American Singers: Twenty-Seven Portraits in Song

by Whitney Balliett

Book Overview

When Whitney Balliett's American Musicians appeared in the Fall of 1986, the acclaim it received was universal. Leonard Feather, writing in the Los Angeles Times, said "no other writer now living can write with comparable grace and equal enthusiasm about everyone from Jack Teagarden and Art Tatum to Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman." And Bruce Cook in The New Leader called the book "the quintessential Whitney Balliett, the cream of the cream, a collection...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195046102
• ISBN13: 9780195046106
• Release Date: October 1988
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Beautifully written

For the lover of American song and its interpreters, this superb volume is well worth hunting out. Balliett writes in a wonderfully poetic style that fully encapsulates the style and sound of each artist. The range of singers he explores is superb - those who love the art of cabaret will relish his stunning chapters on Mabel Mercer, Bobby Short, Julie Wilson; he also devotes space to such fine interpreters as Carol Sloane, Teddi King and Margaret Whiting. Balliett includes conversations with the singers alongside his own unique analysis and commentary. All in all, a completely indispensable book, the finest exploration of the art of singer popular song available.