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Essential
For anyone interested in jazz history, Raeburn's book is essential reading.It's not a great place to start, but for those who have read at least a couple jazz history books and biographies, Raeburn provides a context for the times and ideologies that have shaped our ever-changing perspective on "what jazz is."The book is impeccably edited, has a great flow and is also a very fun read - full of great anecdotes and information on obscure, important characters.Every fan of traditional jazz should pick this up - you will be glad you did. ... Read more

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When jazz musicians get together, they often delight one another with stories about the great, or merely remarkable, players and singers they've worked with.One good story leads to another until someone says, "Somebody ought to wrie these down!"With Jazz Anecdotes, somebody finally has. Drawing on a rich verbal tradition, bassist and jazz writer Bill Crow has culled stories from a wide variety of sources, including interviews, biographies and a remarkable oral history collection, which resides at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, to paint fascinating and very human portraits of jazz musicians.Organized around general topics--teaching and learning, life on the road, prejudice and discrimination, and the importance of a good nickname--Jazz Anecdotes shows the jazz world as it really is.In this fully updated edition, which contains over 150 new anecdotes and new topics like Hiring and Firing, Crow regales us with new stories of such jazz greats as Benny Goodman, Chet Baker, Ravi Coltrane, Buddy Rich and Paul Desmond.He offers extended sections on old favorites-Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, and the fabulous Eddie Condon, who seems to have lived his entire life with the anecdotist in mind. With its unique blend of sparkling dialogue and historical and social insight, Jazz Anecdotes will delight anyone who loves a good story.It offers a fresh perspective on the joys and hardships of a musician's life as well as a rare glimpse of the personalities who created America's most distinctive music. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Jazz Anecdotes from A (Armstrong) to Z (Zoot)
Everyone knows who Armstrong is.Not everyone knows who Zoot is.But if you read JAZZ ANECDOTES you will learn that Zoot is Zoot Sims.Besides being a superb but underappreciated tenor sax player, Zoot was a fun-loving, witty character - as were many jazz musicians.JAZZ ANECDOTES collects hundreds of examples of the humor, high-jinks, and humanity of the jazz community - from the famous (such as Louis Armstrong), to the not-so-famous (such as Zoot Sims), to the now almost forgotten (such as Wingy Manone).(Wingy got his nickname after he lost one arm as a boy in a streetcar accident in New Orleans; Joe Venuti once gave Wingy one cufflink as a birthday present.)

The entries are arranged in chapters, either according to topic (e.g., "On the Road", "Cutting Contests", or "52nd Street") or individual musician (e.g., Bix Beiderbecke, Charlie Parker, or Dizzy Gillespie).They are connected by unobtrusive but intelligent commentary by Bill Crow, the long-time jazz bassist who compiled the compendium.

JAZZ ANECDOTES makes for fun and informative light reading for jazz fans.It is perfect for the bathroom or the bed-side table.Here are a few brief samples:

*Shortly after Louis Armstrong's long-time valet Doc died, someone asked Louis what had been wrong with Doc.Louis looked at him with a sad face and said, "What was wrong with Doc?Man, when you die, EVERYTHING is wrong with you!"

*Lester Young had to hire a fill-in drummer for a gig.The fellow wasn't fitting in well.During a break, the drummer, trying to make conversation, asked, "Say, Prez, when was the last time we worked together?""Tonight", sighed Young.

*George Shearing, now 91, is the among the last in a distinguished line of blind jazz pianists.Late in his career, he, like many performers, offered CDs for sale in the lobby.He would pump them from the stage:"Remember, profits from these sales will go to help the blind.Not many of the blind, mind you."Shearing once defined "endless love" as "a tennis match between me and Ray Charles."

*A bum once accosted Al Cohn at the bus terminal and asked for a dollar to buy a drink.Al reached for his wallet, but then said, "Wait a minute.How do I know you won't spend this on food?"Al, of course, understood full well the yen.When a bartender asked him, "What'll you have?", Al would reply, "One too many".

