Product Description
This is the ultimate guide to two musical styles that have fundamentally influenced popular music. Divided into eras from the Early Years, then decade by decade to the Contemporary Era, learn about the development of this music from its 19th-century African-American roots up to the present day. Each decade has a Sounds & Sources discussion before introducing the Key Artists of the time and A-Z's of lesser artists. A section on Styles is also included, which covers jazz styles from Ragtime to Bebop and blues styles from Texas Blues to Rhythm & BLues. A section on instruments, a glossary and evocative photographs complete the comprehensive experience. Whether a fan of Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday or Ray Charles this is the book for you. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz & Blues
A fine addition to the compendium of books related to the history of Jazz and Blues.

The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz and Blues
It was ok the book was a little used looking but was just ok....I have gotten better from here. I should have ordered new and will next time. This was a gift so I wanted it to be a lot better....The chance I took. ... Read more

Product Description
More than 14,000 sizzling recordings in all jazz styles are now identified in the third edition of this definitive, easy-to-use guide. 1378 pages, 6-1/8" x 9-1/4"Amazon.com Review
The AMG Jazz encyclopedia is the resource of choice foranything you might care to know about jazz musicians, jazz history,and jazz recordings. The print is small and there's not a lot of spacewasted on photos and filler--in fact, the only non-text additions are51 music maps, smartly illustrating which performers played in whichcategories of a range of topics, from accordion and big bands to vocalgroups and significant fusion players. There are short essays ontopics like ragtime, cool, acid jazz, jazz history, and jazz in film,plus indexes for jazz books, venues, and videos, producers, writers,and labels, and a much-appreciated comprehensive index. The bulk ofthis extraordinary reference, however, consists of musician profiles(more than 1,700) and reviews of their recordings (more than 18,000),arranged alphabetically from Greg Abate to John Zorn, providingbiographical details of well-known figures such as Artie Shaw, DukeEllington, Thelonious Monk, as well as his son T.S. Monk and moreobscure artists such as Don Byas, Richard Tabnik, Oscar Pettiford, HotLips Page, and Chubby Jackson.

The profiles are well researched, short, and richly informative andentertaining. Take Bob Scobey, for example. In one brief paragraph,you learn he was a Dixieland trumpet player and band leader fromTucumcari, New Mexico, lived from December 9, 1916 to June 12, 1963,and was a popular trumpeter in his prime. He played in Watter's YerbaBuena Jazz Band in San Francisco (one of the most influential bands inthe Dixieland revival), formed his own Frisco Jazz Band, opened ClubBourbon Street in 1959 in Chicago, and died four years later of cancerat 46. The profiles are reason enough to appreciate AMG Jazz,but the recording reviews are even more impressive. Following eachbiography is a comprehensive list of the artist's recordings, with astar rating (0 to 5), information about who plays what, how long itruns, what sort of music it is, notable high points, low points, orboth, and any other songs or notes of historic or musical interest.Mesmerizingly addictive to jazz musicians, accessibly, enjoyablyinstructive to the novice, reliably erudite for the scholar, vastlyentertaining for the browser, and irreplaceable as a CD-purchaseguide, the All Music Guide to Jazz sets the standard for what amusic-reference book should be.--Stephanie Gold ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

A Great Resource for "Treasure Hunters!"
My reasons for liking this book is probably different than most people. As an LP collector, I welcome information on vinyl no longer in print. I also like the fact that this book tells you the original title for the LP. Many CD's change the title and add alternate cuts. If I am going to purchase CD's I'd prefer the programming to be just like it was on the original LP.

As far as the reviewer's being too easy with their ratings , I've purchased nearly 600 LP's and CD's from various sources over the past year and many of them I bought at the recommendation of this book, only 1 of them was not to my taste (The World Saxaphone Quartet's Tribute to Ellington).

I've also had the opportunity to utilize the penguin guide as well others guides, I actually found the Penguin to be way to critical on some of the greatest recordings in Jazz History. The Penguin also doesn't seem to be as user friendly to vinyl fans.

One area that this book may come up short is for fans of "Smooth Jazz" it is easy to see that the author is not a fan of this genre (neither am I for that matter)!

I'd recommend this book strongly to anyone wanting to purchase a Vinyl and CD collection. I'm sure an argument can be made for the Penguin book, it is also a sound option, but as for me I'll take the AMG!

Tadej Tu�ek, Slovenia
Excellent and essential book for jazz beginners. I'm looking forward to 4th Edition because 3rd one is already out of date! I hope that new one will have some european and avant jazz like Internet version does.

Almost perfect, essential for every beginner.
When I first began listening to jazz years ago I was overwhelmed by the amount of stuff out there.I didn't have a lot of money so I didn't want to buy albums that I wouldn't like.I wanted to get the best.This book was a god-send.Of the 100 or so jazz albums I own, I have only returned two that were recommended by this book.Most of the jazz I own was purchased after studying this book.The info is great, the reviews are usually on target and easy to read (what is so hard about the stars?).If you are just getting into jazz, or need info on an artist that you don't know anything about, get this book.ESSENTIAL.

Useful, practical... not profound
The AMG website is no doubt the best and most efficient way of finding out the basic facts about a recording, be it in circulation or not. Its printed counterpart for jazz is practical, but it lacks the depth, scholarship, style and vitality of the Penguin Guide. It also, crucially, lacks an index. However, it is helpful in that it isn't concerned -as the Penguin is- with whether a recording is available or not. That way it tantalisingly points to material that has not been reissued or is still only on vinyl. Those of us who love the hunt for rare records will be delighted by this. The writing is competent and highly informed, but stops short of erudition and wit. It's also slightly overenthusiastic, as if there were few bad recordings in jazz. Of course there are, in their thousands. And sophisticated listeners want to become discerning; they want to know why something good is good, and why something poor is poor. To become discerning you need more challenging books than this. But it remains essential as a basic reference item for its breadth alone.

