Jazz

Jelly's Blues recounts the tumultuous life of Jelly Roll Morton (ca., 18851941). A virtuoso pianist with a larger-than-life personality, he composed such influential early jazz …

The history of jazz dance is best understood by comparing it to a tree. The art form's roots are African. Its trunk is vernacular, shaped by European influence, and exemplified by …

The life of the unparalleled purveyor of the Great American Songbook, Marian McPartland, is celebrated in this engrossing biographyFrom Bobby Short to Esperanza Spalding, across …

Taking a wide-ranging approach rare in jazz criticism, Ted Gioia's brilliant volume draws upon fields as disparate as literary criticism, art history, sociology, and aesthetic …

The social connotation of jazz in American popular culture has shifted dramatically since its emergence in the early twentieth century. Once considered youthful and even …

In the early 1930s an exciting new musical form arose in Chicago known as the gospel blues. The principal figure in the creation of this distinctive music was a blues pianist named …

In this wise, stimulating, and deeply personal book, an eminent jazz chronicler writes of his encounters with four great black musicians: Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Milt Hinton, …

The New York loft jazz scene of the 1970s was a pivotal period for uncompromising, artist-produced work. Faced with a flagging jazz economy, a group of young avant-garde …

When it was first published in 1970, this lively and fascinating book was greeted with almost universal acclaim. The American Record Guide called it "e;the best one-volume of …

More than a player's manual, this book portrays jazz bass as a vital element of 20th century American music. Citing examples from key recordings in the jazz canon, the book defines …