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Book Review
Oct. 8th, 2016 05:13 pmJazz Greats
by David Perry
Jazz Greats is another book in Phaidon Press' series about 20th century composers. This series is generally quite good at presenting a basic overview of its subject matter, and this volume does that pretty well. After a brief examination of the origins of jazz, Perry provides short chapters about twelve of the most important jazz musicians of the 20th century, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis. While Perry does a good job of covering the salient points of these men's lives and music, his approach to larger issues is disappointing. Perry is especially naive and simplistic, embarrassingly so, when it comes to issues of race and racism as they pertain to jazz and jazz musicians.
by David Perry
Jazz Greats is another book in Phaidon Press' series about 20th century composers. This series is generally quite good at presenting a basic overview of its subject matter, and this volume does that pretty well. After a brief examination of the origins of jazz, Perry provides short chapters about twelve of the most important jazz musicians of the 20th century, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis. While Perry does a good job of covering the salient points of these men's lives and music, his approach to larger issues is disappointing. Perry is especially naive and simplistic, embarrassingly so, when it comes to issues of race and racism as they pertain to jazz and jazz musicians.
