Jazz in American Culture (BAAS Paperbacks) - Softcover

Townsend, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853312045 ISBN 13: 9781853312045

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press, 2000

Synopsis

This work is distinctive in looking at jazz both as a music and as a culture within the wider American context and in opening up the subject to the non-specialist. It examines th social and institutional structures that have underpinned the music at particular stages in its history and considers its place as a component of the entertainment industry. It looks at the direct influence of jazz upon other arts and its more indirect influence as a cultural presence and source of meaning. It argues that jazz culture has provided an influential model in relation to a number of issues affecting American art and society including ethnicity, the competing claims of individualism and group identity and freedom and constraint.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

A persuasive appreciation of what jazz is and of how it has permeated and enriched the culture of America

About the Author

After a premature start to life on a bathroom floor in London, Pete Townsend decided to become a writer during a maths lesson at Primary school. His literary career eventually began as a bedroom furniture salesman, quickly followed by a stint in TV sales, a textile factory and two hours on a
building site. After three years of digesting granular coffee at University, he emerged as a Politics graduate with a little knowledge that was supposed to go a long way. Almost surviving employment in Secondary education, he now works as a freelance writer. With over twenty publications and
numerous articles on subjects he knows nothing about, Pete still enjoys playing jazz and blues wherever he can find an audience.

About this edition

• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1853312045
• ISBN 13: 9781853312045
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160