## Metadata
- Author: [[Ted Gioia]]
- Full Title: Ted Gioia
- Category: #articles
- Summary: Ted Gioia's work explores how love songs in Western music have been influenced by African and Middle Eastern cultures, as well as European outcasts. His books, like "The Jazz Standards" and "Love Songs: The Hidden History," provide insightful and accessible histories of music. Critics praise Gioia for his engaging writing style and thorough research, making his work valuable for both music lovers and scholars.
- URL: https://www.tedgioia.com/
## Full Document
**About** ***Love Songs: The Hidden History***: This book represents the
first comprehensive survey of the music of romance, courtship and sexuality,
and encompasses the complete story of the love song from ancient
Mesopotamia to Miley Cyrus. Scrupulously researched over a period of two
decades, Gioia's work will challenge many of the prevalent views of Western
music history, and unravel the surprising (and previously hidden) story of how
the love songs of our time were shaped by influences from Africa and the
Middle East, as well as by the outcasts and bohemians of European society.
[Did the Love Song Originate in Africa & the Middle East?](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/08/was-the-love-song-invented-in-africa-and-the-middle-east.html)[The Rise of the Fragmented Novel](http://fractiousfiction.com/rise_of_the_fragmented_novel.html)[Why are Music Scholars Ignoring the Evidence for Musical Universals?](http://www.thesmartset.com/face-the-music/)[The Adventurer's Guide to Finnegans Wake](http://fractiousfiction.com/finnegans_wake.html)[Notes on Conceptual Fiction](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/notes_on_conceptual_fiction.html)[Has Music Criticism Turned Into Lifestyle Reporting](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/18/music-criticism-has-degenerated-into-lifestyle-reporting.html)[?](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/notes_on_conceptual_fiction.html)[Schopenhauer for Millennials](http://www.thesmartset.com/schopenhauer-for-millennials/)[Where Did Music Come From? 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Jazz](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/02/what-s-with-this-surge-in-jazz-bashing.html)[The Con Man Who Invented American Popular Music](http://read.maintainradiosilence.com/radiosilence#issue/6362/article/~lna)[The Bumbling Shostakovich](http://fractiousfiction.com/europe_central.html)[The Rise of Artisan Music](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/11/is-artisanal-music-the-next-new-thing.html)[The Year American Speech Became Art](http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/06/the-year-american-speech-became-art/485201/)[What We've Learned About the NSA](http://www.tedgioia.com/nsa_facts.html)[The 8 Memes of the Postmodern Mystery](http://www.postmodernmystery.com/eight_memes.html)[Ted Gioia Interviews Composer Terry Riley](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/20/terry-riley-s-maximal-minimalist-music.html)[Four Essays on Leo Tolstoy](http://fractiousfiction.com/four_essays_on_tolstoy.html)[Why the Fuss About Jonathan Franzen?](http://www.greatbooksguide.com/freedom.html)[Slaves for Love: How Bondage Shape](http://www.wsj.com/articles/kinky-roots-of-silly-love-songs-1421444688)[d](http://www.wsj.com/articles/kinky-roots-of-silly-love-songs-1421444688) [the Love Song](http://www.wsj.com/articles/kinky-roots-of-silly-love-songs-1421444688)[A Conversation About Jazz with Ted Gioia](http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2011/09/conversation-about-jazz-with-ted-gioia.html)[The 100 Best Recordings of 2020](http://www.tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2020.html)[The 100 Best Recordings of 2019](http://www.tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2019.html)[The 100 Best Recordings of 2018](http://www.tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2018.html)[The 100 Best Recordings of 2017](http://www.tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2017.html)[The 100 Best Recordings of 2016](http://www.tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2016.html)[The 100 Best Recordings of 2015](http://www.tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2015.html)[The 100 Best Recordings of 2014](http://www.tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2014.html)[The 100 Best Recordings of 2013](http://www.tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2013.html)[The 100 Best Recordings of 2012](http://www.tedgioia.com/bestalbumsof2012.html)[The 100 Best Recordings of 2011](http://www.tedgioia.com/100best2011.html)[Franco: The James Brown of Africa](http://web.archive.org/web/20160304201028/www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2009/1/11/franco-tpok-one)[How Alice Got