Date:	18-May-1998 11:47:59
From:	Peter Solomon (psolomon@pittstate.edu)
	I would recommend the following books very strongly: Art Pepper: Straight Life Talk about a candid picture. This book is a graphic and poignant look at a true Jazz genius and his addiction. Miles Davis Autibiography w/ Quincy Troupe Very interesting to hear Miles tell in his own words what he tried to accomplish with his music. Hampton Hawes Autobiography A very overlooked pianist who died in 1977. Another very telling biography, interesting accounts of growing up in LA and another candid look at a man with an addiction. Louis Armstrong: An Enchanted Life by Lawrence Bergren (Sorry about spelling there) Ornette Coleman, A Harmolodic Life Very intelligent scholarship on the music of this pioneer.written by John Litweiler from the University of Chicago (I think. This is off the top of my head>) Ted Gioa "West Coast Jazz" Very well researches and interesting account of the history of West Coast Jazz. Includes information on the whereabouts of trumpeter Dupree Bolton (Played with Harold Land on the album "The Fox") and fascinating portraits on everyone from Brubeck to Cal Tjader to Dexter Gordon to Wardell Gray to Art Pepper. Doesn't mention Jazz Crusaders but it's a great book anyway. Rex Stewart, the great Ellington/Henderson trumpeter wrote a couple of great books with vignettes on many of the icons from the early years of Jazz. Boy Meets Horn is one of them. Stewart is one of a rare breed of musicians that is an articulate author as well as a great musician. Jelly Roll Morton's Biography as told to Allan Lomax Here are some great books on early Jazz Sidney Bechet's "Treat It Gentle" Pops Foster's Autobiography Stanley Dance's "World Of Count Basie", World of Earl Hines", and his Ellington Book. That's a good start I guess.

 

Date:	18-May-1998 18:12:23
From:	Albert Bifarelli (logos@calweb.com)
	In music as in life, a universal truth holds sway: Comprehension sires and categorically defines appreciation. Consequently, to enrich and augment the enumerable pleasures wrought by American Art Music (Jazz), a rudimentary examination, and assimilation of the materials, concepts, and volcanic history of the craft is mandatory. In this spirit, I am privileged to suggest the following titles as essential companions for students and burgeoning enthusiasts of the art form alike. Stomping the Blues - Albert Murray The Blue Devils of Nada - Albert Murray Early Jazz - Gunther Schuller Swing Era: The Development of Jazz - Gunther Schuller Sweet Swing Blues on the Road - Marsalis and Stewart Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence - Andre Hodeir Celebrating Duke & Louis, Bessie, Billie etc. - Ralph J. Gleason New Perspectives on the History of Jazz - Nat Hentoff

 

Date:	19-May-1998 14:54:14
From:	sal weir (salweir@aol.com)
	Comprehension sires and categorically defines appreciation? I favour intuition over understanding; music comprehended is not music necessarily appreciated. I know nothing about notes or chords or scales, but when Bird blows I know I understand that I am hearing wonderful music. Although I am not an anti-intellectual, it is tiresome to hear woolly heads talk -- too convoluted. Keep it simple. Were I a musician I might be interested in notation, but as a listener I know that when Prez blows I feel it in my belly.

 

Date:	21-May-1998 23:32:45
From:	joel roberts (jrbts@tuna.net)
	Lush Life, David Hajdu's biography of Billy Strayhorn. A great portrait of Strayhorn, Ellington, and New York jazz in the 40s, 50s and 60s. This is an absolutely essential book about a truly original jazz artist.

 

Date:	24-May-1998 10:34:08
From:	Larry Koenigsberg (larryk@efn.org)
	For musicological analysis, I have found the following to be particularly informative: LESTER YOUNG by Lewis Porter which describes exactly the means Young used in building solos; BEBOP: THE MUSIC AND ITS MAKERS by Thomas Owens which provides many musical examples; YARDBIRD SUITE by Lawrence Koch which provides an astute biographical sketch and recording-by-recording analysis of the Charlie Parker discography; the two books by Gunther Schuller already mentioned, EARLY JAZZ and THE SWING ERA. There is nothing more evocative of jazz history through the early 1940's than the Hentoff / Shapiro collection HEAR ME TALKIN' TO YOU which has prooved a goldmine of information for all subsequent jazz historians. Ira Gitler's similarly structured oral history of bebop seems a bit overloaded to me. There are some great collections of interviews with jazz musicians. Robert Rusch, the editor of CADENCE (which produces outstanding interviews every month) has reprinted some of these in JAZZ TALK. Not for reading but for viewing, the Chan Parker / Francis Paudras coffee table photograph album TO BIRD WITH LOVE leaves an indelible impression of Charlie Parker's presence. Charles Mingus' autobiography, BENEATH THE UNDERDOG, while less a factual narrative than a phantasmagoric meditation, has many interesting and colorful scenes. Essential reading? I wouldn't say so. But there's a lot out there, and you can find a good collection of capsule reviews at http://www.kleine.co.at/rojac_books_rmb.

