Jonathan Lethem Discusses Cellophane Bricks & Brooklyn Crime Novel, with Dan Fox

Oct 29, 7 PM ET • Brooklyn, NY: Brooklyn Public Library, Dweck Center • 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11238

Many know Jonathan Lethem as one of our most celebrated and eclectic writers, whose iconic novels—Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress of Solitude, Chronic City, among many others—play with genres and storytelling modes like a DJ mixing music. But Lethem grew up in his father’s studio, went to art school, and, in his own words, “made hundreds if not thousands of drawings, collages, paintings, hand-drawn comics, and even two animated shorts” before diverting, at nineteen, to prose. The surreal and form-defying panoply of his stories, essays, and novels celebrates—and mourns—this forsaken world of the visual and plastic arts. That leap, between the cellophane ephemerality of language and the brick-like tangibility of visual art, which operates as a sublimated wellspring for Lethem’s writing, is the subject of this book. 

Cellophane Bricks mortars together Lethem’s fictions in response to (and in exchange for) artworks by his friends with dozens of original essays. Here we tour his meditations on comics and graffiti art; his collaborations with artists and interventions into visual culture; and his portrait of the museum that was and continues to be his home, untethered from geography. Unique in Lethem’s kaleidoscopic oeuvre, Cellophane Bricks comprises a kind of stealth memoir of his parallel life in visual culture. Gorgeously designed, with stunning, full-color images from the author’s own collection and elsewhere, Cellophane Bricks is a ravishing assemblage for story lovers of all kinds. Lethem also discusses Brooklyn Crime Novel, out now in paperback.

About the Author

Jonathan Lethem is the author of Brooklyn Crime Novel and twelve other novels. His stories and essays have been collected in five volumes, and his work translated into over thirty languages. He has been recipient of The National Book Critics Circle Award, The World Fantasy Award, The Berlin Prize, and a MacArthur Fellowship.

About the Interlocutor:

Dan Fox is a writer, musician and filmmaker. A former editor at Frieze magazine, he is the author of the books Limbo (2018) and Pretentiousness: Why It Matters (2016), and co-director of the BBC documentary Other, Like Me: The Oral History of COUM Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle. He is a senior editor for The Yale Review and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Photo credit Matthew Porter

About the Venue:

Conveniently located at BPL's Central Library on Grand Army Plaza, the fully accessible, 189-seat Dweck auditorium provides a comfortable space in which to enjoy the library's rich and wide-ranging schedule of free public programs. The Dweck features literary series, author talks, public affairs and humanities programs, film screenings, chamber music concerts, pop and jazz music, as well as programs for children. Acoustically well balanced and with unobstructed sightlines, this intimate auditorium has been attracting ever-larger audiences since it opened in the fall of 2007.

For all press inquiries please contact Alexander Galan, ag@vidoun.com or Thora Siemsen, tds@vidoun.com

Cellophane Bricks: Jonathan Lethem with Rita Bullwinkel

Oct 21, 7 PM PT • San Francisco, CA: City Lights • 261 Columbus Avenue San Francisco, CA 94133

Co-presented with City Lights Booksellers & Publishers

With his new book Cellophane Bricks: A Life in Visual Culture, Jonathan Lethem showcases his talents as one of modern literature’s most eclectic critical minds. This rapturous, ravenous celebration of visual art and storytelling gathers a lifetime of Lethem's art-writing, along with stunning, full-color images from the author's own collection and elsewhere. Here we tour Lethem's fictions in response to (and in exchange for) artworks by his friends; his meditations on comics and graffiti art; his collaborations with artists and interventions into visual culture, and his portrait of the museum that was and continues to be his home, untethered from geography. This new book also coincides with the anniversary re-release of Lethem’s award-winning detective novel Motherless Brooklyn. Join the author in conversation with Litquake veteran Rita Bullwinkel, author most recently of Booker Prize–longlisted Headshot!

About the Author

Jonathan Lethem is the author of Brooklyn Crime Novel and twelve other novels. His stories and essays have been collected in five volumes, and his work translated into over thirty languages. He has been recipient of The National Book Critics Circle Award, The World Fantasy Award, The Berlin Prize, and a MacArthur Fellowship.

About the Interlocutor

Rita Bullwinkel is the author of Headshot and Belly Up, a story collection that won the Believer Book Award. She is a 2022 recipient of a Whiting Award, the editor of McSweeney's Quarterly, a contributing editor at NOON, the creator of Oral Florist, and a Picador Guest Professor of Literature at Leipzig University in Germany, where she teaches courses on creative writing, zines, and the uses of invented and foreign languages as tools for world building.

About the Venue

Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival: Litquake’s diverse live programs are created with the aim of inspiring critical engagement with the key issues of the day, bringing people together around the common humanity encapsulated in literature, and perpetuating a sense of literary community, as well as a vibrant forum for Bay Area writing. We believe in literature as a public good, so we work to produce events that are accessible to all.

For all press inquiries please contact Alexander Galan, ag@vidoun.com or Thora Siemsen, tds@vidoun.com

Jonathan Lethem Speaks with Claire L. Evans at Artbook @ Hauser & Wirth 

Oct 12, 3 PM PT • Los Angeles, CA: Artbook @ Hauser & Wirth • 917 East 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Many know Jonathan Lethem as one of our most celebrated and eclectic writers, whose iconic novels—Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress of Solitude, Chronic City, among many others—play with genres and storytelling modes like a DJ mixing music. But Lethem grew up in his father’s studio, went to art school, and, in his own words, “made hundreds if not thousands of drawings, collages, paintings, hand-drawn comics, and even two animated shorts” before diverting, at nineteen, to prose. The surreal and form-defying panoply of his stories, essays, and novels celebrates—and mourns—this forsaken world of the visual and plastic arts. That leap, between the cellophane ephemerality of language and the brick-like tangibility of visual art, which operates as a sublimated wellspring for Lethem’s writing, is the subject of this book. 

Cellophane Bricks mortars together Lethem’s fictions in response to (and in exchange for) artworks by his friends with dozens of original essays. Here we tour his meditations on comics and graffiti art; his collaborations with artists and interventions into visual culture; and his portrait of the museum that was and continues to be his home, untethered from geography. Unique in Lethem’s kaleidoscopic oeuvre, Cellophane Bricks comprises a kind of stealth memoir of his parallel life in visual culture. Gorgeously designed, with stunning, full-color images from the author’s own collection and elsewhere, Cellophane Bricks is a ravishing assemblage for story lovers of all kinds. Lethem also discusses Brooklyn Crime Novel, out now in paperback.

About the Author

Jonathan Lethem is the author of Brooklyn Crime Novel and twelve other novels. His stories and essays have been collected in five volumes, and his work translated into over thirty languages. He has been recipient of The National Book Critics Circle Award, The World Fantasy Award, The Berlin Prize, and a MacArthur Fellowship.

