As chronicled in this work, jazz is currently experiencing a resurgence as artists all over the world are using its elements to launch new musical sounds. Gioia captures this momentum by updating his celebrated second edition by Oxford University Press into a new third edition. In so doing, he continues to push forward scholarship about jazz while providing a tour de force of its history to interested readers.
In nearly 600 packed pages, Gioia analyzes the music of every important jazz artist and her/his place in jazz history. While at times this approach can get repetitive, most times, I left the book to download some music by an artist newly found to me. Gioia could have provided a bit more of an overarching narrative about jazz history in general. Instead, it reads as a list of disconnected artists and movements, but perhaps this is the author’s view of jazz itself.
I have not read prior editions (which were celebrated on their own), but by page count alone, this edition seems longer and more comprehensive than the others. As such, interested readers and fans of the jazz idiom will be grateful for more of a good thing. Everyone is covered – from Buddy Bolden and Scott Joplin to Diana Krall and Norah Jones. As musical instruments, technologies, and cultures have risen and evolved, so has jazz been present for every step of the way, as this book clearly communicates.
This work (written by an American writer, published by a British press about a global phenomenon) stands to reach many audiences. Musicians of high taste are able to cherry-pick elements that might help their musical evolution. Fans are able to extend their musical tastes into new areas with new sounds. Cultural observers are able to reach into the details of musical history. Even a global audience are able to see how jazz continues to impact Europe, Asia, Latin America, and even Africa.
I’m only a fan of both music and history; I’m no musical scholar or musician. Nonetheless, this book bettered my musical tastes. It contains some technical terms about music that I had either to glance over or to look up. It brings to life the music of this genre and the people behind it. Reading a meticulously researched history allows me to place the variegated sounds of jazz into the appropriate cultural context. My music library has grown dramatically as Gioia’s words inspired me to examine certain artists firsthand. Reading this book has been an enriching experience.
The History of Jazz
By Ted Gioia
Third Edition
Copyright (c) 2021
Oxford University Press
ISBN13 9780190087210
Page Count: 600
Genre: History, Music
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