The Definitive Review of Jazz Recordings
If you only want one book to guide you through the host of recordings that are/may be available then this is the one. The rating system seems to be totally objective and extremely reliable. I have bought several CDs as a direct result of the reviews and never been disappointed.

Suffice to say that I will buy each and every edition such is its value to my purchasing decisions. ... Read more

Product Description
The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD is now firmly established as the world's leading guide to recorded jazz, a mine of fascinating information and a source of insightful - often wittily trenchant - criticism. For this completely revised seventh edition, Richard Cook and Brian Morton have reassessed each artist's entry and updated the text to incorporate thousands of additional CDs. The result is an endlessly browsable companion that will prove required reading for aficionados and jazz novices alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (86)

Almost the oracle
Probably the best reference guide to Jazz in its many forms, spanning almost a century of recorded music. Background info on musicians, and on individual albums, is both helpful and informative, and European Jazz is also well represented. As you might expect, gradings sometimes tend to the personal/idiosyncratic, but overall this is a sound, and huge (1725 pages) reference work in which you're likely to find almost all of the significant jazz acts.
So why only four stars? Well, for one thing, the sneering tone adopted for many ECM artists (and a hatchet job on 'Arbor Zena'), plus the omissions of Danny Thompson, Mike Nock and Nana Vasconcelos, which I wouldn't expect in such an authoritative and expensive work. Still very good value overall.

Handy Guide
Like the Penguin Guide to Classical Music this jazz guide is worth having if you're a serious collector, even if this edition is bereft of the artist index, some of the text is a bit rambly and you won't necessarily agree with the ratings.

It's good to see short bios and remastered reissues, such as those in the Rudy Van Gelder Edition.However I was rather taken aback by this short-sighted and in my opinion incorrect observation about "Recording Quality" in the intro: "A good deal of fuss has been made (by the industry) over such new standards as 24-bit remastering.In reality, the 'noticeable improvements' in such editions are a marketing deception.Since domestic CD players are at present still no more than 16-bit, the 'superior' sound in currently converted down in any case."This implies remastering has been a pointless exercise because the sound is reduced to its lowest common denominator.Sorry, no reality there at all! Regardless of the CD player (and quality to a large extent will depend on the filtering after the laser pick-up) properly done CD remasters by technicians who know what they are doing sound better than earlier CD remasters.Perhaps not necessarily always better than LP masters, but again it depends on who did the mastering.I'm sure discerning listeners and audiophiles will agree with me, and I'm surprised at this statement from a couple of guys who are also supposed to be discerning enough to write useful reviews.

Still, a handy guide all round.

No index, opinions a little heavy-handed
New to these sort of guides, but I was hoping there'd be an index for artist appearances as performers, not just albums under their name. I'm sure it would have taken a fair chunk of pages, but in exchange some of the entries could have been less ... belabored.

Probably the first thing most of us do is look at the entries for our personal faves -- the entry for Blue Train says it's "an over-valued record" and goes on to put it down at length before mentioning that it was Coltrane's favorite recording. It makes me very suspicious that their "Core Collection" is going to bring out most of what I really want to listen to.

Tne Only One You Need
The definitive guide for Jazz. Their recommendations have always matched mine. Like the size of a paperback Bible on Jazz. Check it out and you'll want to have it for your jazz collection.

Useful as a guide for two people only: The Authors!
Don't waste your bucks or quid on this weighty tome, use allmusic.com or iTunes instead.Due to the two author concept, this rather opinionated effort (and the authors must be commended for a very big effort) is nothing more than the jazz opinion of two guys.They show little empathy for musicians they don't care for, and omit many who they do not classify as "true jazz" (whatever that might be.)At least allmusic has a team of reviewers who are sympathetic to the musicians they happen to be writing about.What's more, allmusic doesn't take the slightly smarmy approach that these two do.Forget it. ... Read more

Product Description
Throughout his career, Turner has relentlessly pushed the medium of photography to achieve an extraordinary vision with an uncompromising thirst for bold color and composition. Yet Turner feels that "what really kept my name out there were these record covers." This book showcases 100 covers and their art in close to original size; many of the covers are rare and out-of-print, now collector's items, and connect to a who's who of musical legends—from Count Basie, John Coltrane, and Stan Getz, to Quincy Jones, Freddie Hubbard, and Steely Dan. Turner's covers set new standards for this medium and transformed albums into art objects, sought after both for the music they contain and the cover art they display. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Great
Gave this book as a present to a budding photographer for a high school graduation present.Its very cool and the quality is great.He even took it with him to college - if it can withstand that it must be good!

The color of vibrancy
In the sixties and seventies I bought some of the LPs featured in these pages and I can remember being mightily impressed with Pete Turner's stunning color work.I had seen some of this, during the sixties, in Twen, the German magazine that specialized in powerful photography and graphics to illustrate features.

Turner reveals in the book that A&M's Art Director Bob Ciano decided to treat the LP cover like a magazine spread and run the graphics across the front and back and I think this is why some of Turner's photos have such impact: stunning, very graphic color images frequently presented twenty-four inches wide.Shown in this kind of format no wonder his work is difficult to forget.

I've looked through this book a lot and the work still impresses but I would query the connection to jazz.So many of these photos are surely interchangeable with many of the covers.On pages twenty-two and three there is the famous red giraffe as used on a Antonio Carlos Jobim LP, great photo which, when it was reissued four years later, ended up as a green giraffe because of a printers gaffe.Red or green it really doesn't matter and it could just have easily been on a cover for Wes Montgomery or Milt Jackson.I think Bill Claxton for Pacific and Contemporary records and especially Francis Wolff for Blue Note produced much stronger jazz cover photos because they photographed the musicians and then put them on LP covers.

