Jazz CulturesFrom its beginning, jazz has presented a contradictory social world: jazz musicians have worked diligently to erase old boundaries, but they have just as resolutely constructed new ones. David Ake's vibrant and original book considers the diverse musics and related identities that jazz communities have shaped over the course of the twentieth century, exploring the many ways in which jazz musicians and audiences experience and understand themselves, their music, their communities, and the world at large. Writing as a professional pianist and composer, the author looks at evolving meanings, values, and ideals--as well as the sounds--that musicians, audiences, and critics carry to and from the various activities they call jazz. Among the compelling topics he discusses is the "visuality" of music: the relationship between performance demeanor and musical meaning. Focusing on pianists Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, Ake investigates the ways in which musicians' postures and attitudes influence perceptions of them as profound and serious artists. In another essay, Ake examines the musical values and ideals promulgated by college jazz education programs through a consideration of saxophonist John Coltrane. He also discusses the concept of the jazz "standard" in the 1990s and the differing sense of tradition implied in recent recordings by Wynton Marsalis and Bill Frisell. Jazz Cultures shows how jazz history has not consisted simply of a smoothly evolving series of musical styles, but rather an array of individuals and communities engaging with disparate--and oftentimes conflicting--actions, ideals, and attitudes. |
Contents
10 | |
JAZZ HISTORIOGRAPHY AND THE PROBLEM OF LOUIS JORDAN | 42 |
REGENDERING JAZZ Ornette Coleman and the New York Scene in the Late 1950s | 62 |
BODY AND SOUL Performing Deep Jazz | 83 |
JAZZ TRANING John Coltrane and the Conservatory | 112 |
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aesthetics African-American album American approach attitudes audiences band Bb Bb Bb Db bebop Bill Evans Bill Frisell blues century chapter Charlie Parker chord chord-scale Coltrane's communities composers compositions concert Count Basie Creole critics Db Eb discourse early jazz European Evans's exploration feel Frisell's Gabbard gender genre Giant Steps harmonic historians ideals improvisation instrument jazz education jazz history jazz identities jazz musicians jazz pedagogy Jazz Tradition Jelly Roll Morton John Coltrane Keith Jarrett Lewis Porter liner notes listeners Little Faith Louis Armstrong Louis Jordan Marsalis's melody Miles Davis musi narrative notation Orleans Ornette Coleman Oxford University Press pianists piano players playing quoted racial recordings remains rhythmic Robert Walser role saxophone saxophonist Scale scholars Scott DeVeaux sense Sidney Bechet social solo soloist song Sonny sound stance Standard stylistic suggest Swing teachers tion Tirro Treat It Gentle trumpet tune understandings Uptown Wynton Marsalis York
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Page 3 - Whatever the radical constructionists may say, it is lived as a coherent (if not always stable) experiential sense of self. Though it is often felt to be natural and spontaneous, it remains the outcome of practical activity: language, gesture, bodily significations, desires....