Pictorial History of Jazz: Revised Edition

by Orrin Keepnews

Geïllustreerd / Illustrated / Illustré / Illustriert / / Music / Engels / English / Anglais / Englisch / hard cover / dust jacket / 28 x 22 cm / 297 .pp /

Genres: Jazz, Music, Nonfiction

297 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1955

Reviews

[Frank]

This is a massive trove of old black-and-white photos of bands and musicians, MOST of which you have never heard of. Of interest mainly to historians, the families of included musicians, and jazz nerds.

The chapter format is one page of introductory text followed by the aforementioned collection of photos. It begins with New Orleans and Storeyville bands from approximately 1900 - 1917. Subsequent chapters explore decades, styles, and influential musicians.

The book was published in 1955, so music has proceeded apace since then. Even considering strictly the genre[s] of 'Jazz' -- for example this book contains no mention of John Coltrane. Or obviously any musicians who performed in the 1960s and later. Jazz has become much bigger and wider since this history was written. When authors Keepnews and Grauer were studiously documenting these scenes, jazz was popular music. Since then, however, pop mostly moved on.

The author does understand that styles will change, correctly noting at the end

"There can be no neat summing-up at this point -- for which one should be thankful. If there could be, it would mean that jazz was complete; or in other words, dead. But that is far from the case... Any moment could conceivably bring a new 'style', a new jazz revolution... Jazz remains vital and many-faceted... Thus it is more than reasonably certain that this is just the last page for the time being; it is not The End."

[Nathan Phillips]

A gallery of black and white photos documenting major players and bands of jazz up through the middle 1960s. It's interesting to look at and I have plenty of respect for the performers it documents, but it's hard to avoid that the jazz I really care about, swing and a few other strands notwithstanding, only shows up in the last two chapters. The photos are also a little repetitive, since the book is meant to function as a historical illustration rather than an education tool, and there's little criticism of substance to speak of. This was the second revised edition, which still predates John Coltrane's death.

[Jeff Crompton]

This was an extremely important book to me. As a teenager trying to figure out the complex world of jazz, I used to check this book out of my high school library. After hours poring over the black-and-white photograph in the 1955 edition, I began to see (through a glass, darkly) how all of these musicians and "schools" fit together. It was years later before I really understood it all, but this book was the beginning of the journey for me. Keepnews and Grauer's book is flawed, incomplete, somewhat arbitrary - and wonderful and amazing.