Pete Turner will probably be remembered best for his almost abstract photos that appeared on lots of LP covers.The book is well printed in 175 screen with a very clean and elegant layout and it's a suitable celebration for a photographer with a unique color style.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Jazzy Art
Absolutely beautiful color photos taken all over the worldand used as cover art for the popular CTI jazz label in the 70's. Landscapes, nature, travel shots, creative concoctions and the occasional portrait, all manipulated with color, create a stunning photo album and art book.

Great!
This is a great book. A big book with clear pictures. I love the way Pete reviews his photos. He's a great artist!

For me just one minor point. Some pictures are printed over two pages. This brakes the picture in two and is a little distraction because the book doesn't fold open all the way.

But certainly value for the money, a recommendation!

wonderful book
I'm a professional jazz pianist, and a former pro photographer, and this book is just terrific. If you are a jazz fan, you already own some of these covers, and if you're interested in photography, you've probably been influenced by Turner's incredible color sense. This big collection, with his notes on the pictures and beautiful printing, is just a "must buy." I'm going to a dinner next week with a bunch of musicians, and I'm taking this book along to share. It will probably be more popular than the food.....

It's fascinating to me how the energy and freedom of jazz is reflected in Turner's approach to photography. Intensity, unusual color, surprising juxtapositions.....an inspiring blend. And he photographed the top players, the masters of jazz (with some pop in the mix, too). ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Informative and vintage technical text
This book covers the music of Coltrane, Mingus, Ornette, Cecil Taylor, late period Coltrane, Shepp, Ayler, Cherry, AACM, and Sun Ra.It is valuable as an historical text, since Jost gives good outlines of each musician's career (up to 1974, when the book was published).The German author Jost gives in depth descriptions of formal aspects of each musician's work, which is most interesting in the case of the composers whose work extensively involves the working out of musical structures.It is a very rational approach to a very complex subject.At times, I felt that the absence of discussion of political or spiritual aspects of the music was not a good thing, but it seems like Jost's goal was to discuss history and form for the most part.It's a view of Free Music from a Western point of view.

Nice, Concise, and Worth the Price
This is a great book, but, thankfully, it differs from other books on the same topic.This is a fairly in-depth analysis of the musicians' MUSIC.Don't expect long anecdotes about Cecil Taylor's life or John Coltrane's spirituality or about revolutionary politics or whatever.Jost feels that this stuff is abundant in others' books and accounts of the "free" movement, and that it has distracted us from the music itself.That's what I love about this book; the author isn't afraid to dig deep into the music.Also, most of his recorded examples are easy to find (or at least available somewhere).There isn't any of that "one time in 61' I saw Ornette play the harmonica in this pub in sweden and....".This book makes this seemingly difficult music more accessible...check it out.

Great analysis of a misunderstood genre
This book serves as an excellent survey of free jazz in the 60's. Jost uses plenty of examples and a lots of objectivity to write a book that celebrates the many virtues of this multifaceted genre, while maintaining arealistic perspective. He doesn't hesitate, however, to criticize freemusicians where it is due, giving his more frequent positive comments moreweight. A must for any student of the avante-garde. ... Read more

Product Description
This fresh look at the neglected rhythm section in jazz ensembles shows that the improvisational interplay among drums, bass, and piano is just as innovative, complex, and spontaneous as the solo. Ingrid Monson juxtaposes musicians' talk and musical examples to ask how musicians go about "saying something" through music in a way that articulates identity, politics, and race. Through interviews with Jaki Byard, Richard Davis, Sir Roland Hanna, Billy Higgins, Cecil McBee, and others, she develops a perspective on jazz improvisation that has "interactiveness" at its core, in the creation of music through improvisational interaction, in the shaping of social communities and networks through music, and in the development of cultural meanings and ideologies that inform the interpretation of jazz in twentieth-century American cultural life.

Replete with original musical transcriptions, this broad view of jazz improvisation and its emotional and cultural power will have a wide audience among jazz fans, ethnomusicologists, and anthropologists. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

interesting academic look at jazz artistry
As a former music student at Harvard, I was intrigued by the author's book, and not disappointed.Very fine interviews, and even better by a trumpet player from the classical mold.

Good crossover ethnomusicology/musicology text.
Saying Something provides a musical analysis of jazz rhythm sections and gives a first hand account of various theoretical concepts withinJazz music. This account is supported by interviews with a variety of New York based professional musicans and this givesweight to Monson's analysis.This is a well written (easy to read!!) and comprehensive text.

Trying to balance musicians, critics, and academics is tough
Ingrid Monson's volume, "Saying Something: Jazz Improvisation and Interaction" is a somewhat lesser known work following in the shadow of Paul Berliner, whom Monson pays ample tribute to. Her volume is intended to say something to all of its overlapping audiences, and it succeeds well, using interviews and close musical readings of very important pieces. There is much to say about the musical analyses, but I choose here to concentrate on the less formalistic aspects. That job will remain for another reviewer.

Monson claims that when "a musician successfully reaches a discerning audience, moves it members to applaud or shout praises, raises the energy to dramatic proportions, and leaves a sonorous memory that lingers long after, he or she has moved beyond technical experiences....and into the realm of 'saying something.'" But what does this mean? For Monson, this means to make discourse, and multivalently, to make community.

Monson moves towards thinking of music making as a community-building function, rather than communities organized by race, class, geography, or gender. In fact, those categories are attended to in terms of music, rather than the other way around. Music performance, and well as repetoire, promotion, and booking agents, create imagined communities between performers. Her approach to community-building is based in Anthony Giddens (1984) rather than Benedict Anderson (1991).

In outlining the special contributions of the rhythmic and accompaniment sections of the jazz ensemble, Monson draws special attention not only to the specifics of drum, piano, and bass, but also to the word "listening." For her, listening means "being able to respond to musical opportunities or to correct mistakes." It is an active term. Musicians must pay attention to what is going on if they "expect to say things that make sense to the other participants." Moreover, since improvisation is key to jazz performance, listening is a prerequisite for playing to the moment within a musical narrative. In the free play of conversation/improvisation, the discursive conditions may change spontaenously and unexpectedly from moment to moment, since no one person authors the narrative alone. In addition, to be told that one "doesn't listen" is a paramount challenge and insult in jazz performance. It means the performer isn't communicating with other performers, but ineptly (at best) or arrogantly (at worst) attempting to control the entire parameters of the discourse. Sociability and interaction is at the core of collective improvisation, and if it is denied, the conversation is foreclosed.

