Ted Gioia is a musician and author, and has published six non-fiction
books. His work The History of Jazz was selected as one of the twenty
best books of the year by Jonathan Yardley in The Washington Post,
and was chosen as a notable book of the year in The New York Times.
Gioia’s new book, Delta Blues, published in October by Norton, is a
major study of traditional blues music, and was recently selected as one
of 100 notable books of the year by The New York Times. He is
currently writing a blog, articles and reviews for www.jazz.com.
His writings on books can be found at The New Canon, Conceptual
Fiction and Great Books Guide.
Be on the lookout for Ted Gioia's next book The Birth (and Death) of the
Cool, coming in November.
Click here to see the video about
the book
OTHER NEWS AND EVENTS
Ted Gioia's The Imperfect Art now available in an Italian
translation. A Greek translation is forthcoming.
Also Chinese and Italian translations of his The History of Jazz are
in the works. A Spanish translation is already available here.
ASCAP announces that Ted Gioia's two books Work Songs and
Healing Songs have received an ASCAP Deems Taylor Special
Recognition Award
See Ted in a new jazz documentary by Lucasfilm, now available on
DVD, and scheduled to be shown on The History Channel.
Read his regular contributions to www.jazz.com.
Hear Ted Gioia talking to All Things Considered on NPR about
his recent book Work Songs. [Link Here]
Ted Gioia now reviewing fiction for Blogcritics --see his essay on
Robert Musil's The Man Without Qualities, his article "Robert
Heinlein at One Hundred" and reviews of novels by Ian McEwan,
Michael Chabon, Haruki Murakami, Jonathan Lethem, Don
DeLillo, Roberto Bolaño, Ann Patchett,Philip Roth and Cormac
McCarthy.
Now available on-line -- a profile of Ted in Stanford Magazine
Download Ted's music from The City is a Chinese Vase here or
here
Visit his literary web site Great Books Guide (www.
greatbooksguide.com), and its sister sites Conceptual Fiction
(www.conceptualfiction.com) and The New Canon (www.
thenewcanon.com)
Read his provocative Nobel Prize in Literature from an Alternative
Universe
books. His work The History of Jazz was selected as one of the twenty
best books of the year by Jonathan Yardley in The Washington Post,
and was chosen as a notable book of the year in The New York Times.
Gioia’s new book, Delta Blues, published in October by Norton, is a
major study of traditional blues music, and was recently selected as one
of 100 notable books of the year by The New York Times. He is
currently writing a blog, articles and reviews for www.jazz.com.
His writings on books can be found at The New Canon, Conceptual
Fiction and Great Books Guide.
Be on the lookout for Ted Gioia's next book The Birth (and Death) of the
Cool, coming in November.
Click here to see the video about
the book
OTHER NEWS AND EVENTS
Ted Gioia's The Imperfect Art now available in an Italian
translation. A Greek translation is forthcoming.
Also Chinese and Italian translations of his The History of Jazz are
in the works. A Spanish translation is already available here.
ASCAP announces that Ted Gioia's two books Work Songs and
Healing Songs have received an ASCAP Deems Taylor Special
Recognition Award
See Ted in a new jazz documentary by Lucasfilm, now available on
DVD, and scheduled to be shown on The History Channel.
Read his regular contributions to www.jazz.com.
Hear Ted Gioia talking to All Things Considered on NPR about
his recent book Work Songs. [Link Here]
Ted Gioia now reviewing fiction for Blogcritics --see his essay on
Robert Musil's The Man Without Qualities, his article "Robert
Heinlein at One Hundred" and reviews of novels by Ian McEwan,
Michael Chabon, Haruki Murakami, Jonathan Lethem, Don
DeLillo, Roberto Bolaño, Ann Patchett,Philip Roth and Cormac
McCarthy.