 

Date:	24-May-1998 18:12:51
From:	John Firehammer (firehammerj@wwics.com)
	In addition to many of the books already mentioned, I'd recommend "Reading Jazz" edited by Robert Gottlieb as a collection that belongs on every jazz fan's shelf. Listening to jazz is definitely more fun than reading about it. But this anthology, including excerpts from artist autobiographies, biographies and classic critical pieces, is a lot of fun to leaf through when you've got a favorite record on in the background. "The Freedom Principle" by John Litweiler, which concentrates on New Thing and free jazz, is a book that taught me quite a bit about an area of jazz that tends to get neglected in these neo-conservative days.

 

Date:	26-May-1998 05:24:23
From:	jim smith (smithj@pbs.port.ac.uk)
	These books sit on my bookshelf and provide a constant source of pleasure. Notes and Tones -Art Taylor. Bird Lives -Ross Russell. Goodmorning Blues -Count Basie. Jazz Anecdotes -Bill Crow. Jazz West Coast -Robert Gordon. Hard Bop -David H Rosenthal. Beyond Category -John Edward Hasse. Swing Swing Swing -Ross Firestone.And of course Grove Dictionary of Jazz.Books already cited I have not given in this list but would just like to add that one cannot have to much of a good thing. READ ON...

 

Date:	31-May-1998 20:35:21
From:	Semenya McCord (semenya@aol.com)
	Understanding the traditions of the music has always been important to me and the manner in which I teach and talk about the music, so I always recommend reading as much about the "roots" of the music, as about the "masters". In order that we recognize the "real" stuff in today's work, we have to look at whether or not the traditions are respected. Any jazz enthusiast should read: "The Spirituals and The Blues" James H. Cone "Louis' Children: American Jazz Singers" Leslie Gourse and a book that Archie Shepp uses in one of his courses at UMASS/Amherst: "Mother Wit from the Laughing Barrel" Readings in the Interpretation of Afro-American Folklore, edited by Alan Dundes. I tell my jazz voice students to read these books as well. We are required to read a lot about the lives and times of the classical composers, Bach, Mozart, in the "study of music"--and we don't do much reading when it comes to jazz. It's well worth the "understanding."

 

Date:	05-Jun-1998 12:34:49
From:	Jack Katz (katpharm@bigfoot.com)
	Reading any publication by WHITNEY BALLIET is a pleasure. The man has a wonderfully descriptive style with his pen....his writing lives. One of his finest books,I find, is "IMPROVISING."...a fine insight into the person of the musician. Another enjoyable read is "I REMEMBER JAZZ." The author is AL ROSE,and spans the lives and stories of six decades of jazzmen.

 

Date:	05-Jun-1998 15:59:31
From:	David Poole (dpoole@eisnor.com)
	ASCENSION (DeCapo Press) covers John Coltrane's music with passionate and informed prose. Particular insight is offered into Coltrane's free jazz from the few years before he died. The complexity of Coltrane's music from that period make a commentary helpful, adding much to Impulse Records liner notes. I got a sense of what it must have been like to hear those intense and iconoclastic records at the time. Also, the GROVE DICTIONARY OF JAZZ (Grove Press) is an excellent reference guide, particularly for the more technical questions.

 

Date:	14-Jun-1998 07:12:00
From:	Peter Kenyon (kenyonp@cbs.curtin.edu.au)
	Just finished Scott De Veaux's 'The Birth of Bebop.' Don't know about it being required reading, but it is a pretty good read for an academic work. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. Miles Davis's autobiography 'Miles' is a terrific read and is, I guess, essential reading for a jazz fan. I refer all the time to the 'Rough Guide to Jazz' and also the 'Penguin Guide to jazz on CD' Peter Kenyon

 