But what of the statements themselves? How do jazz phrases and sentences work in what we might call improvisation/conversation? Monson takes a page from Bakhtin (1981), discussing the notion of internal dialogism, in two aspects: 1) multiple semantic meanings that change and are changed according to the shifting demands of the relationship between the meanings and the cultural context that makes meaning sensible. 2) the "temporal context" in which things are expressed in relation to the history of other discourses.Statements are caught between two different forces of language (centripetal and centrifugal forces) Utterances are caught signifying towards the unitary center (centripetal) and away from it in their particularity (centrifugal). Thus each statement is a torn contradiction inside, and also most meaningful at the same time. A "tension-filled unity." Others have race-d and extended this concept, such as African-American poet Elizabeth Alexander, who contend for a space that moves away from bifucated division and towards an space of "myriad particulars of identity."(1992) Notice how compatible this dualistic tension formula is with W.E.B Dubois's notion of the African-American "double consciousness." These racial aspects of hegemony in both in the history of jazz reception and in the interactions of jazz musicians with others who talk about jazz and "music" are highlighted in Monson's work.

When jazz musicians talk about music departments, they recognize that the words "music department" means "Western Classical Music department." Western Classical form has been anointed at the recognized highest status, and therefore stands for (and crowding out) the space in which the term music has institutional meaning. So when jazz musicians request not to be pigeonholed by the term "jazz," we must recognize that they are speaking to the cultural politics of labeling, or naming..of telling, and of listening. Musicians recognize Foucault's truth that 'discourses construct the objects of which they speak', rather than represent them in some naive, simplistic way. At the same time, Monson is careful not to overstate the case of cultural theory in explaining or explicating the 'meaning of music.' If we leave the realm of the musician too often or too long, we are no longer listening--no longer able to respond in the free play of conversation/improvisation.

Great for rhythm section players !
There are many books about improvising jazz and the harmonies involved.This book has something extra -- coverage of the improvisational interactions that occur while playing with the other muscicians.There isa whole discussion of the rhythm section performing one large"solo" during the entire peice, underneath the soloist.Thisreally spoke to my "bass player" self. ... Read more

Product Description
A comprehensive book on jazz analysis and improvisation. Elements used in jazz improvisation are isolated for study: they are examined in recorded solos, suggestions are made for using each element in the jazz language, and specific exercises are provided for practicing the element. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

fantastic !!
This book took my jazz improv to the next level. After practicing scales and standard patterns in all keys I needed ideas to craft more sophisticated solos. This book offered a lot of insight into the nitty gritty of creative, melodic soloing. The text is comprehensive and the exercises are easy to master. Transcriptions from recorded solos by many Jazz greats show the validity and heritage of the licks and principles described. Certain licks and treatment of common chord progressions should be ingrained in one's playing so that one can fly over them without having to think. This book will show you tricks, examples and deliver insight on how to achieve this. I would recommend this book to anyone who is proficient on his/her instrument and wants to get a better understanding on how to play bebop. I am glad I bought this book and I believe no serious Jazz musician should be without it. You can't go wrong with Jerry Coker :-)

Must have book for the aspiring jazz musician.
If you go through this book and put in the practice time you would no doubt be one bad mamma jamma at jazz no matter what instrument you play.

Excellent Book on the Musical Language of Jazz
This book is an excellent book on the music language of jazz.It's not a method book on improvisation but it can be used as one.Jerry Coker points out that all of the jazz great musicians are not pulling musical notes out of the air to improvise.Their solos are truly well thought out music compositions.Jerry Coker points out that in order to create or play an improvised solo you do need to know what you aredoing.Throughout the book he has shown excerpts from various solos of very great jazz musicians, such as Charlie Parker, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Kenny Dorham just to name several.He has also shown analyses of full solos by some of these great musicians.What Jerry Coker has done is taken this book to explain the various elements of any jazz solo and presented them in a way that any intermediate level musician (possibly a beginner) could understand.I think this book is for the musician that is at an intermediate level in music or jazz music theory to benefit from it.Mr. Coker has identified many improvisational elements that goes into creating musical jazz solos from aural and written analyses of solos.For example, the number patterns, scalar patterns, 3-b9 melodic motion, target note enclosures, 7-3 melodic resolutions, linear harmonic generalizations, the difference between musical quotes and musical licks, bebop scales and more chord related scales and why they work for certain types of chords, bar-line shifts of linear harmony.Mr. Coker tactfully explains each element and how they can be connected to make good melodic sensical jazz music.He has created exercises along with a play-along CD to help the aspiring jazz musician.
This book takes the mystery or mystique out of the solos of the jazz greats.It IS possible and probable for any dedicated musician to reach that stature.In the past my lesson teacher would always tell me to play my scales and chords for solos...and I did.But nothing was making any musical sense.After studying this book, my solos now make jazz musical sense because it has musical shape and substance.
My final word is that I believe that no musician will be disappointed after studying this book.

Good For Understanding the Elements of Jazz Improvisation
This book comes with 2 CDs and the chapters are structured to show you the most commonly used elements in improvisations. It shows you real licks from the great according to what a particular chapter is about and has exercises that pertain to the material that you can practice. You can incorporate the licks into your own playing and make up your own. Lots of helpful material and good for hearing characteristic sounds found in jazz improvisations.

Great Jazz Improvisation Text
This is not a method book but a useful text laying out essential elements of jazz improvisation, and an excellent reference particularly useful for the aspiring jazz improviser seeking the scope for practicing.

