Rhythm Changes: Jazz, Culture, Discourse explores the history and development of jazz, addressing the music, its makers, and its social and cultural contexts, as well as the various discourses – especially those of academic analysis and journalistic criticism – that have influenced its creation, interpretation, and reception. Tackling diverse issues, such as race, class, nationalism, authenticity, irony, parody, gender, art, commercialism, technology, and sound recording, the book’s perspective on artistic and cultural practices suggests new ways of thinking about jazz history. It challenges many established scholarly approaches in jazz research, providing a much-needed intervention in the current academic orthodoxies of Jazz Studies.
Perhaps the most striking and distinctive aspect of the book is the extraordinary eclecticism of the wide-ranging but carefully chosen case studies and examples referenced throughout the text, from nineteenth century literature, through 1930s Broadway and film, to twentieth and twenty-first century jazz and popular music.
"Introduction: The Persistence of Authenticity 1. The Challenge of the Past: Jazz, Parody, and Jazz Discourse They Brainwash and Teach You Hate: From Parody to Protest It Ain’t Necessarily So: From Caricature to Celebration In a Sentimental Mood: From Ridicule to Romanticism Notes 2. A Few of My Favorite Things: Analyzing Jazz, Interpreting Irony, Assessing Value ""Saying Something"": Coltrane, Irony, and ‘My Favorite Things’ ""White Things,"" Black Things, and a Few Other Things ""Undeniable Qualities"": Homage, Value-For, and Ideological Hegemony ""Myriad Subtleties,"" Bebop Parody, and the Question of Context ""We’re in the Money"": Irony, Complexity, and Social Normativity Notes 3. My Only Sunshine: Jazz, Country Music, George Russell, and Musical Meaning Way Out West: From Cowhand Sonny to Dangerous Davey Cowboy Favorites: Jazz Meets Country Music You Are My Sunshine: From Singing Cowboys to Gassed Soulsters Happy Endings: George Russell Meets ‘You Are My Sunshine’ Sunshine Redux: From Kiddies Songs to Kitchen Appliances Notes 4. Divine Revelations: Keith Jarrett, Acoustic Authenticity, and Romantic Genius Fun With Toys: Miles, Electricity, and Acoustic Relief A Blazing Forth of a Divine Will: Blank Slates, Claptrap, and Emphysemic Goats Body and Soul: Sacred Space, the State of Grace, and Everyday Ecstasy Blessed With Genius: The Flame Itself, the Man from Porlock, and the Heavenly Ostrich Play On, Play On: Robert Bly, the Wild Man, and the Neglected Male Psyche Touch the Soil: Elemental Instruments, Indian Country, and the Noble Savage Notes 5. The Body Electric: Music, Machines, and Mechanical Reproduction I Sing the Body Electric: Aesthetic Materialism, Technological Humanism, and Electrical Grandmothers Spark of Being: Frankenstein, Electricity, and the Merging of Text and Form Undervaluing Overdubbing: Jazz, Spontaneity, and Recording Studio Trickery Essential and Divine: Faithful Fidelity, Analogue Authenticity, and ""exactly what was played"" Preserving Spontaneity: Free Improvisation, Live Performance, and the Paradox of Sound Recording Notes 6. Can Blue Men Sing the Whites? African American Exceptionalism, European Stereotypes, and the Jazz Studies Debate Getting To Know You: The ‘Afrological,’ the ‘Eurological,’ and the Illogical The Anxiety of Affluence: Race, Class, and European ‘Privilege’ A Pan-European Conspiracy? Cultural Nationalism, Nativist Politics, and Foreign Competitors The Emancipation Problem: African American Models and German Belligerents A Delicate, Nuanced Approach? Humour, Improvisation, and Composer-Centred Music Networks of Power: Whiteness, Erasure, and World Harmony Postscript: Say It Loud, I’m British and I’m Proud Notes References Discography Filmography"
ALAN STANBRIDGE is an Associate Professor in Music and Culture at the University of Toronto, Canada
