The History of Jazz by Ted Gioia

The History of Jazz Reviews

• 
  Frank

  This book helped me consolidate my understanding of the development of jazz. The book strikes a good balance between breadth and depth. Keep your iPod handy while reading.
• 
  Jonny Parshall

  What I expected to learn: jazz's history and evolution over a 100-year period.
  
  What I actually learned: exactly that, but more prominently, that being a jazz musician between 1920 and 1970 was perhaps the most dangerous occupation a person could hold. So many fabulous talents came to tragic ends during that period. Murder, drugs, alcoholism, tuberculosis, suicide, and insanity were but a few of the maladies that claimed the lives and livelihoods of gifted musicians over the course of jazz's history. It's truly overwhelming.
  
  The book was great, never boring, and provided truly in-depth insight to both the lives and the music behind America's treasured musical tradition. It could have been so much worse, but thank goodness, it wasn't.
• 
  Pascal

  Phew, what a read! This one is best digested slowly while listening along with the music the author talks about. In fact, it took me a few months of on-and-off reading to get through this, but – wow – has this been worth it.
  
  Listening along with the music enhances the experience to an almost magical degree. (Spotify has a few user-made playlists with most of the tracks and albums from the book, in order of appearance.) Especially the early chapters about music from the early 20th century (with even a few tracks from the late 1800s sprinkled in), are mind-blowing. You lean back in your chair and listen to those scratchy records with really shoddy, monaural audio that somehow found their way onto your streaming service in 2021, and the book tells you about the songs' history and cultural relevance... It's hard to grasp the scope of the musical journey you are about to dive further into.
  
  The author manages to tackle each major era, artistic movement or standout artist to exactly the right degree between detailed biographies and the broad picture of the art form. You don't have to know anything about music theory to enjoy this. While there are some sentences about scales and harmonies here and there, this is definitely for the culturally-interested reader, more than the musically interested one.
• 
  Winter Sophia Rose

  An Excellent & Well Researched Book!
• 
  Anders Demitz-Helin

  Very fullfilling read!
• 
  KatzeKet

  Chronicling the history of jazz, Gioia's The History of Jazz tries to conquer a very daunting task, covering the plethora of stylistic developments of jazz in about 400 pages.
  
  But the results is a very in depth look on jazz as a whole. It's almost encyclopedic in a way. We see the backgrounds of heavy hitters and their contribution to the genres, as well as other players that kind of fell through the cracks. We see genres pre-jazz with the blues, to swing and bebop, cool jazz, to the more avant-garde elements of free jazz and fusion. We even see some rock artists like Zappa and how jazz has influenced rock.
  
  If I were to recommend one thing, it is that a background knowledge would be suitable, because Gioia tends to throw out a bunch of names without delving into them. However, this is one tiny nitpick as it is extremely hard to cover a hundred years worth of history into such a book. I had some experience with jazz, as well as playing it for around five years, so it was pretty neat going more in depth into artists that I liked, and appreciating them in a new light. I also enjoyed listening to artists I haven't heard of if it wasn't for this book.
  
  A listening device is crucial for those who want to get the most out of this book. So if you've looked into jazz before and want to learn more, go read it.
• 
  Linda Vituma

  Cik gan pilnīga var būt džeza vēstures grāmata, kurā ne ar pušplēstu vārdu nav pieminēta
  Nina Simone? Pārsteidzošā kārtā izrādās - visnotaļ pilnīga. Tomēr būtu interesanti uzzināt, kāpēc viņa nav pieminēta...
  
  Džezs ir viena no retajām parādībām, par kuru man nav bijusi teorētiska interese. Vienmēr tikai un vienīgi praktiska - klausīties, klausīties, klausīties. Saprašana ir bijusi vienaldzīga. Atklāti sakot, tā būs arī turpmāk. Tomēr nevar noliegt, ka ceļojums džeza vēsturē bija bagātīgs un iedvesmojošs. Lielais ieguvums no grāmatas ir izveidotais
  bez 2 minūtēm 38 stundu garais ieteikto skaņdarbu saraksts.
  