Now available on-line -- a profile of Ted in Stanford Magazine
Download Ted's music from The City is a Chinese Vase here or
here
Visit his literary web site Great Books Guide (www.
greatbooksguide.com), and its sister sites Conceptual Fiction
(www.conceptualfiction.com) and The New Canon (www.
thenewcanon.com)
Read his provocative Nobel Prize in Literature from an Alternative
Universe
| All rights reserved. |
Ted Gioia
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Ted Gioia can be contacted at
tedgioia@hotmail.com
For promotional photos, click here
Also visit
Great Books Guide
The New Canon
Conceptual Fiction
Jazz.com
tedgioia@hotmail.com
For promotional photos, click here
Also visit
Great Books Guide
The New Canon
Conceptual Fiction
Jazz.com
Photo by Kent Barker
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ORDER
What people are saying about
Delta Blues by Ted Gioia
Selected by The New York Times as one of the 100 Notable
Books of 2008
Selected by The Economist as one of the best books of 2008
"Destined to be viewed as a classic of blues scholarship."
Blues Revue
“Meticulously researched and reported by music historian Ted
Gioia, Delta Blues demythologizes the blues and its makers
without squeezing the blood out of the subject. . . .Author of the
exhaustive 1997 The History of Jazz, Gioia writes about the blues
in active, colorful prose.”
Rolling Stone
"Throughout, the author’s skill and stylish writing is evident, his
enthusiasm abundant. . . . Gioia walks the thin blues line with skill
and conviction."
The Atlantic Monthly
"No matter how much you may think you know about the blues,
you will learn much more from this authoritative and insightful
work.”
Dan Morgenstern, Director, Institute of Jazz Studies
“[W]e have the best volume of all: Ted Gioia’s exemplary Delta
Blues, an expertly researched, elegantly written, dispassionate
yet thoughtful history that brings a fresh perspective to much-
trammeled ground. Having absorbed the music and literature of
the Delta blues, Gioia companionably and persuasively
adjudicates various controversies by presenting all sides with
journalistic rigor and common sense. . . . If Delta Blues is not the
last word on the subject . . . it is likely to remain the best word on
the subject for years to come.”
Gary Giddins, Jazz Times
"[Gioia's] prose moves with enough velocity and packs enough
insight to keep even jaded readers interested.”
Billboard
“Gioia uses original research, interviews with reliable sources,
and his own calm, argument-closing incantations to draw a line
through a century of Delta blues. . . tremendously useful.”
Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
"Gioia breathes new life into the world of music with his
impeccable study entitled Delta Blues . . . Gioia provides an
element of authenticity sorely needed in any undertaking
concerning the magical world of soulful music. . . . a fascinating
excavation of Delta Blues history."
Living Blues
"Now Ted Gioia gives us Delta Blues, a book we've needed for a
long time. [Gioia] is one of the outstanding music historians in
America. His 1997 The History of Jazz is as near definitive as a
one-volume work can be. In Delta Blues he has written an equally
excellent work as meticulously researched and lucidly written as
its predecessor."
Bryan Woolley, Dallas Morning News
"Ted Gioia’s 400-plus page volume is an essential —- actually,
the essential —- history of this distinctly American genre. . . .
Gioia does a masterful job of capturing the dramatics."
David Fulmer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Ted comprehends with outstanding aesthetic sympathy and
compassionate awe the human qualities that make these men
and what they produced so important to us all. In that sense, this
book is something almost as imperishable as its subjects.”
Stanley Crouch
“Bringing the same clear-eyed musical analysis and
commonsense empathy to bear on the subject as he’s long
brought to bear on jazz, Ted Gioia has given us one of the best
books we have on the Delta blues.”
Francis Davis, author of The History of the Blues
"Unlike recent books on the blues where writers revel in spinning
controversy, Gioia delivers the straight goods without a polemic
agenda. Throughout the 400 plus pages of Delta Blues, he tells
the blues story with clarity and depth."
Downbeat
“This book is a contemporary classic in its field . . . This is a
remarkable book, full of insights, and full of intriguing data. It is a
book that any reader who enjoys the blues will savor and enjoy
reading often.“
Jazz Review
“Comprehensive and smart—a solid text for blues aficionados.”