*Between an all-day recording session and a night-time club date, Zoot Sims was sitting in a bar, complaining that he was exhausted and yet he still had a whole performance to get through.A woman offered him a Dexedrine spansule and, because she thought they were pretty strong, she suggested that he do what she did and "open one up and pour some of it out"."Pour some of it out!," exclaimed Zoot."Are you crazy?Don't you know that there are people SLEEPING in Europe?"

Laughs in Every Key
These are some of the funniest musician insider stories about bands on the road,club gigs, big concerts, band leaders, band personnel, instruments and all things related I have ever read. The stories span the Jazz years fromthe beginning to now and involve almost all of the most famous musicians, bands, and band leaders over the years.And they just keep coming in every organizational topic chapter he writes. "Put Ons" and "Great Lines" are among my favorite chapters, but there are many more.I read a little of it every night and laughed my way to sleep. Every jazz musician and jazz lover should have a copy.

According to the Recipient
According to my step dad, whom the gift was for...it was great. It arrived there a few days after his bday, but otherwise, he loves it! Thanks-

Q - "How Late Does The Band Play?"
A - "About half a beat behind the drummer."Or.Q - "How can a jazz musician end up with a million dollars?"A - "Start with two million." Or. Q - "What do you call a person that likes to hang around with musicians?" A - "A drummer."

Jazz Anecdotes by Bill Crow is much more than a collection of jokes skewed towards a jazz musician's cattywhumpus view of the world.It's even more than a collection of colorful war stories about life on the road, playing lousy clubs, and trying to keep a band together.It's really an insider's look at the world of jazz, and a wonderful one.If nothing else emerges from this book certainly one learns that only love could keep a jazz musician playing, given the obstacles of this lifestyle.

Fact and myth seem to bob and weave through these tales, which is perhaps appropriate.I am a little uncertain about Lester Young's claim that he started playing the sax only after giving up on the drums because he noticed that when a gig was done and girls were milling around the bandstand, the sax players quickly packed up their horns and left with girls on their arms while the drummer desperately tried to pack up and when he was done - left empty handed.

Jazz Anecdotes is rich in content, interesting for novice and aficionado alike.The careers of great individuals and the storied histories of seminal bands are examined in detail.What's fun is that some of the "legend" is worn off, replaced by the person.Jazz truly is America's greatest contribution to world culture, we should all be proud of it.It's worth remembering that the music is not a monolithic entity but an organic, dynamic thing - the product of a diverse and eccentric group of splendid individuals.Bill Crow's book takes you inside that world.

A Must-Read Jazz Book
I love every moment since I read this book. This book would take u on forever even if u're a craver for jazz music. It tells all the details from Wynton, Duke, Miles, Hirt, Coltrane, Bird, all of 'em right here on 1 book. Go get it or u'll miss out a world of good music. ... Read more

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Jazz is thriving in the twenty-first century, and The New Face of Jazz is an intimate, illustrated guide to the artists, venues, and festivals of today's jazz scene. This book celebrates the living legends, current stars, and faces of tomorrow as they continue to innovate and expand the boundaries of this great musical legacy.
    
In their own words, artists such as McCoy Tyner, Arturo Sandoval, Diane Schuur, Terence Blanchard, Charlie Hunter, Nicholas Payton, George Benson, Maria Schneider, Christian McBride, Randy Brecker, Jean-Luc Ponty, Joe Lovano, Lee Ritenour, and more than 100 others share intimately about their beginnings, musical training, inspiration, and hard-earned lessons, creating a fascinating mosaic of the current jazz community. 
    
Photographer Ned Radinsky contributes 40 amazing black-and-white portraits of these musicians doing what they do best—playing. An appendix offers resources for jazz education; an exclusive reading list; and the lowdown on those organizations and societies doing their part to promote jazz as a living, breathing art form. 
    
