Reviews for Visions of jazz

The average rating for Visions of jazz based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-08-22 00:00:00 Vivian Izer Published in 1998, Visions of Jazz provides a thematic, chronologically sequenced tour of jazz music’s first 100 years. Giddins is an able, erudite tour guide, a deeply knowledgeable and strongly opinionated student of jazz. He writes not just cogently but with style and grace, making him informative and assessable, inspiring me to several hundred dollars of CD purchases during the course of my reading. (The internet rescued me from spending even more.) Giddins is particularly strong (or was to this reader) through the beginning and early foundations of jazz, mixing social history in with the music’s development. All of the great names and many that are less well known but critical to the music’s development are here: W.C. Handey, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Spencer Williams, Duke Ellington, Bunk Johnson, Ethel Waters and more. In chapters that look at the origins of jazz, Giddins discusses the importance of spirituals and of popular song, as well as the more traditionally identified ancestors, the blues and the rich international flavors of New Orleans music. Armstrong and Ellington, because they must, get multiple chapters cast through the books thematic parts (Precursors, A New Music, A Popular Music, A Modern Music, A Mainstream Music, An Alternative Music, A Struggling Music, and A Traditional Music). The book is strongest in its earliest two-thirds, absolutely compelling and a real education for anyone who likes jazz but is uncertain to why. Depending on how you feel about the music of Charles Mingus, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, and Muhal Richards Abrams, the stretch of brilliance will continue into the essays in An Alternative Music. For me it mostly provided a better understanding of music that still doesn’t appeal to me. Visions of Jazz falters as two challenges come together, the fallow period of jazz when it was overwhelmed by rock and roll music beginning in the mid 60s and sort of lost its way in the 70s and 80s (fusion and lite jazz), and the nearer to today we get the more the chapters read like journalism and less like cultural history. Perspective is blocked by the nearness of the back wall of the present moment so the writing, while enthusiastic seems to lack authority. That said, the journalistic chapters about Geri Allen, Joshua Redman, Don Byron, Joe Henderson, and others still inspire the reader with optimism and an appetite to listen to the music Giddins writes so passionately about. And the early parts, from Precursors up through A Mainstream Music, are insightful and entertaining and as fine an introduction to some of the world’s best music as can be found in one place. Giddins is that rare critic (Clive James also comes to mind) who educates without condescension, whose opinions inspire interest, and whose enthusiasms are infectious.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-05-29 00:00:00 Oleksiy Vasylenko A very fine piece of work for the music historian and collector. Well written including unexpected depth of detail going as far as to dip into music theory. Giddins far surpasses the pitfall of writing chapter after chapter of short form biography and review. No pretense is made that some of the writing is just exposition on known biographical notes as there are jazz figures and stories about which little is known or a brief, but important entries. The author in the preface quickly informs the reader that their favorite or current jazz obsession may not be included. This is a Vision of Jazz that Giddins has and expresses well. By following important or seminal movements with in this realm of music the author leads the reader to a much richer view of the world of jazz if not specific sounds. For the reader who is very well versed, or even some what familiar, in the 'classics' and revolutionary moments (Monk, Parker, Ellington, and so on of the biggies) the writing will elicit auditory echos. I 'heard' things playing while reading some sections about a few of my favorites and gained some different insights and understanding of works that previously had 'stood alone'. This work will challenge most readers, and intimidate or bore the casual jazz fan. It is eclectic and perhaps a bit deferential to certain 'trends' yet it stands up well to scrutiny. A lot is added to the library of Jazz history and musicology with this one work. If you think and do know Jazz, you probably will find 50 or more pages of new or unusual information that hasn't been seen before. I ran across half a dozen names that I never had heard of (though some of the music was familiar once I dug up what I could) and found some new very serious analysis of works that I hadn't seen the like previously. If you think Jazz is confined to a few famous areas or base any sense of reality in Ken Burns PBS works, the book may be a revelation. There are gaps, missing names other than notes or brief mentions, perhaps a few too many pages devoted to some and not enough to others. Don't look for lists of dates performances and recordings. That would have made this just another 'reference'. This is a book about Jazz to be read and perhaps, heard.