Visions of Jazz: The First Century
by Gary Giddins
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Description
Poised to become a classic of jazz literature, this book offers seventy-nine chapters illuminating the lives of virtually all the major figures in jazz history. From Louis Armstrong's renegade-style trumpet playing to Sarah Vaughan's operatic crooning, and from the swinging elegance of Duke Ellington to the pioneering experiments of Ornette Coleman, the author continually astonishes the reader with his unparalleled insight. Writing with the grace and wit that have endeared his prose to show more Village Voice readers for decades, Giddins also widens the scope of jazz to include such crucial American musicians as Irving Berlin, Rosemary Clooney, and Frank Sinatra, all primarily pop performers who are often dismissed by fans and critics as mere derivatives of the true jazz idiom. And he devotes an entire quarter of this landmark volume to young, still-active jazz artists, boldly expanding the horizons of jazz--and charting and exploring the music's influences as no other book has done. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Visions of Jazz is a collection of 49 essays, each one describing a different jazz musician or group, moving more or less chronologically through the 20th century. Giddins is a very good writer, which of course helps a lot, and really brings these musicians and their art alive nicely. The only flaw for the non-musician (like me) reading these essays is that Giddins is not shy about including a lot of technical musical information. That can be a bit daunting, but that sort of writing appears only in relatively small bits and never wholly overwhelms any of the chapters.
The casual music/jazz fan will not of heard of all of the musicians covered here, but a good two thirds of them will be familiar names, at least. It's easy for the reader show more to choose whether to cherry pick familiar/famous musicians to learn more about or to also gain an introduction to some new jazz artists.
All in all, a terrific, well-written jazz primer and/or reference book. show less
The casual music/jazz fan will not of heard of all of the musicians covered here, but a good two thirds of them will be familiar names, at least. It's easy for the reader show more to choose whether to cherry pick familiar/famous musicians to learn more about or to also gain an introduction to some new jazz artists.
All in all, a terrific, well-written jazz primer and/or reference book. show less
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Author Information
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1998
- Disambiguation notice
- This is the book, Visions of Jazz: The First Century, not the music CD, Visions of Jazz: A Musical Journey, which was meant to complement the book.
Classifications
- Genres
- Music, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, History, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 781.65 — Arts & recreation Music General principles and musical forms Traditions of music Jazz {equally instrumental and vocal}
- LCC
- ML385 .G53 — Music Literature on music Literature on music History and criticism Biography
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 299
- Popularity
- 106,925
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.16)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 1