With an introductory word from Wynton Marsalis, a foreword by Marcus Miller, and an afterword by Sonny Rollins, The New Face of Jazz is an unprecedented window onto today's world of jazz, for everyone from the devotee to the new listener. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

great casual read
I bought this as a gift for my father-in-law but ended up reading it first. It's a great book to have around as one can just pick it up and read from it at one's convenience. There are insightful interviews from musicians I've heard of and from many I have not. Nevertheless, it's all great reading.

A missed opportunity?
On the whole, an interesting overview. But be warned! the title should be read as 'The New Face of United States Jazz', and some of the artists profiled are hardly 'new', and even some of the oldest, however worthy, may never become household names in the jazz house. To be fair, the subtitle is 'an intimate look at today's living legends and the artists of tomorrow.' But some might be tempted to say, 'today's living fossils', and all of the featured are artists of today rather than tomorrow: who knows where most of them'll be in ten years time? Largely gone and forgotten, one suspects. Also, some of the missing persons are puzzling. Why is Chris Potter not here? or Dave Holland? or David Berkman? Oscar Perez but no Danilo!.... I could go on. However, David Binney is here, saying interesting things as usual, as are Donny McCaslin, Charlie Hunter, the Mason brothers, Ingrid Jensen, Maria Schneider, and, probably the youngest, Esperanza Spalding (most of the women included are singers or pianists, of course, so I've cherry-picked a few important names who are not). These are of a younger generation but are hardly 'artists of the future': they are already well-established names! But they stand alongside old-timers of the likes of McCoy Tyner, Steve Swallow, George Duke and Phil Woods, who can hardly be considered to be part of any 'new' face. And then there's the rest of the world (yes, amazingly, there is a world of jazz outside the USA!). Any overview of 'The new face of jazz' must surely have to include all those Scandinavian, Polish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Indian, Japanese, Australian, English, and Scottish jazz musicians (let alone the vibrant scenes in Africa, the Caribbean and South America)? or are they just to be regarded as pale imitations of that 'genuine' American thing? I think not. In fact, as one of the musicians in this book says, the audience for jazz outside the USA is now more open to progressive ideas than anywhere in the genre's country of origin. To sum up, this is a disappointing and vexing book in many ways, but still worth buying for the occasional gems of wisdom and insight which are dispensed by those who have been included (by some largely unfathomable selection process), and a chance to encounter some new and very interesting artists. I'm off to listen to some Chie Imaizumi!

Staying True To The Artists.....
I was honored to be included among the artists profiled in this book and to be a part of the writer's holisticstatement of where Jazz is today. She didn't adjust or orchestrate the profiles, but maintained the integrity, the honesty of what was shared with her. We are real people, living our everyday lives, raising our families, paying our bills, who happen to make our living by writing, arranging, teaching, performing, perpetuating the music we have such a deep passion for. As a former studied musician herself, she understood us with an intuitive insight, knew what to ask, how to listen, how to present each of us in our own uniquenesses.

What a great overview of the many personal "faces" that show how far Jazz has come, of where it is today, and how it still plays such an intricate role in our American culture, our American story. Kudos to Cecily Janus for her artistry as a writer and as the sensitive messenger of our stories.

Great product!
Book arrived quickly and in perfect shape, and was even gift wrapped, which worked out perfectly since it was a birthday present!!Thanks!

Informative and personal
The New Face of Jazz is compendium of many of today's shining stars of jazz. Each entry features a brief analysis, followed by the artist's own words, describing his or her approach to music or making more personal observations. Artists of any genre or medium can learn from the artistic lessons of today's jazz greats. I admit to being less than thoroughly educated in the world of jazz, but I found the book both entertaining and enlightening. I listened to the music of those musicians I could find on Napster as I read the section on each, and I have to say it was one of the most enjoyable reading experiences of my life. I highly recommend this book, not just to jazz afficionados, but to anyone interested in music, or anyone pursuing their own creative path. ... Read more

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This 13th issue of the ARJS includes an extensive study of the saxophonist Sonny Red, an analysis of a composition by Steve Swallow, a new perspective on John Coltrane's compositional approach, and an examination of Miles Davis's classic _Walkin',_ plus book reviews and a continuing bibliography of scholarly articles about jazz in non-jazz journals. ... Read more

