New Yorker Mag Jazz Portraits—WHITNEY BALLIETT—American Musicians II—1st HC

Description: • For Your Consideration: • A (RARE) First Edition, First Printing in HARDCOVER: • “AMERICAN MUSICIANS II: Seventy-One Portraits in Jazz” (Oxford University Press, 1996) (Hardcover, First Edition Thus) • BY WHITNEY BALLIETT • “WHITNEY BALLIETT’s AMERICAN MUSICIANS first appeared in the fall of 1986…(n)ow greatly expanded with sixteen new essays, AMERICAN MUSICIANS II remains a superb introduction to the giants of jazz…. Breathtaking in its scope, the book features BALLIETT’s singular portraits of jazz greats who have shaped this uniquely American tradition form its earliest days to the present, from JOE ‘KING’ OLIVER and JELLY ROLLL MORTON, to swing-era mainstays FATS WALLER and LESTER YOUNG, to avant-garde pioneers such as CECIL TAYLR and ORNETTE COLEMAN, "We are treated to profiles of PEE WEE RUSSELL, RED ALLEN, EARL HINES, and MARY LOU WILLIAMS, written when they were at the height of their powers; reconstructions of the lives of such lives of ART TATUM, COLEMAN HAWKINS, JACK TEAGARDEN, ZOOT SIMS, and DAVE TOUGH; quick but indelible glimpses into the daily (or nocturnal) lives of DUKE ELLINGTON and CHARLES MINGUS; and his vivid portrayals of such modern masters as RED NORVO, ORNETTE COLEMAN, BUDDY RICH, ELVIN JONES, ART FARMER, MICHAEL MOORE, and TOMMY FLANAGAN. Also included are such lesser known but invaluable players as ART HODES, JABBO SMITH, JOE WILDER, WARNE MARSH, GENE BERTONCINI, JOE BUSHKIN, and MARIE MARCUS.”THE PUBLISHER • “WHITNEY BALLIETT is, like UPDIKE and NABOKOV, a miraculous writer, one who describes the indescribable.” ―WILLIAM WHITWORTH, EDITOR EMERITUS, THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY • “After all these years, I am still awed by your incomparable understanding of jazz, by your genius for saying in words how a particular musician or musicians sound, and by your writing purely as writing.” —WILLIAM SHAWN, EDITOR, THE NEW YORKER (1952-1986) • “BALLIETT is a master of language…a writer who brings jazz journalism to the verge of poetry.” —PHILIP LARKIN • “I’m not really generous enough to tell you what I really think about how good you are. Let’s say I’m flabbergasted. And that I think you are extraordinarily important.” —HAROLD BRODKEY • “Highly intelligent, stimulating…if [his criticism] were music, it might start a new movement in mass sounds, or at least clear the air of various current confusions.” —LANGSTON HUGHES • “DUKE ELLINGTON would say of a very few musicians that they were beyond category. Among those of us who write about jazz, so is WHITNEY BALLIETT.” ―NAT HENTOFF • “The greatest prose stylist to ever apply his writing skills to jazz.”—DAN MORGENSTERN, INSTITUTE OF JAZZ STUDIES, RUTGERS UNIVERISITY • “One of the most graceful essayists in the English language on any subject.”—GENE LEES • “You can read him even if you don’t care for jazz.”—GARY GIDDINS • “WHITNEY was about as pure a stylist as anyone who has written American English, yet his sentences were almost always about someone else’s art; that’s what gave his writing its modesty and its tensile strength.”—ADAM GOPNIK, THE NEW YORKER • “WHITNEY BALLIETT has been contributing exceptionally literate jazz criticism to THE NEW YORKER since 1957. At its best, his prose has the grace, wit and flow of a superior jazz improvisation.”—ROBERT PALMER, NEW YORK TIMES • “No other writer…can write with comparable grace and equal enthusiasm.” —LEONARD FEATHER • “The true poet of jazz, the writer who could capture the music and put it down on the printed page…. No one did…in-depth pieces better than BALLIETT; they remain the gold standard for stylish and penetrating jazz writing. Decades after they were written, music lovers return to them—not only because they are often the best source of information ever published about many jazz legends but also for the sheer delight of BALLIETT’s prose. I have never read a jazz writer with a more assured command of the English language…. He retained the enthusiasm of a fan, but it was married to the expressive virtuosity of a master writer who could extract from his typewriter something akin to what others drew from their saxophones and trumpets.”—TED GIOIA, CITY JOURNAL• “WHITNEY BALLIETT is, without a rival in sight, the most literate and knowledgeable living writer on jazz.” —ALISTAIR COOKE • “Few people can write as well about anything as BALLIETT writes about jazz.” —LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW • "Had WHITNEY BALLIETT, the longtime jazz critic of THE NEW YORKER, ever chosen to try fiction, he might have done well. His profiles, so often able to make a reader hear music, have no parallel in contemporary journalism.” —RICHARD M. SUDHALTER, NEW YORK TIMES • “One of our most trustworthy guides.” —STUDS TERKEL • “A tireless prodigy.” —NICHOLSON BAKER• “Wry, sometimes gently chiding, mostly enthusiastic, BALLIETT crafted a reportage to do justice to jazz's subtleties, excitement, and the willingness of its practitioners to trust to luck. But he saw himself not as an opinion-former but as a witness to an art, and avoided cheap shots at an artist's expense like the plague.”