A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers
Will Friedwald
<p><b>The most extensive biographical and critical survey of jazz and popular singers ever written--an essential guide to the Great American Songbook and those who performed it. </b><br><br>These illuminating, opinionated essays--provocative, funny, and personal--on the lives and careers of more than three hundred singers anatomize the work of the greatest popular vocalists of the twentieth century, from giants like Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Judy Garland to lesser-known artists whose work still pleases and inspires. <br><br>Will Friedwald reconsiders their personal stories and professional successes and failures, their songs and performances, appraising both the singers and their music by balancing his opinions with the criticism of fellow musicians, listeners, and critics. This magisterial reference book--ten years in the making-- brings into focus the Great American Songbook and the men and women who have sung it: straightforward jazz and pop singers;...</p>