Articles by Emmett G. Price III

The Non-Classical Nature of America's Classical Music

by Emmett G. Price III
November 8, 2003

"Every civilization is known by its culture, and jazz is America's greatest contribution to the world--it is our “classical" music. Jazz is spontaneous, honest, and natural, and it is a celebration of life itself." --Tony Bennett (Hasse, 1999: Foreword) “The music, consequently, is being misrepresented, distorted, misconstrued, and capitalized upon by others than its authors." --Max Roach (Roach, 1962: 174) In 1987 the Honorable John Conyers, Jr. (14th congressional district of Michigan) introduced H.CON.RES.57 to the ...

An Indictment on the Jazz Establishment

by Emmett G. Price III
November 8, 2003

The recent dismissal of writer Stanley Crouch from Jazz Times because he has already made his “point many times about what jazz is and who can play it," has been the subject of numerous conversations for the past few months. The interestingly-timed and clearly unprofessional canning of Crouch brings into play a serious exposure of a reoccurring and often hidden plague within the world of jazz--the jazz Establishment. As always there are three sides to the story, the ...

A Talk with Dr. Larry Ross

by Emmett G. Price III
October 3, 2003

The history of jazz has been told, re-told, written, re-written, presented and re-presented ad nauseum. An often revisionist chronicle of jazz neglecting certain aspects and exaggerating others has overwhelmed the amassing literature. With African-American Jazz Musicians in the Diaspora, Dr. Larry Ross a trained anthropologist but more importantly a skilled, seasoned, award-winning musician aims to set the record straight. In this timely text, Dr. Ross examines “some of the cultural and microeconomic externalities that contributed to the migration trends of ...

DJ CAM: Soulshine

by Emmett G. Price III
March 1, 2003

Taking a slightly different turn than past releases, former Parisian graffiti artist and current DJ/ producer Cam presents Soulshine, a work of ambient energy, soulful seduction--and in the truest sense, a work of fusion.

As a tribute to numerous forms and styles of African American music, DJ Cam teases the line between the various forms and styles of this music, revealing that line to be extremely thin and gray. His exploration of these thin, gray boundaries is ...