Floyd Levin
Classic Jazz
A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians
$21.95, £12.95 paperback
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978-0-520-23463-5
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358 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 56 illustrations
November 2000, Available worldwide
Categories: Music; American Music; Contemporary Music; California & the West; Jazz
November 2000, Available worldwide
Categories: Music; American Music; Contemporary Music; California & the West; Jazz
"Levin is an engaging writer and met personally and wrote frequently about the musical legends who shaped jazz in America before and shortly after World War II. The collection is anecdotally rich . . . . Very worthwhile."—Booklist
"Offers good essays on lesser-known artists."—Library Journal
"In a publishing genre crowded with random collections of reviews . . . , Levin's book offers a far richer, more intimate perspective."—Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times
"Delightful and fascinating. Dozens of rare pictures (many by Levin) fill out this volume, which is obviously a labor of love and fine reading."—San Francisco Chronicle
A "fine addition to any collection on jazz."—Charlotte Observer
"This is an old-fashioned jazz book. No pages of annotated sources or references, no in-depth analysis or musicologist explanation—just a series of recollections of past encounters with jazz musicians and their associates from the traditional revival period."—Peter Vacher, Jazzwise Magazine
"Offers good essays on lesser-known artists."—Library Journal
"In a publishing genre crowded with random collections of reviews . . . , Levin's book offers a far richer, more intimate perspective."—Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times
"Delightful and fascinating. Dozens of rare pictures (many by Levin) fill out this volume, which is obviously a labor of love and fine reading."—San Francisco Chronicle
A "fine addition to any collection on jazz."—Charlotte Observer
"This is an old-fashioned jazz book. No pages of annotated sources or references, no in-depth analysis or musicologist explanation—just a series of recollections of past encounters with jazz musicians and their associates from the traditional revival period."—Peter Vacher, Jazzwise Magazine
"Floyd Levin's half-century collection of reportage, reviews and recollections are an irreplaceable and totally enjoyable trove of writing about the vibrancy, past and still-present, of traditional American jazz."—Charles Champlin, author of Back There Where the Past Was
"I've known Floyd and his wife Lucille for more than fifty years. Floyd's book is a colorful, intimate account of his lifelong love affair with jazz. I'm especially fascinated when he writes about his personal encounters with some of the jazz legends of the Century. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned about jazz - its present, its past, and his evolution."—Milt Hinton
"Floyd Levin's dedicated and unselfish life-long work for the cause of jazz has illuminated many a corner that would otherwise have remained in the dark. All who care about the music are in his debt. Classic Jazz, like Floyd himself, is a classic."—Dan Morgenstern, Director, Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University
"What a rich, passionate and human book this is! Drawing on fifty years of devotion to classic, New Orleans jazz and the artists who performed it, Floyd Levin brilliantly weaves anecdotal material, primary research, intimate personal observations, and analyses to create an historical goldmine of the music's evolution in New Orleans and on the West Coast. In rendering portraits of legendary musicians in such a beautifully moving, honest way, he offers not just standard history, but a strong sense of the emotional core of the music as well."—Steve Isoardi, co-author of Central Avenue Sounds
"I've known Floyd and his wife Lucille for more than fifty years. Floyd's book is a colorful, intimate account of his lifelong love affair with jazz. I'm especially fascinated when he writes about his personal encounters with some of the jazz legends of the Century. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned about jazz - its present, its past, and his evolution."—Milt Hinton
"Floyd Levin's dedicated and unselfish life-long work for the cause of jazz has illuminated many a corner that would otherwise have remained in the dark. All who care about the music are in his debt. Classic Jazz, like Floyd himself, is a classic."—Dan Morgenstern, Director, Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University
"What a rich, passionate and human book this is! Drawing on fifty years of devotion to classic, New Orleans jazz and the artists who performed it, Floyd Levin brilliantly weaves anecdotal material, primary research, intimate personal observations, and analyses to create an historical goldmine of the music's evolution in New Orleans and on the West Coast. In rendering portraits of legendary musicians in such a beautifully moving, honest way, he offers not just standard history, but a strong sense of the emotional core of the music as well."—Steve Isoardi, co-author of Central Avenue Sounds
Floyd Levin, an award-winning jazz writer, has personally known many of the jazz greats who contributed to the music's colorful history. In this collection of his articles, published mostly in jazz magazines over a fifty-year period, Levin takes us into the nightclubs, the recording studios, the record companies, and, most compellingly, into the lives of the musicians who made the great moments of the traditional jazz and swing eras. Brilliantly weaving anecdotal material, primary research, and music analysis into every chapter, Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians is a gold mine of information on a rich segment of American popular music.
This collection of articles begins with Levin's first published piece and includes several new articles that were inspired by his work on this compilation. The articles are organized thematically, beginning with a piece on Kid Ory's early recordings and ending with a newly written article about the campaign to put up a monument to Louis Armstrong in New Orleans. Along the way, Levin gives in-depth profiles of many well-known jazz legends, such as Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong, and many lesser-known figures who contributed greatly to the development of jazz.
Extensively illustrated with previously unpublished photographs from Levin's personal collection, this wonderfully readable and extremely personal book is full of information that is not available elsewhere. Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians will be celebrated by jazz scholars and fans everywhere for the overview it provides of the music's evolution, and for the love of jazz it inspires on every page.
This collection of articles begins with Levin's first published piece and includes several new articles that were inspired by his work on this compilation. The articles are organized thematically, beginning with a piece on Kid Ory's early recordings and ending with a newly written article about the campaign to put up a monument to Louis Armstrong in New Orleans. Along the way, Levin gives in-depth profiles of many well-known jazz legends, such as Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong, and many lesser-known figures who contributed greatly to the development of jazz.
Extensively illustrated with previously unpublished photographs from Levin's personal collection, this wonderfully readable and extremely personal book is full of information that is not available elsewhere. Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians will be celebrated by jazz scholars and fans everywhere for the overview it provides of the music's evolution, and for the love of jazz it inspires on every page.
The Birth of Bebop, by Scott DeVeaux
Central Avenue Sounds, by Clora Bryant, Buddy Collette, William Green, Steve Isoardi, Jack Kelson, Horace Tapscott, Gerald Wilson, and Marl Young, editors
Miles and Me, by Quincy Troupe
Central Avenue Sounds, by Clora Bryant, Buddy Collette, William Green, Steve Isoardi, Jack Kelson, Horace Tapscott, Gerald Wilson, and Marl Young, editors
Miles and Me, by Quincy Troupe