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Continuing the rich tradition, this latest Annual is particularly impressive. The articles in this volume present important technical analyses of four major figures: Booker Little, Charlie Christian, Herbie Hancock, and Miles Davis. ... Read more

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The "Annual Review of Jazz Studies" is dedicated to scholarly research on jazz and its related musical forms. It recognizes the growing awareness of jazz as a cultural phenomenon. All volumes include numerous musical examples, a book review section, a portfolio of jazz photographs, and bibliographic surveys. This new volume is a special double issue covering the two years of 1997 and 1998. It begins with a series of studies devoted to the classic ballad, "Stella by Starlight," focusing on various performances by groups led by Miles Davis as well as discussing visits to "Stella" by Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans. Other articles in this volume cover major figures in the heritage of jazz, such as Bix Beiderbecke, Martial Solal, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman. It also explores two other areas of interest: the Western African drumming tradition and its relation to jazz, and a study of a seminal book, "Jazz Dance", by Marshall and Jean Stearns. The reviews include two essays on Paul Berliner's "Thinking in Jazz", an assessment of "Jazz Research and Performance Materials: A Select Annotated Bibliography", three biographies of Woody Herman, and a review of important Duke Ellington recordings. Finally, there are rare photographs drawn from the files of the Institute of Jazz Studies. This volume is a must-have for collectors of this series and sure to be of interest to all jazz lovers. ... Read more

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Exquisite Detail
As one who wishes to know more about the "nuts and bolts" of jazz, I always insist on reveling in the research conducted by these, the finest jazz authorities on the planet. Unlike the contributions of Ken Burns and others of his genre, this is the real stuff written by the real guys. Very Highly Recomended!! ... Read more

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Written for a wide variety of musicians, 15 Easy Jazz, Blues & Funk Etudes will appeal to both aspiring players and to more experienced musicians. For the younger player, particular care is given to range, rhythmic figures and overall playability. The more accomplished musician will appreciate the high level of musicality, the lyrical compositions and the opportunities to improvise. Either way, the format is simple: Bob Mintzer plays and demonstrates each etude with a stellar rhythm section on the included CD. You learn each etude slowly. When ready, you play the etude with the CD accompaniment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good transition book
This is a good book for the transition from reading music to improvisation.The 1st track of each selection uses a well written solo for the intermediate player with Bob playing the tenor sax lead. The second track cuts the lead solo allowing the learning improv player to play with the band on the chord changes. This is a very good book for the player looking to start learning to improv over chord changes. ... Read more

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From 1985 to the present, Hank O'Neal interviewed 42 jazz legends who made music in Harlem during its heyday and decline.In their homes or immediate neighborhoods, he took their portraits with a large-format view camera and talked with them about what had been the best places to play, the interaction of the races, and about why the Harlem scene had faded.

For each 'session' with a jazz legend, O'Neal has supplemented the interview and portraits with many of his other photographs, historical photographs and memorabilia.From the archives of Chiaroscuro Records, O'Neal has produced a CD that accompanies the book, which features sixteen of the 'ghosts' playing at the ends of their careers, between 1972 and 1996, including Cab Calloway, Milt Hinton, Doc Cheatham, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Tate, Eddie Barefield, Earl Hines, and Illinois Jacquet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Superb
A superb collection of oral histories. As a serious student of the history of the music, this book knocks me out. Buy it.

