A New History of Jazz

by Alyn Shipton

The March 1913 issue of the San Francisco Bulletin coined the term "jazz" - using it to describe a dance music full of vigor and "pep." Over time, jazz became the word used to describe the syncopated bands that became popular in New Orleans at the turn of the twentieth century, playing a fiery mix of African and European music that then became popular in Chicago and New York and, finally, the world over. It wasn't long before the Roaring 1920s became known as "the Jazz Age," forever attaching the music form to decadence, booze, sex, and dancing.In his mammoth book A New History of Jazz, BBC presenter and London Times jazz critic Alyn Shipton investigates how jazz first started - examining the precursors of the music, identifying the difficulties in mapping out its history, and challenging the traditional views of its development. More than just a rote narrative, A New History of Jazz provides critical analysis of the jazz history that has been "written" among both academics and musicians over the last century. Shipton argues that the music's history is so characterized by underground clubs, regional styles, and the "fringe" element in general that previous attempts at tracing its routes have failed to grasp the big picture. He even questions the possibility of creating a universally applicable definition of jazz. Shipton also explores how different things contributed to the modern notions of jazz music. He examines how the development of sound recordings, instrumental innovations, and new methods of music publishing took the art form from its bayou routes to different urban areas around the country, and finally beyond the borders of the United States. A New History of Jazz further examines how the network of theaters, concert halls, and performances that sprang up all over the United States in the twentieth century contributed to the spread of the music's popularity and the different styles that have developed over the years. Leaving no stone unturned, Shipton's history of jazz is as sweeping as it is personal. This is the book that jazz aficionados have been waiting for, as well as an excellent primer for the casual fan.

Genres: Music, History, Jazz, Nonfiction

965 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A scholarly, comprehensive history of jazz. Shipton is particularly good at showing the early contributions of individual white musicians, the formative influence of black vaudeville, and the contribution of the "territory bands" and obscure local musicians to the development of more celebrated styles and sounds. Also, possibly because he is a European himself, he gives more attention to the importance of Europe both as a haven for American talent and the source of important jazz players in its own right.

[Riley Haas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is pretty damn comprehensive and it's also nicely idiosyncratic. Shipton holds many of the traditional views but he also holds some of his own (and he defends these) which are refreshing given the nature of jazz. For example, rightly criticizes critics of things like fusion and free, and he also demonstrates how there have always been people who will put down the new thing, which is interesting given that jazz, to me, is about creating new things. This book is generally awesome and extremely informative. I have learned a ton, both about the history of the music and the music itself. My one qualm is that he doesn't spend enough time (or give enough listening examples) for two sub-genres that are of the greatest interest to me: chamber jazz and klezmer jazz. Both are mentioned, but only briefly noted. However, this is a very minor quibble, given that these are specific interests that can hardly be considered of universal appeal. The book has given me a huge amount of listening to do, which is great. It has also opened up the world of swing and bop to me, which I was hesitant to enter beforehand. I haven't read any other histories of jazz as yet, but I think you could do a lot worse than this interesting and informative book.

[AskHistorians]

An excellent overview of the development of jazz, with interesting insight into it's precursors. The size of this text allows for a degree of depth that is not often seen in "survey" style literature. An excellent choice for someone interested in the history of the music.

[Tom Wolfe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comprehensive scope, but poorly written and not enough musical analysis. Almost nothing on harmony, beyond vague descriptions of “developments in harmonic language” etc.

[Gijs Grob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alyn Shipton's 'New History of Jazz' is a voluminous book, and it took me more than a year to read it. Shipton is at his best in pre-war jazz. Practically half of it is devoted to developments before Bebop, and the period after 1970 is described scantily. Moreover, most of Shipton's attention to free jazz is devoted to Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane, while other players, like Cecil Taylor and Sun Ra are merely mentioned. As a Briton Shipton has a healthy look on non-American jazz, but jazz outside Europe clearly is not his specialty, and chapters on scenes of other countries sometimes are mere lists of names.

Nevertheless, Shipton has written a clear history of jazz until ca. 1975. He's particularly good in pointing out how politics and technical inventions have influenced jazz over the years. Shipton is not blind to other genres, and he also tells about cross-links between jazz and blues, country, rhythm & blues, and rock. Overall Shipton keeps an eye on general trends, and rarely delves into anecdotes. He's also much less interested in music theory, which makes his book an easier read than Gunther Schuller's much more technical 'The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930-1945: The Development of Jazz, 1930-45'. As an introduction to jazz Shipton's book is too thick, but I'd recommended it to everybody with a more than passing interest in the history of jazz.

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished! This book is a bit long even for my taste; Alyn Shipton pays special attention in this book to the formative era of Jazz as a style of music, going into great detail about pre-WWII musicians and the music they played. Less time is spent on the development of the music since the "Bebop Revolution" than perhaps is warranted in a history this ambitious, and since my own tastes in music tend not to go much further back than the early 1940s (with some exceptions, of course!) I was slightly disappointed that this was the case. On the other hand, the author obviously did an enormous amount of research, and the book is absolutely packed with information about the early days of jazz of which, for the most part, I was previously unaware. Over all, an extremely well written book which was never boring, notwithstanding the incredible amount of detail the author managed to include.

[Franco Vite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Veramente una "nuova storia del jazz". Soprattutto la prima parte, quella sulle origini, che apre prospettive che, ad ora, nessuno aveva proposto. Almeno nella nostra lingua.
Un libro fondamentale, per gli appassionati e i volenterosi (più di 1000 pagine...) che apre squarci ad ora poco o punto esplorati - sul free jazz, per esempio, e la scuola di Chicago in particolare (che mi sto ri-ascoltando in questi giorni, con enorme godimento!).
Un gran bel libro, da tenere sul comodino per poterlo consultare alla bisogna.
Poco interessante l'appendice italiota, non fosse per la commovente sul mai abbastanza compianto Massimo Urbani.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this book was quite good. My only problem with this book is that the author had a tendency to ramble a little bit. The beginning history section was pretty boring, but once it got to the "Jazz Age" it started to get good. I would recommend this.

[Deborah Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first third of the book was intriguing with information about the roots of jazz that made me completely change my masterclass about the birth of jazz. After that, there was a bit of rambling and then some statements that were overly-opinionated.
Overall, I was very glad to have read it.

[Djll · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had a very hard time with this one. By this time I've read so many jazz histories, it's kind of stupid to take up another one, but it was a gift.

[Jose]

Good book, a little long but he does a very credible job of exploring the full history of the music.

[Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book. This one on Jazz!

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am reading this for background to ongoing jazz internship project. Great stuff.