Jazz: The American Theme Song

More than a chronological history of this unique American art form, Jazz: The American Theme Song is a fascinating examination of how this music influenced American society. Collier argues that jazz both reflects and celebrates a uniquely American world view.

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Praised by the Washington Post as a `tough, unblinkered critic,' James Lincoln Collier is probably the most controversial writer on jazz today. His acclaimed biographies of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Benny Goodman continue to spark debate in jazz circles, and his iconoclastic articles on jazz over the past 30 years have attracted even more attention.

Questioning everything we think we know about jazz - its origins, its innovative geniuses, the importance of improvisation and spontaneous inspiration in a performance- - and the jazz world, these ten provocative essays on the music and its place in American culture overturn tired assumptions and will alternately enrage, enlighten, and entertain.