Jazz Critic and Writer Gary Giddins

Fresh Air

Published May 27, 2003 at 12:00 AM EDT

We celebrate the centennial of Bing Crosby's birth with jazz critic and writer Gary Giddins. His biography of Bing Crosby is called Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams -- The Early Years, 1903-1940. In this first volume of the biography, Giddins chronicles the rise of Crosby's career. Giddins may be best known as a jazz columnist for The Village Voice. He won the 1998 National Book Critics Circle Award for his book Visions of Jazz. He was one of the experts featured in Ken Burns' Jazz series on PBS. This interview first aired on January 24, 2001.

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