Explore the Origins of Jazz with Ted Gioia's Comprehensive History

Amazon Customer: A must read.....you will love it......amazing.

Canada on Apr 12, 2022

Filipe Correia Lube: Comecei a ler este livro esperando um guia rápido sobre o universo do jazz. Na verdade ganhei insights sobre aspectos históricos, teóricos/musicais e sociais muito mais profundos do que esperava. O tipo de obra que abre mais portas do que fecha. Que nos desperta a mais profunda curiosidade e admiração sobre o tema em questão.

Brazil on Aug 02, 2021

Jorge A. Blanco: Ted Gioia no sólo hace un excelente trabajo en resumir más de un siglo de música, sino que lo hace con un estilo inteligible. Aun si no estás familiarizado con términos técnicos de música (como es mi caso, que sólo soy un fan, pero nunca he tocado ningún instrumento musical), el estilo de Gioia te guía de manera tal que tu amor por el género sólo se enriquece.

Lo mejor es que está lleno de referencias a discos ineludibles y al final tiene una lista de qué grabaciones y discos oír mientras vas leyendo el libro. No puedo recomendarlo lo suficiente.

Mexico on Sep 19, 2020

Scott Hedegard: After having purchased and read Gioia's superb book on blues, I naturally wanted to read up on jazz and its history, and this book for the most part is extremely passionate, accurate, and has made points I had thought of myself, such as the indelible influence on jazz from both the blues and especially ragtime, particularly the works of Scott Joplin. I am pleased to have discovered Bix Beiderbecke and Jack Trambauer and ordered an incredible CD featuring the legendary cornetist, saxophonist, and as a plus, some tunes with jazz guitarist Eddie Lang spicing up the tunes. Truly, Beiderbecke, and others of the Chicago early jazz scene lifted the Dixieland New Orleans style from its somewhat flamboyant styles and started the movement that would become swing in a few years.
Plus, my admiration for Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Charlie Christian was verified by Gioia, certainly a far more educated person on jazz than most people ever will be. And this from a guy who also loves metal, blues, classic rock, the early rockers like the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Beatles, Dave Clark Five, etc. The musician in me is attracted to so many styles it's ridiculous. We learn of the beginnings of...

United States on Apr 07, 2018

Peter Sommer: This should be more properly be entitled A History of Jazz rather than The History. All types of history of course consist of making selections of events and then presenting a narrative. Giola's book is no exception and anyone with a love of jazz will at various points feel that some artists are under-represented while others given surprising prominence. For novice readers looking for a quick over-view of jazz history and trends the book is probably over-long and detailed. Actually you'd do better with Gary Giddin's set of DVDs which have the virtue of taking you straight to what the music/artist sounds like - something you can't get from a book. But if you already have some familiarity there's much to enjoy. Giola is, like any historian and critic, entitled to his views and you'll find his descriptions of influences interesting - many leading musicians did not confine themselves simply to reacting to predecessor jazzers. Every so often you may be mildly irritated by Giola's showing off of his breadth of listening and reading and his assertions of how right and perceptive he is compared with other critics. But I guess that's how critics behave.

United Kingdom on Jan 29, 2018

Nicholas McRae: I've been a casual listener of jazz for most of the last decade, but only since starting a vinyl collection have I become more serious about it. Since then, I've found the genre overwhelming and have wanted to string a narrative through my listening habits: I wanted to understand the beginnings, the changes, the middle, the changes, up the the modern stuff. And in terms of my reading habits I wanted this done in a no-nonsense, factual, easy to read way.

Ted Gioia offers exactly that with this book. His understanding of the history of jazz, and the musicianship of the players involved, is huge, and his writing ability gets the point across in a plain, easy to understand, fluid, and accurate way. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants an accurate and high-level account of jazz history.

Canada on Jul 18, 2015

Amazon Customer: I am certainly not a musician, and just a casual listener of jazz music. However, I found this book very interesting, informative and readable. I found it piqued my interest in learning more about the history of jazz, and some of its great performers and performances. Gioia does an excellent job - with minor exceptions - of interweaving three themes throughout the book. He sets the scene in American history - his historical accounts of 18th and 19th century New Orleans are particularly fascinating - in which the music existed. He does a great job of providing detailed accounts of the great jazz performers and their music. My personal view is that very little awareness of the artist or his / her most noted works is needed to appreciate and understand these descriptions. The third theme is the changes in the styles / trends / preferences of jazz music over the years. Certainly some understanding of music theory is helpful here, but not essential.

I found the book highly readable, although it is a long read. The two minor quibbles I have about the book are the vocabulary, and the last chapter. The vocabulary is certainly at a fairly high level. I am certainly glad I had my...

United States on Feb 16, 2014