About the Author

Claire L. Evans is a writer and musician exploring biology, technology, and culture. She is the singer of the Grammy-nominated pop group YACHT, co-founder of VICE’s imprint for speculative fiction, Terraform,, and co-editor, with Brian Merchant, of the accompanying anthology Terraform: Watch Worlds Burn (MCD Books, 2022). Her 2018 history of women in computing, Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet, published by Penguin Random House, has been translated into six languages and was named one of the Top 10 Best Nonfiction Tech Books of All Time in 2023. She lives in Los Angeles, where she is an advisor to students in the Media Design Practices program at Art Center College of Design.

About the Venue:

Artbook is an arts and culture bookstore within Hauser & Wirth's Los Angeles location in a converted historic flour mill. Bringing an experimental dynamic to book selling, Artbook devotes a large portion of its retail space to spotlight selections that change every several months, focusing in great depth upon different movements and themes in contemporary and 20th-century art. Complementing current exhibitions as well as new developments in art practices and writing, these rotating thematic displays include new releases in addition to important backlist books, indie press titles, imported catalogues and out-of-print selections.

For all press inquiries please contact Alexander Galan, ag@vidoun.com or Thora Siemsen, tds@vidoun.com

Joe Boyd at Waterloo Records

Oct 8, 7 PM CT • Austin: Waterloo Records • 600 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78703

From the legendary producer of Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, and Pink Floyd and author of White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s comes a riveting, world-spanning tour de force illuminating the artists, histories, controversies, and collaborations that shaped global music.

Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that when he first heard the accordion flourish that would open his multi-platinum album Graceland, it seemed to proclaim, "You haven't heard this before!" Yet the 1980s "world music" boom that Simon's album helped usher in had roots that extended back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the '30s, '40s and '50s, reggae in the '70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music-inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock 'n' roll would never have happened if it weren't for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Venue

When Waterloo Records opened its doors on April 1, 1982, Austin was not quite the same town that it is today. The computer industries had arrived in the mid-seventies, but had yet to begin drawing the number of people into town that they would start to bring by the turn of the decade. Nor had Austin's reputation as a premier arts town – especially in both music and film – swelled its ranks of the creatively inclined. The boom years of the eighties had yet to fully take hold of the sleepy town. Simply put, Austin was a lot smaller.

But while a good deal more modest, Austin's music scene was well established. Texas music had always seemed to be vital and important, not only at home but far beyond the confines of our own barbed wire fences. From The 13th Floor Elevators to Willie Nelson, Texas artists were known internationally and their music respected around the world. Austin, however, had yet to become recognized on a national, let alone international, level as a live music mecca. The birth of South by Southwest still lay 5 years into the future and the Austin Record Convention, now one of the largest in the country, was no more than a suckling itself, having only come into being during the Spring of the previous year. Even Stevie Ray Vaughan wouldn't release his first album with Double Trouble, Texas Flood, until 1983, igniting a blaze of guitar still burning its way down the strip on Sixth Street. The Austin scene was vibrant and alive, but it was different.

Some things about Waterloo were different too. A building a mere 1,200 square feet housed the store at a location 2/3 of a mile further South on Lamar. Compared to the relatively roomy dimension of 6,400 square feet that Waterloo's main store enjoys today it's hard to imagine how cramped that original store must have seemed. Size, however, certainly didn't seem to matter to our customers, voting us best record store in the Austin Chronicle readers poll that first year, an honor they have granted us every year since.
   
Back then, what Waterloo really had going for it wasn't all that radical. It came more out of understanding the customer's viewpoint than planning a marketing strategy. It rose from the kindred soul of merchant and customer. Instead of catering to the music consumer, Waterloo catered to the music lover, if only because we were music lovers too. It was true then, it certainly still is today.

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reachout to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Joe Boyd in conversation with Joe Nick Patoski at The Wittliff Collections, Center for Texas Music History, Texas State University

Oct 8, 11 AM CT • San Marcos: The Wittliff Collections, Center for Texas Music History, Texas State University • Alkek Library, 7th Floor, Talbot St, San Marcos, TX 78666

From the legendary producer of Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, and Pink Floyd and author of White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s comes a riveting, world-spanning tour de force illuminating the artists, histories, controversies, and collaborations that shaped global music.

Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that when he first heard the accordion flourish that would open his multi-platinum album Graceland, it seemed to proclaim, "You haven't heard this before!" Yet the 1980s "world music" boom that Simon's album helped usher in had roots that extended back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the '30s, '40s and '50s, reggae in the '70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music-inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock 'n' roll would never have happened if it weren't for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Interlocutor

Joe Nick Patoski writes about Texas and Texans. A former cab driver and staff writer for Texas Monthly magazine, and one-time reporter at the Austin American-Statesman, he has authored and co-authored biographies of Willie Nelson, Selena, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the Dallas Cowboys, and collaborated with photographer Laurence Parent on books about the Texas Mountains, the Texas Coast, and Big Bend National Park. He wrote essays for the 2015 book Homegrown: Austin Music Posters, 1968-1982 and Conjunto by John Dyer with Juan Tejeda. He has covered conservation in the book Generations on the Land: A Conservation Legacy and the state religion of Texas in the book Texas High High School Football: More Than the Game.

About the Venue

The Center for Texas Music History is a unique program focusing on the preservation and study of Texas and Southwestern music history.  With an emphasis on how Texas music reflects the rich history and tremendous cultural diversity of the Southwest, the Center for Texas Music History offers graduate and undergraduate courses, along with a variety of research and publishing projects all aimed at helping Americans better understand our unique and diverse cultural heritage through music.

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reachout to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Record Producer Joe Boyd Discusses And the Roots of Rhythm Remain

Oct 6, 2 PM CT • Houston: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston • 5216 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX 77006

From the legendary producer of Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, and Pink Floyd and author of White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s comes a riveting, world-spanning tour de force illuminating the artists, histories, controversies, and collaborations that shaped global music.

Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that when he first heard the accordion flourish that would open his multi-platinum album Graceland, it seemed to proclaim, "You haven't heard this before!" Yet the 1980s "world music" boom that Simon's album helped usher in had roots that extended back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the '30s, '40s and '50s, reggae in the '70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music-inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock 'n' roll would never have happened if it weren't for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Venue

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) is a non-collecting institution dedicated to presenting the best and most exciting international, national, and regional art of our time. Founded in 1948, the Museum prides itself on presenting new art and documenting its role in modern life through exhibitions, lectures, original publications, and a variety of educational programs and events.

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reachout to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Record Producer Joe Discusses And the Roots of Rhythm Remain

Oct 3, 7 PM PT • Los Angeles: Book Soup • 8818 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 10069

From the legendary producer of Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, and Pink Floyd and author of White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s comes a riveting, world-spanning tour de force illuminating the artists, histories, controversies, and collaborations that shaped global music.

Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that when he first heard the accordion flourish that would open his multi-platinum album Graceland, it seemed to proclaim, "You haven't heard this before!" Yet the 1980s "world music" boom that Simon's album helped usher in had roots that extended back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the '30s, '40s and '50s, reggae in the '70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music-inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock 'n' roll would never have happened if it weren't for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

Event date: 

Thursday, October 3, 2024 - 7:00pm

Event address: 

Book Soup

8818 Sunset Boulevard

West Hollywood, CA 90069

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Venue

Book Soup is located on the world-famous Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. Founded by Glenn Goldman as "Bookseller to the Great and Infamous," the store has been serving readers, writers, artists, rock 'n' rollers, and celebrities since 1975.