The Ghosts of Harlem
Sensational photohistory of Jazz; reflects the milieu that is THE venue of an unparalleled artform; you can all but hear the riffs beats rhythms; these artists come alive in these pages ... ... Read more

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The effect of jazz upon American culture and the American character has been all-pervasive.This superlative history is the first and the most renowned systematic outline of the evolution of this unique American musical phenomenon. Stearns begins with the joining of the African Negro's musical heritage with European forms and the birth of jazz in New Orleans then follows its course through the era of swing and bop to the beginnings of rock in the 50s, vividly depicting the great innovators, and covering such technical elements as the music's form and structure. ... Read more

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the best book on jazz ever written
an scholar approach full of wisdom and wit
very, very insightful and entertaining
one of the few real serious investigations

A classic!
Dr. Stearns's book still stands as a good source and has many clever insights. But Collier's "The Making of Jazz" clearly surpassed this book as the best history of Jazz. ... Read more

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This volume was the first published jazz teaching method. One of America's greatest musician-teachers, David Baker, shows how to develop jazz courses and jazz ensembles, with lesson plans, rehearsal techniques, practice suggestions, improvisational ideas, and ideas for school and private teachers and students. ... Read more

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This book is very helpful, but..........
I love the book, except chapter 1. Now some of the information in this chapter is good, but, a little on the racist side. ... Read more

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Sperie Karas, an experienced big band drummer and music teacher, presents an easy-to-grasp way of learning jazz drumming. The underlying principle of this method is to use material created in performance for performance. All of the important aspects of Jazz Drumming in Big Band and Combo - from independence exercises to fills - are treated in such a way that they may be put into practice with the band immediately! The CD is comprised of many examples and play-along pieces found in the book, allowing the student the opportunity to play alongside professional musicians. ... Read more

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Super Service
A highly recommended seller. I ordered this book and unfortunately it came with the CD broken. Must have been mishandled along the way. I wrote the seller and she immediately refunded the purchase. I thought that kind of service was exceptional. ... Read more

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Now completely updated: The essential guide to everything jazz and blues in more than 25 American cities.

This fully revised and updated edition of The Da Capo Jazz and Blues Lover's Guide to the United States is an inside look at all the places where jazz and blues live, from national clubs to unmarked holes in the wall, in twenty-five cities and the Mississippi Delta. With city-by-city listings for clubs, festivals, musicians' homes, historic theaters, record stores, and radio stations-and with brief histories of the music in each particular city-Bird's guide is an essential "where-to" for jazz and blues fans everywhere.Amazon.com Review
Calling all jazz and blues lovers (and that includesthose recent Ken Burns-inspired fans): this book is for you. Withthis volume, a trove of historical information and fully updatedguide to the contemporary jazz and blues scene in 25 U.S. cities andthe Mississippi Delta, you can tour the landmarks and visit thelegends without even having to leave home (although it's clearly alot more fun to go). Beginning in New Orleans, where "jass"began, Bird takes you on a tour of such landmarks as Storyville, LuluWhite's Saloon, the homes of Fats Domino and Jelly Roll Morton, LouisArmstrong Park, and Congo Square--one of the only spots in America whereslaves were allowed to drum and dance and where experts believe jazz wasborn. Traveling the country, Bird stops in places like Kansas City,Missouri, which seems ho-hum now, but was at the top of the jazz world inthe 1920s and 30s. While the historic 18th and Vine district, where CountBassie got his start, was largely ignored for years, it has recently beenrestored and is hopping again with a completely renovated Gem Theatre, theBlue Room Jazz Club, the Charlie Parker Memorial, and the American JazzMuseum. In fact, jazz seems to be on the upswing all over, and Bird hasthe word on recently opened venues in each city as well as more establishedones, from which is the most hip, to which jazz and blues artists to watch for, to the quality of the food. Where did John Coltrane live? Wheredid Bessie Smith die? Where is Deep Ellum? And where do you find jazz incities like Dallas where there are no full-time jazz clubs? From decidedlylocal venues for folks who like their drinks stiff and the stage close, tothe most commercially successful clubs complete with legendary performersat the bar, it's all here with lots of great quotes to liven it up evenfurther. It's been 10 years since this book was first published and it'sstill the only book of its kind. No wonder--it's a hard act tofollow. --Lesley Reed ... Read more