  Pilnīgā laimē krītu atpakaļ ne(ap)zinātības un baudas pēļos. Tā ir laime, ka pasaulē ir džezs.
• 
  Rodriguezbooks

  Ted Gioia es, sin temor a equivocarme uno de los más grandes conocedores del Jazz, sus obras hablan per se. En Historia del Jazz, el crítico de música y escritor estadounidense hace un recorrido intensivo por el mundo del Jazz partiendo desde sus orígenes, pasando por la amplia consolidación del género, trayendo a colación anécdotas jazzistas que son muy enriquecedoras.
  La documentación a la hora de escribir este libro es increíblemente fascinante, Gioia recauda un sin fin de fechas, de documentos y de vivencias de los grandes exponentes del Jazz. El libro se secciona en capítulos muy bien estructurados donde se va contando muy amenamente la vida e historia de grandes jazzistas como Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, John Coltrane, entre otros y esto hace de la lectura algo exquisito. Esta obra está orientada para las personas que se interesan por el género musical norteamericano y que de alguna manera manejen algún conocimiento sobre el tema, esto es necesario para la comprensión del libro.
  
  Personalmente he disfrutado mucho de este libro, leer sobre un tema que te apasiona y te gusta mucho hace que el libro tome más fuerza sobre el lector y esto es precisamente lo que me ha sucedido con esta obra, el Jazz es algo que realmente me apasiona y conocer más de su historia aparte de ser enriquecedor se transforma en un disfrute total.
• 
  Tim

  The jazz spirit is one of constant evolution and progression and really many genres contain the same "spirit" if we're still drawing lines between different styles. The beauty of the jazz spirit is seen maybe most prominently in anything current. It's the spirit of evolution and mixing of styles that constantly creates and recreates the present. Music is also a snapshot of time - from the recording technology available, to arrangements, production style, societal context, the artist's progression, it's just one image. That's why its' impossible to re-create albums or periods or the magic of the perfect solo. It happened, it's done, it was beautiful, let's appreciate it but also look ahead. That's my perception of the jazz mentality or spirit by whatever name you use for it to resonate with you. It's a microcosm of reality - everything progresses, transcending yet including what came before. I've been listening to jazz casually for decades, but outside of a reasonable selection of major artists and albums I only dabbled. These past 6 months I've immersed myself into a serious study of so many of the artists I've overlooked and only had a surface understanding of previously. I could listen for the rest of my life to this one "genre" and only scratch the surface.
  
  This book is incredibly valuable as a primer or foundation to understand the genre. The artists highlighted are essential and you'll have a good grasp of the genre if you study everyone mentioned here. Yet it was very academic (to me) so I knocked off a star. I appreciate writers who grasp the spiritual, emotional and non-tangible elements that make music what it is. He addresses this somewhat in prioritizing the emotion of performances, but there's not a lot of indication of a deep understanding of societal influences on the music. I didn't gain anything particularly new in that area and the inspirational processes in music making are what adds that authenticity that makes a recorded piece or style timeless.
• 
  Steve

  I read the new third edition.
  Of course, it's a Herculean jazz to boil some 120 years of musical history (over 100 of it with recorded evidence) by thousands and thousand of players into a book of less than 600 pages. But Gioia does a pretty darned good job of hitting the high points. It's easier to focus on the first half of the story, as there was a constant influx of superhuman musicians who kept turning up to change the approach of the music almost singlehandedly.
  Gioia is excellent at analyzing individual players and records - his insights into Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Bix Beiderbecke, Woody Herman, Charlie Parker, and Ornette Coleman, among many others, are particularly valuable, and sent me scurrying to hear records I hadn't encountered in ages. Eventually, though, the story gets so big, as jazz fractures into all sorts of splinter styles, and the individuals start to get lost, or at least not get nearly as much attention as they arguably deserve.
  By the time he gets to the 80s, when I first started paying attention - I hadn't realized how closely I was aligned with postmodernism in jazz until I read this - and beyond, dozens of highly exciting musicians are covered with anywhere from one sentence to a paragraph. He is focusing on bigger pictures, emphasizing trends and movements, all of which are interesting. I'm constantly finding new jazz records by players I've never encountered, most of whom have been around for years - the music has never been healthier creatively, but so much of it is buried way underground these days. But Gioia has hope that there is an audience out there for new jazz, and his arguments make sense. A good book.
• 
  Anannya Waraqa Matin

