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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive and enlightening view of this music,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Big Bands (Paperback)
This book occupied a prime spot on my fathers bookshelf while I was growing up. I frequently heard this music as a kid, and was intrigued by its swing and feel. I had the pleasure of befriending George Simon, and found him to be a first class gentleman. I visited him at his home, and we would discuss the music and his experiences. It gave me tremendous insight into the times, and was always interesting. George was about fifty yeasr older than I ( I have lost touch with him after his move to Florida) but due to his involvement with the Grammys he could go from Harry James to Bob Dylan to Jimi Hendrix with ease. An interesting and insightful book by someone who loved the music and all it stood for.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's a shame this one's out of print,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Big Bands, Fourth Edition (Hardcover)
Simon's wonderful book on the Big Band Era succeeds on a number of levels. First, George T. manages to introduce you to virtually any big band leader that was anybody during the period spanning 1935 to 1946. Second, since the Big Band Era is long gone, it is important to understand this fantastic music in context. The best introduction to that context is this book. Third, as a personal friend to perhaps the greatest popular big band leader, Glenn Miller, Simon gives you some insights into this period which started an explosion in popular music. This is not a book for jazz apologists who rail at any commercial success by jazz musicians. It is also not the book for people that don't understand that Jazz was first and foremost a popular music at it's inception. Simon unapologetically conveys the story of the union of the Big Band, Jazz and Popular music. That union really only occurred for about 11 years. By the late 40's the Big Band as a mainstream popular music vehicle was passing out of focus and into history. This book is a great introductory overview of the Big Band Era. People wanting to learn more are encouraged to read "The World of Swing" by Stanley Dance, "The Swing Era" by Gunther Schuller, "Big Band Jazz" by Albert McCarthy and "The Dance Band Era" by Albert McCarthy. Unfortunately all of these books except for one are now out of print, but well worth finding. Start with Simon if you really want to understand what the Big Bands meant to popular culture during the latter part of the Great Depression and World War Two. Plus, Simon is a highly skilled writer (a former magazine editor), so this is an easy read.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE Classic Book On Big Bands,
By
This review is from: The Big Bands (Paperback)
If you are a jazz fan and this is not on your shelf you are not the jazz fan you think you are! Simon covers a wide variety of the big name artists and bands in depth, and many more in less depth. He was there, he lived it, he knew the musicians, he knew the music and he brings it all vividly back to life in these pages. It is such a shame that this book has gone out of print. I would strongly urge anyone reading this review to buy it used while you can. It is a terric read. One of the most interesting things about it to me is how, looking back through it, some of the bands he doesn't cover (Boyd Raeburn and Billy Eckstine being two prime examples, both receiving only mentions in a list of "other bands" at the end of the book) have come to take a much larger role in jazz history than he imagined when he wrote this book. Alas, both are seriously neglected to this day by the average jazz fan. But I digress. Do yourself a favor and read this book. The era will come alive in a way that isn't tainted with phony nostalgia and swing-revival nonsense. Most of these were really great JAZZ bands not just Moonlight Serenaders for old-folks homes and Hawaiian War Chants for the clueless "swing kids".Hmmm, this review makes me sound more bitter than I am about how jazz is treated these days. Wait! No it doesn't. I am bitter.
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