The double CD contains numerous examples to illustrate each of the improvisational elements which the famous jazz educator groups into 14 chapters.Moreover, perhaps the serious jazz fan who wants to learn appreciating jazz music in a deeper context, could also benefit from this work.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description

In Austin, Texas, in 2002, a group of artists, activists, and academics led by performance studies scholar Omi Osun Joni L. Jones formed the Austin Project (tAP), which meets annually in order to provide a space for women of color and their allies to build relationships based on trust, creativity, and commitment to social justice by working together to write and perform work in the jazz aesthetic.

Inspired by this experience, this book is both an anthology of new writing and a sourcebook for those who would like to use creative writing and performance to energize their artistic, scholarly, and activist practices. Theoretical and historical essays by Omi Osun Joni L. Jones describe and define the African American tradition of art-making known as the jazz aesthetic, and explain how her own work in this tradition inspired her to start tAP.

Key artists in the tradition, from Bessie Award-winning choreographer Laurie Carlos and writer/performer Robbie McCauley to playwrights Daniel Alexander Jones and Carl Hancock Rux, worked with the women of tAP as mentors and teachers. This book brings together never-before-published, must-read materials by these nationally known artists and the transformative writing of tAP participants. A handbook for workshop leaders by Lambda Literary Award-winning writer Sharon Bridgforth, tAP's inaugural anchor artist, offers readers the tools for starting similar projects in their own communities. A full-length script of the 2005 tAP performance is an original documentation of the collaborative, breath-based, body work of the jazz aesthetic in theatre, and provides both a script for use by theatre artists and an invaluable documentation of a major transformative movement in contemporary performance

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Product Description
In this major update of the acclaimed and award-winning jazz history, Alyn Shipton challenges many of the assumptions that surround the birth and growth of jazz music. How was it that it took off all over the United States early in the 20th century, despite the accepted wisdom that everything began in New Orleans? Shipton also re-evaluates the transition from swing to be-bop, asking just how political this supposed modern jazz revolution actually was. He makes the case for jazz as a truly international music from its earliest days, charting significant developments outside the USA from the 1920s onwards.All the great names in jazz history are here, from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis and from Sidney Bechet to Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. But unlike those historians who call a halt with the death of Coltrane in 1967, Shipton continues the story with the major trends in jazz over the last 40 years: free jazz, jazz rock, world music influences, and the re-emergence of the popular jazz singer. This new edition brings the book completely up-to-date, including such names as John Medeski, Diana Krall, Django Bates, and Matthias Ruegg.There are also important new sections on Latin Jazz, and the repertory movement. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Thorough, comprehensive and historical analysis
This is an important contribution to worldwide historical jazz analysis.The author considers the traditional perspectives and evaluates them from a position of greater depth andrecent scholarship together with very helpful documentation. His conclusions taken must be taken seriously.

Recomendo
Outra noite estava eu dormindo e lendo o imenso livro A New History Of Jazz, de Alyn Shipton. Na taça ao lado, três dedos do bastante honesto Cabeça do Pote: um tinto 2001 das lusas Terras Durienses, encontrado por compreensíveis R$20,00 nos mercados de Vila Velha e cercanias. Acordando num susto lancinante ouvi um ruído dramático gerado pela agulha do toca-discos: era minha bisavó colocando Tete Montoliu, The Music I Like To Play, Volume 1 para ouvir. Olhei desconfiado: piano solo?

Não esperava grande coisa de um pianista espanhol cego tocando jazz sem cozinha. Mas confesso a boa surpresa ao ouvir, entre uma ou duas dúzias de clichês da música erudita européia, um pianista cheio de excelente técnica e profundo swing. Se é que podemos fazer tal tipo de análise, ele me soou como uma espécie de Red Garland possuído pelo espírito de Bud Powell. Colorido, veloz e preciso sem perder a emoção. Passeando por clássicos populares, como Don't Smoke Anymore, Alone Together ou Whisper Not, Tete convence até aqueles que, como eu, não apreciam beber um tinto ao som de 50 intermináveis minutos de piano solo. Recomendo ambos, piano e livro, embora Shipton não faça qualquer referência ao grande pianista espanhol em suas quase mil páginas de boa história. Merecia ser citado.

Especially recommended for college library and music history shelves.
Now in a newly revised and updated edition, A New History of Jazz is the award-winning chronicle of the evolution of this widely beloved form of music, as told by music author, publisher, editor, and critic Alyn Shipton. From the precursors to the first jazz tunes, to variations regional styles, to the "big picture" of the jazz scene that is so easily lost amid tracing its popularity in underground clubs, to the unique and colorful individuals who espoused jazz, to the migration of jazz worldwide, A New History of Jazz strives above all to be comprehensive in its chronicling. Written in a highly detailed yet accessible tone, A New History of Jazz will prove as invaluable to curious lay readers and music scholars alike. Especially recommended for college library and music history shelves.

Shipton is a master!
Alyn Shipton knows more about the history of jazz than any human on the face of the planet, and this book displays his skills at their finest.Shipton is a masterful writer and this belongs on the shelf of all who consider themselves an afficionado.Buy two copies and give one to a friend.

