The Smithsonian collection of classic jazz / selected and annotated by Martin Williams ; with a biographical index by Ira Gitler.
| Author/creator | Williams, Martin |
| Other author | Gitler, Ira, editor. |
| Other author | Smithsonian Institution. |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | Revised edition. |
| Publication Info | Washington, DC : Smithsonian Collection of Recordings, 1987. |
| Description | 120 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 23 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Introduction -- Jazz music: a brief history -- Using the recordings -- The recordings. |
| Abstract | Early writers on jazz in the United States frequently pointed out that, as an improvisational music, jazz was well-served by the phonograph, a device that could not only distribute widely what was played in one location but could also preserve for posterity what was made up on the spur of the moment. The phonograph has accomplished two other things as well: it has shown posterity that in the best jazz, the spontaneity of the moment displays a musicality that endures, and it has allowed musicians all over the world to hear, absorb, and perhaps build on the work of an innovative musician, almost from the moment of their arrival. This book is intended as an introduction and an interpretation of seven decades of recorded jazz, as a statement about its major figures, their accomplishments, and their effect. It is also a beginning library of jazz. These recordings attest that the pull of the musical culture called jazz is not a matter of the fads and fashions of the moment. It has an honorable, complex, and very human history, and an aesthetic durability in which we can all take pride and, in our ways, participate. |
| Bibliography note | Bibliography: pages 118-119. |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Music Stacks | ML156.4.J3 W48 1987 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |