A veteran television critic discusses the merits, failures, and pretensions of American television, outstanding shows and performers, and such topics as violence, acting styles, sponsors' influences, and television's unique aesthetics

TV: The Casual Art

Arts & Photography

Williams, Martin T.

Performing Arts

Oxford University Press

The Jazz Tradition

Profiles the careers, achievements, and individual styles of jazz artists, such as Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane

Music

The Washington Post has called Martin Williams "the most knowledgeable, open-minded, and perceptive American jazz critic today," and countless others share that sentiment. To Gary Giddins of the Village Voice he is "one of the most distinguished critics (of anything) this country has ever produced,: and Nat Hentoff has observed, "Martin Williams persistently gets at essences, and that is why he has contributed so much to the very small body of authentic jazz criticism." A companion volume to his seminal, prizewinning The Jazz Tradition, this book is divided into four sections. The opening part is a collection of reviews and critiques of figures as diverse as Fats Waller and Count Basie, Bud Powell and Bill Evans, Ella Fitzgerald and the World Saxophone Quartet. The second section shows us musicians at work during rehearsals, recording dates, nightclub performances; these include Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Ornette Coleman. In a rare feature for a book on jazz, the third section brings together some of Williams's "liner notes"--record annotations from outstanding LP albums by musicians from Jelly Roll Morton and King Oliver through Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins, and including Cecil Taylor. In the last section, Williams discusses some of the pboblems jazz has encountered as it has acquired intellectual and academic status, and there are some provocative comments on the black contribution to American musical theatre and whether or not the United States has a true folk music. About the Author: Martin Williams is the author of Where's the Melody?, Griffith: First Artist of the Movies, and TV: The Casual Art. His articles have appeared in such publications as The Village Voice, High Fidelity, Evergreen Review, Kulchur, Saturday Review, and The New York Times.

Jazz Heritage

Jazz Heritage brings together twenty years' of reviews, musicians' profiles, and critical essays by the renowned critic Martin Williams. This companion volume to the prize-winning The Jazz Tradition includes profiles of great performers at work in studios and clubs, "liner notes" for many classic recordings, and Williams's acclaimed critical essays on the artistry of Charlie Parker, Cecil Taylor, Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald, and others. Consistently eye-opening and original, these pieces are essential reading for jazz musicians, students, scholars, and fans.

The Ruabon to Barmouth Line: Reflections of a Lost Welsh Railway

Lightmoor Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Williams, Martin T.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Williams, Martin T.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Williams, Martin T.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

TV: The Casual Art

The Jazz Tradition

The Jazz Tradition

Jazz Heritage

Jazz Heritage

The Ruabon to Barmouth Line: Reflections of a Lost Welsh Railway