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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Ahh yes.What a great book this is and what fun it must have been to write!It's a travel guide to Jazz and Blues joints in most major American cities.For each city there's a description of clubs that offer music now, and historical sights of importance.This is a great book to read, and a neccessity for the music fan who travels. The author has done wonderful research and clearly loves the topic.If this subject is in anyway of interest to you I highly recommend this book! ... Read more

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From the 1920s through to the 1940s, Kansas City was the jazz city, home of Lester Young, Benny Moten, Jack Teagarden and Charlie Parker to name a few. This work offers an account of the evolution of the Kansas City style, from its ragtime roots to the birth of bebop. ... Read more

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This book and CD pack will teach you how to play jazz chords all over the fretboard in a variety of styles and progressions. It covers voicings, progressions, jazz chord theory, comping, chord melody, chord soloing, voice leading, and more. The CD includes 99 full-band demo tracks. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Practical and Effective
This is not another chord dictionary. Mr Johnson has methodically divided "jazz chords" by type (major, minor, dominant etc) as well as by root string (6,5,4) and further by highest note in the chord shape (R,3d,5th,7th etc) This is very useful in itself. But he goes on to create exercises that will help you burn these shapes into your muscle memory. If you can grip chords at any position by bass note or high note, you are well on your way to discovering how to comp and play melody chords. Once you get the hang of his approach (one night of work) your view of chord voicings and the caged system will expand.There are some awkward chords which you don't need to use four fingers on, just remember the shape and use the fragments that work.

I also recommend his swing and big band guitar book, which further arranges chord into rhythm chords (three note chords starting on the 6th string). With this book he lays out all the inversions of each chord moving up the sixth string. He then puts you through exercises to remember them. This book will teach you to comp four to the bar. You can literally apply this to almost any jazz standard.

Mr Johnson's book are very effective and not wound up in theory.

If you are hungry for theory I would recommend Damian's chord factory and Greene's chord chemistry.

Reach exceeds grasp
This book is definitely not for beginners.I'd recommend it for advanced guitarists who already have some knowledge of jazz guitar.The book could probably be much shorter than it is.I only use the first 20 pages which contain all of the voicings.The rest of the book is full of exercises and his approach to chord melody and chord soloing.Most advanced players expect to only gain a little from most publications because many books are geared toward people who don't know the instrument.
I think it's definitely worth $20 if you'd like a systematic grouping of chords.Don't expect to gain much with chord soloing and chord melody if you're not already capable of these.

Disappointing
There are a number of problems with this book.
First, there are way too many difficult/unusable chord forms that you are supposed to memorize. These are not the forms that are used by most real jazz guitarists. Joe Pass never played 80% of these chord forms.
Second, there are only a few useful ideas presented and the same text is repeated over and over to fill 150 pages. The author uses a strange hard-to-use notation to symbolize chords instead of just using the normal block diagrams.
Finally, the main thrust of this book is to show how you can play all the different chord types with every note of the scale on top. That's not a very useful scenario.

A key resource for your Jazz Guitar Practice Regimen
A great method-supplement for Jazz Guitar, but not the first or only book to buy if you are just starting out in Jazz Guitar.

This is a good chord method book/CD package, heavy on method, lighter on comping, chord melody, and chord soloing, and jazz standards. If you already have some good Jazz intro books, and found them easy going, this book may help round out your skills. It is recommended as a complementary study and follow-on once for the aspiring Jazz Guitarist needing very structured practice-method material.

(...) ... Read more

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“The Jazz Ear will be a permanent part of learning how to listen inside the musicians playing.”—Nat Hentoff, Jazz Times

Jazz is conducted almost wordlessly: John Coltrane rarely told his quartet what to do, and Miles Davis famously gave his group only the barest instructions before recording his masterpiece Kind of Blue. Musicians often avoid discussing their craft for fear of destroying its improvisational essence, rendering jazz among the most ephemeral and least transparent of the performing arts.

In The Jazz Ear, acclaimed music critic Ben Ratliff discusses with jazz greats the recordings that most influenced them and skillfully coaxes out a profound understanding of the men and women themselves, the context of their work, and how jazz—from horn blare to drum riff—is conceptualized. Ratliff speaks with Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Branford Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Wayne Shorter, Joshua Redman, and others about the subtle variations in generation and attitude that define their music.