Guarded over by two golden dogs, Book Soup has 60,000+ titles, specializing in art, film, photography, music, and literary fiction. We have a deep commitment to university, international, and small presses, and maintain an array of exclusive autographed books. Customers are delighted by the rare gems they discover on our shelves.

Known for our floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, high-profile author readings, limited-edition books, vinyl records, and celebrity clientele, Book Soup is an essential stop on any tour of Los Angeles. Our booksellers are here every day to recommend your next book, pick out a gift, or just talk lit with you.  

Visit staff picks to see what our extraordinary (and very opinionated) booksellers are reading, and please be sure to join our mailing list for a complete schedule of upcoming author events, updated signed books inventory, and other store news. 

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reachout to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Record Producer Joe Boyd with His New Book And the Roots of Rhythm Remain

Sep 30, 7 PM PT • Berkeley: Mrs. Dalloway’s • 2904 College Ave, Berkeley, CA 94705

Join us on Monday, September 30th at 7:00pm when legendary music producer JOE BOYD comes to the store to share his new book And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey Through Global Music. Joe will read from and discuss his book and will sign copies after the presentation.

This is a free event, but you must preregister on Eventbrite or in the store to ensure seating.  Click Here to preorder a copy of And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain

From the legendary producer of Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, and Pink Floyd and author of White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s comes a riveting, world-spanning tour de force illuminating the artists, histories, controversies, and collaborations that shaped global music.

Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that when he first heard the accordion flourish that would open his multi-platinum album Graceland, it seemed to proclaim, “You haven’t heard this before!” Yet the 1980s “world music” boom that Simon’s album helped usher in had roots that extended back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Venue

Mrs. Dalloway’s is a vibrant, full-service, independent neighborhood bookstore located in the beautiful, historic Elmwood District of Berkeley. The store was founded in 2004 when longtime friends and residents of the Elmwood, Marion Abbott and Ann Leyhe, decided to pool their passions, talents, and resources.

The store’s name derives from the first line of Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel, Mrs. Dalloway: “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.”

In 2021, Marion and Ann decided that the time had come to retire and put the store up for sale. They chose Eric and Jessica Green as the best equipped to carry on the store’s legacy and the two of them took ownership on November 10th, 2021. With longtime publisher sales and retail buying and merchandising experience, Eric and Jessica have carried on the Mrs. Dalloway’s traditions and maintained the store’s attractive look-and-feel.

Spacious and inviting, Mrs. Dalloway’s offers an exciting and diverse selection of titles—both comprehensive and contemporary—and is renowned for its skillfully curated fiction, non-fiction, poetry, garden book and children’s book sections, all of which feature a remarkable and relevant variety of rare and innovative small presses. The store also carries a variety of hand-selected merchandise geared to lifestyle, literature and gardening, a revolving art exhibition, and fresh plants.

From the day we opened our doors, our bookstore fostered a sense of community. Today, Mrs. Dalloway’s hosts over 100 stellar in-store author events each year, serving as a dynamic cultural center and resource for its neighborhood, its ever-expanding and devoted customer base, and as an outreach to the San Francisco Bay Area literary community.

Mrs. Dalloway’s outgoing and talented booksellers are passionate about reading, love to share their eclectic tastes with illuminating staff picks, and are most happy when engaged in book talk.

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reachout to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Joe Boyd Presents And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey through Global Music—In Conversation with Jerry Harrison

Sep 30, 4 PM PT • Corte Madera: Book Passage Bookstore: 51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera, CA 94925

From the legendary producer of Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, and Pink Floyd and author of White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s comes a riveting, world-spanning tour de force illuminating the artists, histories, controversies, and collaborations that shaped global music.

Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that when he first heard the accordion flourish that would open his multi-platinum album Graceland, it seemed to proclaim, “You haven’t heard this before!” Yet the 1980s “world music” boom that Simon’s album helped usher in had roots that extended back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19 th and 20 th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Interlocutor

Jerry Harrison is a legendary figure in the music industry, with a career that spans decades and includes numerous accolades. As a member of the Modern Lovers and Talking Heads, he helped shape the sound of the new wave and post-punk movements of the late 1970s and early 1980s. His innovative approach to music and production earned him a Grammy award and a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In addition to his work with the Talking Heads, Jerry Harrison also found success as a producer, working with artists such as Live, Violent Femmes, and Kenny Wayne Shepard. His keen ear for sound and ability to bring out the best in musicians helped him sell over 25 million albums during his career. His impact on the music industry is undeniable, and his influence can still be felt today.

Jerry Harrison’s accomplishments extend beyond music, as he is also a Harvard graduate and holds an honorary doctorate from the Rhode Island School of Design. His dedication to his craft and commitment to excellence have earned him the respect and admiration of his peers in the industry. Jerry Harrison’s contributions to music and culture have left an indelible mark on the world, and his legacy continues to inspire artists and fans alike.

About the Venue

https://www.bookpassage.com/

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reachout to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Jonathan Lethem UK Book Launch for Cellophane Bricks with Adam Curtis

Sep 25, 6:30 PM GMT • London: Christie’s • 8 King St, London SW1Y 6QT, United Kingdom

Many know Jonathan Lethem as one of our most celebrated and eclectic writers, whose iconic novels—Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress of Solitude, Chronic City, among many others—play with genres and storytelling modes like a DJ mixing music. But Lethem grew up in his father’s studio, went to art school, and, in his own words, “made hundreds if not thousands of drawings, collages, paintings, hand-drawn comics, and even two animated shorts” before diverting, at nineteen, to prose. The surreal and form-defying panoply of his stories, essays, and novels celebrates—and mourns—this forsaken world of the visual and plastic arts. That leap, between the cellophane ephemerality of language and the brick-like tangibility of visual art, which operates as a sublimated wellspring for Lethem’s writing, is the subject of this book. 

Cellophane Bricks mortars together Lethem’s fictions in response to (and in exchange for) artworks by his friends with dozens of original essays. Here we tour his meditations on comics and graffiti art; his collaborations with artists and interventions into visual culture; and his portrait of the museum that was and continues to be his home, untethered from geography. Unique in Lethem’s kaleidoscopic oeuvre, Cellophane Bricks comprises a kind of stealth memoir of his parallel life in visual culture. Gorgeously designed, with stunning, full-color images from the author’s own collection and elsewhere, Cellophane Bricks is a ravishing assemblage for story lovers of all kinds. Lethem also discusses Brooklyn Crime Novel, out now in paperback.

About the Author

Jonathan Lethem is the author of Brooklyn Crime Novel and twelve other novels. His stories and essays have been collected in five volumes, and his work translated into over thirty languages. He has been recipient of The National Book Critics Circle Award, The World Fantasy Award, The Berlin Prize, and a MacArthur Fellowship.

