The Oxford Companion to Jazz (Oxford Companions)

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. Contributors include such jazz insiders as Bill Crow, Samuel A. Floyd Jr., Ted Gioia, Gene Lees, Dan Morgenstern, Gunther Schuller, Richard M. Sudhalter, and Patricia Willard. Both a reference book and an engaging read, the Companion surveys the evolution of jazz from its roots in Africa and Europe until the present. Along the way, each distinctive style and period is profiled by an expert in the field. Whether your preference is ragtime, the blues, bebop, or fusion, you will find the chief characteristics and memorable performances illuminated here with a thoroughness found in no other single-volume jazz reference. The Oxford Companion to Jazz features individual biographies of the most memorable characters of this relatively young art form. Sidney Bechet, King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, and the divas of jazz song--Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan--come to life in thoughtful considerations of their influences, often turbulent personal lives, and signature styles. In addition, this book looks at the impact of jazz on American culture-in literature, film, television, and dance-and explores the essential instruments of jazz and their most memorable players. The Oxford Companion to Jazz will provide a quick reference source as well as a dynamic and broad overview for all lovers of jazz, from novices to aficionados.

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. Contributors include such jazz insiders as Bill Crow, Samuel A. Floyd Jr., Ted Gioia, Gene Lees, Dan Morgenstern, Gunther Schuller, Richard M. Sudhalter, and Patricia Willard. Both a reference book and an engaging read, the Companion surveys the evolution of jazz from its roots in Africa and Europe until the present. Along the way, each distinctive style and period is profiled by an expert in the field. Whether your preference is ragtime, the blues, bebop, or fusion, you will find the chief characteristics and memorable performances illuminated here with a thoroughness found in no other single-volume jazz reference.

The Oxford Companion to Jazz features individual biographies of the most memorable characters of this relatively young art form. Sidney Bechet, King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, and the divas of jazz song--Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan--come to life in thoughtful considerations of their influences, often turbulent personal lives, and signature styles. In addition, this book looks at the impact of jazz on American culture-in literature, film, television, and dance-and explores the essential instruments of jazz and their most memorable players.

The Oxford Companion to Jazz will provide a quick reference source as well as a dynamic and broad overview for all lovers of jazz, from novices to aficionados.

Library Journal

For this chronological guide, Oxford commissioned 61 incredibly diverse critics and scholars to expound on such topics as jazz genres/styles, the blues' influence on jazz, significant time periods, major innovators and stylists, individual instruments, jazz criticism, jazz and American literature, jazz education, and jazz in film and television. Much of the material is descriptive, and only the last chapter is devoted to the process of playing and improvising--which is odd, considering improvisation's importance. Kirchner (jazz and history, New School Univ.) should have devoted more coverage to the formal aspects of creating jazz because new listeners often have no conception of what is involved in improvisation. Except for Patricia Willard's entry on vocalists Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughn, women's contributions are unfortunately slighted. The book would have also benefited from a list of references and featured songs at the end of each chapter. Despite these drawbacks, this work is an effective single-volume device, leading current listeners to the music while including enough newer scholarship to retain the interest of connoisseurs. Recommended for academic, public, and music libraries.--William G. Kenz, Minnesota State Univ., Moorhead Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

African roots of jazz -- European roots of jazz -- Ragtime then and now -- The early origins of jazz -- New York roots: Black Broadway, James Reese Europe, early pianists -- The blues in jazz -- Bessie Smith -- King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, and Sidney Bechet: Ménage à trois, New Orleans style -- Louis Armstrong -- Bix Beiderbecke -- Duke Ellington -- Hot music in the 1920s: the "Jazz Age," appearances and realities -- Pianists of the 1920s and 1930s -- Coleman Hawkins -- Lester Young -- Streamlining jazz: major soloists of the 1930s and 1940s -- Jazz singing: between blues and bebop -- Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, and Billie Holiday -- Jazz and the American song -- Pre-swing era big bands and jazz composing and arranging -- Swing era big bands and jazz composing and arranging -- The advent of bebop -- The New Orleans revival -- Charlie Parker -- Cool jazz and West Coast jazz -- Jazz and classical music: to the third stream and beyond -- Pianists of the 1940s and 1950s -- Hard bop -- Miles Davis -- Big bands and jazz composing and arranging after World War II -- Thelonius Monk and Charles Mingus -- John Coltrane -- The avant-garde, 1949-1967 -- Pianists of the 1960s and 1970s -- Jazz singing since the 1940s -- Jazz since 1968 -- Fusion -- Jazz repertory -- Latin jazz -- Jazz in Europe: the real world music or the full circle -- Jazz and Brazilian music -- Jazz in Africa: the ins and outs -- Jazz in Japan -- Jazz in Canada and Australia -- The clarinet in jazz -- The saxophone in jazz -- The trumpet in jazz -- The trombone in jazz -- The electric guitar and vibraphone in jazz: batteries not included -- Miscellaneous instruments in jazz -- The bass in jazz -- Jazz drumming -- Jazz and dance -- Jazz and film and television -- Jazz clubs -- Jazz and American literature -- Jazz criticism -- Jazz education -- Recorded jazz -- Jazz improvisation and concepts of virtuosity. The colorful expansive history of jazz resonates in this unique collection of 60 essays commissioned from today's top jazz performers, writers, and scholars. Both a reference book and an engaging read, the Companion surveys the evolution of jazz from its roots in Africa and Europe until the present. Along the way, each distinctive style and period is profiled by an expert in the field. The lives of the jazz greats and the influence of jazz on other aspects of culture are also presented in these fascinating essays "Essays cover major historical trends and figures, discuss jazz in different countries, review the role of most instruments and consider the place of jazz in other arts, like dance, literature and film." N.Y. Times Book Rev. "This work is an effective single-volume device, leading current listeners to the music while including enough newer scholarship to retain the interest of connoisseurs." Libr J