A Century of Jazz - Softcover

Carr, Roy

3.91

32 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0600616096 ISBN 13: 9780600616092

Publisher: Hamlyn, 2006

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A Century of Jazz is the first-ever chronicle of the major influence in western music this century. Organized by year, style, and place, it is supplemented with special features on subjects relevant to each period. Making deliberate reference to popular music in general, where jazz has always been a strong influence, the book covers not only major jazz cult artists including Armstrong, Parker, and Coltrane, but also crossover figures such as Crosby, Glenn Miller, Sinatra, and George Benson, broadening its appeal beyond jazz connoisseurs to all music fans. A Century of Jazz is richly illustrated with a wealth of rare images and graphic material, plus the work of major jazz photographers such as Herman Leonard, Bob Willoughby, and Val Wilmer, and it includes contributions by such notable jazz writers as Fred Dellar, Brian Case, Richard Cook, and Neil Slaven. Featuring a sumptuous full-color layout and authoritative, entertaining writing, it is the definitive illustrated celebration of jazz history, jazz people, and jazz style.

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About the Author:

Leading a team of major jazz writers, Roy Carr, award-winning New York Times best-selling author, broadcaster, and record producer, is executive editor for IPC Magazine's music titles ( Melody Maker, New Musical Express, and Vox ). Among the many books published under his name is the co-authored seminal style bible The Hip: Hipsters, Jazz & the Beat Generation, and he also compiled/annotated numerous albums for Blue Note, Chess, Pacific Jazz, Riverside, Savoy, and other labels.

Review:

Carr is an energetic and knowledgeable writer, and the book is peppered with lingo and little-known facts. Tracing the music's history from post-Civil War New Orleans to postmodern acid jazz, Carr provides an authoritative account of the music, a rare thing in such a lavishly illustrated volume. Carr is particularly good on topics that are too often ignored by jazz writers, such as the importance of European jazz and the development of jazz-rock fusion in the 1970s. Purists may balk at the space Carr devotes to some of these more ephemeral subjects, but they are undeniably part of the music's bountiful tradition and have grown even more important to the story since hip-hop "rediscovered" jazz in the '90s.... I would be surprised if even the most devoted students of the music had seen many of these photos before; Carr and his team have done a first-rate job in tracking down images that are as absorbing as the writing itself. -- The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, Marc Carnegie

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