Will Friedwald writes about music for The Wall Street Journal and was the jazz (and cabaret) critic for The New York Sun. He is the author of eight books, including Stardust Melodies: A Biography of Twelve of America's Most Popular Songs; Jazz Singing: America's Great Voices from Bessie Smith to Bebop and Beyond; Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art; and The Good Life (with Tony Bennett). He has written nearly five hundred liner notes for compact discs, for which he has received eight Grammy nominations. He has also written for Vanity Fair, The Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, American Heritage, and The New York Times, among other publications.
"Top Five Books of the Year 2010: Friedwald chronicles the Great
American Songbook, its creators, and its interpreters--a body of
work that stands at the apogee of this nation's civilization.
Quirky, opinionated, shaped by exquisite taste and judgment, this
feat of musical and cultural criticism offers an exuberant glimpse
into the American character."
--Benjamin Schwarz, The Atlantic
"A perfect holiday gift . . . An authoritative, comprehensive and
oft-amusing guidebook that leads readers through the lives and
recordings of hundreds of singers, from Louis Armstrong to Hank
Williams."
--The Wall Street Journal
"Incisive and useful . . . In this mammoth volume, jazz critic
Will Friedwald does for jazz and pop vocalists what David Thomson
has done so brilliantly in his New Biographical Dictionary of
Film. . . . The author also acts as a consumer guide, steering
the reader toward particular songs or albums. . . . Vastly
entertaining."
--Dennis Drabelle, The Washington Post "In this passionately
opinionated encyclopedia of the old-school virtuosos of the
American songbook, music writer Friedwald celebrates 200-odd
performers of jazz and pop standards, from the mid-20th-century
titans to latter-day acolytes, with a raft of unjustly obscure
singers in between. . . . [Friedwald] accords each a substantial
career retrospective, selected discography and wonderfully pithy
interpretive essay. His tastes are wide-ranging and idiosyncratic .
. . However unconventional, his judgments are usually spot-on . . .
Friedwald's exuberant medley is that rarest of things: music
criticism that actually makes you sit up and listen."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A fun reference book
to dive into, get lost in--and use to add more songs and singers to
your collection. . . . When it comes to the Great American
Songbook, Will Friedwald is the keeper of the flame. He's written
some of the best books on popular song of the past quarter-century,
from his engaging Jazz Singing to . . . his Sinatra! The
Song is You [which] is one of the best studies of a singer's
craft ever written. With A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz
and Pop Singers, Friedwald gave himself a daunting task: put
together essays on every singer he can who made a career singing
those great songs. 'Every' is a lot, but Friedwald doesn't miss too
many, from the early 20th century to the cabaret singers of the
post-swing revival. The essays--more than 200 in all, including
pieces on multiple artists--are part biography, part career
overview, focusing on the singers' highs and lows while tossing in
bits of fun trivia."
--Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "I think Will
Friedwald's Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop
Singers will be of real interest to anyone who cares about the
music."
--Hugh Hefner, editor-in-chief of Playboy "If there were
such a volume as the Great American Songbook, this book should be
right next to it on your shelf. It is truly the definitive work on
those who sing and swing those songs."
--Alan Bergman, Grammy and Academy Award-winning songwriter "Will
Friedwald has created an instant classic reference tome with his
Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, the
wealth of information and the breadth of knowledge being quite
staggering. It is written without academic posturing but with wit
and warmth and accessibility, covering in fascinating detail the
careers of everyone from Jolson and Sinatra, of course, to Lee
Wiley, Noel Coward and Marlene Dietrich; from Armstrong to Doris
Day, and everyone in between. It will surely be considered an
essential text."
--Peter Bogdanovich "This extensive work is essential and
comprehensive. In opinionated, sometimes witty essays, Friedwald
sorts out the lives and careers of more than three hundred singers,
some of the greatest vocalists of the twentieth century including
such giants as Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and
Bessie Smith. There are also dozens of unexpected inclusions. For
example, Martha Raye merits almost seven pages and her entry helps
dusts off her historical reputation as not just a zany character
but rather an incredibly gifted and complex artist. . . . Friedwald
spent ten years researching this magisterial reference book and it
is certain to delight and inform anyone with a passion for the
iconic music of America."
--Larry Cox, Tucson Citizen Stardust Melodies
"The closest thing we have to a standard text on American pop from
the first half of the twentieth century . . . Friedwald is a deeply
attentive and emotionally attuned listener. His descriptions of
performances are so precise and detailed that Stardust
Melodies could serve as a primer for how to listen to prerock
music."
--The New York Times Book Review "Excellent . . . [With]
good humor and lively anecdotes, Friedwald brings an open mind to
the kaleidoscope of musical stylings that these songs have been
treated (or subjected) to."
--The Wall Street Journal "Friedwald's writing, both erudite
and funny, complements the standards he so clearly loves, like a
melody set to the perfect lyric."
--Entertainment Weekly, "A" "Informative and witty . . . So
full of good stuff that I kept being distracted and forgetting what
I was looking for."
--Chicago Tribune Sinatra! The Song Is You
"The most important book published about Frank Sinatra to
date."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Indispensable . . . A man with unexcelled knowledge of American
popular song, Friedwald looks intensively at [Sinatra's] career . .
. Sinatra! hits a welcome high note . . . Excellent."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Blithe, respectful, snappy, and smart, Friedwald catches the
creative fire of the singer . . . This is the best book ever
written about Sinatra's deepest secret: his craft."
--Time
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