3 Songs: How the Genius of America Created Three Jazz Standards (and why my brain thinks they are related)...

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Randy Gibbons

3 Songs

How the Genius of America Created Three Jazz Standards (and why my brain thinks they are related)...

Randy Gibbons

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Paperback

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English

Randy Gibbons
22 August 2025

Music reviews & criticism; Jazz; Biography: arts & entertainment

Can three songs reveal the soul of jazz?

3 Songs: How the Genius of America Created Three Jazz Standards (and why my brain thinks they are related) is an inspired deep dive into the heart of American music.

This richly illustrated, thoroughly researched, and deeply personal work uncovers the improbable origins and lasting legacy of three iconic jazz standards: ""Star Dust,"" ""Lush Life,"" and ""Midnight Sun."" But it's more than music history, it's cultural archaeology.

Through the lives of the composers and lyricists, readers are transported into the sonic and social ferment of 20th-century America: from Tin Pan Alley to Harlem, from New Orleans to Hollywood, from the smoking cabarets of Chicago's Bronzeville to the nation's first studios for recording and broadcasting sound.

Along the way, themes of race, immigration, invention, and identity converge, much like the music itself.

Blending memoir, biography, and historical narrative, 3 Songs is a rare book: intellectually curious, emotionally resonant, and accessible to both jazz aficionados and newcomers. Whether you're a musician, a lover of the Great American Songbook, or just want to understand the art form America gave the world, this book will leave you enlightened, and moved.

A must-read for anyone who hears in blue.

By: Randy Gibbons
Imprint: Randy Gibbons
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 22mm
Weight: 576g
ISBN: 9798998576041
Pages: 432
Publication Date: 22 August 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Randy Gibbons is a lifelong music lover and jazz enthusiast born in Chicago ""under the sign of Bebop, at the twilight of Swing, and the dawn of Rock and Roll."" Trained in classical languages and history, and a veteran of the early tech industry, he brings a scholar's curiosity and a fan's passion to the stories behind America's greatest songs. A devoted playlist maker and son of musical parents, Gibbons blends memoir, musical insight, and cultural history in 3 Songs, his lyrical tribute to the genius of American music.

Reviews for 3 Songs: How the Genius of America Created Three Jazz Standards (and why my brain thinks they are related)

""For a musician, 'Lush Life, ' 'Star Dust, ' and 'Midnight Sun' are three of the most challenging and rewarding songs in the repertoire... What ties the three together? The answer is, in essence, the author's deeply felt love letter to jazz."" -- Charles McPherson, composer and alto saxophonist, JazzTimes' 2020 Artist of the Year, recipient of the prestigious Don Redman Lifetime Achievement Award ""Anyone with any interest in 20th century popular music, jazz, entertainment, and America in general will find something to enjoy in 3 Songs."" -- Ricky Riccardi, Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum, two-time GRAMMY-winning author ""The flow of coincidences runs through these three stories like improvised jazz riffs... Gibbons treats the reader to a nuanced, rewarding voyage."" -- Robert W. Harwood, author of I Went Down to St. James Infirmary