Over the last three decades, no musical innovation in jazz has been more important that its fusion with rock. The emergence of this genre drove a wedge deep into jazz audiences, dividing them into those that wanted to cling to the acoustic tradition, and those who saw the jazz tradition as one of change.In his wide-ranging study, Stuart Nicholson shows how a marriage between jazz and rock was anticipated and seen as inevitable in the context of its time. His lively text begins by showing how the commercial threat to jazz from the momentous influx of rock bands in the late 1960s came to be a creative influence, with the first rock supergroups - such as Eric Clapton's Cream - made up of jazz calibre players. Nicholson marks Miles Davis's Bitches Brew as the pivotal album that defined the genre, with Miles establishing a new style of band that stated its difference through the use of young, talented players from outside the traditional idiom of jazz, a move that shrewdly aligned him with the new. Soon every player, and every jazz record company, was jumping aboard a fast-accelerating bandwagon. But Nicholson argues that commercial excess eventually undid jazz-rock's early promise. Finally, Nicholson shows how such commercialism is far removed from today's avant-garde exponents of a mutated version of jazz-rock, such as John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Bill Laswell and John Scofield.Featuring an exhaustive discography by Jon Newey, Jack-Rock: A History is required reading for music fans of all ages and allegiance, and defines an area of musical history that has until now eluded serious study and attention.

Jazz-Rock: A History

Arts & Photography

Nicholson, Stuart

Music

Schirmer Books

Reminiscing In Tempo. A Portrait of Duke Ellington

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Sidgwick Jackson Ltd

To suggest that jazz enjoyed a resurgence in the 1980s is to suggest that it dropped dead in the 1970s--a proposition with which many a jazz fan would take issue. But you don't have to accept this thesis to enjoy Stuart Nicholson's book, which covers an astounding number of performers and schools. Nicholson, who has also written acclaimed biographies of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, is a superb critic, whose enthusiasm is always leavened with dry humor. And you won't find a better wide-angle portrait of the jazz world, resurgent or not.

Jazz: The 1980s Resurgence

Da Capo Pr

The life of the very private and media-shy Ella Fitzgerald has long been shrouded in a mixture of half-truths and fiction. What emerges in Stuart Nicholson's groundbreaking biography is a remarkable story of a poor black girl's determination to realize the American Dream in the face of racial and sexual prejudice. She succeeded, and is now the definition of "jazz singer" to millions, one of the greatest of all jazz musicians. In this fullest account ever of her life, Nicholson draws on fresh research and interviews with Ella's friends and colleagues. Supplemented by Phil Schaap's authoritative discography, Ella Fitzgerald is a rich and revealing portrait of one of the most popular American singers in history.

Ella Fitzgerald

Da Capo Press

A PORTRAIT OF DUKE ELLINGTON: REMINISCING IN TEMPO

Pan Books

Is Jazz Dead? examines the state of jazz in America at the turn of the twenty-first century. Musicians themselves are returning to New Orleans, Swing, and Bebop styles, while the work of the '60s avant-garde and even '70s and '80s jazz-rock is roundly ignored. Meanwhile, global jazz musicians are creating new and exciting music that is just starting to be heard in the United States, offering a viable alternative to the rampant conservatism here. Stuart Nicholson's thought-provoking book offers an analysis of the American scene, how it came to be so stagnant, and what it can do to create a new level of creativity. This book is bound to be controversial among jazz purists and musicians; it will undoubtedly generate discussion about how jazz should grow now that it has become a recognized part of American musical history. Is Jazz Dead? dares to ask the question on all jazz fan's minds: Can jazz survive as a living medium? And, if so, how?

Is Jazz Dead?: Or Has It Moved to a New Address

Routledge

Stuart Nicholson's biography of Ella Fitzgerald is considered a classic in jazz literature. Drawing on original documents, interviews, and new information, Nicholson draws a complete picture of Fitzgerald's professional and personal life. Fitzgerald rose from being a pop singer with chart-novelty hits in the late '30s to become a bandleader and then one of the greatest interpreters of American popular song. Along with Billie Holiday, she virtually defined the female voice in jazz, and countless others followed in her wake and acknowledged her enormous influence. Also includes two 8-page inserts.

Ella Fitzgerald: The Complete Biography of First Lady of Jazz, Updated Edition

Humor & Entertainment

Is Jazz Dead? examines the state of jazz in America at the turn of the twenty-first century. Musicians themselves are returning to New Orleans, Swing, and Bebop styles, while the work of the '60s avant-garde and even '70s and '80s jazz-rock is roundly ignored. Meanwhile, global jazz musicians are creating new and exciting music that is just starting to be heard in the United States, offering a viable alternative to the rampant conservatism here. Stuart Nicholson's thought-provoking book offers an analysis of the American scene, how it came to be so stagnant, and what it can do to create a new level of creativity. This book is bound to be controversial among jazz purists and musicians; it will undoubtedly generate discussion about how jazz should grow now that it has become a recognized part of American musical history. Is Jazz Dead? dares to ask the question on all jazz fan's minds: Can jazz survive as a living medium? And, if so, how?

Is Jazz Dead?

Ella Fitzgerald lived to sing - and not only because she sang so superlatively well. Only in the ecstatic excitement of performance could she leave behind a life that was often unhappy: the voice that transported generations of listeners took Ella herself to a place where she was in control. This remarkable biography cuts through the legend of Ella to the reality, but it reaches the woman by setting the singer where she always wanted to be: on centre stage. The first biographer to place Ella's music firmly in the foreground, Stuart Nicholson ends up creating by far the fullest picture yet of one of the most enigmatic, but unforgettable personalities in jazz.

Ella Fitzgerald a Biography of the First

TRAFALGAR SQUARE +

Jazz: The Modern Resurgence

Simon Schuster Ltd

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Books by Nicholson, Stuart