Authoritative
Jazz has always been a bit of a mystery for me, and only in the past few months have I made a (thus far rewarding) attempt to really understand it. I have read a couple of more basic introductions (the NPR Guide, the Complete Idiot's Guide) and found Shipton's book to be very well written and researched.It provides a great background, not only on the music, but also on the environment that created jazz.He takes pleasure in debunking some of the myths that have grown up around the music (sometimes too much pleasure), but his arguments are always backed up with research.While giving ample coverage to the giants of jazz, he also introduces the reader to many other figures who have shaped the music.Shipton is opinionated, but it always clear where he is stating an opinion.All in all, I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking to deepen their understanding and curiosity about jazz.The only real shortcoming is that the book only has a small section of photographs.I am now reading the Ken Burns book, and while I'm not ready to offer a judgment on the overall text, the pictures are certainly great--I get to see many of the people and places Shipton refers to in this very good book. ... Read more

Product Description
This classic study of jazz by renowned composer, conductor, and musical scholar Gunther Schuller was widely acclaimed on its first publication in 1968.The first of two volumes on the history and musical contribution of jazz, it takes us from the beginnings of jazz as a distinct musical style at the turn of the century to its first great flowering in the 1930's.Schuller explores the music of the great jazz soloists of the twenties--Jelly Roll Morton, Bix Beiderbecke, Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and others--and the big bands and arrangers--Fletcher Henderson, Bennie Moten, and especially Duke Ellington--placing their music in the context of the other musical cultures and languages of the 20th century and offering original analyses of many great jazz recordings.
Now reissued in paper, Early Jazz provides a musical tour of the early American jazz world for a new generation of scholars, students, and jazz fans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Fabulous in-depth look at Jazz' early development
Hardly a stone is left unturned in this look into the early development of jazz. It provides a thorough introduction to a wide range of subjects and artists, carefully reviewing each of numerous recordings.

This is not a biographical account of the lives of the early jazz artists, but is an analysis of the styles and development. From the deep south and the roots of the music, into the Midwest and Southwestern styles, the author is thorough and careful in his look.

Much more than an introduction, this certainly would be suitable for a college course in jazz development.

understanding jazz
the author gunther does a magnifent jobof affording a history of the evolution of jazz, thisin a most scholarly fashion. thus making at times somewhat academic effecting a use of words whose understanding may be elusive to the ordinary reader.

essential reference
You can argue with Schuller, and in fact, that's half the fun.He's not always right, but he's always interesting.If you're listening to early jazz and an unfamiliar band comes on, you'll be unable to resist looking them up in this book, so put the book next to the radio.

The best musical examination of 20s jazz
Jazz criticism tends to run in two groups: one, the biographical/anecdotal(often marvelous to read), and two, word pictures of how the music made thewriter feel (often awful to read).Gunther Schuller's "EarlyJazz" does what any undergraduate musicology major would do: examinethe music note by note, and explain what's going on.While this is not aneasy book to read for people like me who have no musical training (ortalent, for that matter), it is an absolutely essential book nonetheless. Schuller goes through each major musician and movement of the twenties, andshows exactly what is occurring.What worked best for me was to have therecording he was discussing playing while I read, so I could hear what hewas talking about.Anybody in love with the early music of Armstrong orEllington needs to tackle this book sooner or later.

An American Heritage.
I can't believe that no-one has reviewed this wonderful book until now. It is one of the cornerstones of jazz criticism, and the first one not written by one of these annoying pipe-smoking, foot-tapping listeners you alwaysnotice sitting at tables beside the bandstand at jazzclubs, but by a veryfine musician who has actually been 'one of the cats'. O.K., he is a Frenchhorn-player, but jazz buffs who are 'in the know' with the work of JuliusWatkins and John Graas won't mind. But seriously: His chapters onArmstrong, Jelly Roll Morton (some thirty years before the Dirty DozenBrass Band decided to dedicate a whole CD to the music of this first truly'jazz composer'), but especially Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington willenlighten everyone who is looking for a critical assesment of the music andis tired of the endless re-telling of the phoney 'romantic' storiessurrounding this music. And for the people who think they know abouteverything: One chapter is enirely dedicated to what is known as'territory' bands, the bands that only played their home town and theregion around it. Many a gem of inspired music can be unearthed in thischapter. P.S. O.K., I'm biased. Mr. Schuller autographed my hardcover copyof the book when he was conducting the Dutch Radio Symphony Orchestra, andI gatecrashed at a rehearsal. ... Read more

Product Description
The definitive text used for the time-honored Chord Scales course at Berklee College of Music, this book concentrates on scoring for every possible ensemble combination and teaches performers and arrangers how to add color, character and sophistication to chord voicings. Topics covered include: selecting appropriate harmonic tensions, understanding jazz harmony, overcoming harmonic ambiguity, experimenting with unusual combinations and non-traditional alignments, and many more. The accompanying CD includes performance examples of several different arranging techniques."A no-nonsense, meat and potatoes source of basic and not-so-basic information about everything relating to jazz writing - covers several courses worth of information."- Kenny WernerPianist, Composer and Author of Effortless Mastery ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Arguably a jazz arranger's best starting point
My first foray into jazz arranging (taking a class at the local college) used what I consider the companion book of this one: Arranging for Large Jazz Ensemble (Berklee Methods). Although there is a lot of overlap between the two, this book contains more of the fundamental information that a first time jazz arranger needs, not only including the ranges of instruments, scoring requirements, and basic compositional ideas, but also the structure of a small band and how to achieve a full sound with less instrumentation. I found that this book also presents everything in a slightly simpler, easier-to-digest manner than the other, making this a much more practical book for someone who might be wanting to learn about jazz arranging on their own. The CD contains excellent examples of all the theories and techniques covered, again, making it easy to use for someone studying on their own. All in all, I would highly recommend that this book be used in tandem with its sister book, as they complement each other quite well and together cover all the ground any jazz arranger needs to know about. Ff you have to choose between the two and you are just starting out in jazz arranging, however, this is the book you should start with first. (At least, that's what I did.)

Outstanding, and nearly perfect!
I picked up this book to help me with my Jazz Studies classes. It is amazingly simple and clear, with just enough illustrations to make things easily understood, and a great dose of exercises for practical application. I found it clearly laid out and logically arranged. It's easy to find topics that I'm looking for just from the index, and there aren't pages of unnecessary information to go through before finding the needed resources.

You will need a clear understanding of music theory, but not necessarily of specific jazz, since vocabulary specific to jazz writing is defined and clarified.

The information is laid out as a reference, with information on each instrument, scale, chord, etc., carefully presented for quick reference.

