Ted Gioia: Bio
TED GIOIA -- BIOGRAPHY
Ted Gioia is a musician and author, and has published five non-fiction
books. His work The History of Jazz was selected as one of the twenty
best books of the year by Jonathan Yardley in The Washington Post,
and was chosen as a notable book of the year in The New York Times.
Gioia’s next book, Delta Blues, will be published in 2008 by W.W. Norton,
and will be a major study of traditional blues music. Gioia’s writings have
appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Salon,
American Scholar, Hudson Review, the San Francisco Chronicle, and
The Weekly Standard, among other publications.
Gioia was raised in a Sicilian-Mexican household in Hawthorne,
California, a working class neighborhood in the South-Central area of
Los Angles. Gioia was valedictorian and a National Merit Scholar at
Hawthorne High School, and attended Stanford University. There he
received a degree in English (graduating with honors and distinction),
served as editor of Stanford’s literary magazine, Sequoia, and wrote
regularly for the Stanford Daily. He was a member of Stanford’s College
Bowl team, which was featured on television, and defeated Yale in the
national finals. Gioia also worked extensively as a jazz pianist during this
period, and designed and taught a class on jazz at Stanford while still an
undergraduate.
After graduation, Gioia received a degree in Philosophy, Politics and
Economics at Oxford University, where he graduated with first class
honors. He then received a MBA from Stanford University.
Gioia has enjoyed successes in the worlds of music, writing and
business. In the business world, Gioia has consulted to Fortune 500
companies while working for McKinsey and the Boston Consulting
Group. He helped Sola International complete an LBO and IPO on the
New York Stock Exchange in the 1990s. He has undertaken business
projects in 25 countries on five continents, and has managed large
businesses (up to $200 million in revenues).
But Gioia is best known for his activities in the jazz world. He worked with
Stanford's Department of Music in the 1980s to establish a formal jazz
studies program, and served on the faculty alongside artist-in-residence
Stan Getz, for several years. Around this time, Gioia's first book was
published by Oxford University Press, The Imperfect Art, which was
awarded the ASCAP-Deems Taylor award and was named a “Jazz Book
of the Century” by Jazz Educators Journal. Gioia released his first
recording as a jazz pianist a few months later -- The End of the Open
Road, a trio recording with Eddie Moore and Larry Grenadier – and
received airplay on more than 500 radio stations in the US. Gioia also
produced a series of recordings featuring other West Coast jazz
musicians. Gioia has since recorded two more CDs, Tango Cool and
The City is a Chinese Vase.
Gioia’s follow-up book for Oxford University Press, West Coast Jazz, is
frequently acknowledged as one of the classics of the jazz literature.
West Coast Jazz was re-issued in an expanded edition by University of
California Press in 1998 and remains the definitive work on the subject.
Around this same time, Gioia published The History of Jazz, which
continues to rank among the best selling jazz books on the market.
During the 1990s, Gioia focused increasingly on traditional music
practices, with a particular focus on how music enriches the day-to-day
lives of individuals and communities. A decade of research in these
areas resulted in the publication of two books, Work Songs and Healing
Songs, in 2006. His next book, Delta Blues, will be a major study of
traditional blues.
Gioia's current interests cover a wide range of areas. He is composing a
series of solo piano pieces that draw both from jazz and classical music
traditions. He has taken over the helm of www.jazz.com, a new web site
aimed at bringing this music to the attention of a wider audience. He
reviews fiction for Blogcritics.org, and his writing on books can also be
found at his web site www.greatbooksguide.com.
Ted Gioia is a musician and author, and has published five non-fiction
books. His work The History of Jazz was selected as one of the twenty
best books of the year by Jonathan Yardley in The Washington Post,
and was chosen as a notable book of the year in The New York Times.
Gioia’s next book, Delta Blues, will be published in 2008 by W.W. Norton,
and will be a major study of traditional blues music. Gioia’s writings have
appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Salon,
American Scholar, Hudson Review, the San Francisco Chronicle, and
The Weekly Standard, among other publications.
Gioia was raised in a Sicilian-Mexican household in Hawthorne,
California, a working class neighborhood in the South-Central area of
Los Angles. Gioia was valedictorian and a National Merit Scholar at
Hawthorne High School, and attended Stanford University. There he
received a degree in English (graduating with honors and distinction),
served as editor of Stanford’s literary magazine, Sequoia, and wrote
regularly for the Stanford Daily. He was a member of Stanford’s College
Bowl team, which was featured on television, and defeated Yale in the
national finals. Gioia also worked extensively as a jazz pianist during this
period, and designed and taught a class on jazz at Stanford while still an
undergraduate.
After graduation, Gioia received a degree in Philosophy, Politics and
Economics at Oxford University, where he graduated with first class
honors. He then received a MBA from Stanford University.
Gioia has enjoyed successes in the worlds of music, writing and
business. In the business world, Gioia has consulted to Fortune 500
companies while working for McKinsey and the Boston Consulting
Group. He helped Sola International complete an LBO and IPO on the
New York Stock Exchange in the 1990s. He has undertaken business
projects in 25 countries on five continents, and has managed large
businesses (up to $200 million in revenues).
But Gioia is best known for his activities in the jazz world. He worked with
Stanford's Department of Music in the 1980s to establish a formal jazz
studies program, and served on the faculty alongside artist-in-residence
Stan Getz, for several years. Around this time, Gioia's first book was
published by Oxford University Press, The Imperfect Art, which was
awarded the ASCAP-Deems Taylor award and was named a “Jazz Book
of the Century” by Jazz Educators Journal. Gioia released his first
recording as a jazz pianist a few months later -- The End of the Open
Road, a trio recording with Eddie Moore and Larry Grenadier – and
received airplay on more than 500 radio stations in the US. Gioia also
produced a series of recordings featuring other West Coast jazz
musicians. Gioia has since recorded two more CDs, Tango Cool and
The City is a Chinese Vase.
Gioia’s follow-up book for Oxford University Press, West Coast Jazz, is
frequently acknowledged as one of the classics of the jazz literature.
West Coast Jazz was re-issued in an expanded edition by University of
California Press in 1998 and remains the definitive work on the subject.
Around this same time, Gioia published The History of Jazz, which
continues to rank among the best selling jazz books on the market.
During the 1990s, Gioia focused increasingly on traditional music
practices, with a particular focus on how music enriches the day-to-day
lives of individuals and communities. A decade of research in these
areas resulted in the publication of two books, Work Songs and Healing
Songs, in 2006. His next book, Delta Blues, will be a major study of
traditional blues.
Gioia's current interests cover a wide range of areas. He is composing a
series of solo piano pieces that draw both from jazz and classical music
traditions. He has taken over the helm of www.jazz.com, a new web site
aimed at bringing this music to the attention of a wider audience. He
reviews fiction for Blogcritics.org, and his writing on books can also be
found at his web site www.greatbooksguide.com.
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Ted Gioia can be contacted at
tedgioia@hotmail.com
For promotional photos, click here
tedgioia@hotmail.com
For promotional photos, click here