Jazz Where It Came From Where It S At

Such Melodious Racket traces, for the first time, the Introduction, dissemination and early development of jazz in Canada. Beginning in 1914 with the first appearance in Canada of the New Orleans ensemble, the Creole Band, and concluding with Oscar Peterson's celebrated Carnegie Hall debut in 1949, this book is based on extensive archival research, as well as interviews with musicians now in seventies and eighties. A must for all jazzophiles.

Why Jazz Happened is the first comprehensive social history of jazz. It provides an intimate and compelling look at the many forces that shaped this most American of art forms and the many influences that gave rise to jazz's post-war styles. Rich with the voices of musicians, producers, promoters, and others on the scene during the decades following World War II, this book views jazz's evolution through the prism of technological advances, social transformations, changes in the law, economic trends, and much more. In an absorbing narrative enlivened by the commentary of key personalities, Marc Myers describes the myriad of events and trends that affected the music's evolution, among them, the American Federation of Musicians strike in the early 1940s, changes in radio and concert-promotion, the introduction of the long-playing record, the suburbanization of Los Angeles, the Civil Rights movement, the "British invasion" and the rise of electronic instruments. This groundbreaking book deepens our appreciation of this music by identifying many of the developments outside of jazz itself that contributed most to its texture, complexity, and growth.

Is Jazz Dead? examines the state of jazz in America at the turn of the twenty-first century. Musicians themselves are returning to New Orleans, Swing, and Bebop styles, while the work of the '60s avant-garde and even '70s and '80s jazz-rock is roundly ignored. Meanwhile, global jazz musicians are creating new and exciting music that is just starting to be heard in the United States, offering a viable alternative to the rampant conservatism here. Stuart Nicholson's thought-provoking book offers an analysis of the American scene, how it came to be so stagnant, and what it can do to create a new level of creativity. This book is bound to be controversial among jazz purists and musicians; it will undoubtedly generate discussion about how jazz should grow now that it has become a recognized part of American musical history. Is Jazz Dead? dares to ask the question on all jazz fan's minds: Can jazz survive as a living medium? And, if so, how?

Derived from years of teaching in the classroom and online, Dr. Lewis Rosengarten's Jazz in Short Measures offers a refreshingly succint yet thorough presenation of the struggles, styles and achievements in Jazz in a series of ten essential lectures. The history of Jazz is recovered from a variety of voices and perspectives providing an exceedingly well-informed overview that would serve as a perfect addition to any study or course. The author's ability to synthesize an enormous amount of material into an enjoyable coherent whole is uncanny.