Background
Giddins, Gary Mitchell was born on March 21, 1948 in Brooklyn. Son of Leo and Alice (Gelber) Giddins.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
book
Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams--The Early Years 1903-1940
(From Bing Crosby's early days in college minstrel shows a...)
From Bing Crosby's early days in college minstrel shows and vaudeville, to his first hit recordings, from his 11 year triumph as star of America's most popular radio show, to his first success in Hollywood, Gary Giddins provides a detailed study of the rise of this American star.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316881880/?tag=2022091-20
Faces in the Crowd: Players and Writers
(As an essayist and Village Voice columnist, Gary Giddins ...)
As an essayist and Village Voice columnist, Gary Giddins is widely known as a preeminent jazz writer. Walter Clemons, writing in Newsweek, hailed him as "the best jazz critic now at work," praising his "elegant prose" and "encyclopedic knowledge." Yet he has won a devoted audience for his reflections on popular culture, books, and movies as well--including a marvelous essay on Jack Benny that Gay Talese selected for Best American Essays of 1987. In Faces in the Crowd, Giddins once again demonstrates his graceful style and sharp wit in a brilliant collection of critiques, assessments, and profiles of major figures in the culture of our century. Faces in the Crowd is a virtual Gary Giddins reader, a potent collection of his finest writing from the last fifteen years. Ranging from fond reflection to interview-and-commentary to close critical analysis, Giddins explores the achievements of thirty-seven artists: show people, divas, musicians, and writers, ranging from Irving Berlin to Spike Lee, Billie Holliday to Kay Starr, Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis, Elias Canetti to Philip Roth. Through every essay, his observations are sharp, his reactions honest, his judgments right on target. In "This Guy Wouldn't Give You the Parsely off his Fish," for example, he shows how Jack Benny revolutionized comedy, creating a memorable character who was the butt of every joke. He takes a new look at the great Dinah Washington, remarking that "few performers have taken a stage or stormed off one with quite the noblesse oblige of the Queen." Giddins also offers a fresh assessment of James M. Cain and other masters of hard-boiled detective fiction, and he delivers an aggressive critique of the liberties academics have taken with such classic texts as Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. Along the way, he reveals how he uncovered the true birthdate of Louis Armstrong; chats with Clint Eastwood about Charlie Parker; and exposes the curious plagiarism of Katherine Anne Porter by her own biographer. And of course, he writes with power and authority on the great jazz musicians, providing an original perspective on Benny Goodman, tracking the evolving musical adventures of Sonny Rollins, and offering a musicological study of two Dizzy Gillespie solos separated by forty years. Pete Hamill has written, "Nobody writes with greater authority about American music than Gary Giddins," and Ken Tucker has called him "the John Updike of jazz criticism." In this provocative and immensely entertaining collection, Giddins shows why he has become one of the most influential critics of his generation.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195054881/?tag=2022091-20
Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker by Gary Giddins (1987-12-06)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K93J57Q/?tag=2022091-20
Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century
(Gary Giddins's magnificent book Visions of Jazz has been ...)
Gary Giddins's magnificent book Visions of Jazz has been hailed as a landmark in music criticism. Jonathan Yardley in The Washington Post called it "the definitive compendium by the most interesting jazz critic now at work." And Alfred Appel, Jr., in The New York Times Book Review, said it was "the finest unconventional history of jazz ever written." It was the first work on jazz ever to win the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism. Now comes Weather Bird, a brilliant companion volume to Visions of Jazz. In this superb collection of essays, reviews and articles, Giddins brings together, for the first time, more than 140 pieces written over a 14-year period, most of them for his column in the Village Voice (also called "Weather Bird"). The book is first and foremost a celebration of jazz, with illuminating commentary on contemporary jazz events, on today's top musicians, on the best records of the year, and on leading figures from jazz's past. Readers will find extended pieces on Louis Armstrong, Erroll Garner, Benny Carter, Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck, Ornette Coleman, Billie Holiday, Cassandra Wilson, Tony Bennett, and many others. Giddins includes a series of articles on the annual JVC Jazz Festival, which taken together offer a splendid overview of jazz in the 1990s. Other highlights include an astute look at avant-garde music ("Parajazz") and his challenging essay, "How Come Jazz Isn't Dead?" which advances a theory about the way art is born, exploited, celebrated, and sidelined to the museum. A radiant compendium by America's leading music critic, Weather Bird offers an unforgettable look at the modern jazz scene.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195156072/?tag=2022091-20
Riding on a Blue Note: Jazz and American Pop
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0756766710/?tag=2022091-20
Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker by Gary Giddins (1987-12-01)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A656XJA/?tag=2022091-20
Riding On A Blue Note: Jazz And American Pop
( Gary Giddins, winner of the 1998 National Book Critics ...)