  The History of Jazz was quite a fascinating read. Let me get the negatives out of the way- for someone who's not very familiar with the technical side of music, a bunch of stuff written went over my head. There's a lot of information, rightfully so about a genre nearly a hundred years old, but dis did lead it to feel a little intimidating. I found myself enjoying it a lot more once I allowed myself to relax and not worry about fully retaining all the information. But I did very much enjoy reading dis. There was so much information and Ted Gioia does such a thorough job at dissecting such a fascinating genre of music. There were some insane stories and dis book definitely gave me a lot more jazz artists to check out. I have been a little overwhelmed with how to navigate the gigantic library that is jazz music, but dis book definitely has helped me figure a bit of that out. It was very interesting to read how the genre has shaped over the years, and to see the many similarities it shares with other genres of music such as rock and especially hip hop. I definitely need to re-read dis book and to also re read certain artists' sections when I listen to their music. Overall dis book helped me become much more acquainted with jazz and is one I would recommend to all music lovers out there.
• 
  Adam

  Absolutely spectacular. Rich, powerful, and thorough for anyone with knowledge of the genre, but it's accessible and welcoming for newbies. Gioia is a clear-headed writer who wants to share the joy of jazz with people. Like any good writer or communicator, he doesn't hide his own stylistic loyalties, but he also doesn't proclaim them from the rooftops. The words leap off the page with humor, pathos, and passion - especially when discussing the life and talents of the artists who died long before they should have. A stunning tour de force, each chapter could serve as the foundational text for an entire semester of a music history course.
• 
  Camila Fagen

  I read like 4 chapters of this for class but it’s going towards my challenge idc
• 
  Sophia Alexis Books

  Read for school
• 
  Sarah Paolantonio

  I decided to kick off the new year (and new decade, I guess!) by reading a new genre of music writing. I am a seasoned jazz listener, since I first started, freshman year of college, with Charlie Parker: it was something to write history papers to. Something I could "trust and ignore." I became a jazz DJ that year to avoid the overnight hours assigned to freshman and threw myself into the world of jazz. My interests since then have always been with Miles, Parker, Monk, and Mingus. I've recently branched out and always enjoyed swing, but Ted Gioia's The History of Jazz, Second Edition is a great place to start.
  
  First of all this is a University Press book (Oxford s/o UPs!), so it is a dense read. It covers A LOT of ground. The first chapter is 'The Prehistory of Jazz' with a sub-header: The Africanization of American Music. So this book goes way back and starts from a literal beginning of, what I now believe to be, the first American genre. (Which could be tied for first with country music, after watching Ken Burns' Country Music series on PBS--great!!--which takes a lot of instrumentation and performance from jazz. But really, I think they birthed around the same-ish time.) The history itself of how music travels from one continent to another (the beginning is always Africa. 90% if not all music comes from Africa because of the slave trade) and how it changes between culture and language. With jazz, the beginning is the melting pot of New Orleans where Afro-Cuban, Caribbean, French, European, and African traditions found a home.
  
  Each genre of jazz, which I was completely unaware of, has it's own chapter. The book is organized chronologically. I could've used more pictures, but here we are. I wanted to read for the music writing but not only did I chose a University Press book, which are historically more all-encompassing and academic, but a 'complete' history of... book, so it wasn't that kind of read. Translating how jazz sounds onto the page is complicated. Performing jazz is a complicated, technical skill. Writing about it mirrors just that: the descriptions are more about time, patterns, poly rhythms, and theory. There are a few lines about "buttery trombones" and "controlled violence" which I am literally here for, but the writing itself is complex. I did a lot of simultaneous listening and reading, just so I knew what I was trying to understand. I highly recommend this approach.
  