to Wonderland](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/alice_in_wonderland.html)[Does the Music Industry Need Musicianship?](http://www.thesmartset.com/does-the-music-business-need-musicianship/)[The King of Western Swing](http://web.archive.org/web/20160419034451/http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2009/2/11/bob-wills-tiffany-one)[The Weirdest 1960s Novel of Them All](http://fractiousfiction.com/giles_goat_boy.html)[Post Cool](http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/99/post-cool.html)[The New Revolt of the Masses](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/05/the-smartest-book-about-our-digital-age-was-published-in-1929.html)[How to Fix Online Music](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/30/25-things-i-want-from-an-online-music-service-and-almost-never-get.html)[The Year of Magical Reading](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/yearofmagicalreading.html)[Why Music Ow](http://www.thesmartset.com/why-music-ownership-matters/)[ne](http://www.thesmartset.com/why-music-ownership-matters/)[rship Matters](http://www.thesmartset.com/why-music-ownership-matters/)[The Tragic Story of America's First Black Music Star](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/tragic-story-americas-first-black-music-star-180973375/)[Frank Sinatra at 100](http://bookforum.com/inprint/022_04/15247)[Ella Fitzgerald at 100](http://www.weeklystandard.com/ella-by-starlight/article/2007350)[Is There a Biological Link Between Music and Violence (video talk)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMNwhC1fj78)[What is the Clumsiest Classic Novel?](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/the_castle_of_otranto.html)[The Crisis in Music (podcast)](http://kutpodcasts.org/views-and-brews/vb-extra-crisis-in-music-part-one)[The Best Online Essays of 2015](http://www.tedgioia.com/best_online_essays_of_2015.html)[The Best Online Essays of 2016](http://www.tedgioia.com/best_online_essays_of_2016.html)[The Best Online Essays of 2017](http://www.tedgioia.com/best_online_essays_of_2017.html)[The Best Online Essays of 2018](http://www.tedgioia.com/best_online_essays_of_2018.html)[The Best Online Essays of 2019](http://www.tedgioia.com/best_online_essays_of_2019.html)[The Best Online Essays of 2020](http://www.tedgioia.com/best_online_essays_of_2020.html)[The Weird Tales of H.P. 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SF of A.E. van Vogt](http://lareviewofbooks.org/article.php?type=&id=601&fulltext=1&media=)[Jazz Vocals in the New Millennium](http://www.tedgioia.com/state_of_jazz_vocals_today.html)[A History of New Orleans Music in 100 Tracks](http://web.archive.org/web/20160502000752/http://www.jazz.com/features-and-interviews/2009/8/26/new-orleans-100-tracks-part-one)[The Making of Ulysses](http://fractiousfiction.com/ulysses.html)[The Great American Novel That Wasn't](http://lareviewofbooks.org/review/the-great-american-novel-that-wasnt)[In Search of Dupree Bolton](http://web.archive.org/web/20160322044835/http://www.jazz.com/features-and-interviews/2009/4/14/in-search-of-dupree-bolton-part-1)[Gulliver's Travels and the Birth of Genre Fiction](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/gullivers_travels.html)[Five Essays on Novelist John Fowles](http://fractiousfiction.com/John_Fowles.html)[Where Did Our Revolution Go?](http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2008/2/25/where-did-our-revolution-go-free-jazz-turns-fifty-years-old)[How Lester Young Changed the English Language](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/12/how-lester-young-invented-cool.html)[The Reinvention of the Cowboy Novel](http://thesmartset.com/article/article04091501.aspx)[The Many Lives of James Joyce](http://fractiousfiction.com/many_lives_of_james_joyce.html)[The Complex Gender History of the Love Song](http://blog.oup.com/2015/02/love-song-complex-gender-history/)[William Gaddis's The Recognitions](http://fractiousfiction.com/the_recognitions.html)[5 Lessons the Music Biz Should Learn from TV](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/03/five-lessons-the-faltering-music-industry-could-learn-from-tv.html)[Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch](http://www.greatbooksguide.com/the_goldfinch.html)[When Science Fiction Grew Up](http://conceptualfiction.com/whenscifigrewup.html)[The Most Influential Film of the 20th Century Lasts Just 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Dick's VALIS](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/valis.html)[Why Lester Young Matters](http://web.archive.org/web/20160418124827/http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2009/8/22/why-lester-young-matters)[Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire](http://www.postmodernmystery.com/pale_fire.html)[Making