How to Listen to Jazz - by Ted Gioia (Paperback)

About the Book

Jazz is the great American art form; its very essence is predicated on freedom and creativity. Its sound unequivocally calls forth narratives of past struggles and future dreams. Yet jazz can be as inscrutable as it is mesmerizing, especially to outsiders who don't know what to make of improvisation or unexpected shifts in melody or tempo. How does a casual listener learn to understand and appreciate the nuances between the unapologetic and innovative sounds of Louis Armstrong, the complexity of Coleman Hawkin's saxophone, and the exotic and alluring compositions of Duke Ellington? How does Thelonius Monk fit in alongside Benny Goodman and John Coltrane? In How to Listen to Jazz, award-winning music scholar Ted Gioia presents a lively, accessible introduction to the art of listening to jazz. Covering everything from the music's structure and history to the basic building blocks of improvisation, Gioia shows exactly what to listen for in a jazz performance. He shares listening strategies that will help readers understand and appreciate jazz for the rest of their lives, and provides a history of the major movements in jazz right up to the present day. He concludes with a guide to 150 elite musicians who are setting the tone for 21st century jazz. Both an appreciation and an introduction to jazz by a foremost expert, How to Listen to Jazz is a must-read for anyone who's ever wanted to understand America's greatest contribution to the world of music.

Book Synopsis

A "radiantly accomplished" music scholar presents an accessible introduction to the art of listening to jazz (Wall Street Journal)

In How to Listen to Jazz, award-winning music scholar Ted Gioia presents a lively introduction to one of America's premier art forms. He tells us what to listen for in a performance and includes a guide to today's leading jazz musicians. From Louis Armstrong's innovative sounds to the jazz-rock fusion of Miles Davis, Gioia covers the music's history and reveals the building blocks of improvisation. A true love letter to jazz by a foremost expert, How to Listen to Jazz is a must-read for anyone who's ever wanted to understand and better appreciate America's greatest contribution to music.

"Mr. Gioia could not have done a better job. Through him, jazz might even find new devotees." -- Economist

Review Quotes

"How to Listen to Jazz is a packed and useful introduction to the medium with suggestions and aids for the listener who wants to gain entrance to a rich and complicated body of work."--Weekly Standard

"How to Listen to Jazz fills an important and obvious gap by offering a sensible and jargon-free introduction to what Gioia calls 'the most joyous sound invented during the entire course of twentieth-century music.' The book deserves a place alongside such classic works of jazz criticism as Martin Williams's The Jazz Tradition, Will Friedwald's Jazz Singing, the books of Gary Giddins and Gioia's own The History of Jazz."--Washington Post

"How to Listen to Jazz is a fresh, clearly written and infinitely usable book that should put the jazz novice on track."--Library Journal

"How to Listen to Jazz is a thorough, impassioned guide to a sound that tends either to inspire deep, almost religious devotion or cause eyes to go crossed...[Gioia] elucidates the music in a way that increases the listener's sense of awe and wonder, rather than supplants it."--Columbia Daily Tribune

"[How to Listen to Jazz is a] satisfying new book.... One of the best features of the book is a set of 'music maps, ' as Mr. Gioia calls them, that serve as a guide to individual recordings."--Wall Street Journal

"A pretense-free primer on learning to appreciate jazz.... Curious neophytes can start here."--Mojo

"Amid the cacophony of the past year, one paean to improvised order emerged from the pen of music critic Ted Gioia. That book, How to Listen to Jazz, deserves your undivided engagement."
--Brock Dahl, Washington Free Beacon

"As jazz enters its second century, becoming more multi-faceted apace, guidance for the novice--listener or musician--is more useful than ever, and Ted Gioia offers it expertly, in blessedly readable prose."--Dan Morgenstern, Director emeritus, Institute of Jazz Studies and author of Living with Jazz

"Gioia's engaging yet authoritative style makes How to Listen to Jazz not just a valuable primer but a delight to read."--City Journal

"This book does what so many have tried to and failed: it teaches without preaching and empowers the reader to search for their own understanding and preferences. It's a welcome and needed addition to everyone's bookshelf."--Wayne Winborne, Executive Director, Institute of Jazz Studies

A perfect way...to begin an understanding of a music that is, in truth, very, very easy to love."--Buffalo News

"How to Listen to Jazz is an effort to teach casual listeners how 'careful listening can demystify virtually all of the intricacies and marvels of jazz.'"--New York Times

"[Gioia] walks fans through a crash course in jazz appreciation that's suitable for newcomers and intermediate listeners alike...His prose is...inviting and often playful... Most valuable is the extensive catalogue of recommendations, not just of the genre's top performers but of 150 contemporary jazz musicians--a list that new fans can use to kickstart their journey, and experienced ones can reference to keep up with the form's continuing evolution."--Publishers Weekly

"Mr. Gioia could not have done a better job. Through him, jazz might even find new devotees."
--Economist

About the Author

Ted Gioia is a music historian and the author of twelve books, including most recently, Music. His three previous books on the social history of music -- Work Songs, Healing Songs, and Love Songs -- have each been honored with the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award. Gioia's wide-ranging activities as a critic, scholar, performer and educator have established him as a leading global guide to music past, present, and future.