Weather Bird

Writing about music isn't easy - except that it's easy to slither into windy metaphors and purple rhetoric. Garry Giddens was the jazz critic of the Village Voice between 1974 and 2003, and this selection from his weekly columns (plus assorted interviews, sleeve notes, and reviews) shows how it can be done successfully. Course, you've got to be well informed about your subject - which he is. There are feature-length essays on stars such as Billy Holliday, Benny Carter, and Sonny Rollins, plus inside views from what's happening in New York City club life. It's an excellent compilation if you want to catch up with who's new on the scene, or you want a taste of the state of jazz at the start of its second century. See our FULL REVIEW HERE for further details.