a Case for Clark Ashton Smith](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/the_dark_eidolon.html)[Italo Calvino's Winter's NIght](http://fractiousfiction.com/if_on_a_winters_night.html)[Hipsters: The New Scapegoats](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/13/why-do-we-hate-hipsters-so-f-ing-much.html)[B.B. King's Best Performances](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/15/b-b-king-s-best-songs-a-playlist.html)[The Most Mysterious Woman in Science Fiction](http://conceptualfiction.com/james_tiptree.html)[Jonathan Lethem's](http://www.thenewcanon.com/fortress_of_solitude.html) [The Fortress of Solitude](http://www.thenewcanon.com/fortress_of_solitude.html)[Could Chet Baker Play Jazz?](http://web.archive.org/web/20160408040539/http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2008/5/12/could-chet-baker-play-jazz)[Thomas Pynchon's](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/gravitys_rainbow.html) [Gravity's Rainbow](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/gravitys_rainbow.html)[The Jazzy Side of Frank Zappa](http://web.archive.org/web/20160322034026/http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-the-jazzy-side-of-frank-zappa)[Fritz Leiber at 100](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/fritz_leiber.html)[Günter Grass's The Tin Drum](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/the_tin_drum.html)[John Coltrane: Prophet and Seer (video)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrdUjMns5pA)[David Mitchell's](http://www.thenewcanon.com/cloudatlas.html) [Cloud Atlas](http://www.thenewcanon.com/cloudatlas.html)[Harlem Jazz: 12 Essential Tracks](http://web.archive.org/web/20160322032726/http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-harlem)[Mark Z. Danielweski's](http://www.thenewcanon.com/house_of_leaves.html) [House of Leaves](http://www.thenewcanon.com/house_of_leaves.html)[The Postmodern Mystery: 50 Essential Works](http://www.postmodernmystery.com/reading_list.html)[Art Tatum at 100: 12 Essential Tracks](http://web.archive.org/web/20160329203109/http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-art-tatum-at-100)[Fringe Guitar](http://web.archive.org/web/20160419034409/http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-fringe-guitar)[J.G. Ballard's](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/crash.html) [Crash](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/crash.html)[Interview with Dana and Ted Gioia](http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/2643/The_ArtsAgents_of_Change_and_Source_of_Enchantment.aspx)[Robert Johnson and the Devil](http://ht.ly/NuSLf)[Herbie Hancock: 12 Essential Tracks](http://web.archive.org/web/20160116055140/http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-twelve-essential-herbie-hancock-performances)[Remembering Drums of Passion](http://web.archive.org/web/20160419033611/http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2009/9/27/the-forgotten-masterpiece-from-1959)[Three Existential Horror Novels](http://fractiousfiction.com/three_existential_horror_novels.html)[Keith Jarrett: 12 Essential Tracks](http://web.archive.org/web/20160425224944/http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-essential-keith-jarrett)[In Defense of The Hobbit](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/the_hobbit.html)[Brad Mehldau: 12 Essential Tracks](http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-twelve-essential-brad-mehldau-performances)[David Foster Wallace's The Pale King](http://www.thenewcanon.com/the_pale_king.html)[The South Asian Tinge in Jazz](http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2008/11/20/the-south-asian-tinge-in-jazz)[The Puzzling Case of Robert Sheckley](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/robert_sheckley.html)[Assessing Brad Mehldau at Mid-Career](http://www.jazz.com/features-and-interviews/2007/12/31/assessing-brad-mehldau-at-mid-career)[Cormac McCarthy's](http://www.thenewcanon.com/Blood_Meridian.html) [Blood Meridian](http://www.thenewcanon.com/Blood_Meridian.html)[Can Clubs Legally Ask Musicians to Play for Free?](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/26/can-club-owners-make-musicians-play-for-free.html)[Jonathan Littell's](http://www.greatbooksguide.com/kindly_ones.html) [The Kindly Ones](http://www.greatbooksguide.com/kindly_ones.html)[Lennie Tristano: 12 Essential Tracks](http://web.archive.org/web/20160329151533/http://www.jazz.com/dozens/the-dozens-lennie-tristano)[Virginia Woolf's Orlando](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/orlando.html)[Why Cool is Dead](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OfwYms9yQg)[A Tribute to Richard Matheson](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/richard_matheson.html)[T](http://www.tedgioia.com/denny_zeitlin.html)[he