THE SOUND OF TAP

Tap Dancing on
Record 1926 – 1949

ISBN: 978-3-98753-014-2

a tap dance history publication by Uwe Meusel (please see Content)

Hardcover (296 pages) in 10″ format
and 273 wav-tracks (in 9 folders) on one USB stick.

The publication by Verlag Kamprad is now available.
The price is 248,- € (per copy)

FREE shipping within Germany when ordering
directly from the author at: u.meusel@t-online.de
Shipping within the EU: € 15,-
CH: can be sent from within Switzerland.  

For orders from outside of the EU please contact anja.pippig@vkjk.de

 

„The Sound of Tap“ presents the first 24 years of recorded tap dancing worldwide. Tap dancing developed along with Jazz music from Ragtime over Swing to Bebop and Bigband. The Sound of Tap presents an audible history of tap dance that has rarely been accessible and therefore received little attention. You can hear the pioneers of tap dance as well as lesser known exponents on rare and sometimes unique recordings.

An entire chapter is devoted to Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson, the father of tap dancing, including unpublished radio and private recordings. Fred Astaire’s tap recordings are presented here in their entirety for the first time and include six alternate takes. Newly researched and detailed biographies are provided for a total of 47 performers, and for the first time one gets an insight into the largely unknown history of tap dancing in Europe. Part 3 with recordings of tap instruction is dedicated to the pedagogical aspect of tap dance and the topics: Rhythm representation, notation and terminology. Here Uwe Meusel uses historical documents to present his system of tap dance notation, which solves a number of problems of previous notation systems.

„The Sound of Tap“ contains 273 music titles in 9 WAV-folders on one USB stick. Restored from Shellac originals, more than half of these titles have not been published digitally before. Included here are also 8 additional PDF files with a total of 221 pages and one Mp4 video clip.

The hardcover in 25 x 25 cm record format has liner notes and descriptions for each track. 251 label illustrations and ca. 460 photos make what you hear vivid. This multi-media documentary offers an insight into the development of swing music on the show and vaudeville stage as well as in the international musical film of the 1920s, 30s and 40s. A historical collection of material that every tap lover and shellac fan should own.