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As Long as They Can Blow: Interracial Jazz and Other Jive Before 1935

Read "As Long as They Can Blow: Interracial Jazz and Other Jive Before 1935" reviewed by S.G Provizer


The following is an excerpt from Stephen Provizer's As Long As They Can Blow. Interracial Jazz Recording And Other Jive Before 1935 (Self Published, 2023).

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Kansas City Jazz: A Little Evil Will Do You Good

Read "Kansas City Jazz: A Little Evil Will Do You Good" reviewed by Con Chapman


The following is an excerpt from Chapter 2 “Stomp to Swing" and Chapter 3 “Bennie Moten and His Competitors" from Con Chapman's Kansas City Jazz: A Little Evil Will Do You Good (Equinox, 2023). Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once wrote that he couldn't define pornography, but he knew it when he saw it. In jazz, the same deference to the senses applies in the case of the word “stomp"; musicians and critics alike throw up their ...

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Jazz Lines: Free Verse In The Key Of Jazz

Read "Jazz Lines: Free Verse In The Key Of Jazz" reviewed by Gloria Krolak


Duke Ellington, composer, arranger, pianist and originator of big-band jazz, wrote “Sweet Jazz O'Mine" in 1930 when the genre was blooming. As a bandleader, Ellington was unsurpassed. He chose his musicians wisely and inspired some of their best work. “Sweet Jazz" is a lively foxtrot celebrating this unorthodox new style that had people dancing and feeling good. What became my poem is a collection of songs about the instruments that make up the whole, the drums, the trombone, the clarinet, ...

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The Rhythm of Unity: A Jazz Musician’s Lifelong Journey Beyond Black and White

Read "The Rhythm of Unity: A Jazz Musician’s Lifelong Journey Beyond Black and White" reviewed by AAJ Staff


The following is an excerpt from Chapter 15 “Angel Of Love," from Mike & Dorothy Longo's The Rhythm of Unity: A Jazz Musician's Lifelong Journey Beyond Black and White (Redwood Publishing, 2023). It was 1966. Word had gotten out, and it felt as though everyone was complimenting me about my gig at the Embers West. Other musicians started to consider me as “one of the cats," and I started working around town with people like Hank Jones, ...

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Saxophone Colossus: The Life And Music Of Sonny Rollins

Read "Saxophone Colossus: The Life And Music Of Sonny Rollins" reviewed by Aidan Levy


The following is an excerpt from Chapter 23 “The Bridge" from Aidan Levy's Saxophone Colossus: The Life And Music Of Sonny Rollins (Hachette Books, 2023). On September 7, 1960, Sonny turned thirty. The next day, he recorded his thoughts on the milestone in his journal. “Birthday now past but tendencies toward disruption still exist," he wrote. It seems he violated his strict diet and succumbed to the urge for a cigarette. “By the very documenting of these ...

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A Life In Music

Read "A Life In Music" reviewed by Wulf Muller


The following is an excerpt from the Chapter “1996," from Wulf Müllers illustrated chronicle A Life In Music (Amazon Direct Publishing, 2022) Dee Dee Bridgewater performed three sold out nights at the glamorous and legendary Paris venue L'Olympia, with new signing to Verve France, singer Jeffery Smith, opening for her. Dee Dee's show was spectacular and really established her as a star in France. She had young trumpet player Roy Hargrove and saxophonist David Sanchez as guests ...

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Ain’t But a Few of Us

Read "Ain’t But a Few of Us" reviewed by AAJ Staff


The following is an excerpt from the section “Magazine Freelancers" taken from Ain't But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story edited by Willard Jenkins (Duke University Press, 2022). Magazine Freelancers by John Murph John Murph has successfully channeled his voracious appetite for modern music into a keenly social outlook that takes into account more than just the music or musicians themselves. As an African American music writer who also happens to proudly self-identity as gay, ...

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Misty: The Music of Johnny Mathis

Read "Misty: The Music of Johnny Mathis" reviewed by Jakob Baekgaard


The following is an excerpt from the chapter “Songs for the Season: The Christmas Albums" from Jakob Baekgaard's Misty: The Music of Johnny Mathis (Sonicbond Publishing, 2022). Songs for the Season: The Christmas Albums Every music genre deserves to be treated with respect, but that isn't always the case. Christmas music seems to incarnate both the best and worst aspects of the music industry. At its worst, it's a tactless celebration of commercialism, and at its best, it has ...

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Ivor Cutler: A Life Outside The Sitting Room

Read "Ivor Cutler: A Life Outside The Sitting Room" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


The following is an excerpt from Chapter 6 (A Life of Whimsical Fantasies) and 9 (A Life on the Page), from Ivor Cutler: A Life Outside The Sitting Room (Equinox Publishing, 2022). Chapter 6: A Life of Whimsical Fantasies Ivor's love of jazz, formed during his teens and early-20s, remained strong and he visited jazz clubs around London. The Phoenix, a Cavendish Square pub with a Wednesday night jazz club, was one of his regular haunts and he ...

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Ugly Beauty: Jazz in The 21st Century

Read "Ugly Beauty: Jazz in The 21st Century" reviewed by Philip Freeman


The following is an excerpt from Chapter 1, “JD Allen: Just Keep Going" from Philip Freeman's Ugly Beauty: Jazz in The 21st Century (ZerO Books, 2022). Queens, New York seems purposely designed to confuse travelers. It's January 2, 2020, a brisk but sunny day, and I'm to meet saxophonist JD Allen at Samurai Hotel Recording Studio. To get there, I ride the N train from Manhattan, then walk up Broadway (a different Broadway) to 21st Street, where ...


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