Jazz : a history of America's music

The magnificent companion book to the 19-hour PBS television series by the award-winning team responsible for The Civil War and Baseball. Ken Burns and Geoffrey Ward now bring us the history of the first American music. This powerful narrative is brought to life by the remarkable men and women who have made their mark on the music and on our culture. In words and photographs -- some never before published -- we meet Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck, and many more. Contributors Wynton Marsalis, Dan Morgenstern, Gerald Early, Stanley Crouch, and Gary Giddins put the evolution of jazz in cultural context. Jazz, like the music itself, is an exploration and celebration of the American experience.