Visions of Jazz: The First Century

703 Pages·1998·15.18 MB·English

by  Gary Giddins

Acclaim for VISIONS OF JAZZ
"Visions of Jazz: The First Century is a massive attempt to encompass the music
from its earliest beginnings ... the essays are superbly written, manifest exam-
ples of the manner in which the best writing about jazz combines historical per-
spective, social insights, and musical understanding."
—Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times
"Gary Giddins is that rarest of jazz critics. He feels the music as deeply as the
artists who make it, and he writes as expressively and with the same depth and
breadth as his stellar subject s perform and compose.... He writes with such
insight, wit, and vigor that one need not be an aficionado [to be] swept up by
the power of his prose and the skill of his narrative essays."
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune
"Effectively a popular history of the United States through music."
—Ian Thompson, The Daily Telegraph (London)
"Giddins brings to the table an impeccable ear, encyclopedic tastes, a reporter's
gift for detail and a scholar's knowledge of jazz history and the urban sprawl of
American culture—all filtered through a strikingly eloquent and witty prose
style."
—Mark Stryker, Detroit free Press
"To say that Gary Giddins is a great jazz critic is no more useful than saying
Ruskin wrote well about art or that Johnson was a darned good lexicographer.
Giddins is an essayist and thinker capable of astonishing erudition, insight, and
sensitivity, but first and foremost he's a breathtaking stylist, whose suppleness
of tone and flexibility of line here elucidate the most American of musical forms
in a way that—gently, unobtrusively—swings."
—Rick Moody
"Titans roamed the land and plied the rivers . .. Giddins limns them all incisively
and often poetically. [His] passion and commitment burn through Visions of ]azz
like a hot, blue flame."
—Don Asher, San Francisco Chronicle
"Finally, under one roof, is the conclusive evidence of jazz's centrality in our
complicated national narrative and of Gary Giddins's supreme mastery of his
topic."
—Ken Burns
"The most penetrating, persuasive and engagingly personal overview of the mu-
sic. .. . Whatever the next century has in store, this century of jazz couldn't re-
ceive a better sendoff."
—Lloyd Sachs, Chicago Sun-Times
"Though his greatest gift is a knack for translating musical experience into con-
crete prose (e.g., first listening to Gerry Mulligan is like 'trying to climb a glass
wall'), Giddins is also a consummate historian and fearless contrarian."
—Publishers Weekly
"As jazz celebrates its centenary, Giddins has given it, and those who love it,
the perfect birthday present."
—Andrew Vine, Yorkshire Post (Leeds)
"His fascination and ardour show through on every page, and the reader will
find that these 'Visions of Jazz' continue to illuminate his or her own, long after
they have closed the book."
—The Economist
"Accessible, informative and entertaining . .. beautifully turned phrases.... Just
great!"
—Brian Case, Time Out
"[Giddins's] phenomenal appetite for the sound of the new will give all but the
most blinkered reactionary an appetite for the unknown. But above all, the over-
whelming strength of this book is that it also makes you want to listen afresh to
music that you thought you knew well."
—Clive Davis, Washington Times
"Jazz-loving listeners with no technical knowledge of the music might fear being
overwhelmed by the author's close analysis, but they would be wrong . . . Gid-
dins's aim is to transmit enjoyment."
—George Melly, The Times (London)
"Dazzling intellectual range and finely honed writing... . Jazz creativity is ex-
amined against a backdrop of racism, economic depression, political paranoia