Pianism of Denny Zeitlin](http://www.tedgioia.com/denny_zeitlin.html)[The Chronicles of Narnia](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/chronicles_of_narnia.html)[David Bowie's Jazz-Oriented Valedictory](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/06/david-bowie-does-jazz-his-way.html)[Tito Puente: The Complete 78s (1949-1955)](http://web.archive.org/web/20160322053347/http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2008/9/16/tito-puente-78s)[Toni Morrison's Beloved](http://www.thenewcanon.com/beloved.html)[The Tragedy of Richard Twardzik](http://web.archive.org/web/20160419034515/http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2009/1/20/twardzik-chambers-one)[Michael Chabon's Telegraph Avenue](http://greatbooksguide.com/telegraph_avenue.html)[The Science Fiction of Samuel Delany](http://www.conceptualfiction.com/samueldelany.html)[Can Tarzan Survive in a Post-Colonial World?](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/23/can-tarzan-of-the-apes-survive-in-a-post-colonial-world.html)[Duke Ellington's Sacred Music](http://www.firstthings.com/article/2017/04/duke-ellingtons-faith)[Ian McEwan's Atonement](http://www.thenewcanon.com/atonement.html)[Can a Dictionary be a Novel?](http://fractiousfiction.com/dictionary_of_the_khazars.html)[New Details About the Young William Gaddis](http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/the-young-william-gaddis)[Interview with Ted Gioia (on Delta Blues)](http://www.jazzwax.com/2008/10/interview-ted-g.html)[William Gaddis's JR](http://fractiousfiction.com/jr.html)[Roberto Bolaño's 2666](http://www.thenewcanon.com/2666.html)[Talking to Myself About the State of Jazz](http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2009/5/19/talking-to-myself-about-the-health-of-jazz-music)[Harper Lee and Her Great Southern Novel](http://www.fractiousfiction.com/to_kill_a_mockingbird)[Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain](http://www.greatbooksguide.com/the_magic_mountain)[Philip Roth's American Pastoral](http://www.thenewcanon.com/american_pastoral.html)[Italo Calvino's Neglected Sci-Fi Masterpiece](http://www.themillions.com/2014/07/italo-calvinos-science-fiction-masterpiece.html)[Ken Kesey's Novel-in-a-Box](http://fractiousfiction.com/demon_box.html)[How I Learned I Was a Jazz Fan](http://web.archive.org/web/20160419034506/http://www.jazz.com/jazz-blog/2009/6/5/how-i-learned-i-was-a-jazz-fan)
"If you look up just one title in *The Jazz Standards*, before you
realize it you will have spent an intriguing hour or two learning
fascinating and new things about old songs that you have
known most of your life."
**Dave Brubeck**"Which is best: interpretation or song? In any case, jazz
and standards are forever locked in loving embrace. A
finely researched work." **Sonny Rollins**"Mr. Gioia's is the first general-interest, wide-ranging and
authoritative guide to the basic contemporary jazz canon."
**Wall Street Journal**"What makes *The Jazz Standards* so engaging is just this sort
of anecdotal texture, Gioia's ability to write as an inhabitant of
both the tradition and the songs…To read *The Jazz Standards*,
then, is not unlike listening to Gioia play his way through this
music, sharing not just what he likes (and dislikes) but also
what he knows."
**Los Angeles Times**“Richly informative…Gioia delivers this kind of in-depth notation
(and correction of the record) again and again. Calling them
'the soundtrack of my own life,' he takes the reader through
hundreds of songs….*The Jazz Standards* itself is awfully nice
to dip into.”
**Washington Post**"In virtually every instance, Gioia delivers."
**The Atlantic Monthly**"One man’s repertoire may be another man’s B-list, but when
the man is Ted Gioia, one tends to listen – in both senses.
Gioia, among the most lauded of jazz writers, has chosen more
than 250 songs. He tells the story behind each….Compulsively
readable, and belongs on the shelves of every jazz lover, or jazz-
lover wannabe."
**Toronto Globe and Mail**"What a useful and informative book *The Jazz Standards* is!
Explaining the jazz repertory in a way that is accessible for
the jazz beginner yet stimulating for the aficionado, Ted
Gioia shows once again why he is one the best jazz
writers around today."
**Gerald Early**"Warning: This book is addictive."
**Dallas Morning News**"Gioia is arguably the must lucid writer-historian on jazz...For
browsing, or for remarkably intimate histories of songs and
tunes many know by heart, *The Jazz Standards* can’t be beat."
**Montreal Gazette**“Gioia writes with an endearing blend of erudition and
opinionating…that makes the book both a delightful browse
and a handy reference and roadmap for jazzophiles.” "This book should be in the library of every gigging jazz
musician and every serious jazz fan."
