Gary Giddins is an American jazz critic and author. He wrote for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' from 1973; his "Weather Bird" column ended in 2003. In 1986 Gary Giddins and

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

created the American Jazz Orchestra which presented concerts using a jazz repertory with musicians such as

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

. For five years, Giddins was the executive director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Selected works

Books

*''Riding on a Blue Note'' (1981) *''Rhythm-a-ning'' (1985) *''Celebrating Bird'' (1987) *''Satchmo'' (1988) *''Faces in the Crowd'' (1992) *''Visions of Jazz: The First Century'' (1998) *''Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams - The Early Years, 1903-1940'' (2001) *''Weather Bird'' (2004) *''Natural Selection'' (2006) *''Jazz'' (2009) *''Warning Shadows: Home Alone with Classic Cinema'' (2010) *''Bing Crosby: Swinging on a Star - The War Years, 1940-1946'' (2018)

Films

*1987 ''Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker'' *1990 ''Masters of American Music: Satchmo - Louis Armstrong aka Satchmo'' *2000 Contributor of interviews throughout the 10 part PBS series, ''

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

'' by Ken Burns. *2014 ''Bing Crosby Rediscovered'' – American Masters

References

External links

*
GaryGiddins.com
(official website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Giddins, Gary 1948 births Living people Grinnell College alumni American biographers American male biographers American columnists American film directors American music critics American music journalists Writers from New York (state) Writers from Brooklyn Jazz writers Grammy Award winners American Book Award winners