Kirkus Reviews
“This is an excellent introduction to Delta blues for the novice and
the general reader.”
Library Journal
“Gioia's depth of research is breathtaking. . . The author's sheer
passion for the music comes through on every page, and you can
almost hear those old shellac 78s as you read his descriptions."
The Bookbag
Delta Blues by Ted Gioia
Selected by The New York Times as one of the 100 Notable
Books of 2008
Selected by The Economist as one of the best books of 2008
"Destined to be viewed as a classic of blues scholarship."
Blues Revue
“Meticulously researched and reported by music historian Ted
Gioia, Delta Blues demythologizes the blues and its makers
without squeezing the blood out of the subject. . . .Author of the
exhaustive 1997 The History of Jazz, Gioia writes about the blues
in active, colorful prose.”
Rolling Stone
"Throughout, the author’s skill and stylish writing is evident, his
enthusiasm abundant. . . . Gioia walks the thin blues line with skill
and conviction."
The Atlantic Monthly
"No matter how much you may think you know about the blues,
you will learn much more from this authoritative and insightful
work.”
Dan Morgenstern, Director, Institute of Jazz Studies
“[W]e have the best volume of all: Ted Gioia’s exemplary Delta
Blues, an expertly researched, elegantly written, dispassionate
yet thoughtful history that brings a fresh perspective to much-
trammeled ground. Having absorbed the music and literature of
the Delta blues, Gioia companionably and persuasively
adjudicates various controversies by presenting all sides with
journalistic rigor and common sense. . . . If Delta Blues is not the
last word on the subject . . . it is likely to remain the best word on
the subject for years to come.”
Gary Giddins, Jazz Times
"[Gioia's] prose moves with enough velocity and packs enough
insight to keep even jaded readers interested.”
Billboard
“Gioia uses original research, interviews with reliable sources,
and his own calm, argument-closing incantations to draw a line
through a century of Delta blues. . . tremendously useful.”
Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
"Gioia breathes new life into the world of music with his
impeccable study entitled Delta Blues . . . Gioia provides an
element of authenticity sorely needed in any undertaking
concerning the magical world of soulful music. . . . a fascinating
excavation of Delta Blues history."
Living Blues
"Now Ted Gioia gives us Delta Blues, a book we've needed for a
long time. [Gioia] is one of the outstanding music historians in
America. His 1997 The History of Jazz is as near definitive as a
one-volume work can be. In Delta Blues he has written an equally
excellent work as meticulously researched and lucidly written as
its predecessor."
Bryan Woolley, Dallas Morning News
"Ted Gioia’s 400-plus page volume is an essential —- actually,
the essential —- history of this distinctly American genre. . . .
Gioia does a masterful job of capturing the dramatics."
David Fulmer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Ted comprehends with outstanding aesthetic sympathy and
compassionate awe the human qualities that make these men
and what they produced so important to us all. In that sense, this
book is something almost as imperishable as its subjects.”
Stanley Crouch
“Bringing the same clear-eyed musical analysis and
commonsense empathy to bear on the subject as he’s long
brought to bear on jazz, Ted Gioia has given us one of the best
books we have on the Delta blues.”
Francis Davis, author of The History of the Blues
"Unlike recent books on the blues where writers revel in spinning
controversy, Gioia delivers the straight goods without a polemic
agenda. Throughout the 400 plus pages of Delta Blues, he tells
the blues story with clarity and depth."
Downbeat
“This book is a contemporary classic in its field . . . This is a
remarkable book, full of insights, and full of intriguing data. It is a
book that any reader who enjoys the blues will savor and enjoy
reading often.“
Jazz Review
“Comprehensive and smart—a solid text for blues aficionados.”
Kirkus Reviews
“This is an excellent introduction to Delta blues for the novice and
the general reader.”
Library Journal
“Gioia's depth of research is breathtaking. . . The author's sheer
passion for the music comes through on every page, and you can
almost hear those old shellac 78s as you read his descriptions."
The Bookbag