Jazz: The American Theme Song

New
Paperback
1995
$19.07

Praised by the Washington Post as a `tough, unblinkered critic,' James Lincoln Collier is probably the most controversial writer on jazz today. His acclaimed biographies of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman continue to spark debate in jazz circles, and his iconoclastic articles on jazz over the past 30 years have attracted even more attention. Questioning everything we think we know about jazz - its origins, its innovative geniuses, the importance of improvisation and spontaneous inspiration in a performance- - and the jazz world, these ten provocative essays on the music and its place in American culture overturn tired assumptions and will alternately enrage, enlighten, and entertain.

Synopsis

Praised by the Washington Post as a `tough, unblinkered critic,' James Lincoln Collier is probably the most controversial writer on jazz today. His acclaimed biographies of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman continue to spark debate in jazz circles, and his iconoclastic articles on jazz over the past 30 years have attracted even more attention. Questioning everything we think we know about jazz - its origins, its innovative geniuses, the importance of improvisation and spontaneous inspiration in a performance- - and the jazz world, these ten provocative essays on the music and its place in American culture overturn tired assumptions and will alternately enrage, enlighten, and entertain.

$19.07

Quantity

10 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 342
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 30 Nov 1995
ISBN 10: 0195096355
ISBN 13: 9780195096354

Media Reviews

'the author's research and scholarship cannot be faulted ... A clear, perceptive and well argued critique and a most useful addition to the fast growing library of jazz reference works.' Stan Woolley, Daily Post
'Commendably fresh consideration of some of the defining elements of jazz, buth cultural and musical. Absorbing.' Q
'the author's research and scholarship cannot be faulted ... A clear, perceptive and well argued critique and a most useful addition to the fast growing library of jazz reference works.' Stan Woolley, Daily Post
unquestionably the most thought-provoking book ever written on jazz ... Abrasive, controversial, irritating, yet often entertaining, this book should be on every jazz lover's bookshelf. * Stuart Nicholson, BBC Music *

Author Bio

James Lincoln Collier is the author of over fifty books. Has won a Newbery Honors Medal, a Christopher Medal, and has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award.