Gary Giddins's magnificent book Visions of
Jazz has been hailed as a landmark in music
criticism. Jonathan Yardley in The Washington
Post called it "the definitive compendium by the
most interesting jazz critic now at work." And Alfred
Appel, Jr., in The New York Times Book Review,
said it was "the finest unconventional history of jazz
ever written." It was the first work on jazz ever to win
the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism.
Now comes Weather Bird, a brilliant
companion volume to Visions of Jazz. In this
superb collection of essays, reviews and articles,
Giddins brings together, for the first time, more than
140 pieces written over a 14-year period, most of them
for his column in the Village Voice (also
called "Weather Bird"). The book is first and foremost a
celebration of jazz, with illuminating commentary on
contemporary jazz events, on today's top musicians, on
the best records of the year, and on leading figures
from jazz's past. Readers will find extended pieces on
Louis Armstrong, Erroll Garner, Benny Carter, Sonny
Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Billie Holiday,
Cassandra Wilson, Tony Bennett, and many others. Giddins
includes a series of articles on the annual JVC Jazz
Festival, which taken together offer a splendid overview
of jazz in the 1990s. Other highlights include an astute
look at avant-garde music ("Parajazz") and his
challenging essay, "How Come Jazz Isn't Dead?" which
advances a theory about the way art is born, exploited,
celebrated, and sidelined to the museum. A radiant
compendium by America's leading music critic,
Weather Bird offers an unforgettable look at
the modern jazz scene.
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