Gary Giddins, winner of the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award, has a following that includes not only jazz enthusiasts but also pop music fans of every stripe. Writing here in a lyrical and celebratory style all his own, Giddins dazzlingly shows us—among many other things—how performers originally perceived as radical (Bing Crosby, Count Basie, Elvis Presley) became conservative institutions ... how Charlie Parker created a masterpiece from the strain of an inane ditty ... how the Dominoes helped combine church ritual with pop music ... and how Irving Berlin translated a chiaroscuro of Lower East Side minorities into imperishable songs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306809249/?tag=2022091-20
Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker
( Within days of Charlie “Bird” Parker’s death at the age...)
Within days of Charlie “Bird” Parker’s death at the age of thirty-four, a scrawled legend began appearing on walls around New York City: Bird Lives. Gone was one of the most outstanding jazz musicians of any era, the troubled genius who brought modernism to jazz and became a defining cultural force for musicians, writers, and artists of every stripe. Arguably the most significant musician in the country at the time of his death, Parker set the standard many musicians strove to reach—though he never enjoyed the same popular success that greeted many of his imitators. Today, the power of Parker’s inventions resonates undiminished; and his influence continues to expand. Celebrating Bird is the groundbreaking and award-winning account of the life and legend of Charlie Parker from renowned biographer and critic Gary Giddins, whom Esquire called “the best jazz writer in America today.” Richly illustrated and drawing primarily from original sources, Giddins overturns many of the myths that have grown up around Parker. He cuts a fascinating portrait of the period, from Parker’s apprentice days in the 1930s in his hometown of Kansas City to the often difficult years playing clubs in New York and Los Angeles, and reveals how Parker came to embody not only musical innovation and brilliance but the rage and exhilaration of an entire generation. Fully revised and with a new introduction by the author, Celebrating Bird is a classic of jazz writing that the Village Voice heralded as “a celebration of the highest order”—a portrayal of a jazz virtuoso whose gargantuan talent was haunted by his excesses and a view into the ravishing art of one of jazz’s most commanding and remarkable figures.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0816690413/?tag=2022091-20
Jazz: Essential Listening
( The #1 text in the market―now in an Essentials Edition....)
The #1 text in the market―now in an Essentials Edition. Jazz: Essential Listening provides all the materials students need to listen to, understand, and love jazz. Written by two master storytellers, this new brief text combines a dynamic listening experience with vivid narrative history, must-hear masterworks, and a superior eMedia package to reveal the excitement of America’s quintessential music. Authors Scott DeVeaux and Gary Giddins write with intellectual bite, eloquence, and the passion of unabashed fans. They explain what jazz is, where it came from, how it works, and who created it, all within the broader context of American life and culture.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393935639/?tag=2022091-20
Visions of Jazz: The First Century
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195132416/?tag=2022091-20
(Rhythm-a-Ning: Jazz Traditions and Innovation) Author: Gary Giddins published on (October, 2000)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Y2RVI62/?tag=2022091-20
Jazz (Second Edition)
( All That Jazz―Total Access to the music and the players...)
All That Jazz―Total Access to the music and the players. This streamlined second edition exposes students to the expressive power of jazz and brings its greatest players to life. With an emphasis on engagement with the music, this new text gives students all the guidance and inspiration they need to fully understand jazz. Now with Total Access, Jazz offers students a package without match―streaming music of 77 classic masterpieces and little-known gems, robust Listening Guides, a media-rich ebook, outstanding video, and a gripping narrative―all at an unbeatable price.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393937062/?tag=2022091-20
Satchmo
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DOGLC1I/?tag=2022091-20
Visions of Jazz: The First Century by Gary Giddins (2000-05-18)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N1WAPND/?tag=2022091-20
Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition and Innovation in the '80s by Gary Giddins (1985-04-11)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K3RR854/?tag=2022091-20
Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition And Innovation
( In a companion to his collections Riding on a Blue Note...)