Playful and keenly insightful, The Jazz Ear is a revelatory exploration of a unique way of making and hearing music.

Customer Reviews (6)

very fast delivery!
it took only 2 days to get this book and it was almost like new.. so, very nice work!

rpm
If we were to know about the musicians in the book through interviews, it could be boring. The conversations style is very informal and if you listen to the music which the author heard to along with the musician, then you recreate that time for yourself. You will enjoy this book more, if you are still in the beginning stages of recognising music by the way of familiarity. There are some numbers like 4/4 which will require musical literacy.

Arrangement

Fascinating insights into the minds of jazz players
Normally when we think about musicians and "their music", we think about the music that they write, perform, and record. But author Ben Ratliff (jazz critic for the New York Times) decided to ask a different question. What do these musicians listen to and find influential? What are they thinking and hearing as they listen to the music? So Ratliff met with a dozen or so noted jazz musicians, asked them what tracks they'd like to listen to, and then relates to us the experience and conversations of listening to the music with the musicians. The result is The Jazz Ear: Conversations Over Music. It turns out to be fascinating stuff.

Though I am a musician and fancy myself a fan (though not a hardcore aficionado) of jazz, it quickly became clear to me that the plane these guys think on is just incredibly high. It is fascinating in its own way, though, listening to serious jazz players talk about how they think about jazz. My favorite part of the book, though, was the reference list at the back, where Ratliff lists each recording that he listened to with each of the musicians. It has been a great input for my personal playlist... so much to explore.

If you're a musician, like jazz, or just want to explore the minds of some great musicians, I'd recommend picking up The Jazz Ear. It's a short read, but quite worth it.

Jazz Is a Spacious House
Since I'm going to voice concerns about jazz writing in general, let me start by saying that I like this booka lot. I read it in one sitting and I underlined numerous passages to copy. Having said that....

Jazz is my favorite and longest held music, but unlike classical music, it suffers from a dearth of serious, sustained popular critical writing.There are exceptions to this statement, most notably Gunther Schuller's studies of early swing and Ellington. Some jazz musicians, principally composers and arrangers, have written at length on how to construct a jazz piece and do a solo. But most books on jazz today for a lay audience are either biographical or reminiscent in nature (John Szwed on Sun Ra and Miles, Andy Hamilton on Lee Konitz, Laurence Bergreen on Louis Armstrong, Bill Crow's hilarious and fascinating anecdotes about the jazz life) or journals and reviews (Whitney Balliett's Collected Works: A Journal of Jazz 1951-2000, Gene Lees's and Balliett's essays on various pop and jazz singers, countless collections of interviews). Even Gary Giddins's Visions of Jazz: The First Century, a book I like a great deal,is basically a collection of occasional essays, relieved by a few record reviews (e.g., of Hank Jones and Charlie Haden's Steal Away).

Ben Ratliff has been jazz critic at the New York Times since 1996. He knows the jazz scene, he knows his music and he writes sympathetically and perceptively about this elusive American music. This is a good book. I read it in one sitting. I had read it all it four hours after I picked it up and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Nonetheless, I was frustrated that it didn't do more than it does.

The hook in this highly readable collection of essays is that Ratliff asked a number of prominent jazz musicians to pick recordings, a maximum of six, to listen to and talk about with him. They didn't have to be jazz recordings. Several weren't: Wayne Shorter wanted to listen to Vaughan Williams, Pat Metheny to Bach and Ornette Coleman to a Jewish cantor recorded in 1916; Maria Schneider chose Martha Argerich's recording of the Ravel piano concerto in G major and Branford Marsalis selected Stravinsky and Wagner). One rule applied: they couldn't select a recording on which they themselves played. One musician, Ornette Coleman, refused to comply with that rule but then, Coleman has seldom followed other people's rules. Ratliff's idea was that in talking about others' music, his artists would reveal much about their own musical history, preferences and ideas. He was right. They did. The result is a set of fascinating interviews with some of the most important and representative artists in jazz today. In addition to the artists mentioned above, they include such luminaries as Bob Brookmeyer, Hank Jones, Dianne Reeves, Branford Marsalis Joshua Redman, Roy Haynes, Paul Motian, and Andrew Hill.