Maravilhoso - Wonderful
O Autor dá um banho em matéria de pragmatismo. É um excelente material de ensino e um bom livro para pequenas consultas também. Traduz a didática americana da melhor maneira.
The author makes a goal on pragmatism. It is an excellent material for teaching and a good book for small queries as well. Translates the american-teaching way very best.

excellent!
Well, I used old russian sources before, and had a lot of problems withunderstanding of voicings. I just can say - this book is amazing! Very clear, logical, exercises... if you need to know about how to change basic chords to more complex, this book is your helper.

A helpful book, though my experience with it was a little frustrating
The material presented is great, and will prove helpful in my study of arranging.

I did have one problem with the book however. In the introduction it states, "Because this book is intended for an expanded audience beyond students enrolled at Berklee, it includes substantial amounts of new text, many new musical examples, solutions to exercises and an accompanying CD."

Yes, it's all there except the solutions to the exercises and I am finding that frustrating. I contacted the publisher and got this reply:

Our Senior Editor clarified that the author meant the exercises begin with a measure of answers filled in for the student.They will clarify the "solutions to exercises" mention in the next printing of the book.My apologies for any confusion this may have caused you.

Anyways, I found this aspect frustrating and a hinderance to my getting the full benefit of this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is Whitney Balliett's long-awaited "big book." In it are all the jazz profiles he has written for The New Yorker during the past 24 years. These include his famous early portraits of Pee Wee Russell, Red Allen, Earl Hines, and Mary Lou Williams, done when these giants were in full flower; his recent reconstructions of the lives of such legends as Art Tatum, Coleman Hawkins, Jack Teagarden, Zoot Sims, and Dave Tough; His quick but indelible glimpses into the daily (or nocturnal) lives of Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus; and his vivid pictures of such on-the-scene masters as Red Norvo, Ornette Coleman, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Art Farmer, Michael Moore, and Tommy Flanagan. Also included are such lesser known but invaluable players as Art Hodes, Jabbo Smith, Joe Wilder, Warne Marsh, Gene Bertoncini, Joe Bushkin, and Marie Marcus.

All these profiles make the reader feel, as one observer has pointed out, that he is "sitting with Balliett and his subject and listening in." The book can be taken as a kind of history of jazz, as well as a biographical encylopedia of many of its most important performers. It can also be regarded as a model of American prose. Robert Dawidoff said of Whitney Balliett"s most recent book, Jelly Roll, Jabbo and Fats, that "few people write as well about anything as Balliett writes about jazz." And the late Philip Larkin wrote in 1982 of the "transcendence of Balliett's prose."Amazon.com Review
An earlier version of American Musicians appeared in1986. Now the author has added 17 essays to the collection,and the result is a highly personal encyclopedia of jazz history,written with Whitney Balliett's trademark lyricism. Few critics candescribe a piece of music with this kind of delicacy andprecision. And the comments that Balliett elicits from his subjectsare themselves worth the price of admission. Here, for example,pianist John Lewis goes right to the heart of jazz improvisation, andgives us a hint of what lays behind it: "When I take a solo, I try notto look at my fingers. It distracts me from music-making . . . I thinkabout other things, even other music. If you break through those mererules, destroy them, that's good, and it can become quite a marvelousexperience. It's not just sadness or joy, it's something beyond that,perhaps exhilaration, but that's rare." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

He Always Writes in Perfect Tune
I have been a musician and writer for over 50 years, and glory of glories, in Whitney Balliett's book, American Musicians II, he achieves perfect pitch in his prose when capturing the heart and soul of what music is, and the men and women who make it happen. His stories pulse with an energy that is seemingly boundless.Here is a man who has somehow gotten inside these legendary figures, some of whom I knew and many of whom I've heard in person. Balliett lets you listen through his own ears, giving you a guided tour not only of the notes on the page, and then as they take flight in the air, but also of the fascinating daily lives of these gifted individuals.I can't play like Art Tatum, but Balliett lets me sit beside him as he lays down his "perfect storm" of notes, at the end of which is this huge rainbow whose image we carry in our mind forever.If you love good music and good writing, you've come to the perfect book.Balliet is no longer with us, but he has left us a legacy that should be treasured for 32 bars unto infinity. Ron Levin, revronl@aol.com

Whitney Balliett's elegant solos.
If Whitnet Balliett were a musician, he'd probably be someone like Teddy Wilson, whose sometimes spare but dancing lines were always distinct, no matter the context. Balliett's musings on the more important jazz musicians, published originally in The New Yorker, are models of criticism that never betray his love and admiration for the music. It is unlikely that anyone will ever write as well as he has about America's most important contribution to the arts. ... Read more

Product Description
Improving "aural skills" consists of learning to discriminate one sound or group of sounds from another. This book addresses rhythmic articulations and syllables, intervals, chord patterns, chord/scales, hearing melodies, and guide-tone lines. The book is divided into two levels of difficulty for advancing students. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The best ear training book I have seen
I can't say enough good things about this book.

It is a comprehensive ear training program designed for jazz musicians and includes a CD full of exercises from the text. It covers all the important scales, chords and progressions found in jazz.

In addition to the standard ear training topics (solfege, intervals, arpeggios, inversions, etc) it also helps you to identify the chords and scales that are important in jazz rather than just the ones more relevant to classical music. Another great feature of this book is that it provides a detailed study of jazz rhythms and articulation, providing a sort of scat vocabulary to use which is far better than the more conventional ways of counting.It even provides ways of articulating some of the special effects like doits and shakes.

Traditional ear training books are often quite dry and uninteresting to work through.This book is actually fun.It is clearly written and very much focussed on jazz melodies.

Ear training is definitely benficial. With enough practice, it will allow you to look at a piece of music and hear it playing in your head. Conversely, if you hear a piece of music, you will recognise what is going on in the tune. If you are able to accurately pre-hear a piece of written music, you are less likely to make mistakes like cracked notes, it will work wonders for your transcribing, and if you are an improviser, it will help you to accurately transfer the melodies you hear in your head to your instrument.

