Jazz: A History

Since its original publication in 1977, this well-balanced and beautifully illustrated book has been accepted as the standard one-volume history of jazz. Now in recognition of the many new developments in jazz over the last two decades, author Frank Tirro has expanded the text to cover the most recent jazz styles and to treat such latter-day giants as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Wynton Marsalis. He has also revised the entire volume to incorporate the welter of recent jazz research and new insights into the field. Writing in a lively, easy style, Tirro examines the complex relationship between jazz and the social environment that both fostered and resisted its development. He begins by describing the roots of jazz in Africa and the state of music in late-nineteenth-century America. Juxtaposing these two significant preconditions, he then embarks on a systematic exploration of the musical phenomenon known as jazz: ragtime, blues, swing, bebop, cool jazz, third stream, modal, free jazz, fusion, new wave, and numerous other forms. Tirro deals with every major style, trend, and artist, delineating the most important movements, describing their greatest moments, and transmitting his infectious enthusiasm for the genre in both musical and analytical terms. The narrative is enlivened throughout by references to the music itself, and many specific works are discussed in depth. The text is keyed to a compact disc containing twenty representative pieces that illustrate major trends in jazz through the ages. Hundreds of additional recordings are meticulously cited, and a selective discography catches up on recently issued compact discs.