and democratic experimentation."
—Norman Weinstein, Pulse
"His knowledge of the subject is prodigious and his tastes wide-ranging. What
is more, he writes clear, unpretentious English.... I can think of few other writ-
ers who would be up to the job .. . and I know of no one who has written better
on Sinatra or Billie Holiday. Giddins's writing is full of insights and ideas."
—Dave Gelly, Jazz-Wise
"A monumental work . .. Giddins has become a master of the lightning insight,
the unexpected connection (his use of literary analogies is particularly apt). . . .
This is an important book, one that any serious student of jazz will want to own."
—Kirkus Reviews
Visions of Jazz
Books by Gary Giddins
Riding on a Blue Note (1981)
Rhythm-a-ning (1985 )
Celebrating Bird (1987)
Satchmo (1988)
Faces in the Crowd (1992)
Visions of Jazz (1998)
Visions of Jazz
THE FIRS T CENTUR Y
GARY GIDDIN S
OXTORD
UNIVERSITY PRES S
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Oxford Ne w York
Athens Aucklan d Bangko k Bogot a Bueno s Aires Calcutt a
Cape Town Chenna i Da r es Salaam Delh i Florenc e Hon g Kong
Istanbul Karachi Kual a Lumpur Madri d Melbourn e Mexic o City
Mumbai Nairob i Pari s Sa o Paulo Singapor e Taipe i Toky o
Toronto Warsa w
and associated companies in
Berlin Ibada n
Copyright © 1998 by Gary Giddins
First published by Oxford University Press, Inc., 1998
First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1999
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Giddins, Gary.
Visions of jazz : the first century / Gary Giddins.
p. cm . Include s index.
ISBN-13 978-0-19-513241-0
1. Jazz musicians—Biography. 2 . Composers—Biography.
3. Jazz—History and criticism. I . Title.
ML38S.GS3 199 8 781.65'092'2—dc2 1 [B ] 98-1219 9
FOR LEA, DEBORAH, AND ALICE
AND FOR SHELDON MEYER
AND IN MEMORY:
LEO GIDDINS
AND
WALTER CLEMON S
ROY ELDRIDGE
GIL EVANS
DIZZY GILLESPIE
MEL LEWIS
GERRY MULLIGAN
SARAH VAUGHA N
MARTIN WILLIAMS
Cornetist to Queen Victoria Falls Dead on Hearing Coney Island
Jazz Band. — headline (1926), The New Yor k Times
Jazz is the expression of protest against law and order, the bolshevik
element of license striving for expression in music.
—Anne Shaw Faulkner, Ladies Home Journal
The "jazz mania" has taken on the character of a lingering illness
and must be cured by means of forceful intervention.
—Boris Gibalin, Izvestia
What a terrible revenge by the culture of the Negroes on that of the
whites! — Ignace Paderewski
Jazz opposes to our classical conception of music a strange and sub-
versive chaos of sounds . .. it is a fashion and, as such, destined some
day to disappear. — Igor Stravinsky
Jazz is only what you are. — Louis Armstrong
Contents
Introduction 3
PART ONE: PRECURSORS
1 Ber t Williams/Al Jolson (Native Wits) 1 3
2 Han k Jones/Charlie Hade n (Come Sunday) 1 9
3 Loui s Armstrong/Mills Brother s (Signifying) 2 3
4 W . C. Handy (Birth of the Blues) 2 7
5 Irvin g Berlin (Ragging the Alley) 3 1
6 Spence r Williams (The Bard of Basin Street) 4 5
7 Ethe l Waters (The Mother of Us All) 5 1
8 Bun k Johnson/George Lewis (Pithecanthropus Jazzman) 5 9
PART Two: A NEW Music
9 Jell y Roll Morton (Red Hot Dandy) 6 9
10 Kin g Oliver (Working Man Blues) 7 7
11 Loui s Armstrong (Th e Once and Future King) 8 3
12 Duk e Ellington (Part 1: The Poker Game) 10 2
13 Colema n Hawkins (Patriarch) 11 8
14 Pe e Wee Russell (Seer) 13 0
15 Chic k Webb (King of the Savoy) 13 7
16 Fat s Waller (Comedy Tonight) 14 3
PART THREE: A POPULAR Music
17 Benn y Goodman (The Mirror of Swing) 15 3
18 Jimmi e Lunceford (For Listeners, Too) 16 2
19 Coun t Basie/Lester Young (Westward Ho! and Back) 17 0
20 Jimm y Rushing (Swinging the Blues) 18 4
21 Ro y Eldridge (Jazz) 18 8
22 Ell a Fitzgerald (Joy) 19 6
23 Arti e Shaw (Cinderella's Last Stand) 20 4
24 Bud d Johnson (Chameleon) 21 0