1. Introduction: a matter of fundamentals -- 2. King Oliver: father figure -- 3. Jelly Roll Morton: three-minute form -- 4. Sidney Bechet: first and last -- 5. Louis Armstrong: style beyond style -- 6. Bix Beiderbecke: the white man's burden -- 7. Coleman Hawkins: some comments on a phoenix -- 8. Billie Holliday: actress without an act -- 9. Art Tatum: not for the left hand alone -- 10. Duke Ellington: form beyond form -- 11. Count Basie and Lester Young: style beyond swing -- 12. Charlie Parker: the burden of innovation -- 13. Thelonious Monk: modern jazz in search of maturity -- 14. John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet: modern conservative -- 15. Sonny Rollins: spontaneous orchestration -- 16. Horace Silver: the meaning of craftsmanship -- 17. Miles Davis: a man walking -- 18. Sarah Vaughan: the meaning of self-discovery -- 19. Bill Evans: a need to know -- 20. Charlie Mingus: the pivotal instrument -- 21. John Coltrane: a man in the middle -- 22. Ornette Coleman: innovation from the source -- 23. Eric Dolphy: step by step -- 24. World Saxophone Quartet: four in one -- 25. The meaning of a music: an art for the century.
0
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
When it was first published in 1970, this lively and fascinating book was greeted with almost universal acclaim. The American Record Guide called it "the best one-volume of jazz we have," and the Jazz Journal praised it as "a brilliant study of the whole of jazz." Perhaps the greatest tributewas paid by Louis Armstrong himself who raved: "it held Ol' Satch spellbound." Now thoroughly revised and expanded, the new edition of The Jazz Tradition offers readers a unique history of jazz, as seen through its greatest practitioners. An original blend of history and criticism, this book explores the work of nearly two dozen leading musicians and ensembles that have shaped the course of jazz, from King Oliver's Creole Jazz band to the present day. Couched in the same readable, non-technical language that made earliereditions so popular, The Jazz Tradition adds new chapters on some of the more recent giants of jazz, performers like pianist Bill Evans, versatile horn player and saxophonist Eric Dolphy, and the World Saxophone Quartet, and considerably expands the chapter devoted to Count Basie. In addition, aforeword by Richard Crawford introduces the new edition, and the discographies on each performer have been fully brought up to date. Written by an author The Washington Post lauded as "the most knowledgeable, open-minded, and perceptive American jazz critic today," The Jazz Tradition belongs in thelibrary of all lovers of this distinctly American sound.