World on a String: A Musical Memoir John Pizzarelli and Joseph Cosgriff

05/17/13 By Lee Mergner

John Pizzarelli and Joseph Cosgriff
World on a String: A Musical Memoir

Guitarist, singer and radio personality John Pizzarelli, 52, is one of the most entertaining and engaging performers on today’s jazz scene. In his new book, co-written with longtime collaborator Joseph Cosgriff, he recounts his life in music, and that life...

02/27/13 By Tom Reney

'Dameronia': A New Bio Sheds Light on a Sadly Forgotten Figure

The legacy of pianist/composer Tadd Dameron is finally recognized

02/15/13 By Matt R. Lohr

Marc Myers
Why Jazz Happened

Although Marc Myers begins Why Jazz Happened with an account of the first jazz recording (by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, in 1917), his book is not a comprehensive history of the music. Rather, this study focuses on a 30-year stretch, 1942 to 1972...

02/12/13 By Lee Mergner

Book Review: Shall We Play That One Together?

Lee Mergner reviews Paul De Barros' biography of Marian McPartland

What It Is: The Life of a Jazz Artist Dave Liebman in Conversation with Lewis Porter

09/24/12 By Matt R. Lohr

Dave Liebman in Conversation with Lewis Porter
What It Is: The Life of a Jazz Artist

Dave Liebman has always been one of the smartest and most forthcoming musicians of his generation, and in his new book, What It Is: The Life of a Jazz Artist , the saxophonist and educator holds forth on his art, life and restless creative spirit with effortless...

09/10/12 By Christopher Loudon

Ted Gioia
The Jazz Standards

An inveterate jazz multitasker, Ted Gioia is an accomplished pianist and respected educator but remains best known for his work as a journalist and historian. His The History of Jazz , issued in 1997 and updated last year, is essential to any serious music...

06/05/12 By Matt R. Lohr

Tito Puente Bio Lacks the Fire of the Music

Sometimes a story is better than its telling. This is sadly the case with Mambo Diablo , Joe Conzo's biography (written with David A. Pérez) of his longtime friend Tito Puente. This book aims to be the definitive chronicle of arguably the greatest Afro-Cuban...