About the Interlocutor:

Adam Curtis is an award-winning documentary maker at the BBC. His films include The Power of Nightmares, about the parallel between the rise of Islamism in the Arab world and neoconservatism in the United States

About the Venue:

Christie’s is a global art business. Active in 46 countries, with 10 salerooms around the world and an advanced online bidding platform, it’s easy to buy and sell with Christie’s — wherever you are.

Our regional galleries work directly with collectors to buy and sell world-class works of art throughout the year — independent of the auction calendar. Galleries feature private sales, curated exhibitions and partnerships with prominent local collectors and institutions, while selling exhibitions are open for public view.

For all press inquiries please contact Alexander Galan, ag@vidoun.com or Thora Siemsen, tds@vidoun.com

Joe Boyd Presents And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey through Global Music

Sep 25, 6 PM MT • Albuquerque: Bookworks Bookstore • 4022 Rio Grande Blvd NW, Albuquerque, NM 87107

We are happy to partner with AMP Concerts to present author and producer, Joe Boyd, for a reading and signing event to celebrate the release of his new book, And the Roots of Rhythm Remain.

This is a free event, but registration is highly encouraged. Please register for this event here.

"What an amazing book! Joe Boyd has distilled decades of experience and observation of how musical ideas interbreed, and how culture is formed, into a tumultuous, gripping and dramatic story. I doubt I'll ever read a better account of the history and sociology of popular music than this one." --Brian Eno

"Joe Boyd has an acute ear for music and an astute eye for talent that has led him around the world, recording and returning with music that has been and will be an indelible and fascinating part of our culture. Here he reveals the searching intellect, the generous spirit, and the deep heart beneath his extraordinary life's work." --T Bone Burnett

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Venue

This fall, Bookworks celebrates 39 years as a locally-owned and operated independent bookstore.

As one of Albuquerque’s legacy independent bookstores, we are dedicated to supporting our community and connecting books and readers. And we are thankful that our community is devoted to supporting us. 

As of 2023, Bookworks is owned by an LLC (Bookworks on Rio Grande) funded by group of 15 people. The group invested in the store to ensure it stayed open and remained robust. Shannon Guinn-Collins and Nancy Guinn are the majority members and oversee the store’s operations.

Bookworks has been a literary meeting place in Albuquerque since 1984, from its original home in Albuquerque's Rio Grande Valley in what was then the Dietz Farm Plaza, and now in the next stage of life, next to the Flying Star Cafe in the Shops on Rio Grande. The store is well-known for high-quality events and readings, including local, regional, and nationally-known authors. We partner with organizations such as the Albuquerque Public Library Foundation and the Leopold Writing Program to offer event series, including A Word with Writers and Writing the Wild, and we hold events both in the store and in venues throughout the community. In 2023, approximately 80% of our events features local and regional authors.

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reachout to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Joe Boyd Presents And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey through Global Music

Sep 24, 6 PM MT • Santa Fe: Collected Works Bookstore • 202 Galisteo St, Santa Fe, NM 87501

From the legendary producer of Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, and Pink Floyd and author of "White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s" comes a riveting, world-spanning tour de force illuminating the artists, histories, controversies, and collaborations that shaped global music.

About the Event

CW is proud to co-present this event with AMP Concerts.

This will be an in-store event and live streamed to Zoom, please register for Zoom here

Purchase And the Roots of Rhythm Remain (hardcover, $40) from CW here or call the store to order (505) 988-4226.

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Venue

For 46 years, Collected Works Bookstore has served as Santa Fe’s source for all things literary. We are Santa Fe's oldest locally-owned independent bookstore, nestled just blocks away from the historic downtown Plaza. We are home to thousands of titles spanning all genres of local, national and international authors. If you're looking for a specific book, come in or call us - our booksellers are happy to help.​

We are happy to welcome you to our beloved community hub. Come in, buy a book, and get comfortable with a cup of coffee from our coffeehouse in front of our fireplace, on one of our couches or outside on our patio. Collected Works hosts over 70 author/poet events annually, be sure to stay informed of our event schedule by signing up to receive our weekly email.​

Collected Works' Coffeehouse is run by our team. The coffeehouse is set within the bookstore and features light fare, free high-speed wifi access, comfortable seating, and great books.

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reachout to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Bob Dylan Center Book Club: And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey through Global Music

Sep 22, 5 PM CT • Tulsa: Bob Dylan Center • 116 E Mathew Brady St, Tulsa, OK 74103

Legendary producer Joe Boyd has applied his keen ear and studio wizardry to folk-rock masterpieces by a remarkable range of artists including Nick Drake, Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band, Taj Mahal, Billy Bragg, 10,000 Maniacs and R.E.M.

Following the 2010 publication of his critically acclaimed memoir “White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s,” Boyd travelled the world—from Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro to Lagos and Soweto to Hungary and India—to study the remarkable music made by a diverse array of cultures. The resulting book, “And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey through Global Music” is a sweeping study of the impact that sounds from over the horizon and below the equator have had on jazz, R&B and rock ‘n’ roll, and a celebration of music as a truly global language that speaks beyond geographic boundaries. Boyd describes his magnum opus as “a non-academic page-turner, full of anecdotes, personalities and backstories.”

Making a rare visit to the States from his home in London, Boyd will engage in an onstage conversation with American Song Archives Managing Director Steve Higgins about roots, rhythms, writing, producing, the brilliance of Richard Thompson and stage-managing the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, where Bob Dylan famously “went electric.”

“What an amazing book! Joe Boyd has distilled decades of experience and observation of how musical ideas interbreed, and how culture is formed, into a tumultuous, gripping and dramatic story. I doubt I’ll ever read a better account of the history and sociology of popular music than this one.”
—Brian Eno

“Joe Boyd has an acute ear for music and an astute eye for talent that has led him around the world, recording and returning with music that has been and will be an indelible and fascinating part of our culture. Here he reveals the searching intellect, the generous spirit, and the deep heart beneath his extraordinary life’s work.”
—T Bone Burnett

This event is free with admission; limited-capacity general admission seating available on a first- come, first-served basis.

This event will be livestreamed for Bob Dylan Center members.

Details:

Sunday, Sept. 22
5 p.m. CT
Bob Dylan Center
116 E. Reconciliation Way, Tulsa, OK 74103

Tickets:

Free with Bob Dylan Center admission

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Venue

The Bob Dylan Center inspires and celebrates fearless creativity by exploring the music and artistry of the Nobel Prize–winning singer-songwriter as a catalyst for personal expression and cultural change.

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reachout to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Joe Boyd: And the Roots of Rhythm Remain

Sep 20, 11 AM CT • Nashville: Hilton Nashville Downtown • 121 4th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37201

Legendary producer (Nick Drake, Pink Floyd, REM, Fairport Convention, etc) and author of acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s, presents words and music from his remarkable new book, And the Roots of Rhythm Remain, and answers questions from the audience.

