Description
Book SynopsisHow does academic jazz education impact the Black cultural value of soulfulness and esthetic standards in contemporary jazz music? Through candid conversations with nine of the country's most highly respected jazz practitioners and teachers, What Is This Thing Called Soul explores the potential consequences of forcing the Black musical style of jazz into an academic pedagogical system that is specifically designed to facilitate the practice and pedagogy of European classical music. This work tests the belief that the cultural, emotional and esthetic elements at the very core of jazz's unique identity, along with the music's overt connection to Black culture, are effectively being lost in translation in traversing the divide between academic and non-academic jazz spheres.
Each interviewee commands significant respect worldwide in the fields of jazz performance and jazz pedagogy. Noteworthy subjects include: Rufus Reid, Lewis Nash, Nicholas Payton and Wycliffe Gordonalon
Table of Contents
Foreword by Derrick Gardner – Acknowledgements – Introduction: Jazz Is Black Music – The Black Church: Stefon Harris Interview (1973–) – Melting Pot Experience: Ellen Rowe Interview (1958–) – Just Play Something Real: Rufus Reid Interview (1944–) – Spirit and Hope: Marcus Belgrave Interview (1936–2015) – Self- Taught Through Emersion: Brad Goode Interview (1963–) – The Devil’s Music: Wycliffe Gordon Interview (1967–) – The First Rule of Colonization: Nicholas Payton Interview (1973–) – 4/4 Swinging Beat: Lewis Nash Interview (1958–) – Music Is Music: Phil Woods Interview (1931–2015) – Discussion: "You Cannot Teach Culture" – Conclusion: Adjusting Course.