  A lot of the information is presented with lists of personnel, who recorded what for which label, what live performance did what for the genre, and who was there. Lots of covers and tributes paid to artists and songs past (not unlike hip-hop and horror, jazz is a genre of art that ALWAYS pays tribute and homage to its beginnings) I did not recognize 95% of the artists mentioned (and made note of all of them, about halfway through the swing chapter. I started a playlist featuring every player mentioned. It's a work in progress. Copy-paste:
  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/12x....) Jazz is very much about who's who, so a lot of the content can feel like an overwhelming encyclopedia. Sometimes it's best to breeze through if only to push on. There's A LOT of ground to cover.
  
  Personally this was a reading feat. I had been admiring this book for a while, contemplating which book on jazz to begin with. It seemed like the best all around history, and if I'm going to go, I'll go big. I thought many times I would never get through it, but slow and steady wins. It took me a whole month, but was very satisfying to finish. If you are a beginner to jazz, it's a perfect book if you really want the whole meal.
  
  Each chapter features many sections on the pioneer of their sound, covering a small biography of artists: Armstrong, Jelly Roll, Dizzy, Getz, Bechet, Ellington, Goodman, Parker, Coltrane, Evans, Miles, Monk, Marsalis, and on and on and on. Many of these men died tragically in freak accidents (a surprising amount!) (many, many, mostly men: nature of the beast) and many from drug and alcohol abuse. (The first female big band leader, born in China and raised in Japan, Toshiko Akiyoshi is a pure thrill to listen to. A true giant of the piano!) The nature of the genre's rise and challenges mirrors a lot with popular and rock music, where there's always a new generation sending a hero up the pop charts, so says Paul Simon. Jazz has just been around longer than rock and pop so it's lived the cycle many times over.
  
  The last two chapters felt the easiest to read maybe because I had finally found a groove with the text but also because Gioia really starts to fly. There is so much information and the world jazz section is boiled down to just a few pages or so. (It deserves its own playlist.) I'm sure there are entire books on it out there, this was just a primer. The last big genre of jazz he sits with is postmodern. The bands I was first introduced to by way of college jazz radio circa 2006, Medeski Martin and Wood and The Bad Plus, are merely glossed over but I felt proud to recognize a couple names. Modern artists like Nels Cline get a basic shout out. He spends time with Nora Jones when discussing modern vocalists. I hadn't considered her since my sister's CD of Come Away With Me.
  
  This book would also be easy to pick up and put down over a long period of time. But I am a reader who can only read one book at a time or I won't read any at all. I can't recommend it enough. It will sit with me for a long time and I look forward to exploring the genre further. Cheers, Ted!
• 
  Adrian Fingleton

  This is a BIG book that chronicles the history of Jazz, mostly in America. It's incredibly dense and - I would say - rather indigestible at times. I 'read' it (I dipped in and out) having watched the Ken Burns 12 parter of the same name, so it consolidated some of what I had already learned. It's incredibly comprehensive and lists all of the main jazz players and how their artistic careers criss-crossed. It's really a reference book, but a very definitive one. I learned a lot from reading it, which I guess is what I was hoping for.
• 
  Johann

  I’ll start by saying that I enjoyed reading this book. Now: With only 400 pages and the vast array of jazz musicians over the last 100 years, even major figures only get a few paragraphs worth of mention. While I don’t have a deep understanding of jazz (most of what is covered here was also covered in Ken Burns’ “Jazz” documentary), I was troubled when I found an inexcusable error in what I DO know: Gioia says Blood, Sweat & Tears covered Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child” on their debut album, when it was, in fact, on their second, eponymous album on which the song was covered. It makes me wonder what other glaring mistakes are included throughout the work.
• 
  David (Alëša) 87

