Giants of Jazz (Masterplots II: Juvenile and Young Adult Biography Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Louis Terkel
- First Published: 1957
- Time of Work: 1900–1955
- Setting: The Southern United States, Chicago, and New York City
- Principal Characters: Joe, Louis, Bessie Smith, Thomas “Fats” Waller, Leon Bismarck, Edward Kennedy, Benny Goodman, William, Billie Holiday, Woodrow Charles, Stan Kenton, John Birks
- Genres: Nonfiction, Biography
- Subjects: African Americans, Music or musicians, Singing or singers, Jazz music, Pianos or pianists, Biography
- Locales: New York, NY, South (U.S.), Chicago, IL
Form and Content
Studs Terkel’s Giants of Jazz is a number of books in one. In the first place, it is a collection of twelve portraits in words of some of the most noteworthy figures in jazz. The selected musicians cover the whole spectrum of jazz performance, from the individual artistry of such figures as vocalist Bessie Smith and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie to the technical genius of instrumentalists such as Louis Armstrong. In this way, the richness and variety of the jazz tradition is captured.
The author’s approach also enables him to tell the history of...
[The entire page is 1332 words long]
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