Giddins, one of the most knowledgable and gifted writers on jazz, has collected essays which appeared in various periodicals, most between 1980 and 1984. In surveying the present state of jazz, Giddins says, “Although most of the pieces address the idea of an eclectic neoclassicism in jazz, several of them are only tangentially concerned with ‘80s jazz, or with jazz itself.” Some of the topics covered in the more than 50 pieces include artists from Joe Turner to Andrew Cyrille, clarinetists and trombonists, review of a collection of orchestral jazz, and a tribute to “Body and Soul.”

Gary Giddins has covered jazz for the Village Voice for over 25 years. He is the author of Riding on a Blue Note: Jazz and American Pop, Visions of Jazz: The First Century, Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker, Satchmo: The Genius of Louis Armstrong, and Faces in the Crowd: Players and Writers.