"What an amazing book! Joe Boyd has distilled decades of experience and observation of how musical ideas interbreed, and how culture is formed, into a tumultuous, gripping and dramatic story. I doubt I'll ever read a better account of the history and sociology of popular music than this one. It has me saying ‘Wow' on every page.” - Brian Eno

https://www.joeboyd.co.uk/

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Interlocutor

A roots music renaissance man, Buddy Miller has made a name for himself as a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer, and he's worked with an impressive array of artists as well as creating a well-regarded body of work on his own. As a guitarist, Miller's work is rich, soulful, and evocative, more focused on atmosphere and tone than dazzling the listener with technique, while his songwriting offers an intimate glimpse into many sides of the human experience, and his production work lends a natural sound to the recordings that's honest but casts the artists in their best light. On 1997's Poison Love, Miller fused a classic country sound with the sensibility of a contemporary singer/songwriter, and on 2001's Buddy & Julie Miller (the first of several collaborations with his wife and creative partner), the slightly rough grain of his voice wove itself around her higher, more idiosyncratic sound. 2004's Universal United House of Prayer melded blues, rock, and country accents with the passion of gospel music, and Miller pushed the boundaries of country guitar on 2011's The Majestic Silver Strings, a collaboration with fellow pickers Bill Frisell, Greg Leisz, and Marc Ribot. Miller's work as a producer and sideman kept him busy in the 2010s, though he found time to cut albums in tandem with songwriter Jim Lauderdale (2012's Buddy & Jim) and Julie Miller (2019's Breakdown on 20th Ave. South).

About the Venue

“Each year the Americana Music Association seems to outdo themselves in curating a rich lineup of roots and Americana artists that you simply cannot get anywhere else.” – No Depression

Our 24th annual AMERICANAFEST will take place September 17-21, 2024, bringing together fans and industry professionals alike, offering five days of celebration through seminars, panels and networking  opportunities by day and raw, intimate showcases each night.

Join us in celebrating 25 years of the Americana Music Association this year and buy your pass today!

Snag a Silver Pass for access to our daytime conference, priority admission to showcases, and first dibs on RSVP events. Only want the showcase experience? Our Festival Pass gets you into all evening performances and select special events. Choose what best suits you and curate your own experience.

Don’t forget about our flagship event, The Americana Honors & Awards show!

Learn more about the types of passes we offer here.

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reachout to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Joe Boyd Distinguished Lecture at Middle Tennessee State University

Sep 19, 5 PM CT • Murfreesboro, TN: Middle Tennessee State University, BAS LOB-E, BAS STATE FARM ROOM (S102) • 1301 E Main St, Murfreesboro, TN 37132

You are invited to a distinguished lecture by Joe Boyd, the legendary music producer who has worked with artists such as Nick Drake, Pink Floyd, REM, Fairport Convention, Toots and the Maytals, and many more. He will be speaking about his forthcoming book, And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a Journey through Global Music. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

For more information, please contact Dr. Mark Doyle: mdoyle@mtsu.edu

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Venue

https://www.mtsu.edu/campuslife/events/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D1191597406

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reachout to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Joe Boyd: And the Roots of Rhythm Remain

Sep 16, 7:30 PM ET • Chicago: Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall • 4544 N Lincoln Ave, 60625

Legendary producer (Nick Drake, Pink Floyd, REM, Fairport Convention, etc) and author of acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s, presents words and music from his remarkable new book, And the Roots of Rhythm Remain, and answers questions from the audience.

"What an amazing book! Joe Boyd has distilled decades of experience and observation of how musical ideas interbreed, and how culture is formed, into a tumultuous, gripping and dramatic story. I doubt I'll ever read a better account of the history and sociology of popular music than this one. It has me saying ‘Wow' on every page.” - Brian Eno

https://www.joeboyd.co.uk/

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Venue

The Old Town School of Folk Music teaches and celebrates music and cultural expressions rooted in the traditions of diverse American and global communities.

Founded in 1957, the Old Town School of Folk Music provides a wide range of music, dance, theater, and visual arts courses to people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. Whatever one's interest, the Old Town School provides broad access to more than 700 accredited class offerings, private lessons, and workshops that span an array of artistic genres.

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reachout to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain: Legendary Producer Joe Boyd in Conversation with David Byrne

Sep 11, 6 PM ET • New York City: Albertine Books • 972 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10075

“What an amazing book! I doubt I’ll ever read a better account of the history and sociology of popular music than this one. It has me saying ‘Wow’ on every page.” – Brian Eno

Known to many as the legendary producer behind notable recordings from Nick Drake, Pink Floyd, R.E.M., Joe Boyd will discuss his latest book, And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain: A Journey Through Global Music (ZE Books) with David Byrne.

Informed by decades of travel, research, interviews, deep listening, and many years spent producing groundbreaking music in Cuba, Brazil, Bulgaria, Mali, Hungary, Spain, India, the UK and beyond, And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain is a riveting tour of the music that shaped how our world sounds.
Filled with engaging anecdotes (did you know that Frank Sinatra owed his career to a tango singer from Buenos Aires?) and vivid personalities, And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain is a work of breathtaking scale from a keen observer and gifted raconteur who’s been there and seen it all.

The conversation will be in English. It is free with RSVP. Click here for tickets.

This event is co-organized with the World Music Institute.

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Interlocutor

David Byrne is a musician, performer, writer and multidisciplinary artist whose creative ventures have captivated audiences since 1975 when he co-founded the renowned group Talking Heads. Recent works include Here Lies Love, a musical with music by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim (2023), Theater of the Mind, an immersive journey co-created by Byrne & writer Mala Gaonkar (2022/23), SOCIAL! at The Park Avenue Armory, the Broadway production of David Byrne’s American Utopia (2019) as well as the Spike Lee directed film version (2020), the launch of his Reasons to be Cheerful online magazine (2019) and the solo album American Utopia (2018). To date, Byrne has published five books including How Music Works (2012).

About the Venue

Tucked inside the historic Payne Whitney mansion, Albertine is the only bookshop in New York devoted solely to books in French and English with more than 14,000 contemporary and classic titles from 30 French-speaking countries.

As an integral part of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the Albertine bookshop brings to life the French government’s commitment to French-American intellectual exchange. The space reflects its belief in the power of literature and the humanities to increase understanding and friendship across borders, and in the power of books as a common good for a better world.

In partnership with the Cultural Services, Albertine hosts lively debates and discussions exploring popular and classical culture through a modern and global lens.

French books at Albertine comply with the French law that states that book prices cannot be reduced more than 5 percent. Fixed book prices protect a rich network of publishers and booksellers in France and nourish its “biblio-diversity”

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reach out to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Joe Boyd, author of And the Roots of Rhythm Remain, in conversation with Yosvany Terry

Sep 9, 7 PM ET • Cambridge, MA: Porter Square Books • 25 White St., Cambridge, MA 02140

Porter Square Books is excited to welcome Joe Boyd for the release of And the Roots of Rhythm Remain! Musician and composer Yosvany Terry will join Boyd in conversation. This event will take place on Monday, September 9 at 7pm at Porter Square Books (25 White St. Cambridge, MA 02140).