It's not a fault of this book to say that I wish he had included some other musicians. I would love to have heard from more musicians who live on the fringes of success -Roscoe Mitchell or Muhal Richard Abrams, for instance, from the AACM; soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom, who seems to owe allegiance to no one except herself and has been woefully neglected b y listeners; David Murray, my personal favorite among modernists; Billy Bang; William Parker. And I hope someday someone writes about the European modernists, from Peter Brotzman and Evan Parker and Hann Bennink and Derek Bailey to Enrico Rava, Tomasz Stanko, Gianluigi Trovesi and Stefano Bollano.

Jazz is a spacious house. It's not to Ratliff's discredit that he hasn't spread his net wider, but I hope he keeps writing this series. And I hope that someday he combines his insights into this fragile, evanescent, glorious music and produces a capacious study of the music's sources, strengths and techniques.

For all music lovers
What a novel concept to take the world's best living jazz artists and ask them to bring five or six pieces with them to discuss.Then have a conversation about music and what is important to them in the pieces they have chosen.This will appeal to all music lovers, not just jazz afficionados, as the first conversation with Wayne Shorter describing why he likes Ralph Vaughan Williams's symphonies can attest.A great selection of living jazz legends - Shorter, Metheny, Rollins, Coleman, Redman, Marsalis, et al.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
France between the wars saw a dynamic mix of larger-than-life personalities and unconventional ideas, audacity and genius, elegance and edge. Artists, musicians, writers, dancers, composers, the American, French, and other European characters who comprised the "Lost Generation" were all there: Hemingway, Dos Passos, Dorothy Parker, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Stravinsky, Picasso, Cocteau, Man Ray, Léger, Balanchine, Diaghilev, Fitzgerald. This riveting portrait re-creates the glamour, excitement, and intellectual fervor of Jazz Age France, drawing on fresh, never-before-seen material. A special feature is a chapter on the little-known generation of African-American artists who left Harlem to work in France.

Writing in a vivid style that transports the reader back to that vibrant time, Charles Riley presents a panorama of the arts scene in Paris and the Riviera in the 1920s, providing fascinating insights based on letters, diaries, journals, and private archives as well as art. Highlights include never-published paintings by Picasso and Léger; previously unknown works by e. e. cummings and John Dos Passos; and intimate photographs of the era from family albums belonging to this circle of friends, who were among the world's great artists and writers.AUTHOR BIO: Charles A. Riley II, professor of English at Baruch College of the City University of New York, is the author of several books on aesthetics and art, including two Abrams titles: The Art of Peter Max and Ben Schonzeit: Paintings. He lives in New York City. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

the Jazzy Jazz age
This is a fabulous book.The photographs are reproduced well and the narrative is excellent.It now has pride of place on my coffee table.
The condition was very good and the cover was intact.I would buy books of this sort again from Amazon.

confused
The book is fine-the Kindle we purchased is great. I am confused becaure we bought these item thru a link that Congregation Adath Israel of Middletown,Ct06457 has with Amazon. Based on the initial agreement Adath Israel(CAI) is to receive some rebate for all purchases thru this link. Since we just realized that this hyas not taken place for over a year, confusion exists. The original signature was created thru a Paula Lawson who passed away ove a year ago. The contact person shouls have minimum bearing as to the continuation of the program. If it was cancelled we should have been NOTIFIED about that. You are more than welcome to use my husband's name to re-impliment. His name is Stan Sadinsky-%CAI-8 Broad St-Middletown,Ct 06457.
This is not the way business should be done. We acted in good faith and apparently that is a one way street. ... Read more