The Devil's Horn
The Story of the Saxophone, From Noisy Novelty to King of Cool
Picador · Print & ebook · August 22, 2006
The 160-year history of the saxophone comes to brilliant life in Michael Segell's wonderfully researched, beautifully told The Devil's Horn.
We earn from qualifying purchases.
- Who it’s for
- A lively history of the saxophone, where music-making meets cultural change and political friction.
- Themes
- Saxophone history, Music and popular culture, Art and political revolution
- Genres
- Woodwinds, Jazz, Music History
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved.
The Perfect TubaSam Quinones55% matchShares Music History
The JazzmenLarry Tye58% matchShares Jazz
Just KidsPatti Smith42% match
3 Shades of BlueJames Kaplan55% matchShares Jazz and Music History
The Birth of LoudIan S. Port53% match
For younger readers: The Story of the Saxophone, Just a Lucky So and So, A Horn for Louis
Start with three books, and this one can be the first.
Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.
Start with this bookAbout this book
The 160-year history of the saxophone comes to brilliant life in Michael Segell's wonderfully researched, beautifully told The Devil's Horn. Beginning with "a sound never heard before," Segell's portrait follows the iconographic instrument as it is lauded for its sensuality, then outlawed for its influence, and finally credited with changing the face of popular culture.
Continue reading
A deeply personal story of one man's love for music-making, a universal story of artistic and political revolution, and a trenchant critique of the global forces that stand in art's way, The Devil's Horn is music writing at its very finest.
When Sound Turns Cultural
A lively history of the saxophone, where music-making meets cultural change and political friction.
Come here for
- The saxophone’s rise from novelty to force in popular culture
- Music history with a personal thread and political edges
Expect
- A researched, narrative account spanning 160 years
- An instrument’s shifting reputation, from sensual to outlawed to influential
Where it sits
| Music History | 73% |
|---|---|
| Jazz | 55% |
| Woodwinds | 53% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Music History
- Woodwinds
- Pop Culture Studies
- Authors
- Michael Segell
- Publisher
- Picador
- Published
- August 22, 2006
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Saxophone history · Music and popular culture · Art and political revolution
- Reading lane
- Music History