Date:	15-Jun-1998 07:10:56
From:	max (ubertall@measn0.isim.univ-montp2.fr)
	i don't know the title in en glish but in french it is "le jazz et les gangster", written by Ronal L.Morris. it is about the relationship beetween jazzmen and gangsters such as al capone, about the inluence on the music itself, the evolution of the public that gangsters made possible. very intersting if tou are interresed in the history of the debute (is stops near 1950)

 

Date:	08-Jul-1998 15:47:58
From:	Everett Kalafatis (Everettxxx@.com)
	Without a doubt the first book a novice should consider reading (& purchasing) is The Penguin Guide to Jazz on Cd. It probably needs to be updated and revised in the next year or two, but as it stands now it is the finest critical document of jazz recordings you can buy. The star system works very well, and the critics here aren't afraid to trash an album by an artist like Duke Ellington, few as they may be. Too many critics worship every recordiing of a major artist and it is refreshing to see critics who go beyond the legend and tell you specifically about what the music offers you. At $20-25 dollars, not a cheap purchase but novices will consider the money well spent because they will more easily be able to avoid buying cds which they will want to use as frisbees after listening to a couple of times.

 

Date:	17-Jul-1998 09:39:43
From:	Don Druker (dond1@erols.com)
	These are some books I offer as suggested readings to a class I teach on the evolution of jazz: Berendt, Joachim Ernest. The Jazz Book: From Ragtime to Fusion and Beyond (Westport, CT: Hill Publishing Company). 1982. Berlin, Edward. Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History (Berkeley: University of California Press). 1989. Berliner, Paul A. Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation (Chicago: University of Chicago Press). 1994. Blesh, Rudi, and Janis Harriett. They All Played Ragtime (New York: Grove Press). 1959. Collier, James Lincoln. The Making of Jazz: A Comprehensive History (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin). 1978. Davis, Francis. Bebop and Nothingness: Jazz and Pop at the End of the Century (New York: Schirmer Books). 1996. Deveaux, Scott. The Birth of Bebop: A Social and Musical History (Berkeley: University of California Press). 1997. Ewen, David. The Life and Death of Tin Pan Alley (New York: Funk and Wagnalls). 1964. Feather, Leonard. The Book of Jazz (New York: Horizon Books). 1961. Friedwald, Will. Jazz Singers: Great Voices from Bessie Smith to Bebop and Beyond (New York: Scribner). 1990. Giddins, Gary. Riding on a Blue Note (New York: Oxford University Press). 1981. Gioia, Ted. The History of Jazz (New York: Oxford University Press). 1997. Gioia, Ted. The Imperfect Art: Reflections on Jazz and Modern Culture (New York: Oxford University Press). 1988. Gottlieb, Robert Gottlieb, ed. Reading Jazz : A Gathering of Autobiography, Reportage, and Criticism from 1919 to Now (New York: Pantheon Books). 1996. Hentoff, Nat and Albert J. McCarthy, eds. Jazz: New Perspectives (New York: Rinehart Publishing Company). 1959. Hodier, André. Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence (New York: Grove Press). 1956 Kernfeld, Barry. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (London and New York: Macmillan Publishing Company). 1988. Kernfeld, Barry. What to Listen for in Jazz (New Haven and London: Yale University Press). 1995. Lees, Gene. Cats of Any Color : Jazz Black and White (New York: Oxford Univ Press). 1996. Leonard, Will. Jazz: Myth and Religion (New York: Oxford University Press). 1987. McCarthy, Albert J. The Dance Band Era: The Dancing Decades from Ragtime to Swing, 1910-50 (London and New York: Spring Books). 1974. Megill, Donald D. and Richard S. Demory. Introduction to Jazz History (New York: Prentice-Hall), 1996. Piazza, Tom. The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz (Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press). 1995. Placksin, Sally. American Women in Jazz: 1900 to the Present (New York: Seaview Books). 1982. Pleasants, Henry. Serious Music — And All That Jazz (New York: Simon and Schuster). 1968. Rosenthal, David H. Hard Bop: Jazz and Black Music, 1955-1965 (New York: Oxford University Press). 1993. Russell, Ross. Bird Lives (New York: Charterhouse). 1973. Sales, Grover. Jazz: America's Classical Music (New York: De Capo Books). 1983. Schuller, Gunther. The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press). 1989. Schuller, Gunther. Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development (New York: Oxford University Press). 1968. Shapiro, Nat and Nat Hentoff. Hear Me Talkin' to Ya (New York: Dover Books). 1955. Simon, George T. The Big Bands (New York: Schirmer Books). 1981. Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans: A History (New York: W.W. Norton). 1983. Spellman, A.B. Black Music: Four Lives (New York: Schocken Books). 1970. Stearns, Marshall. The Story of Jazz (New York: Oxford University Press). 1958. Tirro, Frank. Jazz: A History, 2nd ed. (New York: W.W. Norton and Company). 1993. Wilder, Alec. American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950 (New York: Oxford University Press). 1972. Williams, Martin. The Art of Jazz: Ragtime to Bebop (Jersey City, NJ: Da Capo Press). 1988. Williams, Martin. Jazz Masters of New Orleans (Jersey City, NJ: Da Capo Press). 1979.