In a companion to his collections Riding on a Blue Note and Faces in the Crowd, Gary Giddins has assembled a mosaic of pieces that provide an essential guide to the jazz world. Moving with ease from sweeping surveys of jazz history to precise, vivid assessments of individual performers including Thelonius Monk, the Marsalis brothers, Ornette Coleman, and David Murray, Giddins demonstrates once again why he is lauded as "the best jazz critic now at work" (Newsweek).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306809877/?tag=2022091-20
Rhythm-a-Ning : Jazz Traditions and Innovation(Paperback) - 2000 Edition
(New)
New
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OSLVXS/?tag=2022091-20
Faces In The Crowd: Musicians, Writers, Actors, And Filmmakers
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/030680705X/?tag=2022091-20
Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century WEATHER BIRD: JAZZ AT THE DAWN OF ITS SECOND CENTURY BY Giddins, Gary ( Author ) May-12-2006 WEATHER BIRD: JAZZ AT THE DAWN OF ITS SECOND CENTURY WEATHER BIRD: JAZZ AT THE DAWN OF ITS SECOND CENT
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009CPDGZU/?tag=2022091-20
Satchmo: The Genius of Louis Armstrong
( Gary Giddins has been called "the best jazz writer in A...)
Gary Giddins has been called "the best jazz writer in America today" (Esquire). Louis Armstrong has been called the most influential jazz musician of the century. Together this auspicious pairing has resulted in Satchmo, one of the most vivid and fascinating portraits ever drawn of perhaps the greatest figure in the history of American music. Available now at a new price, this text-only edition is the authoritative introduction to Armstrong's life and art for the curious newcomer, and offers fresh insight even for the serious student of Pops.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0306810131/?tag=2022091-20
Riding on a Blue Note: Jazz and American Pop by Gary Giddins (1981-03-26)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NCQOKHM/?tag=2022091-20
Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition And Innovation by Gary Giddins (2000-09-20)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K3KR05E/?tag=2022091-20
Celebrating Bird the Triumph of Charlie Parker
(Charlie Parker was the most influential jazz musician in ...)
Charlie Parker was the most influential jazz musician in the country before his death in 1955. In interviews with Parker's family members and friends, Giddins has uncovered ground-breaking material that corrects persistent misconceptions about Parker. 90 rare black-and-white photos.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0688059503/?tag=2022091-20
Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker by Gary Giddins (2013-10-01)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N6LF7AD/?tag=2022091-20
- Visions of Jazz: The First Century
- Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition and Innovation in the '80s (In a companion to his collections Riding on a Blue Note a...)
- CELEBRATING BIRD The Triumph of Charlie Parker
- Faces In The Crowd: Musicians, Writers, Actors, And Filmmakers by Giddins Gary (2000-04-01) Paperback
- Faces in the Crowd: Players and Writers by Gary Giddins (1992-08-27)
- Riding on a Blue Note: Jazz and American Pop (Gary Giddins, winner of the 1998 National Book Critics Ci...)
- Faces in the Crowd: Players and Writers by Gary Giddins (1994-02-24)
Gary Mitchell Giddins
Edit Profile
Gary Mitchell Giddins, Music critic, columnist. Recipient Deems Taylor award American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, 1976, 77, 84, Gerald Marks award American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, 1997; Merit award Art Dirs. Club, 1985, Grammy award for linernotes, 1987; Smithsonian Institution fellow in jazz studies, 1974; Guggenheim fellow, 1986.
Education
Bachelor, Grinnell (Iowa) College, 1970; Doctor of Fine Arts (honorary), Grinnell (Iowa) College, 1988.
