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Waiting for Dizzy
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Waiting for Dizzy Hardback - 1991

by Gene Lees

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Reader reviews for Waiting for Dizzy

From the publisher

Dizzy Gillespie. Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang. Benny Carter, the true "Gentleman of Jazz." And Bix Beiderbecke, the F. Scott Fitzgerald of players. The story of jazz is a story of individuals--enormously gifted, dedicated, sometimes driven, yet often gentle people.
In this volume, Gene Lees continues his richly entertaining and informative chronicle of the lives and times of jazz with a new collection of fourteen memorable essays drawn from his renowned Jazzletter. Waiting for Dizzy adds to the insights of his two previous collections, Meet Me at Jim & Andy's and Singers and the Song, both highly acclaimed. Meet Me at Jim and Andy's won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award.
Lyricist, essayist, and music historian, Gene Lees draws on a lifetime of experience--and in many cases friendships--in the jazz world to bring fresh insights to the lives and work of these magnificent artists, whether he is discussing why any guitarists have unsteady time or the complex role of race in jazz history.
He is a repository of the humor of the jazz musician, recounting their wit and practical jokes: Ray Brown and Herb Ellis dying their hair as a gag on Oscar Peterson, or Joe Venuti trying to nail a foot-tapping tenor player's shoe to the floor. And as a perceptive cultural historian, he questions the jazz myth that no white musician ever made a significant contribution to jazz.
But the heart of Waiting for Dizzy is its exquisitely crafted character studies, warm pictures of the men (and women) who created and continue to create this music. He begins in the era of its first great flowering, the 1920s. He then presents a gallery of vivid portraits of a diverse group of musicians, including the seminal arranger Bill Challis, Joe Venuti, Herb Ellis, Benny Carter, Lenny Breau, and Edmund Thigpen. The theme of discrimination against black Americans turns up frequently, as in the portraits of Al Grey and Hank Jones. Readers meet Spiegle Wilcox, the 87-year-old trombonist who played in the legendary Jean Goldkette band of the mid-20s, and left the music world only to return to playing 50 years later; Emily Remler, the tragic, determined, gifted guitarist who sought to break the sex barrier and her own drug habit, only to die all too young in a far-away place; and Bud Shank, the fine alto saxophonist who disappeared into the numbing atmosphere of studio work, and at last rebelled to return to jazz. The books final essay is its pinnacle: a day spent in the recording studio with Dizzy Gillespie, surrounded by brilliant younger musicians who are his spiritual children, among them Art Farmer and Phil Woods. It is a lyrical, affectionate, and affecting portrait of one of the three or four most important figures--and the most loved-- in jazz history.
From Bix to Dizzy, from swing to be-bop, from the 1920s to the 1990s, Waiting for Dizzy is an exhilarating collection by the author The Washington Post Book World calls "not only an extraordinarily perceptive reporter and analyst of jazz performance, jazz history, and jazz people, but also one of those writers who's a joy to read on any subject at all."

Details

  • Title Waiting for Dizzy
  • Author Gene Lees
  • Binding Hardback
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 272
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Oxford University Press, USA, New York
  • Publication date 1991
  • ISBN 9780195056709 / 0195056701
  • Weight 1.07 lbs (0.49 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.56 x 5.75 x 1.08 in (21.74 x 14.61 x 2.74 cm)
  • Category Music/Songbooks
  • Library of Congress subjects Jazz - History and criticism
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 90047883
  • Dewey Decimal Code 781.65

About the author

About the Author:
Gene Lees is the award-winning author of Meet Me at Jim & Andy's and Singers and the Song, as well as biographies of Oscar Peterson and Lerner and Loewe. He has written extensively for Down Beat, Stereo Review, High Fidelity, The New York Times, American Film, and other publications. Since 1981, he has published, edited, and written for the Jazzletter, PO Box 240, Ojai CA 93024-0240

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Waiting for Dizzy
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Waiting for Dizzy

by Lees, G

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780195056709 / 0195056701
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Oxford University Press Inc, 1991. This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside.This book has hardback covers. In good all round condition. Dust jacket in good condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item,550grams, ISBN:9780195056709
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Waiting for Dizzy
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Waiting for Dizzy

by Lees, Gene

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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NY: Oxford University Press, 1991. Hardcover, 251 pages. Near Fine condition in a Very Good dust jacket. First printing. Size 8.5"x5.75". "The story of jazz is a story of individuals - enormously gifted, dedicated, sometimes driven, yet often gentle people. In this volume, Gene Lees continues his richly entertaining and informative chronicle of the lives and times of jazz with a new collection of fourteen memorable essays drawn from his renowned Jazzletter." Book has very light exterior shelfwear, else Fine condition, clean and unmarked. Dust jacket has light shelfwear.. Near Fine.
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Waiting for Dizzy
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Waiting for Dizzy

by Gene Lees

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780195056709 / 0195056701
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Oxford University Press, 1991. Hardcover. Very Good +. PREVIOUS OWNER STAMP ON REAR PASTEDOWN OTHERWISE PAGES LIKE NEW
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Waiting for Dizzy
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Waiting for Dizzy

by Lees, Gene

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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NY: Oxford University Press, 1991. First Edition . Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First printing, fine in a fine dust jacket. A collection of character studies of 14 different jazz musicians from the 20's through the 70's. 251 pages.
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Waiting for Dizzy
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Waiting for Dizzy

by Gene Lees

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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Oxford University Press, 1991. Book. Fine. Hardcover. 1st Edition. Hardback in fine condition with a fine dust jacket.
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Waiting for Dizzy

Waiting for Dizzy

by Gene Lees

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Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1991. Hardcover. Good. Disclaimer:A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact. The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include previous owner inscriptions. An ex-library book and may have standard library stamps and/or stickers. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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Waiting for Dizzy
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Waiting for Dizzy

by Lees, Gene

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1991. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good Dust Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. 251 pp. Tightly bound. Corners not bumped. Text free of markings. No ownership markings. Very good dust jacket. Dust jacket not price clipped. First Edition / First Printing. 2,4,6,8,9,7,5,3,1.
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by Lees, Gene

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Oxford University Press. Used - Very Good. Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner’s name, short gifter’s inscription or light stamp.
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Waiting for Dizzy
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Waiting for Dizzy

by Lees, Gene

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1991-05-02. First Edition. hardcover. Used: Good. 6.00x1.00x8.75. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
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WAITING FOR DIZZY.
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WAITING FOR DIZZY.

by Lees, Gene.

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Oxford University Press, New York & Oxford: 1991., 1991 pp. vii, 251. 8vo. Original full cloth backed binding. Original dust jacket. Nice copy. JAZZ 1 0.0. Hardcover.
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