Jazz: An American Journey

Jazz: An American Journey by Harker, Brian. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780130982612.

Jazz in the Twentieth Century places jazz music within its rich historical and cultural context. The book explains how and why jazz evolved as it did, as it emphasizes chronology, historical cause and effect, and the interactions between music and American history and culture. Presented from the point of view of the original participants (musicians, critics and audiences), the book focuses on the music with thirty-five recorded examples that are accompanied by a listening chart, commentary and analysis all to provides a more vivid setting for jazz, that grounds it in the time, place and worldview of its creators. The author examines the development of jazz including its origins (ca. 1900-1914), early jazz (ca. 1914-1929), swing (ca. 1929-1945), bop (ca. 1945-1960), free jazz to fusion (ca. 1960-1975), and postmodern jazz (ca. 1975-2000). For those interested in a vivid introduction to Jazz.