Early Jazz: A Concise Introduction, from Its Beginnings through 1929
- Author: Tomita, Fumi
Countless books have been written about jazz, but the topic of early jazz history has been largely neglected for more 50 years. Grounded in seminal works, such as Gunther Schuller's Jazz History...
Early Jazz: A Concise Introduction, from Its Beginnings through 1929
- Author: Tomita, Fumi
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Countless books have been written about jazz, but the topic of early jazz history has been largely neglected for more 50 years. Grounded in seminal works, such as Gunther Schuller's Jazz History...
About
A concise history of early jazz, from its major innovators to its unrecognized heroes.
Early Jazz is an overview of the beginnings of jazz from its nineteenth-century roots through 1929, when elements of the Swing Era began to emerge. It is the first book on early jazz history in over fifty years and fills a compelling need for an update that reflects recent research. With a broad definition of jazz that encompasses the artistic and the commercial, the book's inclusive tone allows for a wide spectrum of musicians, including not only pioneering African American and white musicians but also those who are commonly skipped or skimmed over in jazz history textbooks-lesser-known sidemen, prominent instrumentalists, entertainers or novelty performers, women, vocalists, and American jazz musicians who introduced jazz on their travels around the world. Twenty songs are analyzed in depth, but no musical knowledge is required to understand or to read Early Jazz. The book is written as an introduction for fans, students, musicians, historians, scholars, and anyone who is interested in this fascinating era of jazz history.
Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. Ragtime and Traveling Shows
- 2. The Blues
- 3. New Orleans and Early White Bands
- 4. King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton
- 5. The New York Scene: The Small Groups
- 6. Stride Piano
- 7. The New York Dance Band Sound: From James Reese Europe to Duke Ellington
- 8. Louis Armstrong
- 9. The Chicagoans and Bix Beiderbecke
- 10. Other Pioneering Soloists
- 11. Territory and Other Bands
- 12. Vocal Jazz
- 13. Jazz around the World
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Awards and reviews
Countless books have been written about jazz, but the topic of early jazz history has been largely neglected for more 50 years. Grounded in seminal works, such as Gunther Schuller's Jazz History (1968), Early Jazz updates such writings with a detailed study of the genre from its earliest manifestations in the 1870s through 1929 … Meticulously documented, it belongs in academic and public libraries with music collections
