The History of Jazz, Second Edition

By: Ted Gioia

Narrated by: Bob Souer

Length: 21 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

A Must For Jazz Fans & Newcomers

Gioia hit a home-run with this book on the history of Jazz. An undertaking covering this much ground must have been daunting. I imagine writing any volume on the history of Jazz will leave some fan, somewhere feeling like parts were left out. Gioia covers most of the key areas. Latin/Cuban Jazz isn't given much attention which is puzzling. There are other works to go to if you want to truly get stories behind specific songs or artists, but as far as a one volume go-to work, this is a must for music lovers. Gioia does a great job of tracing jazz back to its roots in the African slave trade and Blues music. He covers a who's who of key artists and recordings. It's too bad Audible can't incorporate those songs into the audio book but this is a great resource for dedicated Jazz fans to take and do further study. Gioia covers key movements in the music's history and comes to current day with artists to look into and a futuristic pondering of where the music will go next. Will be looking into other work by Gioia based on the strength of this work.

Well worth the time to listen to

Comprehensive and fascinating history of the times, then men, the music. Now I get to listen with a keener sense to all my favorites and many new stars.

Seminal jazz history work

Excellent survey of jazz history. No wonder why this book has become a standard at university jazz history programs. This edition is updated with many names and trends that make the book much more relevant today. The audible edition is great too. The reader speaks in a very clear way, which is specially important for us non-native English speakers.

Comprehensive look at the evolution of jazz.

Incisive and critical look at the evolution of music, culture and social changes of American jazz. It is entertaining, informative and impressive. The author has spent a lifetime in the field. A must read for anyone interested in the music.

Fantastic encyclopedic overview

This fantastic encyclopedic overview is best when it spotlights key figures in detail. The listing of contributors serves as a reference when looking up new jazz to listen to on your own. I was hoping though, however, that there would be mention of John Mayer for the millennium or Hoobustank’s Basketball Shorts for jazz-rock fusion… maybe in the next volume.

Music should accompany text

The book is fantastic but it would have been bolstered by having examples of the described music played in the proximity of the comments about the music.

As I am already familiar with the music, the authors descriptions added meaning. If I did not already know the music I don't think that the descriptions would have been meaningful to me.

There was one mispronunciation which was repeated several times.. Camarillo was pronounced Camarillo and not Cama-rio.

A great book - highly recommended

I use this book for a college course. It is well organized, but requires a basic knowledge of the art form

Well done--For a Particular Audience

I am a huge music lover, but Jazz as a whole has been one of my least favorite and least known kinds of music. That's why I chose this audio book, to learn more about it. Only to discover that it did not define what jazz is as distinct from other fields of music. Also, since it is an audio book, I expected just that: some samples of recorded jazz. But there were none: just a lot of unheard song titles. Finally, this book is for Democrats and left-wing political people, which did not suit this Conservative, going on and on about how Ameruca did not applaud or nurture its African-American musicians even into the 1970's! Ridiculous!
But in spite of all its shortcomings, it is an excellent aural history of the birth, development, and hopeful future of jazz. It really, however, is better to listen to if you already know this music pretty well.

Great book

I really love this. book has a lot of good stores and history of the best music America has developed. There are a few things I didn't like was it was a little difficult to follow would go for. The 60's to the 40's to the 80's then back to the 30 or 40's then to the 50's the dates were all over the place. But other then that a great book. Very well worth reading

Excellent Book!

Great for anyone interested. Narrator is monotone but does a good job otherwise. Well worth the price!