AnyBook4Less.com	Find the Best Price on the Web Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Home  |  Store List  |  FAQ  |  Contact Us  |
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money Keyword AuthorISBN

Title: Jazz by John Fordham, Sonny Rollins ISBN: 0-7513-0050-0 Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd Pub. Date: 07 October, 1993 Format: Paperback

Your Country USA Canada United Kingdom Australia Austria Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands Switzerland Currency AutoUSD CAD GBP EUR AUD CHF Delivery Only cheapest delivery All delivery options Include Used Books Are you a club member of: Barnes and Noble Books A Million Chapters.Indigo.ca

Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: Perhaps the best introduction to jazz
Comment: I spent most of my liesure time & all of my discretionary funds for about 20 years trying to hear as much of jazz history as possible. I hosted a public radio jazz program for 18 of those years. I bought a copy of this book to lend to friends who ask me how to begin learning about jazz. It walks thru all the instruments & all the styles, & describes a fine initial library of CDs.

One small caveat: Fordham is British & has a slightly higher opinion of British jazz in general than American critics have. I love John Surman & Mike Westbrook & Tony Oxley & their fellows, but I automatically deduct half a star (figuratively speaking) from Fordham's reviews of his countrymen.

Rating: 5
Summary: Joy For Your Coffee Table
Comment: This is a wonderful volume about jazz. It takes different points of view, looking at jazz in terms of instruments, composition, dance, and most importantly, the jazz recordings. I found the illustrated guide to their list of essential jazz recordings useful, introducing me to some now obscure music. Also very useful is a timeline which gives the reader a good idea of the context in which this great music was produced. This book is a great celebration of the artists and the music and makes a great companion volume to the massive Ken Burns media blitz.

Rating: 4
Summary: Trumpeter's Appraisal
Comment: While this book is very well illustrated and contains much information, there are many key jazz trumpeters who are missing. Some that come to mind are Harry James, Doc Severnson, Leon Merian, Al Hirt, Arturo Sandoval (who Dizzy Gillespie sponsored when he requested political asylum from Cuba while on tour), and Maynard Ferguson. While there is a page on Bix Beiderbecke in chapter 3, he is the only white player in the entire chapter. There are many good white and Latino trumpet players.

In fact, Leon Merian was well ahead of his time. He was the first white trumpet player playing with a black band and had to sleep on the bus because he wasn't allowed in the black hotels. Unfortunately, segregation worked both ways. Unlike Bix, Leon is still playing strong at 75, is active in the industry (patented Jet-Tone mouthpieces), conducts clinics for trumpet players, and is an active member of the International Trumpet Guild.

Probably the best trumpet player of all time received only short notice--Wynton Marsalis. Perhaps because he is so young? To not include him as a jazz giant is overlooking his awesome abilities. Hopefully, Mr. Fordham is writing a complete book on just Mr. Marsalis--a truly remarkable, gifted, and generous trumpeter.

This is still a great book, there is just another one out there that Mr. Fordham can write to include the rest of the trumpet greats.

The chapter on the instruments is outstanding. It is both accurate and well illustrated.

I definately recommend this book as an essential element of a good jazz library.