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Interlocutor

Born into a musical family in Camaguey, Cuba. Yosvany went on to classical music training in Havana at the prestigious National School of Arts (ENA) and Amadeo Roldan Conservatory. After graduating, Yosvany worked with major figures in every realm of Cuban music including pianists Chucho Valdes, and Frank Emilio and the celebrated nueva trova singer/guitarist Silvio Rodriguez. From his earliest days in New York, Yosvany has been welcomed by a broad range of artists in the jazz and contemporary music community; playing with, Steve Coleman, Rufus Reid, Gonzalo Rubalcaba,
Roy Hargrove, Vijay Iyer, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Avishai Cohen, Baptiste Trotignon,
Eddie Palmieri, and Gerald Clayton.

Yosvany has continued his music education in New York, he studied composition,
orchestration and counterpoint with Leo Edward, Rudolph Palmer. Yosvany has received a number of commissions as well as grants to support both his performance and composition work. He is a recipient of the prestigious Doris Duke Artist Award of the class 2015. His ‘New Throned King’ album received a Grammy Award Nomination for “Best Latin Jazz Album”.
A key aspect of his work is educating the next generation of musicians both here, and in
Cuba. He has taught at prestigious institutions across the United States and Canada.
He regularly visits his alma maters in Cuba to give workshops and master classes.
In 2015, Yosvany joined the full time faculty at Harvard University as Senior Lecture and
Director of Jazz Ensembles in the Department of Music.

About the Venue

https://www.portersquarebooks.com/

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reach out to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Joe Boyd joins PW Director of Publishing Joshua Jelly-Schapiro to discuss the legendary producer’s long-awaited new book, And the Roots of Rhythm Remain

Sep 8, 4 PM ET • Brooklyn, NY: Pioneer Works Media Lab • 159 Pioneer St, Brooklyn, NY 11231

Joe Boyd will be appearing at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn on September 8 for a live conversation with writer, geographer and Pioneer Works Director of Publishing Joshua Jelly-Shapiro to discuss Boyd’s new book, And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey through Global Music. The conversation, part of Pioneer Works’ ‘Second Sundays’ programming, will be broadcast live as part of the venue’s Broadcast Radio Hour.

About the Book

“You haven’t heard this before!" the accordion flourish seemed to proclaim. Paul Simon told Joe Boyd that he immediately knew it would open Graceland, the multi-platinum album that helped usher in the 1980s “world music” boom. Yet that movement had roots extending back through the decades and across continents: tango on the eve of World War I, Latin dance across the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, reggae in the ’70s, pre-War samba and pre-Beatles bossa nova, Eastern European ensembles filling capitalist concert halls during the Cold War, Indian ragas changing rock and roll in the 1960s, the folk music–inspired classical composers of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this sweeping history compiled from more than a decade of travel, research, interviews, and deep listening, Boyd sets out to explore centuries of fascinating backstories to these sounds. He shows how personalities, events, and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston, and Rio are as colorful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon, or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon. The one-of-a-kind result is And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: a glorious, symphonic celebration of the music that shapes our world.

About the Author

Joe Boyd is a record producer and writer, known for his acclaimed memoir, White Bicycles. Artists he has produced include Nick Drake, R.E.M., Toots and the Maytals, Richard Thompson, Pink Floyd, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and ¡Cubanismo! among many others over the course of a nearly sixty-year career. 

After graduating from Harvard in 1964, he tour-managed Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, and others before serving as production manager for the historic 1965 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. He then moved to London to open Elektra Records’ office and started the famous UFO club, which became the center of London’s psychedelic revolution. In 1979 he launched his own label, Hannibal Records, which was at the forefront of bringing global artists to western audiences. As a film producer, his credits include Amazing Grace, Scandal,and Jimi Hendrix. A gifted raconteur, he appears frequently on radio, podcasts and documentaries.

About the Interlocutor

Joshua Jelly-Schapiro is a geographer and writer whose books include "Names of New York," "Island People: The Caribbean and the World," and, with Rebecca Solnit, "Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas."  He is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books, and he has also written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper's Magazine, The Nation, and Artforum, among many other publications. He speaks and lectures widely, and currently directs the popular Author Talks series at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. Jelly-Schapiro has taught at Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, and NYU, where he is a scholar-in-residence at the Institute for Public Knowledge, and teaches in the program in Cultural Reporting and Criticism.

About the Venue

Since 2013, Pioneer Works has hosted Second Sundays, a free monthly open house. Highlighting our programs, artists in residence, and Red Hook community members, Second Sundays features open studios, exhibitions, workshops, live music, and food across all three floors and in our garden. Join us on September 8th for our reopening weekend, following an exciting period of construction and improvements to our home. It’s an all day affair with previews from a new Met Opera commision, an exhibition tour led by artist Alejandro García Contreras, live music and more! As always, Second Sundays are free and open to all. Food and drink by Brooklyn Curry Project and Pioneer Works Bar.

For more information on And The Roots Of Rhythm Remain, please reach out to Matt Hanks (mhanks@shorefire.com), Chris Taillie (ctaillie@shorefire.com), and Henry Thomas (hthomas@shorefire.com) at Shore Fire Media.

Blue Hill Books and Cynthia Winings Gallery Present a Book Launch for Jonathan Lethem’s Cellophane Bricks

Jul 18, 6 PM EST • Blue Hill, ME: Cynthia Winings Gallery • 24 Parker Point Road

Join us at Cynthia Winings Gallery in Blue Hill for an event with Jonathan Lethem in celebration of his new book, Cellophane Bricks: A Life in Visual Culture.

Many know Jonathan Lethem as one of our most celebrated and eclectic writers, whose iconic novels—Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress of Solitude, Chronic City, among many others—play with genres and storytelling modes like a DJ mixing music. But Lethem grew up in his father’s studio, went to art school, and, in his own words, “made hundreds if not thousands of drawings, collages, paintings, hand-drawn comics, and even two animated shorts” before diverting, at nineteen, to prose.

We’re excited to launch Cellophane Bricks, which gathers a lifetime of Lethem’s art-writing, along with stunning, full-color images collected by the author. Here we tour Lethem’s fictions in response to (and in exchange for) artworks by his friends; his meditations on comics and graffiti art; his collaborations with artists and interventions into visual culture, and his portrait of the museum that was and continues to be his home, untethered from geography. Cellophane Bricks comprises a stealth memoir of Jonathan Lethem’s parallel life in visual culture.

For all press inquiries please contact Alexander Galan, ag@vidoun.com or Thora Siemsen, tds@vidoun.com

Jonathan Lethem is the author of Brooklyn Crime Novel and twelve other novels. His stories and essays have been collected in five volumes, and his work translated into over thirty languages. He has been recipient of The National Book Critics Circle Award, The World Fantasy Award, The Berlin Prize, and a MacArthur Fellowship.

Papercuts Presents: Memoir Talk with Adele Bertei, in Conversation with Jenny Hubbard

Jul 14, 5:30 PM EST • Jamaica Plain, MA: Loring Greenough House • 12 South St.

