The phrase "history of music" might conjure images of deceased composers, well-dressed men with wigs and vests, and people dancing without touching. In the book Music: A Subversive History, Gioia challenges the misconceptions underlying this monotonous image. Gioia argues that traditional histories of music downplay elements considered controversial or irrational - the deep connections of music with sexuality, magic, ecstasy and altered states of consciousness, healing, social control, generational conflicts, political unrest, and even violence and murder.

The stories of the marginalized and rebels who created musical revolutions are suppressed, and instead, the mainstream adapters who borrowed innovations, diluted their influence, and hid their sources are celebrated. In this book, Gioia attempts to reclaim the history of music for the unwanted, the rebellious, and the provocative - the true drivers of change and innovation.

Gioia narrates the 4000-year history of music as a source of power, change, unrest, and magic. He shows how social outcasts have repeatedly revolutionized and become the great pioneers of musical expression: slaves and their descendants, for example, have reinvented music in America and elsewhere, from ragtime, blues, jazz, R&B, to bossa nova, soul, and hip hop.

A revolutionary and revisionist narrative, Music: A Subversive History is essential reading for anyone interested in the meaning of music.