Gioia offers a multidisciplinary inquiry into the secret origins of musicology. He shows how songs originally possessed transformative powers and changed lives—and can still do that today for those who know how to tap into music’s catalytic forces.

Here Gioia provides a radical reinterpretation of music history, showing how innovation in song has come from slaves and outsiders, bohemians, and rebels. This compelling work is more than a history book—it’s almost a manifesto.

This is the definitive guide to the jazz repertoire, covering more than 250 essential songs. This book is widely consulted both by fans and professional musicians—and has been endorsed by Dave Brubeck, Sonny Rollins and other major artists. The Jazz Standards is now available in an expanded second edition.

For the last 30 years, Gioia’s survey has been the bestselling jazz history book—and is now available in an expanded and fully updated third edition. This widely read and translated work is popular both among general readers and is a standard text in college courses.

This bestselling book serves as an ideal introduction to jazz for newcomers—sharing tips for deeper listening and enjoyment of the idiom. In just 200 pages, Gioia guides readers through the major jazz styles and leading innovators.

This book explores the history of coolness, tracing its rise and fall over the course of the 20th century. Gioia returns here to his role as cultural critic, exploring how aesthetic currents impact not just music, but everything from politics to lifestyles to product marketing. Gioia also presciently anticipated the future with his concept of ‘post-cool society’ which explains much of what’s happening in the current day.

Delta Blues, named a notable book of the year by the New York Times, celebrates the great pioneers of the genre—including Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Son House, and Charley Patton, among others.

Ted Gioia’s second book is still the definitive account of jazz on the West Coast. This work played a key role in the resurgence of interest in this music in the years following its publication. The book, now available in an expanded edition, covers major innovators, including Charlie Parker, Chet Baker, Art Pepper, Gerry Mulligan, and many others.

Ted Gioia’s first book The Imperfect Art boldly combines jazz history, aesthetic philosophy, and cultural criticism in a work that established the author as a major writer on the idiom. This work was honored with the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, and is now cited as the original inspiration for the influential philosophical movement known as imperfectionist aesthetics.

This book, winner of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, is the third and final volume in Ted Gioia’s song trilogy—a 25-year project to reveal the transformative impact of music in everyday life. Along with its predecessors, Work Songs and Healing Songs, it played a key role in redefining the scope of music history in the 21st century.

This book, honored with an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, is the first volume in Gioia’s song trilogy. It explores the rich history of how songs empower and dignify human labor. Separate chapters address hunters, herders, agriculturalists, soldiers, sailors, factory workers, and other professions in a kaleidoscopic account that encompasses thousands of years of history.

This book, honored with an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, is the second volume in Gioia’s song trilogy. Here Gioia provides a complete survey of music’s role in healing and wellness. He covers everything from shamans of ancient times to the music therapists of the current day. This book is widely acknowledged as the most expansive and definitive guide to healing music.