Career
Film reviewer, Hollywood (California) Reporter, 1972;
contributing editor, Down Beat, 1972-1974;
jazz columnist, Village Voice, New York City, since 1973;
film critic, Village Voice, New York City, 1989-1990;
jazz critic, New York Magazine, New York City, 1975-1980;
jazz columnist, Hifi-Stereo Buyer's Guide, New York City, 1975-1978;
producer, disc jockey, Station WBAI-FM, New York City, 1975-1980;
freelance writer various publications, since 1970;
instructor jazz tradition, New York University Continuing Education program, 1977-1987. Instructor writing program Columbia University, since 1988. Visiting professor of history of jazzU. Pennsylvania, 1982-1983.
Visiting professor American music Rutgers University, 1985. Founder, artistic director American Jazz Orchestra, 1985-1992.
Achievements
Works
book
-
Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams--The Early Years 1903-1940
(From Bing Crosby's early days in college minstrel shows a...)
-
Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition and Innovation in the '80s
( In a companion to his collections Riding on a Blue Note...)
-
Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition And Innovation
( In a companion to his collections Riding on a Blue Note...)
-
Riding On A Blue Note: Jazz And American Pop
( Gary Giddins, winner of the 1998 National Book Critics ...)
-
Riding on a Blue Note: Jazz and American Pop
(Gary Giddins, winner of the 1998 National Book Critics Ci...)
-
Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker
( Within days of Charlie “Bird” Parker’s death at the age...)
-
Faces in the Crowd: Players and Writers
(As an essayist and Village Voice columnist, Gary Giddins ...)
-
Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century
(Gary Giddins's magnificent book Visions of Jazz has been ...)
-
Celebrating Bird the Triumph of Charlie Parker
(Charlie Parker was the most influential jazz musician in ...)
-
Satchmo: The Genius of Louis Armstrong
( Gary Giddins has been called "the best jazz writer in A...)
-
Jazz (Second Edition)
( All That Jazz―Total Access to the music and the players...)
-
Jazz: Essential Listening
( The #1 text in the market―now in an Essentials Edition....)
-
Rhythm-a-Ning : Jazz Traditions and Innovation(Paperback) - 2000 Edition
(New)
- Visions of Jazz: The First Century
- CELEBRATING BIRD The Triumph of Charlie Parker
- Faces In The Crowd: Musicians, Writers, Actors, And Filmmakers by Giddins Gary (2000-04-01) Paperback
- Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker by Gary Giddins (1987-12-06)
- Riding on a Blue Note: Jazz and American Pop
- Faces in the Crowd: Players and Writers by Gary Giddins (1992-08-27)
- Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker by Gary Giddins (1987-12-01)
- Visions of Jazz: The First Century
- (Rhythm-a-Ning: Jazz Traditions and Innovation) Author: Gary Giddins published on (October, 2000)
- Satchmo
- Visions of Jazz: The First Century by Gary Giddins (2000-05-18)
- Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition and Innovation in the '80s by Gary Giddins (1985-04-11)
- Faces In The Crowd: Musicians, Writers, Actors, And Filmmakers
- Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century WEATHER BIRD: JAZZ AT THE DAWN OF ITS SECOND CENTURY BY Giddins, Gary ( Author ) May-12-2006 WEATHER BIRD: JAZZ AT THE DAWN OF ITS SECOND CENTURY WEATHER BIRD: JAZZ AT THE DAWN OF ITS SECOND CENT
- Faces in the Crowd: Players and Writers by Gary Giddins (1994-02-24)
- Riding on a Blue Note: Jazz and American Pop by Gary Giddins (1981-03-26)
- Rhythm-a-ning: Jazz Tradition And Innovation by Gary Giddins (2000-09-20)
- Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker by Gary Giddins (2013-10-01)
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Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams--The Early Years 1903-1940
Connections
Married Susan Rogers, April 23, 1972 (divorced 1979). Married Deborah Halper, May 19, 1985. 1 child, Lea Aviva.
Awards
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Recipient Deems Taylor award American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, 1976, 77, 84, Gerald Marks award American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, 1997. Merit award Art Dirs. Club, 1985, Grammy award for linernotes, 1987. Smithsonian Institution fellow in jazz studies, 1974. Guggenheim fellow, 1986.Recipient Deems Taylor award American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, 1976, 77, 84, Gerald Marks award American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, 1997. Merit award Art Dirs. Club, 1985, Grammy award for linernotes, 1987.
Smithsonian Institution fellow in jazz studies, 1974. Guggenheim fellow, 1986.