 

Date:	22-Jul-1998 10:33:47
From:	David Whiteis (whiteis@ipfw.edu)
	"Music On My Mind" by Willie "The Lion" Smith

 

Date:	21-Oct-1998 18:41:37
From:	judson maynard (jazzbo112@aol.com)
	Would like to add these books for consideration. Two have already been mentioned but I will include them anyway. The Art of Jazz edited by Martin Williams-essays on the nature and development of jazz Swing to Bop by Ira Gitler-an oral history of the transition from swing to bop Jazz it,s evolution and Essence by Andre Hodeir the Imperfect Art by Ted Gioia and a non Jazz book but one which I have read several times. Rocking the Classics by Edward Macan. This is an excellent musiscal analysis and historical overview of English Progressive Rock

 

Date:	14-Nov-1998 18:19:31
From:	Marla Kleman (MKlemanbop@aol.com)
	Art Taylor's "Notes and Tones." The interviews with musicians such as Johnny Griffin are quite candid.

 

Date:	01-Feb-1999 11:21:03
From:	jim smith (JimSmith@port.ac.uk)
	Have just taken delivery of a copy of " All Music Guide to Jazz ". Potentially the VIAGRA of reference books. Just as the interest fades just a little,this book certainly "lifts" the spirit.

 

Date:	15-Aug-1999 16:27:28
From:	Zimbo
	I picked up THE RELUCTANT ART by the pianist Benny Green. Wow, what a wonderful book - seven passionate chapter long with essays on Bix Beiderbecke, Benny Goodman, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, and Art Tatum. The author is savvy, knowledgable, and a great writer (writes the excellent Pablo Records liner notes). Anyway, I thought the essays on Lester, Billie, and Charlie Parker were especially illuminating about what they were doing musically, explaining in a mostly non-technical manner that I, a non-musician, could easily grasp. The best writings I've read about Billie and Lester. The essay on Beiderbecke puts him in perspective historically and explains why the fuss - a good sociologist that Green. The essay on Goodman is a brutally candid commentary on the selling out of a major talent. In short, a great book, a great read, and made me want to go out and find a couple of Benny Green CDs.

 

Date:	17-Oct-1999 14:45:46
From:	Mike
	I'd recommend Ted Gioia's "The History of Jazz" this is a big overview book written by a fair minded writer who is appreciative of the whole range of jazz styles and musicians. Great writing on everything from New Orleans jazz to Ellington to Lennie Tristano to Chick Corea to Albert Ayler and everything in between and since. He writes well too - it's a pleasure to read. Check it out.

 

Date:	25-Jul-2000 22:15:46
From:	hand of fate
	I highly reccommend "The Tri-Axium Writings" by Anthony Braxton. Despite a tendency towards redundancy, and the highly idiosyncratic prose, Braxton delves more deeply into the aesthetics of creative music than the any jazz critic that I have ever read (and I have read, loved and hated many critics). Even though Braxton's work is ridden with contradictions, he at least isolates and confronts the major issues that face "Jazz" music. This honesty, and the depth of it--his Tri-Axium Writings cover 3 volumes, approximately 500 pages each--is something highly refreshing and often illuminating. You can these books from Braxton himself, who sells them through Frog Peak Music. They have a website, so check it out.

 

Date:	05-Mar-2001 06:39:41
From:	Jarrad (amallallama@hotmail.com)
	Absolutley nothing.

 

Date:	15-Jun-2001 21:21:23
From:	Joe Newhouse (jrn@sgi.net)
	I would recommend Ashley Kahn's "Kind Of Blue: The Making Of The Miles Davis Masterpiece" for those interested in the inside story on how the Miles Davis classic came to be.

 

Date:	27-Jul-2001 12:48:08
From:	Randy Hogan
	Anyone who wants to understand what heavyweight women musicians endure should read Linda Dahl's superb biography of Mary Lou Williams, Morning Glory. Her book about women in jazz, Stormy Weather, is another must read.