From record album liner notes to serious academic pieces, Martin Williams has been perceptively chronicling the development of jazz for over three decades. In this, his newest collection of jazz writings, Williams brings together many of his best pieces and covers new ground, with short columns on Teddy Wilson and George Winston and a longer article, "How Long Has This Been Going On?," examining the current state of jazz. In this last work, Williams notes that jazz is experiencing a period of "stylistic retrenchment or, if you will, a period of conservatism," and questions the fusion of jazz...

When it was first published in 1970, this lively and fascinating book was greeted with almost universal acclaim. The American Record Guide called it "the best one-volume of jazz we have," and the Jazz Journal praised it as "a brilliant study of the whole of jazz." Perhaps the greatest tribute was paid by Louis Armstrong himself who raved: "it held Ol' Satch spellbound." Now thoroughly revised and expanded, the new edition of The Jazz Tradition offers readers a unique history of jazz, as seen through its greatest practitioners.
An original blend of history and criticism, this book explores...

Jazz Changes is the late Martin Williams's third and perhaps best collection of jazz portraits, interviews, narrative accounts of recording sessions, rehearsals, and performances, important liner notes, and far reaching discussions of musicians and their music. The collection includes thirty years of Williams's finest pieces taking readers on an engaging tour of the changing jazz world. There are appreciation-profiles and comments on such performers as Ross Russell--about the noted Dial Record sessions with Charlie Parker--and greats like John Coltrane, Billie Holiday, Jelly Roll Morton,...

This is the only jazz history written by a musician that is not strictly autobiographical. Rex Stewart, who played trumpet and cornet with Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington, knew personally all the giants of jazz in the 1930s and thus his judgments on their achievements come with unique authority and understanding. As a good friend, he never minimizes their foibles; yet he writes of them with affection and generosity. Chapters on Fletcher Henderson, Coleman Hawkins, Red Norvo, Art Tatum, Big Sid Catlett, Benny Carter, and Louis Armstrong mix personal anecdotes with critical comments that...

The emergence of Jack Teagarden as an important jazz stylist was a significant feature of the '20s jazz scene. He brought a maturity to the sound of the trombone and until late in his life played with a laconic grace that few, if any, on his instrument have equaled. His collaboration with Louis Armstrong--who rated their musical relationship higher than any he had known--was one of the great partnerships in jazz history. The story of this funny, happy Texan is told with affection and detail in this, the only biography of Jack Teagarden."Obviously a man like Teagarden, with his mastery of his...

This inspirational text will appeal to those both starting research projects and those wanting to understand how research can be used in everyday working practice. It brings together expertise from a wide range of areas and makes research easy and accessible. The practical workbook style is easy to use and shows the whole process from design to dissemination and application. Those working in primary healthcare teams and the new organisations supporting them will find it essential reading. Primary Care Research series is aimed at developing the knowledge, expertise and skills of all...

Jazz Heritage brings together twenty years' of reviews, musicians' profiles, and critical essays by the renowned critic Martin Williams. This companion volume to the prize-winning The Jazz Tradition includes profiles of great performers at work in studios and clubs, "liner notes" for many classic recordings, and Williams's acclaimed critical essays on the artistry of Charlie Parker, Cecil Taylor, Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald, and others. Consistently eye-opening and original, these pieces are essential reading for jazz musicians, students, scholars, and fans.

A guide to the planning, design, construction and maintenance of buildings incorporating post-tensioned floors. It compares the merits of post-tensioned floors with reinforced concrete floors, and includes the latest developments in the field with numerous worked examples.

The prevalence of salvation language in the first letter of Peter has often been acknowledged though rarely investigated in depth. In this book Martin Williams presents an account exploring the concept of salvation in this theologically rich letter. He brings together the disciplines of hermeneutics, New Testament studies, and systematic and historical theology in order to explore the language of salvation which resonates within the text. The book also elaborates on a methodological level the segregation which has arisen between biblical studies and theological studies. In doing this,...