The Imperfect Art: Reflections on Jazz and Modern Culture

by Ted Gioia

Book Overview

By the 1930s, the radio and phonograph had transformed the experience of music in America from unique, live performances to the repetitive playing or broadcasting of records. In an age of mechanical... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0916318311
• ISBN13: 9780916318314
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Stanford Alumni Association
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

This book should not be forgotten

I first read 'The Imperfect Art' nearly 20 years, and if the book didn't change my life, it certainly changed my thinking about a bunch of stuff - like what it means to be creative, and what it means - as a listener - to go along for the ride. The book is about jazz and how it 'works,' but that's just Gioia's jumping off point. It is every bit as rigorous in its reasoning as formal, academic works - but it's also highly readable, a gift of deep thinking couched in every day language. Ted Gioia went on to write several other fine books about jazz and related musics, but this one - his first - is my favorite. It's an essay you can return to time and again and get something new out of it. I look forward to reading it for the rest of my life.