Two New Books From The U.S

The Singing Book Shelf, when it's fully-stacked, will be an extension of, and elaboration on, my monthly column - The Music Book Reader Bulletin – at Caught By The River.

One of the aims of these random notes will be to highlight notable reviews of music books that appear in the mainstream press. This week the TLS published Stephen Brown's review of The Ellington Century (336pp. University of California Press. £24.95) in which he makes the valid point that “music books are much more fun to read in the age of the internet. The author mentions a piece – you plug it into Google – up come performances on YouTube”. Here's a link to the full review.

Music book event of the week is U.S.author Pat Thomas' visit to these shores to publicize his new book Listen, Whitey! : The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 (224pp. Fantagraphics. £28.99). Pat will be reading from his book and playing music from the accompanying CD at :

The Wire Salon, Cafe Oto, Dalston, London on Thurs May 10 from 8pm.

Rough Trade East on Fri May 11 from 6.30pm

Upstairs at The Ritzy, Brixton on Sat May 12 between 5pm and 6.30pm.