Visions of Jazz The First Century

by Giddins, Gary

• ISBN13: 9780195132410
• ISBN10: 0195132416
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780199879533
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-05-18
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• More Book Details

Summary

Poised to become a jazz classic, Gary Giddins' Visions of Jazz: The FirstCentury contains no less than 78 chapters illuminating the lives of virtuallyall major figures in jazz history.From Louis Armstrong's renegade style trumpet playing to Frank Sinatra'sintimate crooning, jazz critic Gary Giddins continually astonishes us with hisunparalleled insight. In just a few lines, he captures the essence of LouisArmstrong, "He could telegraph with a growl or a rolling of his eyes hisindependence, confidence, and security. As the embodiment of jazz, he made jazzthe embodiment of the individual." Giddins maintains, contrary to the opinion ofmost jazz enthusiasts, that Armstrongs voice was as much an integral part ofcreating jazz singing as his trumpet was to creating jazz. Perhaps the mostremarkable chapters in the book are those that do pay tribute to the great jazzsingers. Billie Holiday profoundly impacted music history, and Giddinseloquently honors her "gutted voice, drawled phrasing, and wayworn features."Many artists, such as Irving Berlin and Rosemary Clooney, have beentraditionally dismissed by fans and critics as merely popular derivatives oftrue jazz. Giddins finally opens the doors of jazz to include these musicians.In addition to this, he devotes an entire quarter of this volume to young,active jazz artists. No other book has so boldly expanded the horizon of jazzand its influences.Visions of Jazz is an evocative journey through the first one hundred yearsof jazz that will captivate--and challenge--musicians, music critics, and musiclovers.

Author Biography

Gary Giddins is the jazz critic for the Village Voice. He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Introduction	3	(13)
Part One: Precursors
(Native Wits)	13	(6)
Bert Williams
Al Jolson
(Come Sunday)	19	(4)
Hank Jones
Charlie Haden
(Signifying)	23	(4)
Louis Armstrong
Mills Brothers
(Birth of the Blues)	27	(4)
W. C. Handy
(Ragging the Alley)	31	(14)
Irving Berlin
(The Bard of Basin Street)	45	(6)
Spencer Williams
(The Mother of Us All)	51	(8)
Ethel Waters
(Pithecanthropus Jazzman)	59	(10)
Bunk Johnson
George Lewis
Part Two: A New Music
(Red Hot Dandy)	69	(8)
Jelly Roll Morton
(Working Man Blues)	77	(6)
King Oliver
(The Once and Future King)	83	(19)
Louis Armstrong
(Part 1: The Poker Game)	102	(16)
Duke Ellington
(Patriarch)	118	(12)
Coleman Hawkins
(Seer)	130	(7)
Pee Wee Russell
(King of the Savoy)	137	(6)
Chick Webb
(Comedy Tonight)	143	(10)
Fats Waller
Part Three: A Popular Music
(The Mirror of Swing)	153	(9)
Benny Goodman
(For Listeners, Too)	162	(8)
Jimmie Lunceford
(Westward Ho! and Back)	170	(14)
Count Basie
Lester Young
(Swinging the Blues)	184	(4)
Jimmy Rushing
(Jazz)	188	(8)
Roy Eldridge
(Joy)	196	(8)
Ella Fitzgerald
(Cinderella's Last Stand)	204	(6)
Artie Shaw
(Chameleon)	210	(4)
Budd Johnson
(Muzak Man)	214	(6)
Bobby Hackett
(The Ultimate in Theater)	220	(13)
Frank Sinatra
Part Four: A Modern Music
(Part 2: The Enlightenment)	233	(19)
Duke Ellington
(Passion Flower)	252	(5)
Billy Strayhorn
(Chasin' the Birdaphone)	257	(4)
Spike Jones
(Flying Home)	261	(22)
Charlie Parker
(The Coup and After)	283	(15)
Dizzy Gillespie
(Divine)	298	(10)
Sarah Vaughan
(Rhythm-a-ning)	308	(10)
Thelonious Monk
(Strictly Confidential)	318	(6)
Bud Powell
(North of the Border)	324	(3)
Chico O'Farrill
(Big)	327	(3)
Stan Kenton
(Resurgence)	330	(9)
Dexter Gordon
Part Five: A Mainstream Music
(Kinds of Blues)	339	(16)
Miles Davis
(Beyond Cool)	355	(10)
Gerry Mulligan
(Jazz Messenger)	365	(3)
Art Blakey
(Lady of Pain)	368	(8)
Billie Holiday
(The First Forty Years)	376	(26)
Modern Jazz Quartet
(The Comeback King)	402	(5)
Nat King Cole
(Seasons)	407	(6)
Stan Getz
(The Muse Is Heard)	413	(12)
Sonny Rollins
(The Queen)	425	(6)
Dinah Washington
(One-Man Band)	431	(8)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Part Six: An Alternative Music
(Sui Generis)	439	(5)
Art Tatum
(Bigger Than Death)	444	(11)
Charles Mingus
(Outer Curve)	455	(12)
Cecil Taylor
(This Is Our Music)	467	(9)
Ornette Coleman
(Metamorphosis)	476	(14)
John Coltrane
(Part 3: At the Pulpit)	490	(11)
Duke Ellington
(Meet This Composer)	501	(8)
Muhal Richard Abrams
(The Audience)	509	(4)
Roscoe Mitchell
Marty Ehrlich
(The Big Top)	513	(9)
Henry Threadgill
(Sweet Agony)	522	(7)
Charles Gayle
David S. Ware
Matthew Shipp
Part Seven: A Struggling Music
(Out of Africa)	529	(4)
Hannibal Peterson
(The Late Hurrah)	533	(5)
Jimmy Rowles
(American Echoes)	538	(6)
John Carter
(Back Home Again)	544	(3)
Dee Dee Bridgewater
(Gotham's Minstrel)	547	(4)
Julius Hemphill
(Last Connections)	551	(7)
Don Pullen
(The Middle Passage)	558	(4)
Gary Bartz
(Profuse)	562	(10)
David Murray
(Brotherly Love)	572	(3)
Dave Burrell
(Strong Wind Blowing)	575	(12)
Abbey Lincoln
Part Eight: A Traditional Music
(Afrobeats)	587	(6)
Randy Weston
(Going Her Way)	593	(8)
Rosemary Clooney
(Tributes)	601	(5)
Joe Henderson
(Standards and Practices)	606	(7)
Tommy Flanagan
(The Long Apprenticeship)	613	(5)
Joe Lovano
(The Parameters of Hip)	618	(4)
Geri Allen/Jacky Terrasson
(Tenor of the Times)	622	(6)
Joshua Redman
(Taking Time)	628	(2)
Stephen Scott
(All of the Above)	630	(4)
James Carter
(Interpreted)	634	(7)
Louis Armstrong
Nicholas Payton
(A Different Songbook)	641	(5)
Cassandra Wilson
(Musically Correct)	646	(9)
Don Byron
Acknowledgments	655	(2)
Index of Names	657	(14)
Index of Songs and Selected Albums	671