Overview

This indispensable book brings us face to face with some of the most memorable figures in jazz history and charts the rise and development of bop in the late 1930s and '40s. Ira Gitler interviewed more than 50 leading jazz figures, over a 10-year period, to preserve for posterity their recollections of the transition in jazz from the big band era to the modern jazz period. The musicians interviewed, including both the acclaimed and the unrecorded, tell in their own words how this renegade music emerged, why it was a turning point in American jazz, and how it influenced their own lives and work. Placing jazz in historical context, Gitler demonstrates how the mood of the nation in its post-Depression years, racial attitudes of the time, and World War II combined to shape the jazz of today.

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9780195050707

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Reviews

"""An unpretentious and highly entertaining characterization of an era when black musicians tried innovatively to wrest control of their music from white big-band leaders....Informative, upbeat, carefully assembled.""--Mel Watkins, American Visions ""The most important and valuable book on jazz since James Lincoln Collier's The Making of Jazz, Martin Williams' The Jazz Tradition, and his own previous bop history, Jazz Masters of the '40s.""--Jazziz ""Mr. Gitler has done an exhaustive and creditable job, and we can thank him for the thoroughness of the interviews, the sensible organization of the material and the portrait of an emerging era marked by more interaction between new and old than historical generalizations would suggest.""--The New York Times Book Review ""Swing to Bop captures the genius and warmth of Parker and Gillespie, and the contributions of numerous other musicians, too-often forgotten....[It] portrays with depth and vitality what Gitler aptly described bop to be--'a music that lifted one with beauty and joy.'""--Philadelphia Tribune ""A 'musician's story'...chock full of all the crazy things that can happen on the road, in the clubs, in the studios, or just about anywhere a jazz musician hangs or wears his hat.""--The Christian Science Monitor ""First class.""--Jazztimes ""An uncommonly rich selection of anecdotes, outrageous stories, hearsay and musical insight.""--Baltimore Sun ""An essential book, one that brings the absolute excitement and sense of change of the era vividly to life.""--Cashbox ""There are moments here...where provocative ground is broken...[An] enjoyable oral history.""--Boston Phoenix ""One of the most enjoyable volumes that I've read in a while....If you love creative music, Swing to Bop is a must--the words will make you laugh, cry, groan, and make you wish that you were right there when it happened.""--Cadence"

""An unpretentious and highly entertaining characterization of an era when black musicians tried innovatively to wrest control of their music from white big-band leaders....Informative, upbeat, carefully assembled.""--Mel Watkins, American Visions ""The most important and valuable book on jazz since James Lincoln Collier's The Making of Jazz, Martin Williams' The Jazz Tradition, and his own previous bop history, Jazz Masters of the '40s.""--Jazziz ""Mr. Gitler has done an exhaustive and creditable job, and we can thank him for the thoroughness of the interviews, the sensible organization of the material and the portrait of an emerging era marked by more interaction between new and old than historical generalizations would suggest.""--The New York Times Book Review ""Swing to Bop captures the genius and warmth of Parker and Gillespie, and the contributions of numerous other musicians, too-often forgotten....[It] portrays with depth and vitality what Gitler aptly described bop to be--'a music that lifted one with beauty and joy.'""--Philadelphia Tribune ""A 'musician's story'...chock full of all the crazy things that can happen on the road, in the clubs, in the studios, or just about anywhere a jazz musician hangs or wears his hat.""--The Christian Science Monitor ""First class.""--Jazztimes ""An uncommonly rich selection of anecdotes, outrageous stories, hearsay and musical insight.""--Baltimore Sun ""An essential book, one that brings the absolute excitement and sense of change of the era vividly to life.""--Cashbox ""There are moments here...where provocative ground is broken...[An] enjoyable oral history.""--Boston Phoenix ""One of the most enjoyable volumes that I've read in a while....If you love creative music, Swing to Bop is a must--the words will make you laugh, cry, groan, and make you wish that you were right there when it happened.""--Cadence

An unpretentious and highly entertaining characterization of an era when black musicians tried innovatively to wrest control of their music from white big-band leaders....Informative, upbeat, carefully assembled. --Mel Watkins, American Visions The most important and valuable book on jazz since James Lincoln Collier's The Making of Jazz, Martin Williams' The Jazz Tradition, and his own previous bop history, Jazz Masters of the '40s. --Jazziz Mr. Gitler has done an exhaustive and creditable job, and we can thank him for the thoroughness of the interviews, the sensible organization of the material and the portrait of an emerging era marked by more interaction between new and old than historical generalizations would suggest. --The New York Times Book Review Swing to Bop captures the genius and warmth of Parker and Gillespie, and the contributions of numerous other musicians, too-often forgotten....[It] portrays with depth and vitality what Gitler aptly described bop to be--'a music that lifted one with beauty and joy.' --Philadelphia Tribune A 'musician's story'...chock full of all the crazy things that can happen on the road, in the clubs, in the studios, or just about anywhere a jazz musician hangs or wears his hat. --The Christian Science Monitor First class. --Jazztimes An uncommonly rich selection of anecdotes, outrageous stories, hearsay and musical insight. --Baltimore Sun An essential book, one that brings the absolute excitement and sense of change of the era vividly to life. --Cashbox There are moments here...where provocative ground is broken...[An] enjoyable oral history. --Boston Phoenix One of the most enjoyable volumes that I've read in a while....If you love creative music, Swing to Bop is a must--the words will make you laugh, cry, groan, and make you wish that you were right there when it happened. --Cadence

Author Information

Ira Gitler's writing has helped illuminate the jazz scene from 1951, when he wrote the first of countless album and CD annotations. He was the New York editor of Downbeat in the 1960s and continues to contribute to that publication, as well as to JazzTimes and Internet publications. His credits as a producer include recordings and concerts, and he teaches jazz history at the Manhattan School of Music. His books include the highly acclaimed Jazz Masters of the '40s and Swing to Bop, the latter written while he was a Guggenheim fellow. He lives in New York City.

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