Tertulia Logo
Sign upLog In
Cart Icon0
Cart Icon0
The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: The Imperfect Art: Reflections on Jazz and Modern Culture, Ted Gioia

The Imperfect Art: Reflections on Jazz and Modern Culture

Ted Gioia

Paperback
Regular price$34.99With free membership trial$17.5050% off your first book+ Free shipping
In Stock– Ships within one business day

Do you recommend this book?

Yes!

No

Taking a wide-ranging approach rare in jazz criticism, Ted Gioia's brilliant volume draws upon fields as disparate as literary criticism, art history, sociology, and aesthetic philosophy in order to place jazz within the turbulent cultural environment of the twentieth century. He argues that because improvisation--the essence of jazz--must often fail under the pressure of on-the-spot creativity, we should view jazz as an "imperfect art" and base our judgments of it on an "aesthetics of imperfection."

Incorporating the thought of such seminal thinkers as Walter Benjamin, José Ortega y Gasset, and Roland Barthes, The Imperfect Art offers vivid portraits of the giants of jazz and startling insights into this vital musical form and the interaction of society and art.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Oxford University Press
  • Publish Date: Jul 19th, 1990
  • Pages: 160
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 9.00in - 6.18in - 0.49in - 0.66lb
  • EAN: 9780195063288
  • Categories: • Genres & Styles - Jazz• History & Criticism - General

About the Author

Ted Gioia teaches jazz history and performance at Stanford University and has recorded an album as a jazz pianist, The End of the Open Road, available from Quartet Records.

More books by Ted Gioia

Book Cover for: The History of Jazz, Ted Gioia
Book Cover for: The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire, Ted Gioia
Book Cover for: How to Listen to Jazz, Ted Gioia
Book Cover for: Music: A Subversive History, Ted Gioia
Book Cover for: Healing Songs, Ted Gioia
Book Cover for: Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music, Ted Gioia
Book Cover for: The Birth (and Death) of the Cool, Ted Gioia
Book Cover for: Love Songs: The Hidden History, Ted Gioia
Book Cover for: West Coast Jazz: Modern Jazz in California, 1945-1960, Ted Gioia
Book Cover for: Work Songs, Ted Gioia

What people are saying

Praise for this book

"This is a unique book on jazz. I highly recommend it as a bridge between the jazz musician and layman."--Stan Getz"This is an unusual jazz book for two reasons: it deals with the music not just on its own terms but in a broader cultural and aesthetic context, and it was written by a musician....Much of what Mr. Gioia has to say is thoughtful and thought-provoking."--Peter Keepnews, The New York Times Book Review"Gioia's absorbing collection is phenomenological and interdisciplinary, providing connective tissue for fresh perspectives of jazz and its transactions with a wide arc of cultural forces. The Imperfect Art is an important contribution celebrating jazz as a true treasure of our times."--Herb Wong, Past President, The National Association of Jazz Educators"Well-written...a compelling primer on jazz aesthetics....Thoughtful jazz lovers of all degrees of musical literacy ought to be delighted and enlightened by Gioia's yeomanly effort. A rich little book."--Booklist"A thoughtful book of essays about the evolution of jazz in the context of modern mass culture, its historical relation to other arts and its unique position as an 'imperfect art' of improvisation."--San Francisco Chronicle

What people are saying

See more