—JOHN FORDHAM, THE GUARDIAN (UK) • “When you look at the sheer breadth of AMERICAN MUSICIANS II, the author’s tastes seem catholic to a fault. He sings the praises of SIDNEY BECHET AND CECIL TAYLOR, BENNY GOODMAN and ELVIN JONES, JIM HALL and ORNETTE COLEMAN and MARY LOU WILLIAMS. He grinds remarkably few axes in the course of more than 500 pages. And while BALLIETT never pretends to completeness, his book does indeed function as ‘a sort of highly personal encyclopedia,’ as eloquent and irresistible as the music it describes.”—JAMES MARCUS, JAZZ TIMES • “He tends to be thought of as a jazz writer. However, he brings a poet’s burning glass to his reflections on the art of music-making, and to confine his luminous essays to so narrow a category is foolish; as witless, say, as it would be call ST. AUGUSTINE a city planner.”—JAMES T. MAHER, EDITOR, ‘AMERICAN POPULAR SONG’ • “The musicians on whom BALLIETT lavishes his attentions emerge as unique, and that, one suspects, is what has drawn him to them, regardless of their musical style. One is drawn to WHITNEY BALLIETT for much the same reason. Say what one will about his profiles, there is no mistaking them for the work of anyone else.”—FRANCIS DAVIS, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT (UK) • • For other details about this book, please see below. • TITLE: “AMERICAN MUSICIANS II: Seventy-One Portraits in Jazz” AUTHOR: WHITNEY BALLIETT TYPE: HARDCOVER PAGES: 520 PUBLISHER, LOCALE, & YEAR: Oxford University Press (Oxford & New York), 1996 EDITION: Revised First Edition Thus* RE: On the Copyright Page, this Number Row: “1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2.” NOTE: This copy is NOT ex-library NOR a book-club edition. ISBN: 0-19-509538-3 CONDITION OF DUST JACKET: VERY GOOD. Price (39.95) is unclipped. Top corner on the back is chipped. Other corners are rubbed. Light but persistent scratching on sides & light but persistent crumpling along the edges. The top of the back has a string of creases. All else—bright & clean. (Now protected in a Broadart archival cover.) CONDITION OF BOOK: VERY GOOD PLUS. Book is square. Boards are clean with sharp corners. Spine is tight & uncreased & has bright lettering. Spine tips are bumped. Text-block edges are lightly scuffed. Endpapers are fine. Pages are v. clean & bright—with no writing, no underlining, no doodling, no tears, no stains, no foxing, etc. LOOKS UNREAD. SHIPPING NEWS: This book will be wrapped with care before being shipped in a cushioned and sturdy box. THANK YOU! ********************** /\___/\=•ᆺ•= “We believe it’s good business to be good to our customers.” *********** FLAPPINCAT’s HOUSE RULES ***********1. GENERAL TREATMENT. We enjoy treating FLAPPINCAT customers with honesty & respect & warmth because that’s how we like to be treated when we buy things on eBay.2. GENERAL ATTITUDE. We are grateful you choose to trust us with your business. We aim for that gratitude to permeate every part of how we engage with you.3. OUR DESCRIPTIONS. We describe every item we sell as clearly and accurately as we can. When it comes to describing condition, we tend toward being conservative. 4. PACKING & SHIPPING. We know from experience that items, when not thoughtfully packed, can be damaged during shipment. To avoid that real danger, FLAPPINCAT wraps & cushions your purchase(s) mindfully—and sometimes zealously—in a sturdy package. WARNING: In our zeal, we sometimes over-tape containers and you may need a penknife to unseal our shipments. NOTE: Though we often recycle shipping materials, we do NOT stint on protection. 5. OUR PRICES. We try to offer the lowest prices on eBay for items we sell. Even our most expensive offerings tend to be lower than what others are asking. “You could look it up!” —to quote baseball immortal JACK KEEFE. SUMMARY: We know you have many buying options on eBay. FLAPPINCAT tries to be distinctive by being accurate, mindful, and friendly. *********** How We GRADECONDITION ***********DETAILS. The condition of every item we sell will be described in detail.FLAWS. All discernible flaws will be noted, if not emphasized. Of course, the grading of condition can be subjective. And since no grader is perfect, it is possible that we may at times miss a flaw. It is also possible that we may miss some perfections! Should we make a mistake, you will find FLAPPINCAT eager to fix things with you. Just send us a note and we’ll get on it.GRADING SYSTEM. For books and magazines (and even other items), we use these terms (in order of desirability): VERY FINE or LIKE NEW FINE (or EXCELLENT) NEAR FINE (or NF) VERY GOOD PLUS (or VG+) VERY GOOD (or VG) GOOD FAIR ACCEPTABLE POOR “POOR.” Except in rare cases, for rare items, we tend to avoid selling items that are in utterly “POOR” condition. It is more likely that on a rare item, only one part of an item (out of numerous parts) will be described as “POOR.”RETURNS. We accept that you may wish to return a purchase because you genuinely think we haven't described and graded its condition properly. We accept that we our* imperfect. 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Price: 41 USD

Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina

End Time: 2025-02-08T00:26:36.000Z

Shipping Cost: 6.5 USD