{"title":"Janet Tennant","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"sax-appeal-book-janet-tennant-9781538133279","title":"Sax Appeal","description":"Ivy Benson was born to be a musician. A good pianist by the age of ten, she was influenced by the music of Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, and other jazz legends to become a professional instrumentalist--and at age fifteen, having taught herself to play the clarinet and saxophone, Benson joined an all-girl band in Yorkshire, England. Sax Appeal chronicles Benson's life--beginning with her childhood of relative poverty, exploring her time as a teenage musician playing in the seedy clubs of London, and highlighting her founding of a professional all-female jazz and swing band that would remain active for over forty years. Benson started her band during the dark days of World War I in 1939 as an antidote to the lack of men, who were all serving in the military. Determined to produce music as good as the male bands, she was a tough coach as well as a mother figure to her young instrumentalists. She faced opposition from most male bandleaders and critics who claimed that women could not play jazz. There were also the dangers and privations of wartime touring--and the constant loss of girls who were lured away by GIs. Nevertheless the band was successful and in great demand. Benson employed well over 250 performers over the years and influenced the careers of many aspiring female jazz musicians. Considered by some to be the instigator of girl power and by others an astute businesswoman with a knack for timing, Sax Appeal thoroughly examines the themes and brings the musical pioneer to vivid life.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49564966453521,"sku":"GOR011620516","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49731831202065,"sku":"NGR9781538133279","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52615036535057,"sku":"NLS9781538133279","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53188259119377,"sku":"CIN153813327XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/153813327X.jpg?v=1759399646"},{"product_id":"it-s-a-drag-book-janet-tennant-9781493059058","title":"It's a Drag","description":"From ancient Greek actors to all-male Elizabethan casts to the drag queens of today, cross-dressing performers have been around for nearly as long as live performance itself. In It’s a Drag, Janet Tennant provides a fascinating and colorful look at performing artists who adopt the characters and dress of others. With a particular focus on theatrical history in Britain and North America, Tennant also turns to modern performers like RuPaul, Mj Rodriquez, David Bowie, and Billy Porter. She surveys the many reasons that performers have cross-dressed over the years, whether to tell stories, to amuse audiences, to create distinctive alter egos, to call attention to social and political issues—or merely for reasons of expediency. In addition to its memorable portraits of Shakespearean boy actors, pantomime dames, and other cross-dressing performers across history, It’s a Drag takes stock of the present and considers the future of the practice: How will the drive toward equality affect the use of cross-dressing and cross-gender role casting? Will gender-blind roles become as prevalent as color-blind casting? And will cross-dressing continue to amuse and impress audiences, or can we imagine a time when gender differences will cease to be important?","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49736365146385,"sku":"NGR9781493059058","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50636405604625,"sku":"GOR014020112","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51855877603601,"sku":"CIN149305905XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52425178677521,"sku":"NLS9781493059058","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/149305905X.jpg?v=1751117053"},{"product_id":"refugee-countess-book-janet-tennant-9781836281795","title":"Refugee Countess","description":"Marion Stein, a Viennese half-Jewish child escapes from Nazi persecution with her musical family to London.    Proving to be a talented musician, she is set for a professional career as a concert pianist When the family moves in to live with composer Benjamin Britten and his partner, she learns about homosexuality, an experience which will serve her well in the future. Britten becomes a lifelong personal friend, one with whom she confides almost as a brother.    Life changes dramatically when she meets the young Earl of Harewood, a man with a heroic war record and first cousin of Princess Elizabeth, soon to be Queen. They share a love of music and particularly opera. It is a Cinderella story in war-weary Britain. Home for Marion becomes Harewood House, a great mansion and estate in Yorkshire. She travels widely and meets and develops long-term friendships with many of the most famous musicians and singers of the century. She co-founds an international piano competition. But the marriage is not to last.    Alone again and a beautiful woman, she has a lively social life and is courted by famous and influential men. However, the politician she chooses is not what he seems and he is soon involved in a sensational trial. Her loyalty is tested as never before.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51627862229265,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51627863605521,"sku":"NGR9781836281795","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52954705756433,"sku":"GOR014665588","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/183628179X.jpg?v=1751433057"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-janet-tennant.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}