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Macmillan Jazz Masters Series
Jazz Masters of the Fifties
The fifties, though a quiescent period in many ways, was one of the most fervent decades in jazz history. The landmarks of modern jazz were firmly planted and, it could be argued, nearly all directions the music has taken since then can be charted back to recordings, groups, or individuals from this era. In this series of profiles, Joe Goldberg examines the lives and the music, the crucial events and dominant forces of a decade of great music and conflicting Miles Davis's recording of Kind of Blue; Gerry Mulligan's pianoless quartet; Cecil Taylor's percussive keyboard experiments; John Coltrane's and Sonny Rollins's marathon saxophone solos; MJQ's blending of classical structure and jazz improvisation; Ornette Coleman's Free Jazz. From Mingus to Monk to Blakey, it was an age of giants. Perhaps never before or since in jazz history have so many wildly idiosyncratic jazz innovators been contemporaries. Joe Goldberg was there and what his ears heard has become here a lasting music document.
- GenresMusic
266 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1965
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
May 19, 2021
This isn't exactly the most up-to-date survey of jazz (published in 1965) and it's fairly brief, but it does a good job covering what I think was the most substantial and influential period in jazz.
There's a number of colorful anecdotes, and Goldberg doesn't glorify these artists, as if everything they released was pure genius throughout their lifetimes. Listening recommendations are selective and not overwhelming -- and although I'm already familiar with almost all of them, there's a few albums he spotlights that I'll give a re-listen.
I especially liked the sections on Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk and Art Blakey. You're not gonna learn about some of the more obscure jazzmen of the era, but it's not a bad introduction.
This book is available to read for free on archive.org, for one hour at a time instead of two weeks, per their new lending policy -- because 🤪
There's a number of colorful anecdotes, and Goldberg doesn't glorify these artists, as if everything they released was pure genius throughout their lifetimes. Listening recommendations are selective and not overwhelming -- and although I'm already familiar with almost all of them, there's a few albums he spotlights that I'll give a re-listen.
I especially liked the sections on Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk and Art Blakey. You're not gonna learn about some of the more obscure jazzmen of the era, but it's not a bad introduction.
This book is available to read for free on archive.org, for one hour at a time instead of two weeks, per their new lending policy -- because 🤪
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review