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Do you like jazz music? What do you know about jazz? Let's embark on a journey to learn more so that we can better appreciate it. And it deserves appreciation. A vitally important art form born of the Black American experience, jazz has become a worldly art, influencing and inspiring creators across the globe (i.e. Cuban, Ethiopian, and Japanese jazz). Jazz is in the ether, in the subconscious of both pop and fine culture. Jazz requires freedom, and it begets collaboration. In addition to reading, please listen to jazz as well. Use your library card to access free online music resources Freegal & Alexander Street and listen to Jazz! Find something that moves you.
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Why Jazz by Kevin Whitehead
If you’re a jazz-curious person—you like the sound of it, you enjoy the vibe, but you want to be more knowledgeable—then this is the book for you. Whitehead provides an excellent introduction into critical concepts, major artists, and movements through his concise history of jazz. For a slim volume, this book packs in a ton of information without sacrificing clarity or flow. It also includes a glossary, discography, and suggestions for further reading. This makes jazz approachable for neophytes and serves as a handy reference for any music buff. A great foundation for jazz appreciation.
Future Jazz by Howard Mandel
Mandel writes with earnest passion in this gorgeously eloquent and unsparing analysis. Jazz has a rich history and should be celebrated, but it is not static. Jazz cannot be hemmed in by images, myths, definitions, and dimensions of the past. He pushes us beyond the (relatively) classic Swing and Bebop eras, into the experimental “New Jazz” of the 1960s and 1970s and introduces us to a new crop of jazz artists in the 1990s and beyond. We delve into “avant garde” and “acid jazz", and explore trends and developments in the genre. Mandel implores us to see jazz as a musical form and phenomenon that is ever evolving, ever moving forward. This is a future-first look at Jazz and dives deeper than Why Jazz.
DC Jazz, edited by Maurice Jackson and Blair A. Ruble
This fantastic volume is a series of “verbal portraits,” interviews and essays providing multiple perspectives and insights into various aspects of the jazz scene in Washington, DC. From stories about important figures like Duke Ellington, to the Jazz Ambassadors program, to the development of the DC Jazz Festival, this book has many facets. This will make you feel nostalgic and grateful that we have such a rich history, but also perhaps despondent that we no longer have many of the historic clubs, venues, and radio programs centered around jazz in DC. But that is great motivation to appreciate and preserve what we still have. It is not all loss and regret- we still have incredible resources—jazz archives, music collections, concerts, and performing arts schools that will maintain the legacy of DC Jazz. A must-read for fans of music and/or local history.
Jazz Poems, edited by Kevin Young
This compact collection is a great way to get into the mood, get into the vibe, get into the headspace necessary to think and feel about Jazz. Appreciation for poetry and appreciation for Jazz go hand-in-hand: both are evocative, imaginative, sensitive, and experimental artforms. Beauty is in the eye—and ear—of the beholder. If you dig poetry, chances are you dig Jazz too. Written by different poets and inspired by different artists and eras of jazz, these poems explore and reflect the genre. And some poems are actually song lyrics. A lovely collection that will make you feel jazz, not just hear it.
Jazz, by Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is a master of her craft, that’s a fact. And this book won the Nobel Prize. Although it is not about musicians, nor does it take place primarily in a jazz club, this book faithfully represents Jazz. Jazz beyond the music. Jazz as context, as culture, as milieu, manner, and mentality. Morrison’s dedicated approach to her work and candid voice make this an irresistible read. Jazz the book is similar to Jazz the music in that they are both vulnerable, poetic, display immense talent and creativity, and they both possess a flow and sincerity that captivate the audience. This is an example of how genius begets genius.
About the Author
Christine is a Library Associate at DC Public Library. A lifelong bibliophile and avid believer in the value of public service, she loves working at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. She has somewhat eclectic reading taste, but she is always down for a good biography or historical fiction.