My dear departed past - Dave Frishberg

If you attended public school in the United States between 1973 and today
odds are you've heard Dave Frishberg's songs
just see if any of these Schoolhouse Rock classics ring a bell:
The Number Cruncher
Seven Fifty Once a Week
Dollars and Sense
Walking on Wall Street
Hardware
and
of course
the classic
I'm Just a Bill.
Of
course
Frishberg is much more than the writer of beloved civics-minded ditties
he's also the brilliant lyricist and composer behind well-known songs including
Peel Me a Grape
I'm Hip
My Attorney Bernie
Blizzard of Lies
and
Van Lingle Mungo
a top-flight jazz pianist
and
sardonic wit in tow
an exemplar of American ideals. From his boyhood and university days in St. Paul
Minnesota
to his Air Force service in Salt Lake City
and then on to his life as a pianist and songwriter in New York City and Los Angeles
My Dear Departed Past is a pointed
poignant
sagacious look back on a fascinating career in music at the height of the jazz scene and a storied life flush with wit
imagination
and good humor.For Frishberg
an internationally-known jazz pianist
songwriter
and lyricist
it all began in his WWII elementary school days. Mentored by his brother
Mort
seven years his senior
Dave discovered the music of Count Basie
Benny Goodman
Duke Ellington
Ella Fitzgerald
and Bing Crosby while listening to Mort's 78-rpm records. For good measure
Mort also taught Dave how to play boogie-woogie and blues on the piano
a musical indoctrination that perfectly sharpened the younger Frishberg's musical tastes and laid the foundation for a lifelong love of music and the camaraderie of musicians. In this book populated with colorful characters
especially the brilliant jazzmen and women he played with in iconic clubs and studios during the scene's heyday
Dave brings his stories of being on the road and his experiences in the music business vividly to life. While My Dear Departed Past is a must-read for jazz aficionados
it's just as suitable for anybody who ever wondered about the composer behind those classic tunes singing the praises of active citizenship and financial security.This book includes online access to recordings of 20 Frishberg classics.