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Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development

by Gunther Schuller

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Tracing the formative decades of American jazz

$22.93 USD
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Paperback New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

Tracing the formative decades of American jazz

Gunther Schuller maps jazz’s emergence as a distinct American musical language, from its turn-of-the-century beginnings through the major developments of the 1930s. The book centers on the recorded work of figures including Jelly Roll Morton, Bix Beiderbecke, Bessie Smith, and Louis Armstrong, then expands to the orchestras and arrangers shaping the era, notably Fletcher Henderson, Bennie Moten, and Duke Ellington. Musical analyses sit alongside a wider view of the twentieth-century musical cultures surrounding these artists, making the volume both a historical account and a focused study of how early jazz developed in performance and arrangement.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Students seeking an introduction to early jazz history and musical development
  • Musicians interested in analyses of foundational jazz recordings and arrangements
  • Jazz listeners wanting historical context for major soloists and early big bands

Themes

Early jazz historyJazz recording analysisImprovisation and soloistsBig bands and arrangingAmerican musical culture

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Book overview

Early Jazz is one of the seminal books on American jazz, ranging from the beginnings of jazz as a distinct musical style at the turn of the century to its first great flowering in the 1930s. Schuller explores the music of the great jazz soloists of the twenties--Jelly Roll Morton, Bix Beiderbecke, Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and others--and the big bands and arrangers--Fletcher Henderson, Bennie Moten, and especially Duke Ellington--placing their music in the context of the other musical cultures of the twentieth century and offering analyses of many great jazz recordings.
Early Jazz provides a musical tour of the early American jazz world. A classic study, it is both a splendid introduction for students and an insightful guide for scholars, musicians, and jazz aficionados.
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