The History of Jazz

If you are looking for scientific dissertation about history of jazz, this is The One. If you are looking for a book for someone that knows nothing about jazz and wants some fun, go elsewhere.


Well-written, if oversimplified in parts   June 6, 2002
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I greatly enjoyed this book. Ted Gioia gives us a readable and fairly comprehensible single-volume overview of the rich and varied history of Jazz. Given that Jazz means different things to different listeners, trying to sum up in a single (and not overly thick) volume the varied facets and manifestations is a difficult task, but for the most part, I think Gioia succeeds.

The first half of the book, which deals with Jazz through the Swing era, is by far the more informative and detailed. Listeners whose main exposure to jazz has been through the neoboppers and fusion artists of the last three decades will learn a great deal about artists everyone should be investigating and appreciating. Detailed sections on the early jazz pioneers and Dixieland virtuosos are informative and engaging.

If I were to find a fault with this book, it is with the second half, which deals with Modern Jazz, beginning with bebop. I have also read the NYT review, and I agree with that reviewer, who believes that certain important figures are given short shrift. For example, Gioia cites Joe Pass' _Virtuoso_ album as one of the six greatest Jazz guitar albums of all time - but he never lists the others, and I recall no mention at all of greats such as Herb Ellis or Barney Kessel. Additionally, the last three decades are largely (in my opinion) glossed over. While it may or may not be true that no great revolutions on the scale of Bop or Free Jazz have taken place, surely the Joe Lovanos, Woody Shaws, and David Murrays of the world deserve a better and more detailed treatment.


Fills in Most Burns Blanks   March 12, 2002
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This book is a perfect compliment to Ken Burns Jazz in most respects. Gioia's writing is lucid and descriptive. He seamlessly weaves social analysis with musical analysis. Anecdotes about jazz personalities abound. Some feel that he gives too much attention and credit to Charlie Parker. As a Parker admirer, I'd say the more the merrier. My only regret is that way too many 80's and 90's artists are conspicuously absent. Look at the impact, for example that the Jazz Crusaders (Joe Sample and Larry Carlton) Yellowjackets (Russell Ferrante and Jimmy Haslip) Dave Grusin, Bob James and David Benoit have had fusing Post Modern and Traditional elements (a very different result than the "fusion" of the early to late 70's). Ted was either disinterested or unable to connect these nuances to the larger scope of the history. Otherwise, to round out the Ken Burns version of the Jazz story, read this and fill in most of the blanks.