Papercuts is delighted to host an evening with trailblazing rock musician, filmmaker, and memoirist Adele Bertei, for a conversation about her latest book, Twist. This event will take place on Sunday July 14 at 5:30 p.m., outdoors in the garden of the Loring-Greenough House (or inside, in case of inclement weather), located at 12 South St, Jamaica Plain, just a few blocks down the street from our shop! Bring your own lawn chairs or blankets for sitting!

Adele Bertei's band, the Bloods, based out of NYC during the early 1980s, is recognized as the first-ever band comprised entirely of publicly out gay women, and one of the U.S.'s first all-girl bands in general. She was also an original member of the Contortions, a no wave band featured on Brian Eno's seminal No New York album. Bertei's music career has also included frequent collaborations with Thomas Dolby including his international dance pop hit "Hyperactive!", and providing backing vocals for artists ranging from Whitney Houston to Culture Club to Tears for Fears.

Bertei was a lead actor in Lizzie Borden's underground cult classic film Born in Flames, and in experimental filmmakers Beth and Scott B'sThe Offenders, which is now a part of the Museum of Modern Art's film collection. Reading prose and poetry, she opened for writers such as William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and Kathy Acker among others. Her stories and essays have been included in the compilations The New Fuck You; Adventures in Lesbian Reading edited by Eileen Myles, It’s So You edited by Michelle Tea, and Evelyn McDonnell’s Women Who Rock.

Twist, Bertei's new memoir, is a harrowing and electric story of transforming trauma through art, pluck, and imagination, as told through her young alter ego, Maddie Twist. Twist is both a personal personal history of queer culture from a working-class view, and an argument against the concept of the “misery memoir.”

Adele Bertei began playing music in Cleveland with Pere Ubu’s legendary Peter Laughner, and as an original member of the Contortions, produced by Brian Eno on No New York. She was the pioneering creator of  The Bloods—the first out, queer, all-women-rock band. Her singing and songwriting career includes recording, performing live, and writing for such diverse acts as Thomas Dolby, Tears for Fears, Culture Club, Whitney Houston, Scritti Politti, Sheena Easton, Jellybean Benitez, Lydia Lunch, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, the Pointer Sisters, and John Lurie. Bertei played a lead role in Lizzie Borden’s seminal feminist sci-fi film Born in Flames. She is the author of two previous books: Peter and the Wolves (a memoir) and Why Labelle Matters, a finalist for the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards. Twist: An American Girl is her origin story.

Book Launch: Jonathan Lethem and Mass MoCA’s Denise Markonish Discuss Cellophane Bricks

Jul 11, 6 PM EST • North Adams, MA: MASS MoCA • 1111 Mass MoCA Way

Join ZE Books at Mass MoCA’s Research & Development Store on July 11 for a captivating conversation with Denise Markonish, MASS MoCA Chief Curator, and author Jonathan Lethem as they venture into a discussion of Lethem’s latest book Cellophane Bricks: A Life in Visual Culture

Many know Jonathan Lethem as one of our most celebrated and eclectic writers, whose iconic novels—Motherless Brooklyn, The Fortress of Solitude, Chronic City, among many others—play with genres and storytelling modes like a DJ mixing music. But Lethem grew up in his father’s studio, went to art school, and, in his own words, “made hundreds if not thousands of drawings, collages, paintings, hand-drawn comics, and even two animated shorts” before diverting, at nineteen, to prose.

We’re excited to launch Cellophane Bricks, which gathers a lifetime of Lethem’s art-writing, along with stunning, full-color images collected by the author. Here we tour Lethem’s fictions in response to (and in exchange for) artworks by his friends; his meditations on comics and graffiti art; his collaborations with artists and interventions into visual culture, and his portrait of the museum that was and continues to be his home, untethered from geography. Cellophane Bricks comprises a stealth memoir of Jonathan Lethem’s parallel life in visual culture.

For all press inquiries please contact Alexander Galan, ag@vidoun.com or Thora Siemsen, tds@vidoun.com

Jonathan Lethem is the author of Brooklyn Crime Novel and twelve other novels. His stories and essays have been collected in five volumes, and his work translated into over thirty languages. He has been recipient of The National Book Critics Circle Award, The World Fantasy Award, The Berlin Prize, and a MacArthur Fellowship.

Adele Bertei reads from her memoir Twist: Takes of a Queer Girlhood — In conversation with director Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner

Jul 10, 7 PM EST • New York, NY: Bluestockings Bookstore • 116 Suffolk Street

Adele Bertei is a singer, actor, performer and author. She appeared as a lead character in Lizzie Borden's Born in Flames and was lead singer in the first out lesbian rock band the Bloods. She has sung/performed/written songs for Sophie B. Hawkins, Tears for Fears, Whitney Houston, Culture Club, Thomas Dolby and Sandra Bernhard. Her books include Peter and the Wolves, Why Labelle Matters, and Twist: Tales of a Queer Girlhood.

Mary Harron is a screenwriter and director, and was one of the first women music journalists, writing for Punk Magazine in the mid-1970s. Her films include I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho, The Notorious Bettie Page, Charlie Says, Dalíland, and Alias Grace.

Guinevere Turner is an actress, screenwriter and director. Her breakout role was playing Max in the lesbian dramedy Go Fish, and she played Gabby Deveaux on The L Word. She co-wrote the screenplays for the following films with Mary Harron: American Psycho, The Notorious Bettie Page, and Charlie Says. Her memoir about growing up in a cult with the Lyman family— When the World Didn't End— is out now.

Adele Bertei began playing music in Cleveland with Pere Ubu’s legendary Peter Laughner, and as an original member of the Contortions, produced by Brian Eno on No New York. She was the pioneering creator of  The Bloods—the first out, queer, all-women-rock band. Her singing and songwriting career includes recording, performing live, and writing for such diverse acts as Thomas Dolby, Tears for Fears, Culture Club, Whitney Houston, Scritti Politti, Sheena Easton, Jellybean Benitez, Lydia Lunch, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, the Pointer Sisters, and John Lurie. Bertei played a lead role in Lizzie Borden’s seminal feminist sci-fi film Born in Flames. She is the author of two previous books: Peter and the Wolves (a memoir) and Why Labelle Matters, a finalist for the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards. Twist: An American Girl is her origin story.

Jonathan Wells and Michael Zilkha in Conversation at Jeffrey Deitch

Nov 7, 6 PM EST • New York, NY: Jeffrey Deitch • 18 Wooster St, New York, NY 10013

Jeffrey Deitch and ZE Books publisher Michael Zilkha invite you to join Jonathan Wells to celebrate the publication of his debut novel The Sterns Are Listening. A reading and conversation between Jonathan and Michael will begin at 6:30, followed by a wine reception and book signing. Book sales courtesy of McNally Jackson.

For all press inquiries please contact Alexander Galan, ag@vidoun.com or Tasha Saravia, ts@vidoun.com

Jonathan Wells’s memoir The Skinny was published in 2021 by ZE Books. He has also published three collections of poems: Debris (2021), The Man with Many Pens (2015), and Train Dance (2011). His poems have been published or are forthcoming in The New Yorker, The New Republic, AGNI and the Bennington Review. The Sterns Are Listening is his first work of fiction.