  Per uno che ama il genere e ha un minimo di conoscenza nell'ambito del jazz questo libro è La Bibbia!
  Unica pecca, almeno dal mio punto di vista, non aver parlato delle varie leggende che circolano nel mondo jezzistico, in particolar modo di alcuni artisti, tipo Jelly Roll Morton, Art Tatum, ed altri, che sono figure quasi mitologiche, oltre che grandi artisti.
  Per il resto è un libro estremamente dettagliato, scritto con competenza e un amore che traspare in modo evidente per il Jazz e tutto ciò che è ad esso collegato.
• 
  Guy

  Particularly interesting for the more in-depth pre-bebop chapters (i.e. roughly the first half of the book).
• 
  Gabriel Phillips

  Reading this book took me about 2 years because of the sheer amount of content and insight it contains. Excellent and essential piece chronicling jazz history that leaves you with plenty of music to listen to afterwards.
• 
  Subjuntivo Subjuntivo

  I was bored, honestly.
• 
  Ihor Pryshlyak

  Дуже цікава книга. Можна багато паралелей робити з рок сценої і входження її у період пост-модернізму
• 
  Jody

  An amazing thorough historical account of America's most important art form. It is lovingly written and meticulously researched. My main takeaway from the book was how devastating drugs were on the jazz artists all throughout the 20th century and how it really impacted the individual movements in jazz with so many deaths, imprisonments, and unproductive time periods of those artists who had become addicted.
  
  I believe this book serves as a better written document of the history of jazz compared to the companion book to the Ken Burns Jazz series, Jazz: A History of America's Music by Geoffrey C. Ward. Although the photos in Ward's book are amazing while Gioia's has almost none.
  
  Only reasons why I didn't give this 5 stars:
  
  • Thorough, but still missing some of the more mainstream artists that popularized jazz like Quincy Jones or Vince Guaraldi which I assume are left out because of music snobbery. Maybe not of Gioia, but of the jazz snobs who might look down on them being highlighted.
  
  • Very little mention of the impact on jazz with other genres of popular such as artists like Ray Charles or Van Morrison who incorporated jazz into their music. Or specific examples like Sonny Rollins playing on “Waiting on a Friend” by The Rolling Stones. Or how the saxophone became a crucial instrument in rock music for a couple of decades.
  
  • The structure of introducing artists in the book becomes rather formulaic and by the end of the book it becomes too receptive in structure which makes challenging to get through.
  
  There is an amazing unofficial companion playlist that someone created on Spotify that covers in detail the first major section of the book. It's so awesome to read about pieces or artists and then go and listen to them. Or listen to them as you read it.
  
  
  https://open.spotify.com/user/gatodel...
• 
  Joel

  I really enjoyed this. I consider myself a Jazz aficionado but I realize, I really did not know a lot about the early days of Jazz and I only knew the absolute essential recordings pre 1950-ish. This book really helped me understand how Jazz developed and the important players in its evolution. I was curious to see how the author was going to explain all the different areas of Jazz, especially after it became more fragmented around the time of the "cool school". He did it beautifully-seamlessly weaving the different styles and major figures into a cohesive narrative. If i had one criticism, it is that I would suggest the author put suggested recordings at the end of each chapter, rather than in a general alphabetical list with no sense of chronology at the end of the book. I found myself having to continuously flip back and forth between that list at the end and each chapter. But, this is a minor "format" criticism in an otherwise enjoyable and essential book for Jazz fans.
• 
  Unpil

  The Final Paragraph
  
  “This vitality and versatility testify not just to the resilience of the art form, but also to its emergence as a worldview that transcends notions of style or music genre. After more than a century of morphing and mixing, jazz is more defined today by its attitudes than specific musical ingredients. It isn’t built just on blues notes and syncopations, but erects its elaborate superstructures of sound on a different foundation—grounding them instead in a commitment to spontaneity, an openness to ongoing musical dialogue, a dedication to craft, a trust in the human element, a celebration of the creative process, and a confident willingness to probe the unknown. In our tech-driven future, these aspects of music can hardly become obsolete. In fact, they might be exactly what we need to grow and thrive.”