Jazz: The Modern Resurgence (1990) / Jazz: The 1980’s Resurgence (1995)

Jazz Modern0886_35

United States Edition                United Kingdom Edition

‘This is an outstanding book and its author a brilliant young man.’ MAX HARRISON, HAMPSTEAD AND HIGHGATE EXPRESS (UK)

‘A meticulous survey of the decade…covering hundreds of performers, the author delivers a series of concise, witty and opinionated snapshots, many of them appreciative, others almost comically blunt in their disapproval. Even when you disagree with him…you can’t fault Nicholson for his enthusiasm, taste or intelligence’. JAZZ TIMES (USA)

‘There isn’t another work that has reacted so swiftly to the bewildering eruption of new players, new recordings, recycled players and reissues…It’ll be a while before anybody puts together a study of current jazz times with as much thoroughness and currency as Nicholson’s.’ WIRE (UK)

‘Jazz: The 1980s Resurgence offers an indispensable look at the most confused decade in the history of jazz…a wonderful resource.’ SCHWANN SPECTRUM (USA)

‘An excellent chronicle of recent jazz history and may assist with understanding what is happening in jazz in the 1990s. Written towards the end of 1989, Nicholson has uncannily, and without the benefit of hindsight, succeeded in identifying the lasting personalities and styles from the confusion which typified the jazz world in the 1980s…Thoroughly recommended.’  JAZZ VIEWS.COM (AUSTRALIA)

‘Nicholson’s book has the advantage of a wide-eared approach…it accurately treats jazz as a pliable, living tradition’. DOWNBEAT (USA)

‘A logical book that needed to be written…Nicholson has an open-minded approach, his evaluations of recordings are intelligent and informative and his narrative flows smoothly from one musician to another…Nicholson’s project achieves its goals and is highly recommended’. SCOTT YANOW, JAZZIZ (USA)

‘Stuart Nicholson, a writer of sharp wit and a rare talent for assembling a powerful précis, has dug deep into his myriad-faceted subject and come up with a splendid work that is by no means just a catalogue of names, dates, places and sessions but a highly readable story…His prose style is engaging, almost conversational, exercising a facility for interpolating le mot/phrase juste, thereby packing a powerful punch into his anecdotes…There is, in truth, hardly a dull moment from foreword to index.’ CRESCENDO & JAZZ MUSIC (UK)

‘Stuart Nicholson’s handsome new tome functions on many levels. It is a handy summation of times long past and times so recent as to be still shaping up. It is level headed both in its assessments of established reputations and hip young gun-slingers. Moreover, at the same time as it transmits dispassionate wisdom and historical fact, it drips enthusiasm…Buy this most rare, accessible and functional of jazz tomes immediately.’ GLASGOW HERALD (UK)

‘This is a most welcome and positively rare examination of jazz like it sounds today…the author’s knowledge and opinions shine through the text.’ LANCASHIRE EVENING POST (UK)

‘One of the essentials of any jazz library.’  BBC RADIO 4 (UK)

‘An excellent analysis of the 1980s jazz and blues scene…highly recommended. It is exceptionally useful both as an informative updating and in helping to provide context on a very significant jazz decade.’ JAZZ UK (UK)

‘It would be difficult to imagine a more balanced, coherent or well informed view of [jazz during the 1980s]…a volume that can be recommended as either a good read or a reference book.’ THE MUSIC MAGAZINE (UK)

‘An excellent analysis of the 1980s jazz and blues scene in which the almost overwhelming variety of musical directions is clearly and systematically sign posted…It is exceptionally useful both as an informative updating and in helping to provide context and perspective on a very significant jazz decade.’ JAZZ IN (UK)

‘The Standard work on what happened in jazz during the 1980s. It is a thorough, painstaking piece of work.’  JAZZ EXPRESS (UK)

‘Contains not a few felicities and much that stimulates.’ JAZZ JOURNAL (UK)

‘Nicholson, who has also written acclaimed biographies of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, is a superb critic, whose enthusiasm is always leavened with dry humour. And you won’t find a better wide-angle portrait of the jazz world.’ AMAZON.COM

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JAZZ:THE MODERN RESURGENCE was first published in 1990 by Simon & Schuster (UK and Commonwealth only). It was subsequently re-published as Jazz: The 1980s Resurgence in 1995 by DaCapo (USA and Worldwide), using the  title  the author originally intended for the book.

JAZZ: THE MODERN RESURGENCE  Has Been Cited In Numerous Degree, Doctoral Dissertations and Published Academic Papers Including:

  • Doctoral thesis Charles W. Beale: From Jazz to Jazz in Education: An Investigation of Tensions Between Player and Educator Definitions of Jazz
  • Jazz since 1960
  • Jazz, pop, improvisation, national identity and the role of the jazz drummer
  • Rhymin’ And Stealin’ Musical Borrowing in Hip-Hop
  • Jazz for the Ipod generation : digital media and jazz in the UK
  • The WDR Big Band: A Brief History
  • Idiosyncratic concepts in the music of Henry Threadgill’s Zooid : an applied investigation into compositional and improvisational techniques
  • Musical borrowing in hip-hop music : theoretical frameworks and case studies
  • The Jazz Image
  • Paradox, problem, and potential in secondary school jazz education
  • Back to the original omnivore: On the artefactual nature of Peterson’s thesis of omnivorousness
  • A history of dance and jazz band performance in the Western Cape in the post-1945 era
  • Berg’s response to swing in jazz : the composer’s use of rhythm, texture and timbre in this context
  • Aspects of jazz and classical music in David N. Baker’s Ethnic Variations on a Theme of Paganini
  • Saksofoni tutuksi : Kuinka esittelin oman instrumenttini koululaisille
  • Stan Getz: Forgotten Bebop Tenor Saxophonist
  • Jazz, pop, improvisation, national identity and the role of the jazz drummer
  • Moving to Higher Ground: The Changing Discourse of European Jazz 1960-1980

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