» READ MORE + ACCESS THE ORIGINAL 62 BTG CHAPTERS
MUSIC GROOVES: ESSAYS AND DIALOGUES
Second Edition. A unique collaboration between two of the most challenging voices studying music today, this volume explores the dual themes of musical participation and musical mediation.
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Second Edition. A unique collaboration between two of the most challenging voices studying music today, this volume explores the dual themes of musical participation and musical mediation.
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE
BRIGHT BALKAN MORNING
An unprecedented view of settled Romani lives in the Balkans, Bright Balkan Morning is a stunningly-illustrated interweaving of first person narratives, photographs, cultural commentary and soundscapes.
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An unprecedented view of settled Romani lives in the Balkans, Bright Balkan Morning is a stunningly-illustrated interweaving of first person narratives, photographs, cultural commentary and soundscapes.
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE
POLKA HAPPINESS
Celebrating the lively dance music that draws together generations of Polish Americans, Polka Happiness captures the energy, excitement, and shared sense of belonging embodied in polka sociability.
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Celebrating the lively dance music that draws together generations of Polish Americans, Polka Happiness captures the energy, excitement, and shared sense of belonging embodied in polka sociability.
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE
TIV SONG: THE SOCIOLOGY OF A CLASSLESS SOCIETY
An introduction to the "expressive universe" of the Tiv, a competitively egalitarian group of some one million agriculturists living in central easter Nigeria.
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An introduction to the "expressive universe" of the Tiv, a competitively egalitarian group of some one million agriculturists living in central easter Nigeria.
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE
WE NEED A DEPARTMENT OF PEACE:
EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS, NOBODY'S JOB
Compiled and Edited by William L. Benzon
The authors of this compelling book of essays contend that the costs of war always outweigh the benefits, even for the victors. They argue that the only way we’re going to be able to stop fighting senseless wars is if we have a division of the federal government devoted every day to making peace.
Includes two articles by Charles Keil: "Waging Peace" and "Resolution for a Department of Peace."
William L. Benzon is an independent scholar interested in the mind and culture.
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE
»» VISIT truthandtraditionsparty.org website which is devoted to the book and features an extensive blog of articles
»» VISIT the companion facebook page
EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS, NOBODY'S JOB
Compiled and Edited by William L. Benzon
The authors of this compelling book of essays contend that the costs of war always outweigh the benefits, even for the victors. They argue that the only way we’re going to be able to stop fighting senseless wars is if we have a division of the federal government devoted every day to making peace.
Includes two articles by Charles Keil: "Waging Peace" and "Resolution for a Department of Peace."
William L. Benzon is an independent scholar interested in the mind and culture.
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE
»» VISIT truthandtraditionsparty.org website which is devoted to the book and features an extensive blog of articles
»» VISIT the companion facebook page
MY MUSIC
by Susan D. Crafts, Daniel Cavicchi, Charles Keil, and with the Music in Daily Life Project
My Music is a first-hand exploration of the diverse roles music plays in people's lives. "What is music about for you?" asked members of the Music in Daily Life Project of some 150 people, and the responses they received—from the profound to the mundane, from the deeply-felt to the flippant—reflect highly individualistic relationships to and with music. A collection of nearly forty of those interviews to document the diverse ways in which people enjoy, experience, and use music.
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE
by Susan D. Crafts, Daniel Cavicchi, Charles Keil, and with the Music in Daily Life Project
My Music is a first-hand exploration of the diverse roles music plays in people's lives. "What is music about for you?" asked members of the Music in Daily Life Project of some 150 people, and the responses they received—from the profound to the mundane, from the deeply-felt to the flippant—reflect highly individualistic relationships to and with music. A collection of nearly forty of those interviews to document the diverse ways in which people enjoy, experience, and use music.
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE
CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY:
JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
(Volume 2, Number 3) Charles Keil and others
Contents Include: Participatory Discrepancies and the Power of Music; Reflecting on the Yanomami: Ethnographic Images and the Pursuit of the Exotic; Rereading Mules and Men: Toward the Death of the Ethnographer.
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE
JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
(Volume 2, Number 3) Charles Keil and others
Contents Include: Participatory Discrepancies and the Power of Music; Reflecting on the Yanomami: Ethnographic Images and the Pursuit of the Exotic; Rereading Mules and Men: Toward the Death of the Ethnographer.
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE
MARKOS VAMVAKARIS:
MAN AND THE BOUZOUKI. AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
This is the first ever translation into English of the autobiography compiled by Angeliki Vellou Keil in 1972. Markos Vamvakaris, born in 1905 in Syros was a pioneer of rebetiko, the urban folk music of Greece. The bouzouki was a disreputable instrument but he paved its path to glory. He spent many years, first as a stevedore in the port of Piraeus and then as a butcher in the slaughterhouse. During this time he fell in love with a tigress, his first wife, he learnt to smoke hashish and to play the 'sacred' instrument: 'I had a great passion. My life was all bouzouki. It took me over - but it also took me up in the world, way up ...'
This is the first ever translation into English of the autobiography compiled by Angeliki Vellou Keil in 1972. It opens a window onto a time of extraordinary creativity in the history of Greek music, an explosion of songwriting in the interwar period. Its composers wrote about themselves and each other, the rituals of hashish smoking and the landmarks of a now vanished city. Markos the repentant sinner and living legend, looks back at childhood idylls in Syros, the arrival of the Asia Minor refugees, the terrible years of the Nazi Occupation, the ceaseless love affairs and disappointments, and the triumphs of the bouzouki. He offers a rare insight into the lives of toiling workers and the lowlife of one of the world's most ancient ports, where East meets West. Out of this melting pot he produced the classic songs that Greeks of all ages still love and know by heart.
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE
MAN AND THE BOUZOUKI. AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
This is the first ever translation into English of the autobiography compiled by Angeliki Vellou Keil in 1972. Markos Vamvakaris, born in 1905 in Syros was a pioneer of rebetiko, the urban folk music of Greece. The bouzouki was a disreputable instrument but he paved its path to glory. He spent many years, first as a stevedore in the port of Piraeus and then as a butcher in the slaughterhouse. During this time he fell in love with a tigress, his first wife, he learnt to smoke hashish and to play the 'sacred' instrument: 'I had a great passion. My life was all bouzouki. It took me over - but it also took me up in the world, way up ...'
This is the first ever translation into English of the autobiography compiled by Angeliki Vellou Keil in 1972. It opens a window onto a time of extraordinary creativity in the history of Greek music, an explosion of songwriting in the interwar period. Its composers wrote about themselves and each other, the rituals of hashish smoking and the landmarks of a now vanished city. Markos the repentant sinner and living legend, looks back at childhood idylls in Syros, the arrival of the Asia Minor refugees, the terrible years of the Nazi Occupation, the ceaseless love affairs and disappointments, and the triumphs of the bouzouki. He offers a rare insight into the lives of toiling workers and the lowlife of one of the world's most ancient ports, where East meets West. Out of this melting pot he produced the classic songs that Greeks of all ages still love and know by heart.
»» READ MORE + PURCHASE