Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction 1 "A Marvel of Paradox": Jazz and African American Modernity 2 "Dizzy Atmosphere": The Challenge of Bebop 3 "Passions of a Man": The Poetics and Politics of Charles Mingus 4 "Straight Ahead": Abbey Lincoln and the Challenge of Jazz Singing 5 Practicing "Creative Music": The Black Arts Imperative in the Jazz Community 6 Writing "Creative Music": Theorizing the Art and Politics of Improvisation 7 "The Majesty of the Blues": Wynton Marsalis's Jazz Canon Epilogue Notes Acknowledgments of Permissions Index

About the Author

Eric Porter is Assistant Professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Reviews

"Among the many books on the history of jazz, most document the interpretations of white critics....But now, Eric Porter's brilliant book seeks to trace the ways in which black jazz musicians have made verbal sense of their accomplishments, demonstrating the profound self-awareness of the artists themselves as they engaged in discourse about their enterprise." - Susan McClary, author of Conventional Wisdom: The Content of Musical Form