Name: How to Listen to Jazz
Rating: 3.857142857142857 (7 reviews)
ISBN: 9780465060894

Ted Gioia

An acclaimed music scholar presents an accessible introduction to the art of listening to jazz

How to Listen to Jazz

Faith Ho 

Picked this up on a whim at the Esplanade library and stunned!! An incredible resource — engaging & a fascinating look into demystifying jazz. Gioia provides an excellent introduction & listening guides: taking us through parts of jazz to listen out for, the evolution, some key jazz artists. You can feel his incredible passion for music — and the accessibility that he provides by not just giving good starting points but centering it around LISTENING. The best part isn’t within the book but taking all these ideas and listening to the music itself. 

A chaotic summary (I’m 100% coming back to this book and working my way through listening to all of the recommendations):
1: Swing
2: Elements of jazz — phrasing, pitch & timbre, dynamics, personality, spontaneity
3: Structure
4: Origins of jazz
5: Evolution of jazz styles — New Orleans, Chicago, Harlem Stride, Kansas City, Big Band & Swing Era, Bebop/Modern, Cool, Hard, Avant Garde/Free, Jazz/Rock Fusion, Classical/World Music/Jazz Fusion, Postmodern/Neoclassical
6: Some key jazz artists over the ages — Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman (listen to evey artist on their own terms)
7: Listening to modern day jazz. Influenced by globalisation, hybridisation, professionalisatilon, rejuvenation (Nu Jazz) + a list of 150 modern day jazz musicians

Coleman McCormick

Paul Baggaley

An acclaimed music scholar presents an accessible introduction to the art of listening to jazz 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

Rory O'K

Robert Hinchcliffe

In How to Listen to Jazz, award-winning music scholar Ted Gioia presents a lively introduction to the art of listening to jazz. 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 exotic compositions of Duke Ellington, Gioia covers everything from the music's history to 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 America's greatest contribution to music.

How to Listen to Jazz

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