How to Listen to Jazz, Ted Gioia
How to Listen to Jazz, Ted Gioia
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How to Listen to Jazz

Author: Ted Gioia

Narrator: Peter Ganim

Unabridged: 6 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 09/19/2017

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

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
 

About Ted Gioia

Ted Gioia is a music historian and the author of eleven books, including How to Listen to Jazz. His three books on the social history of music-Work Songs, Healing Songs, and Love Songs-have each been honored with 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.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jury on May 29, 2016

Spotify playlists: [URL not allowed], [URL not allowed]......more

Goodreads review by Morgan on May 15, 2023

This has been ONE FUKING INCREDIBLE experience. I feel like I just finished a cultural/personal/spiritual odyssey. It has taken me a while to finish this. There is a Spotify playlist that goes with the book. There is about 50-100 hours of music on it. I listened to it as I went. That’s what took so lon......more

Goodreads review by Martin on February 07, 2016

Hands down, one of the best books on jazz I have ever read. And easily the best book on trying to explain jazz. If you are just dipping a toe in the great ocean that is jazz, or if you have been enjoying this music for decades, this is a book that will increase your understanding and enjoyment of th......more

Goodreads review by Iris on October 21, 2017

4.5 stars, actually. I only give ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ to books that I feel I could start reading again the moment I have read the last word on the last page, which is obviously not the case right now - but still. This was amazing. I've just finished reading this book (and when I say reading I mean reading & lis......more

Goodreads review by Popebrak on February 22, 2018

I'm a recovering death-metal DJ. . . this was very helpful.......more

Quotes

"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

"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] 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

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

"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

“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

"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

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

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

“[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

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