This book really works. ... Read more

Product Description
Jazz Makers gathers together short biographies of more than 50 of jazz's greatest stars, from its early beginnings to the present. The stories of these innovative instrumentalists, bandleaders, and composers reveal the fascinating history of jazz in six parts:
* The Pioneers, including Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong, and BessieSmith
* Swing Bands and Soloists, with Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, andBillie Holiday
* The Piano Giants, featuring Fats Waller, Art Tatum, and Mary Lou Williams
* Birth of Bebop, including Dizzy Gillepsie, Charlie Parker, and MilesDavis
* Cool Jazz, Hard Bop, and Fusion, with John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins,and Stan Getz
* A Century of Jazz, featuring Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, and other contemporary greats. ... Read more

Product Description
The definitive reference on jazz recordings and performers, All Music Guide to Jazz is designed for devoted fans and newcomers alike, identifying thousands of topnotch CDs, albums, and tapes in all jazz styles. Alphabetized biographical profiles introduce readers to 1,300 jazz artists and their key recordings selected and reviewed by top critics. 30 charts. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A must for every jazz lover.
Excellent descriptions and partition. Good idea are the individual lists of instruments showing the main artists of these instruments and the style of music they play.

An improvement would be to show all artists which appear on each CD.

I am eagerly waiting for the third edition. ... Read more

Product Description
Jazz is the most colorful and varied art form in the world and it was born in one of the most colorful and varied cities, New Orleans. From the seed first planted by slave dances held in Congo Square and nurtured by early ensembles led by Buddy Belden and Joe "King" Oliver, jazz began its long winding odyssey across America and around the world, giving flower to a thousand different forms--swing, bebop, cool jazz, jazz-rock fusion--and a thousand great musicians. Now, in The History of Jazz, Ted Gioia tells the story of this music as it has never been told before, in a book that brilliantly portrays the legendary jazz players, the breakthrough styles, and the world in which it evolved.Here are the giants of jazz and the great moments of jazz history--Jelly Roll Morton ("the world's greatest hot tune writer"), Louis Armstrong (whose O-keh recordings of the mid-1920s still stand as the most significant body of work that jazz has produced), Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club, cool jazz greats such as Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, and Lester Young, Charlie Parker's surgical precision of attack, Miles Davis's 1955 performance at the Newport Jazz Festival, Ornette Coleman's experiments with atonality, Pat Metheny's visionary extension of jazz-rock fusion, the contemporary sounds of Wynton Marsalis, and the post-modernists of the Knitting Factory. Gioia provides the reader with lively portraits of these and many other great musicians, intertwined with vibrant commentary on the music they created. Gioia also evokes the many worlds of jazz, taking the reader to the swamp lands of the Mississippi Delta, the bawdy houses of New Orleans, the rent parties of Harlem, the speakeasies of Chicago during the Jazz Age, the after hours spots of corrupt Kansas city, the Cotton Club, the Savoy, and the other locales where the history of jazz was made. And as he traces the spread of this protean form, Gioia provides much insight into the social context in which the music was born. He shows for instance how the development of technology helped promote the growth of jazz--how ragtime blossomed hand-in-hand with the spread of parlor and player pianos, and how jazz rode the growing popularity of the record industry in the 1920s. We also discover how bebop grew out of the racial unrest of the 1940s and '50s, when black players, no longer content with being "entertainers," wanted to be recognized as practitioners of a serious musical form.

Jazz is a chameleon art, delighting us with the ease and rapidity with which it changes colors. Now, in Ted Gioia's The History of Jazz, we have at last a book that captures all these colors on one glorious palate. Knowledgeable, vibrant, and comprehensive, it is among the small group of books that can truly be called classics of jazz literature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

Learn about the real Jazz!
I would highly recommend this book to all Jazz lovers and those who want to learn.

Great Source for the Origins of Jazz
Very interesting study of the origin and history of jazz.
Confirms our debt to Black music in America. What an
incredible contribution to our culture!

Very Thorough
This book seems to be a thorough tale through the south east of playing seemingly non-sensical patterns to the current popular view of Jazz as it is played today, in verious forms.I am excited to read more of the book and learn more about Jazz' roots.

Good college text
When I was in college as a music major I took Jazz History.We used another of Ted Gioia's texts on West Coast Jazz as part of the required reading.Now that I am leading my own Jazz Band and trying to teach history to individuals right out of high school, I needed a quick touch-up to my foundational knowledge.This book let me know that I was on the right track and gave me some good directions to get more information.

fills in many gaps
I have read practically every jazz history book that was published in the past 50 years. Some, such as the seminal "Blues People", do a great job of exposing the socio - political aspects of the music and its makers. Others did a thorough job of detailing the events that were connected to the music. Gioia is the first that I know of to give as much attention to the social aspects as well as the musical and chronological aspects. I teach a Jazz and Politics course in the university (PoliSci dept) and Gioia's book helped me in some of the issues I needed to raise. It is still not the ultimate book - this has to written, but it is a big step forward in Jazz writing and a must for every student of the music. ... Read more

Product Description
This entertaining one-volume comprehensive history of jazz and the artists who made it popular contains musical examples so that students who do not read music will not be inhibited.Combines a rich detail of the origins of jazz with insightful biographies and contributions of jazz legends, including Duke Ellington, Count Bassie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davies, John Coltrane,and the jazz bands of the 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's.Ideal for for all Introduction to Jazz and Jazz History courses in Music, as well as African-American Studies, and the 20th Century American Studies at the undergraduate level. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Jazz textbook
The book is fine. Not in perfect condition but it's just what i need. The pages inside has highlighted pages from previous owners but that's not a big deal for me. Over all, good bargain.

A fine Jazz history
A very good Jazz history. It's my second pick after James Lincoln Collier's exceptional "The Making of Jazz".
... Read more