Adele Bertei and Sandra Bernhard in Conversation at The Strand

Jun 15, 7 PM EST • New York, NY: The Strand

Join two legendary badass women at The Strand for a memorable evening of conversation on June 15. Queer rock-and-roll artist and author—and Strand bookselling alum! (1977–78)—Adele Bertei and actress, singer, and author Sandra Bernhard will discuss Adele’s groundbreaking coming-of-age memoir Twist.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Due to dangerous weather conditions, this event has been cancelled. We are grateful for your interest in The War Is Here: Newark 1967 and regret that we are no longer to hold this in-person event in Newark.

Bud Lee (1941-2015) was a self-taught photographer, who first took up a camera professionally in the military and received fine art training at the National Academy in New York. He had an idiosyncratic eye unconstrained by the conventions of documentary photography. Between 1967 and 1974, he worked on assignment for Life, Esquire, Rolling Stone, and many other publications, finding himself at the center of some of the biggest stories of the time. An outsider who got insider access, his work is poetic and painterly, occasionally droll and irreverent. The War Is Here is the first book to collect his photographs.

Chris Campion is a British author, journalist, and editor, and has written for publications that include The Guardian, The Times (UK), Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, NME, Dazed & Confused, and Vice. He is an archivist for the Estate of Bud Lee, the editor of The War Is Here, and contributes an essay on Bud Lee and the story behind photographs, entitled “On Avon, Between Badger and Livingston.”

Junius Williams is the Official Historian for the City of Newark, and a history maker in his own right. He is the founding Director of the Abbott Leadership Institute at Rutgers University Newark, and the Youth Media Symposium. Junius is the developer of RiseUpNewark.com, a website that traces the history of Newark through the stories of major ethnic groups that have made their mark on Newark. He is the host on the national podcast “Everything’s Political.”

A lifelong Newark resident, Richard Cammarieri is employed with the New Community Corporation as director for External Affairs/Community Engagement with a focus on Resident Organizing, Civic Engagement and Public Policy Awareness and Advocacy initiatives. He is Chairman of the Board of the New Community Federal Credit Union. He has had extensive experience in Newark grassroots community organizing and neighborhood policy development. He currently serves on the Newark Equitable Growth Advisory Commission and as Chairperson for the Newark Community Development Network and for the Board of the Believe in Newark Foundation. He is an Executive Committee member of the Newark Branch NAACP and is a founding Board member of the Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District in Newark. He graduated from Rutgers University Newark with a Bachelor’s Degree in English.

The Honorable Ras J. Baraka is the 40th Mayor of the City of Newark. Born and raised in Newark, with family who've lived in the city for more than 80 years, Mayor Baraka’s progressive approach to governing has won him accolades from grassroots organizations to the White House. His father, the late Amiri Baraka, a legendary poet, playwright and political activist, was intimately connected with the events that occurred in Newark in 1967.

Adele Bertei and Thurston Moore in Conversation at Rough Trade West

June 6, 8 PM • London: Rough Trade West

130 Talbot Rd, London W11 1JA

Adele Bertei began playing music in Cleveland with Pere Ubu’s legendary Peter Laughner, and as an original member of the Contortions, produced by Brian Eno on No New York. She was the pioneering creator of The Bloods—the first out, queer, all-women-rock band. Her singing and songwriting career includes recording, performing live, and writing for such diverse acts as Thomas Dolby, Whitney Houston, Scritti Politti, Sheena Easton, Jellybean Benitez, Lydia Lunch, the Pointer Sisters, and John Lurie. She is the author of two previous books: Peter and the Wolves (a memoir) and Why Labelle Matters, a finalist for the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards.

Thurston Moore is best known as the guitarist and vocalist of Sonic Youth which he co-founded in 1981. He lived in New York City for most of his music career and was taught guitar by Glenn Branca. He has since relocated to Stoke Newington, in the United Kingdom. In addition to performing music, he also runs the Ecstatic Peace! label.

Adele Bertei in conversation with renowned filmmaker Vivienne Dick and author, musician, and journalist Peter Murphy at Temple Bar Gallery and Studios

May 31, 6 PM • Dublin

5-9 Temple Bar, Dublin 2, D02 AC84, Ireland

Adele Bertei began playing music in Cleveland with Pere Ubu’s legendary Peter Laughner, and as an original member of the Contortions, produced by Brian Eno on No New York. She was the pioneering creator of The Bloods—the first out, queer, all-women-rock band. Her singing and songwriting career includes recording, performing live, and writing for such diverse acts as Thomas Dolby, Whitney Houston, Scritti Politti, Sheena Easton, Jellybean Benitez, Lydia Lunch, the Pointer Sisters, and John Lurie. She is the author of two previous books: Peter and the Wolves (a memoir) and Why Labelle Matters, a finalist for the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards.

Adele Bertei and David Keenan in Conversation, with a ZE Records Set by Shopping DJs, Hosted by Monorail Music at the Glad Cafe

May 27, 8 PM • Glasgow

The Glad Cafe, 1006A Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow G41 2HG

Adele Bertei began playing music in Cleveland with Pere Ubu’s legendary Peter Laughner, and as an original member of the Contortions, produced by Brian Eno on No New York. She was the pioneering creator of The Bloods—the first out, queer, all-women-rock band. Her singing and songwriting career includes recording, performing live, and writing for such diverse acts as Thomas Dolby, Whitney Houston, Scritti Politti, Sheena Easton, Jellybean Benitez, Lydia Lunch, the Pointer Sisters, and John Lurie. She is the author of two previous books: Peter and the Wolves (a memoir) and Why Labelle Matters, a finalist for the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards.

David Keenan has been among the most fascinating new Irish artists of the past ten years. A songwriter and lyricist who has continued to defy categorisation, he has released two previously critically acclaimed albums -"A Beginner's Guide to Bravery" released in 2020, which reached number 1 in the Independent Charts & the 2021 follow up "WHAT THEN?" widely received as a critical triumph. In the making of his new album Crude, he was aiming to return to his roots and embrace a rawer, unflinchingly honest form of songwriting.

Adele Bertei and Angela McRobbie in Conversation at John Marchant Gallery

May 26, 6:30 PM • Brighton

37 Ship St, Brighton, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN1 1AB

Adele Bertei began playing music in Cleveland with Pere Ubu’s legendary Peter Laughner, and as an original member of the Contortions, produced by Brian Eno on No New York. She was the pioneering creator of The Bloods—the first out, queer, all-women-rock band. Her singing and songwriting career includes recording, performing live, and writing for such diverse acts as Thomas Dolby, Whitney Houston, Scritti Politti, Sheena Easton, Jellybean Benitez, Lydia Lunch, the Pointer Sisters, and John Lurie. She is the author of two previous books: Peter and the Wolves (a memoir) and Why Labelle Matters, a finalist for the 2022 Lambda Literary Awards.

Angela McRobbie is Emeritus Professor at Goldsmiths Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies. Angela has recently been appointed as a Visiting Professor at Coventry University, Institute for Creative Cultures and Centre for Postdigital Culture.