**Library Journal**
[](http://www.amazon.com/dp/0199937397/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=greatbooksg08-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0199937397&adid=13D2HY81TSHTA3KWDVNK)
comprehensive guide to the
jazz repertoire, and the latest work
from critic and scholar Ted Gioia.
*The Jazz Standards* is a unique
resource, a browser's companion,
and an invaluable introduction
to the art form. This essential book
for music lovers tells the story of
more than 250 key jazz songs,
and includes a listening guide to
more than 2,000 recordings.
Ted Gioia can be contacted at
[email protected]
For promotional photos, click [here](http://www.tedgioia.com/PromoPhotos.html)Also visit
[Great Books Guide](http://www.greatbooksguide.com)[The New Canon](http://www.thenewcanon.com)[Conceptual Fiction](http://www.conceptualfiction.com)[P](http://www.postmodernmystery.com)[ostmodern Mystery](http://www.postmodernmystery.com)[Fractious Fiction](http://www.fractiousfiction.com)[Ted's Twitter Feed](http://www.twitter.com/tedgioia)
**Ted Gioia summarizes some of the exciting findings from
his love songs research in these articles:**[**Did the Love Song Originate in Africa &**](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/08/was-the-love-song-invented-in-africa-and-the-middle-east.html) [**t**](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/08/was-the-love-song-invented-in-africa-and-the-middle-east.html)[**he Middle East?**](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/08/was-the-love-song-invented-in-africa-and-the-middle-east.html) **(The Daily Beast)**[**The Roots of the Bondage Theme in Love Songs**](http://www.wsj.com/articles/kinky-roots-of-silly-love-songs-1421444688) **(Wall Street Journal)**[**A Conversation with Ted G**](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/from-troubadours-to-twerking-ted-gioia-on-the-history-of-love-songs)[**i**](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/from-troubadours-to-twerking-ted-gioia-on-the-history-of-love-songs)[**oia about Love Songs**](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/from-troubadours-to-twerking-ted-gioia-on-the-history-of-love-songs) **(Barnes & Noble)**[**The Complex Gender History of the Love Song**](http://blog.oup.com/2015/02/love-song-complex-gender-history/) **(Oxford University Press blog)**[**Love Songs and the Case for Musical Universals**](http://thesmartset.com/face-the-music/) **(The Smart Set)**[**How MTV and YouTube Changed the Music of Romance**](http://www.salon.com/2015/02/14/aural_erotic_outrageous_from_madonna_to_miley_how_video_changed_the_love_song/) **(Salon)**[**T**](http://vimeo.com/152757934)[**ed Gioia's Lecture on the History of Love Songs**](http://vimeo.com/152757934) **(Vimeo)**[**Love Songs Talk at the Library of Congress**](http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=7427) **(Library of Congress)**
**What critics are saying about*****Love Songs: The Hidden History*****WINNER OF THE ASCAP DEEMS TAYLOR AWARD**"Gioia’s book covers a tremendous amount of ground
and gives you something to remember on almost every
page. ....He invites the critic’s cliché 'wonderfully erudite',
and earns it, not to mention the even cheaper critical
term 'provocative', though he earns that, too."
**The New Yorker**"Gioia has constructed a mind-expanding, deep-focus
piece of scholarship here, certainly the first book to
relate, longitudinally as it were...Gioia’s book achieves
intellectual liftoff, high learning combining with high
imagination."
**The Atlantic Monthly**“[A] richly researched and heartfelt song book of the
ages… Gioia boldly and brilliantly enters the space
between the noises of ancient fertility rites and the
sexualised music videos of YouTube to discover how
melody and love songs, like hearts full of passion,
jealousy and hate, are never out of date.”
**The Times**
[**Music: A Subversive History**](http://www.tedgioia.com/music.html)by Ted Gioia
**WHAT THE CRITICS SAY ABOUT TED GIOIA**“In virtually every instance, Gioia delivers.”
**The Atlantic Monthly**"A radiantly accomplished writer."
**Wall Street Journal**“He invites the critic’s cliché 'wonderfully erudite', and earns it, not to mention the even
cheaper critical term 'provocative', though he earns that, too."
**The New Yorker**"[Gioia] is one of the outstanding music historians in America."
**Dallas Morning News**“Thoughtful and thought-provoking.”
**New York Times**"[Gioia's] prose moves with enough velocity and packs enough insight to keep even
jaded readers interested.”
**Billboard**“Gioia writes with the musical knowledge of a jazzman and the immediacy of a reporter,
in language that has a casual grace.”
**San Francisco Chronicle**
