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The History of Jazz, Second Edition

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The History of Jazz, Second Edition

By: Ted Gioia
Narrated by: Bob Souer
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About this listen

Ted Gioia's History of Jazz has been universally hailed as a classic - acclaimed by jazz critics and fans around the world. Now Gioia brings his magnificent work completely up-to-date, drawing on the latest research and revisiting virtually every aspect of the music, past and present. Gioia tells the story of jazz as it had never been told before, in a book that brilliantly portrays the legendary jazz players, the breakthrough styles, and the world in which it evolved. Here are the giants of jazz and the great moments of jazz history - Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club, cool jazz greats such as Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, and Lester Young, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie's advocacy of modern jazz in the 1940s, Miles Davis's 1955 performance at the Newport Jazz Festival, Ornette Coleman's experiments with atonality, Pat Metheny's visionary extension of jazz-rock fusion, the contemporary sounds of Wynton Marsalis, and the post-modernists of the current day. Gioia provides the listener with lively portraits of these and many other great musicians, intertwined with vibrant commentary on the music they created. He also evokes the many worlds of jazz, taking the listener to the swamp lands of the Mississippi Delta, the bawdy houses of New Orleans, the rent parties of Harlem, the speakeasies of Chicago during the Jazz Age, the after-hours spots of corrupt Kansas City, the Cotton Club, the Savoy, and the other locales where the history of jazz was made. And as he traces the spread of this protean form, Gioia provides much insight into the social context in which the music was born.

©2011 Ted Gioia (P)2014 Audible Inc.
History & Criticism Music Musician Celebrity Mississippi

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All stars
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This was time well spent. Great detail on a subject that requires good research. Recommend that this bought and used as a reference.

Time well spent

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very comprehensive, but given the audio book format it would have been great if the publishers could have included exerpts from the music discussed.

Very good reference - but did they miss a trick?

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Definitely. You will learn an enormous amount of information about the people and forms of Jazz. But it is a huge effort. 23 hours!

Worth of Effort?

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I was interested in Jazz but after this book I am enthusiastic! Good introduction .
It is a pity that the potential of an audiobook is not fully embraced. If it contained clips of the music discussed it would be better to understand.

Good introduction

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Ted Gioia has been writing about jazz for many years now. He is clear and informative and his style is easy but authoritative. I have been listening to jazz and playing it for decades and I always learn new things from his writing. If you want an overview of Jazz this is the book for you!

Thorough, Thought provoking and clear

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Interesting facts but could have been illustrated with some of the actual jazz music referred to,

Needs illustration

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There is a lot of information here, that's the best I can say about it. Information about American jazz only that is, and it is clear which kinds of jazz the author likes. There is more here about Winton Marsalis than there is about every non-US jazz artist put together. Norah Jones and Eva Cassidy get more coverage than Django Reinhardt or "In A Silent Way." It is obvious that the author has little time for free jazz or fusion, though he lays out "both sides" (something he fails to do with subgenres he likes) the lack of detail gives the the game away, and when we get to hip hop and sampling, the contempt becomes open. Elsewhere we have endless lists of names instead of any detail about the way this music works or the stories behind it. Some parts I nevertheless enjoyed, but those I know a lot about (early jazz and blues) I found factually incorrect and skewed towards a particular (old fashioned) POV. Can't understand why this is the best-rated jazz history on Audible, it has very little to recommend about it I'm afraid.

Detailed but skewed

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Would you try another book written by Ted Gioia or narrated by Bob Souer?

I would avoid all books read by Bob Souer, is he even real? It sounds like this is read by an automated computer program. Shame, as the book is very good.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Bob Souer?

Anyone!

Excellently written, read by a robot

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This book is great, full of interesting facts and very well constructed. However, Bob Souer's monotone narration style takes you completely out of the story. I would never get another audiobook narrated by him.
Also, the book mentions tons of songs and jazz recordings that could've been included in the audio version of this book. A big missed opportunity.

Extremely interesting but horribly narrated

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