Customer Reviews

Jazz

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Who would have the "chops" to write the definitive textbook on Jazz? How about a musician/composer/arranger who played with just about every Jazz great, with some notables being Glenn Miller and Tex Beneke? How about a man who has arranged, composed, and performed with everyone from A (Arturo Toscanini) to Z (Zubin Mehta)? Want more chops? How about the guy who invented (and played) a musical instrument (the electro-theremin or "Tannerin") that creates those wonderful weird glides you hear on the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" or the them song to My Favorite Martian? Experience not enough? How about academics: an author with both Masters and Doctorate degrees who became a Distinguished Professor at UCLA teaching about Jazz for over 20 years? The person with that experience, who definitely has the chops, is Paul Tanner, the lead author of this book.

I had the good fortune to be one of Dr. Tanner's students eons ago at UCLA. Beyond his ability to entertain was his ability to teach the principles, theory, and practice of Jazz, especially to non-musically inclined students. In his 90's today, according to IMDB, he still lectures writes.

Yes, Dr. Tanner and colleagues have the chops, and you can count on this book being the most definitive of its kind. The book is a textbook, to be sure -- meant to be used in conjunction with study, and priced as textbooks are priced, which ain't cheap. But because the online media lets you hear the topics not just read about them, I would recommend it for anyone with disposable income who is interested in the history of Jazz, understanding the different flavors of Jazz, and appreciating the musical tricks of the trade.

NOTE: While not necessary, I would recommend that you have a little knowledge of music to best enjoy the book. You don't need to be a music major, and you do NOT have to play an instrument or know how to read musical notation, but you will get a bit more out of the book if you are familiar with terms like 4/4, 2/4 and chord progressions.

I love reading this, it puts Jazz into an understandable language and i love reading about the people in the Jazz world

I think this is a great book with a lot of information on jazz, but the sender sent it to me in horrible condition. I paid for the book to be in "very good" condition and it was sent to me in a recycled envelope that was partially riped open. When I looked at the book, the pages were folded and the book looked beat up. I would not recommend using this sender at all.

This product is exactly what I ordered. The seller was even more amazing in her response in getting this to me in a timely manner.

Got the book on time and it was in good condition. I've never wanted to willingly read a textbook before until now. It helps that I already have a strong interest in jazz so paying attention in this class is easy =]

I purchased a used book for college and all went well. This is not the first time I've purchased a used text book from Amazon.com, and it is not the last time.

Service was great, not going to judge content though because this was not purchased for enjoyment. was purchased for a college class.

The book is great, however, THE CD CAME BROKEN IN TWO PIECES and I AM UTTERLY DISAPPOINTED