Jazz in Search of Itself
Larry Kart
Abstract
This anthology of jazz criticism casts a wide net. Discussing nearly seventy major jazz figures and many of the genre's key stylistic developments, the book sees jazz as a unique perpetual narrative—one in which musicians, their audiences, and the evolving music itself are intimately intertwined. Because jazz arose from the collision of specific peoples under particular conditions, it says, its development has been unusually immediate, visible, and intense. The book reacts to and judges the music in a similarly active, attentive, and personal manner. The book contains chapters that analyze the ... More
This anthology of jazz criticism casts a wide net. Discussing nearly seventy major jazz figures and many of the genre's key stylistic developments, the book sees jazz as a unique perpetual narrative—one in which musicians, their audiences, and the evolving music itself are intimately intertwined. Because jazz arose from the collision of specific peoples under particular conditions, it says, its development has been unusually immediate, visible, and intense. The book reacts to and judges the music in a similarly active, attentive, and personal manner. The book contains chapters that analyze the supposed return to tradition that the music of Wynton Marsalis has come to exemplify; provide accounts of the careers of Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Bill Evans, and Lennie Tristano; and explore jazz's relationship to American popular song and examine the jazz musician's role as actual and would-be social rebel.
Keywords:
jazz criticism,
major jazz figures,
stylistic developments,
jazz,
musicians,
audiences,
return to tradition,
Wynton Marsalis,
Miles Davis,
Thelonius Monk
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2004 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780300104202 |
Published to Yale Scholarship Online: October 2013 |
DOI:10.12987/yale/9780300104202.001.0001 |