Jazz Blues category: 910 books

Jazz in Nazi-era and postwar Germany, as lived by a Jewish prodigy who survived the horrors of Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. "Coco, it's not important what you play. It's important how you play it," said Louis Armstrong to jazz and swing guitarist Coco Schumann during a break between...

In early 2005, an engineer at the Library of Congress accidentally discovered, in an unmarked box, the recording of Thelonious Monk's and John Coltrane's performance at a 1957 benefit concert at Carnegie Hall. Long considered one of the most important musical meetings in modern jazz, Monk's and Coltrane's...

Dameronia is the first authoritative biography of Tadd Dameron, an important and widely influential figure in jazz history as one of the most significant composers and arrangers of jazz, swing, bebop, and big band. He arranged for names like Count Basie, Artie Shaw, Jimmie Lunceford, and Dizzy Gillespie...

Jazz rock flourished from 1968 to 1974, offering a distinctively cool and innovative hybrid sound that captivated a generation—and beyond. Superstar bands like Blood, Sweat and Tears and Chicago have earned their place in popular consciousness, but the movement included many other powerful, innovative...

Jazz Books in the 1990s: An Annotated Bibliography contains over 700 entries covering adult non-fiction books on jazz published from 1990 through 1999. International in scope, the books included range from such places as Finland, Slovakia, Australia, Japan, India, and South Africa, as well as Canada,...

New York City Jazz explores many of the haunts and hideaways that have played host to iconic jazz musicians and singers like Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, and Lester Young. Considered the jazz capital of the world, New York City is known for...

Dizzy Gillespie was one of the most important and best-loved musicians in jazz history. With his horn-rimmed glasses, goatee, jive talk, and upraised trumpet bell, he was the hipster who most personified bebop. The musical heir to Louis Armstrong, he created the modern jazz trumpet-playing style and...

The guitarist and composer Pat Metheny ranks among the most popular and innovative jazz musicians of all time. In Pat Metheny: The ECM Years, 1975-1984, Mervyn Cooke offers the first in-depth account of Metheny's early creative period, during which he recorded eleven stunningly varied albums for the...

The Guardian and Observer newspapers have covered jazz in all its shapes and forms for almost a century. Jazz: From New Orleans to the new generation is a collection of reviews and profiles that charts the development of the music from its first appearance in London in 1917 right through to latter day...

Every night, somewhere in the world, three or four musicians will climb on stage together. Whether the gig is at a jazz club, a bar, or a bar mitzvah, the performance never begins with a note, but with a question. The trumpet player might turn to the bassist and ask, “Do you know ‘Body and Soul’?”—and...

Keith Jarrett ranks among the most accomplished and influential pianists in jazz history. His The Köln Concert stands among the most important jazz recordings of the past four decades, not only because of the music on the record, but also because of the remarkable reception it has received from musicians...

Mandolinists who wish to expand their improvisational vocabulary and spice up their rhythm accompaniment are invited to try some Jazz Mandolin Appetizers. This book and accompanying audio, prepared by chef Don Stiernberg, include a batch of etudes that address the challenges every improvising mandolinist...

Giant Steps examines the most important figures in the creation of modern jazz, detailing the emergence of bebop through the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. Using this as its starting point, Giant Steps subsequently delves into the developments...

A Living Jazz Legend, musician and composer David Baker has made a distinctive mark on the world of music in his nearly 60-year career—as player (chiefly on trombone and cello), composer, and educator. In this richly illustrated volume, Monika Herzig explores Baker’s artistic legacy, from his...