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Fourteen interviews with distinguished jazz writers that explore the exciting challenges of writing about jazz.
Writing Jazz presents interviews with fourteen distinguished jazz scholars: Whitney Balliett, Bob Blumenthal, Stanley Crouch, Linda Dahl, Maxine Gordon, Farah Jasmine Griffin, John Edward Hasse, Willard Jenkins, Hettie Jones, Robin D. G. Kelley, Laurie Pepper, Tom Piazza, Ricky Riccardi, and A. B. Spellman. This literary jam session explores the many challenges and thrills of writing about jazz in various prose forms, including liner notes, memoirs, biographies, and critical guides. The distinguished writers interviewed in this collection obviously share a passion for jazz, and each has produced a hefty amount of literature that illuminates both the music and its practitioners. A well-known writer on jazz, Sascha Feinstein has explored the relationship of jazz and literature throughout his career, making Writing Jazz an essential contribution to the field of jazz-related literature.
"If I had to choose the one book that best captures what Whitney Balliett called 'the secret emotional center in jazz,' it would be Writing Jazz. Sascha Feinstein's conversations with a dazzling array of writers uncovers a lot about jazz's 'extraordinary little kingdoms and fiefdoms and neighborhoods,' as Tom Piazza describes jazz's intricate ecosystem. But the true magic of this book, the reason both seasoned jazz nerds and curious neophytes will love it, is this: through engrossing dialogue and storytelling, Writing Jazz illuminates more clearly than ever why and how jazz takes hold of its listeners and never lets them go." — John Gennari, author of Blowin' Hot and Cool: Jazz and Its Critics
"In Writing Jazz, Sascha Feinstein's probing helps us to know fourteen writers who are smart, thoughtful, and excellent company." — Gary Giddins, author of Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Whitney Balliett / Poetic Prose
2. Bob Blumenthal / Hitting Your Mark
3. Stanley Crouch / If You Can't Do Better, Might as Well Just Stay Away
4. Linda Dahl / Breaking Down the Gates
5. Maxine Gordon / Maxine Calling
6. Farah Jasmine Griffin / The Culture of Jazz
7. John Edward Hasse / Living Archives
8. Willard Jenkins / Taking It Back
9. Hettie Jones / But I Know What Time It Is Now
10. Robin D. G. Kelley / Evidence
11. Laurie Pepper / The Artist's Way
12 Tom Piazza / On the Record
13. Ricky Riccardi / The Archival Mind
14. A. B. Spellman / Don't Give It Up
Index