Jazz: Books

JAZZ celebrates America's greatest original art form. Ken Burns' 10-part documentary opens at the dawn of the 20th century, incorporating American culture and historical events that interact directly with the music. From the 1890s through the ferment of the Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz Age, to the Great Depression, New Deal, Second World War, and beyond, JAZZ paints an astounding portrait of a nation and its improvisational core of music.

From birth dates to gig dates and from recordings to television specials, Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler have left no stone unturned in their quest for accurate, detailed information on the careers of 3.300 jazz musicians from around the world. Arranged alphabetically according to last name, each entry of this book chronologically lists the highlights of every jazz musician's career. Highly accessible and vigorously researched, The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz is, quite simply, the most comprehensive jazz encyclopedia available.

With more than 2,000 biographies and 200 photos, it spans the history of jazz from its origins to 1959. But more than a biographical dictionary, the book also features essays on the jazz tradition, its major players and composers, the relationship between jazz and classical music (written by Gunther Schuller), a social history of jazz in America, the jazzman as critic, and a grammar of jazz language.

The free jazz revolution that began in the mid-1950s represented an artistic and sociopolitical response to the economic, racial, and musical climate of jazz and the nation. In parallel with the American civil rights movement, free jazz exemplified an escape from the restrictive rules of musical performance with an emphasis on individual expression and musical democracy. Directing readers to outstanding recorded performances, it serves as an essential introduction to this difficult but rewarding music, offering a scholarly historical and cultural overview that provides a critical assessment of one of the most misunderstood periods in American music.

Do you remember those musicians who played on the soundtrack of New York, New York, Last Tango in Paris, Breathless, Anatomy of a Murder, Swing Time, Monterey Jazz, Last of the Blue Devils, or American Graffiti? Can you name the screen appearances of Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Roosevelt Sykes, Thelonious Monk, Lennie Tristano, Sonny Rollins, Lena Horne? Jazz in the Movies will make sure you never forget, with an index of t ,477 jazz and blues artists, 80 rare photos, and capsule reviews of nearly 4,000 foreign and domestic films. One of the most exhaustive reference works on either jazz or the movies ever devised.

The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, second edition is the largest, most comprehensive and accurate reference work on jazz ever published, putting the world of jazz at your fingertips. With articles on every aspect of the field, from jazz groups, composers and arrangers to instruments, terms, record labels and venues, the new edition is the ideal companion for scholars and enthusiasts in this rapidly growing field.The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, second edition is unique: No other title covers jazz to this extent across all forms and styles The only way to be completely up-to-date with the full scope of writing in this field Provides new perspectives to established areas of study--musicology, film and media, American studies, modern social history, women's studies and cultural studies, to name a few Offers a one-stop resource to all the key names in the jazz world

Jazz and its colorful, expansive history resonate in this unique collection of 60 essays specially-commissioned from today's top jazz performers, writers, and scholars. Both a reference book and an engaging read, this Companion surveys the evolution of jazz from its roots in Africa and Europe to today. The Oxford Companion to Jazz provides a quick reference source as well as a dynamic and broad overview for all lovers of jazz, from novices to aficionados.

An anthology of biographies of over 1,000 U.S. musicians born before 1920. Primarily focuses on pre-modern stylists. The informative biographies give the essential details of each musician's life and career, and jazz greats jostle with unknowns for the readers attention. This completely revised edition adds much new information to the musical histories of the players, and the biographies of some of the major figures have been rewritten to incorporate recent research.