Visions of Jazz The First Century

Poised to become a jazz classic, Gary Giddins' Visions of Jazz: The FirstCentury contains no less than 78 chapters illuminating the lives of virtuallyall major figures in jazz history.From Louis Armstrong's renegade style trumpet playing to Frank Sinatra'sintimate crooning, jazz critic Gary Giddins continually astonishes us with hisunparalleled insight. In just a few lines, he captures the essence of LouisArmstrong, "He could telegraph with a growl or a rolling of his eyes hisindependence, confidence, and security. As the embodiment of jazz, he made jazzthe embodiment of the individual." Giddins maintains, contrary to the opinion ofmost jazz enthusiasts, that Armstrongs voice was as much an integral part ofcreating jazz singing as his trumpet was to creating jazz. Perhaps the mostremarkable chapters in the book are those that do pay tribute to the great jazzsingers. Billie Holiday profoundly impacted music history, and Giddinseloquently honors her "gutted voice, drawled phrasing, and wayworn features."Many artists, such as Irving Berlin and Rosemary Clooney, have beentraditionally dismissed by fans and critics as merely popular derivatives oftrue jazz. Giddins finally opens the doors of jazz to include these musicians.In addition to this, he devotes an entire quarter of this volume to young,active jazz artists. No other book has so boldly expanded the horizon of jazzand its influences.Visions of Jazz is an evocative journey through the first one hundred yearsof jazz that will captivate--and challenge--musicians, music critics, and musiclovers.

Gary Giddins is the jazz critic for the Village Voice. He lives in New York City.