Stuart Nicholson (born 8 January 1948) is a British

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

historian,

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

, music critic, journalist, and academic. A recognized expert on the history of jazz, he has penned several books on jazz history and several biographies on jazz luminaries, including

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, i ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...

, and

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

. The author of numerous articles on jazz in newspapers, magazines and academic publications, he has taught as a visiting professor on the faculty of the

Leeds College of Music Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populatio ...

and as a guest lecturer at multiple institutions internationally.

Career

Born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, Stuart Nicholson earned degrees in music theory and clarinet performance from the Welsh College of Music and Drama where he studied from 1967-1971. He has written biographies on

, and

, and has published articles on jazz related topics in multiple journals and newspapers; including ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'', '' The Western Mail'', '' Gramophone'', '' Jazzwise'', '' Jazz Times'', and ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2, ...

'' among others. He has also written broad survey books on

and

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and keyb ...

, is a contributing author to '' The Cambridge Companion to Jazz'' (2003,

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambr ...

), and has chronicled the development of jazz fusion in Europe in the 21st century. Nicholson is a former faculty member of the

where he worked as a visiting professor. In 2009 he was the keynote speaker of the Jazz Platform at the conference of the

European Association of Conservatoires The European Association of Conservatoires (AEC) is the main association of colleges and university schools of music in Europe and represents the interests of institutions that are concerned with training for the music profession. It is abbreviate ...

held at the

Conservatorium van Amsterdam The Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA) is a Dutch conservatoire of music located in Amsterdam. This school is the music division of the Amsterdam University of the Arts, the city's vocational university of arts. The Conservatorium van Amsterdam ...

. He has also appeared as a guest lecturer or as a keynote speaker at music conferences at a variety of institutions, including the Leeds Conservatoire,

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

, the

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

, the Welsh College of Music and Drama, the MaiJazz Festival in Norway, and the

National Jazz Archive The National Jazz Archive is a collection of materials pertaining to jazz and blues that is kept at the Loughton Library in Essex, England. The archive was founded by British trumpeter Digby Fairweather in 1998 and contains visual and print mate ...

in Essex, England among others.

Partial list of work

*''Ella Fitzgerald: a Biography of the First Lady of Jazz'' (first edition published in 1993, London; second edition published February 2004, London) *''Billie Holiday'' (1995, London) *''Jazz: the Modern Resurgence'' (1990, London); republished as ''Jazz: the 1980s Resurgence'' (1995, New York City) *''Jazz Rock: a History'' (1998, London) *''Reminiscing in Tempo: a Portrait of Duke Ellington'' (1999, London) *''Is Jazz Dead?'' (Or has it Moved to a New Address) (2005, London)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Stuart 1948 births Living people Academics of Leeds College of Music Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama British music historians British music journalists The Wire (magazine) writers