Jazz: The 1980s Resurgence

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.