'Any book on my life would start with my basic philosophy of fighting racial prejudice. I loved jazz, and jazz was my way of doing that,' Norman Granz told Tad Hershorn during the final interviews given for this book. Granz, who died in 2001, was iconoclastic, independent, immensely influential, often thoroughly unpleasant - and one of jazz's true giants. Granz played an essential part in bringing jazz to audiences around the world, defying racial and social prejudice as he did so, and demanding that African-American performers be treated equally everywhere they toured. In this definitive biography, Hershorn recounts Granz's story: creator of the legendary jam session concerts known as Jazz at the Philharmonic; founder of the Verve record label; pioneer of live recordings and worldwide jazz concert tours; manager and recording producer for numerous stars, including Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson.

About the Author
Tad Hershorn is an archivist at the Institute for Jazz Studies at Rutgers University.

Reviews
"This book is a valuable addition to the jazz literature." -- Norman Vickers The Jazz Society Of Pensacola "[A] diligently researched biography... [Hershorn] meticulously documents the personnel and songs played at many concerts and recording dates." -- David Lander Stereophile "An impressively researched, detailed, and highly readable account of ... one of the most significant non-musicians in jazz." Blue Light



Book Information
ISBN 9780520267824
Author Tad Hershorn
Format Hardback
Page Count 488
Imprint University of California Press
Publisher University of California Press
Weight(grams) 816g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 36mm