Skip to main content
  Log In
Menu
Displaying 1 of 1
The guide to classic recorded jazz
Book
1995
Google Books Preview
Add to My List  
Availability
Large Cover Image
Trade Reviews
Library Journal Review
Reviewing jazz music recorded between 1920 and 1970 that has been reissued on compact disc, Piazza discusses over 800 CDs, placing musicians and bands in their stylistic contexts. Piazza explains why each recording is interesting or important and summarizes the careers of major figures such as Dizzy Gillespie. Unfortunately, Piazza's breathless enthusiasm sometimes lowers his writing to the level of advertising copy. But he knows jazz history, and this study will benefit readers wishing to learn more about jazz or to expand their collections. Readers should realize, though, that much important jazz is not yet available on CD, and Piazza further limits the book's scope by excluding chapters on singers, trombonists, guitarists, bassists, and drummers. For larger jazz collections.‘Paul Baker, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
CHOICE Review
Piazza, who writes for The New York Times, Atlantic, and other publications, has produced what will probably become a standard of its type for the immediate future. Informed by the author's broad and deep knowledge of both the music and the recordings that document it, this guide can serve jazz aficionados and neophytes alike. The book approaches being a jazz history, told through recordings. Especially strong are the discussions of the work of jazz's most monumental figures: Armstrong, Ellington, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins. Because Piazza has a very definite opinion about what constitutes the best jazz, some readers may be disappointed by the lack of attention to a personal favorite. Piazza has also decided that the most important jazz musicians played trumpet, saxophone, or piano, so players of other instruments are not represented to any great degree. Recordings are listed in the text by compact disc label and number; the index lists only the artists. An excellent addition for all jazz collections, public and academic. K. R. Dietrich; Ripon College
Booklist Review
More than 800 recordings are discussed here "in stylistic and chronological context" in what Piazza claims is "the only book of its scope and purpose to have been written entirely by one author." In that sense it is different from The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Jazz [RBB Ja 15 92] and All Music Guide to Jazz [RBB D 15 94], both of which have many contributors. By "classic" Piazza means those "recordings that have formed or that exemplify the definitive elements of the jazz style, in as undiluted a form as possible." Thus the vast majority of recordings discussed here date from the 1920s until about 1970, or not long after Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, which signalled a new direction for many jazz musicians. The guide is organized into two main sections--one highlighting ensembles, the other soloists. The ensemble section covers dozens of bands including those of King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Art Blakey, and Charles Mingus. Players in the soloist section are arranged by instrument--trumpet, reeds, tenor saxophone, and piano. Within each category, one to two dozen instrumentalists are discussed in roughly chronological order. Obviously there is much overlap here, as well as between the ensembles and soloists sections. Vocalists, guitarists, bassists, and other musicians are covered, but access to them must come through the index rather than the detailed table of contents. Compact disc numbers are cited in the text for all but the very few recordings still available only on LP. Piazza's jazz knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his writing is both informative and lively. Covering roughly the same time period as Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz (Horizon, 1960), The Guide to Classic Recorded Jazz covers fewer artists but in more depth. It is recommended for academic, public, and large high-school libraries. For treatment of jazz fusion and jazz-influenced world music, one should look elsewhere. (Reviewed May 15, 1995)
Summary
A solid introductory guide to classical jazz naming the greats, their influences, and providing neophyte listeners with keys to listening and appreciating this musical genre. Free-lance music critic Piazza explains the science of riffing and the development of bebop and harmonic ensemble thinking.
Librarian's View
Syndetics Unbound
Displaying 1 of 1