The publication of
Visions of Jazz is a major event because Gary Giddins is our best jazz critic...[It] is the finest unconventional history of jazz ever written–a brilliant, indispensable book.–Alfred Appel, Jr.,
The New York TimesOne of our most skillful jazz critics offers a monumental work of ambition...[Giddins] brings an unerring critical intelligence to his analyses of the music and a formidable grasp of music theory and practice...This is an important book, one that any serious student of jazz will want to
own.–
Kirkus ReviewsThis gigantic book of 79 essays amounts, willy-nilly, to a grand, brilliant history of the most American of arts.–
The New York Times Book Review, A Notable Book of 1998
No American writer has ever written better about music, as richly demonstrated in Giddins'
Visions of Jazz. This splendid critical history is classic Giddins: breathtaking in its scope, audacious in its erudition, and profoundly mindful of the connection between biography and art.–
FortuneGiddins' eclectic range and meticulous attention to detail are nothing less than astonishing.
Visions of Jazz is a landmark destined to occupy a permanent niche on the shelf of essential jazz literature.–Grover Sales,
The Los Angeles Times Book Review
