Description
Release Date: 1994
Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company
ISBN: 1565540433
Softcover, 178 pages
From the pages of such notable publications as Downbeat, Swing Music, Saturday Evening Post, and Fortune comes a collection of essays that truly illustrates the birth, adolescence, and maturation of jazz-the country’s most influential contribution to the musical world. Hand picked by Ralph de Toledano, these writings give credence to the form’s history and its parents. Aficionados, instrumentalists, and fans alike will find Frontiers of Jazz essential and enjoyable reading.
Focusing on the roots of jazz, the writers of these pieces pinpoint sources in pre-Bach works such as classical harpsichord music as well as within the evolution of modern blues. But more than just as a point of style, the authors applaud the men and women who raised jazz from its infancy. They are the grandparents of modern jazz with names as familiar as their music, from “King” Oliver to “Jelly Roll” Morton to Billie Holiday. Their beginnings and influences are examined as well the art form itself.
First compiled in 1947, Frontiers of Jazz remains, half a century later, the premier study of jazz. Its insightful articles are still timely today, and new essays have been added with each successive edition to strengthen the book’s assortment of jazz-related writings. For scholarly research as well as personal curiosity, no other collection offers the breadth of this compilation, which features notable authors such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Frank Norris.
