Some books are meant to be read and some books are meant to be referred to. Gary Giddins's Visions of Jazz, which won a bevy of awards in 1998, belongs in the first category.
Jazz, an encyclopedic undertaking co-written with jazz historian Scott DeVeaux, falls into the second. It is vast, thorough, illuminating, thought-provoking, beautifully written and very entertaining. It is also dense, demanding and fundamentally a scholarly text.
Jazz, an encyclopedic undertaking co-written with jazz historian Scott DeVeaux, falls into the second. It is vast, thorough, illuminating, thought-provoking, beautifully written and very entertaining. It is also dense, demanding and fundamentally a scholarly text.
