Description
Book SynopsisNorman Granz, who died in 2001, was iconoclastic, independent, influential, often thoroughly unpleasant - and one of jazz's true giants. This biography recounts Granz's story: creator of the legendary jam session concerts known as Jazz at the Philharmonic; founder of the Verve record label; and manager and recording producer for numerous stars.
Trade Review"This book is a valuable addition to the jazz literature." -- Norman Vickers The Jazz Society Of Pensacola "[A] diligently researched biography... [Hershorn] meticulously documents the personnel and songs played at many concerts and recording dates." -- David Lander Stereophile "An impressively researched, detailed, and highly readable account of ... one of the most significant non-musicians in jazz." Blue Light
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Foreword by Oscar Peterson
Prologue: “I Made Things Work”
1 “All I Wanted Was My Freedom”
2 “A Marvelous Crucible”
3 Cole Train
4 “The Opener”
5 Let Freedom Swing
6 Norman Granz versus . . .
7 Mambo Jambo
8 Enter Ella and Oscar
9 The Continental
10 “I Feel Most at Home in the Studio”
11 Starry Nights
12 “That Tall Old Man Standing Next to Ella Fitzgerald”
13 The Jazz Hurricane
14 “The Lost Generation”
15 Duke, Prez, and Billie
16 Joie de Verve
17 Across the Sea
18 “Musicians Don’t Want to Jam”
19 Picasso on the Beach
20 “One More Once”
21 Takin’ It on Out—for Good
22 “Somewhere There’s Music”
Epilogue: “My Career, Such As It Is . . .”
Acknowledgments
Chronology
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
