Riding On A Blue Note

"The most imposing figure in jazz writing today" (JazzTimes) on artists from Duke Ellington to Elvis Presley to Irving Berlin--all with that pervasive "blue note" of jazz in common. Gary Giddins, winner of the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award, has a following that includes not only jazz enthusiasts but also pop music fans of every stripe. Writing here in a lyrical and celebratory style all his own, Giddins dazzlingly shows us,among many other things,how performers originally perceived as radical (Bing Crosby, Count Basie, Elvis Presley) became conservative institutions ... how Charlie Parker created a masterpiece from the strain of an inane ditty ... how the Dominoes helped combine church ritual with pop music ... and how Irving Berlin translated a chiaroscuro of Lower East Side minorities into imperishable songs.