Writing Jazz

Literary Nonfiction. Music. African American Studies. A companion volume to the critically acclaimed READING JAZZ, WRITING JAZZ is the first comprehensive historical anthology of writings on jazz by African-American musicians, critics, writers, and poets. Arranged chronologically, with equal attention paid both to criticism and lyrical art, this collection encompasses voices from the Spirituals and the Blues to Free Jazz and the Black Arts Movement. It includes selections from Louis Armstrong, Amiri Baraka, Sidney Bechet, Miles Davis, Ralph Ellison, Dizzie Gillespie, Nikki Giovanni, Billie Holiday, Son House, Langston Hughes, Furry Lewis, Albert Murray, Ishmael Reed, Sonia Sanchez, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Wole Soyinka, Ethel Waters, Booker White, Richard Wright, and others.Editor David Meltzer adds his own breadth of knowledge on jazz to the brew with his Pre-text introduction and afterthought Sub-text discussion. Challenging and no doubt controversial, WRITING JAZZ, like its companion, is a valuable historical sourcebook and a provocative read.

David Meltzer is a poet associated with both the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance. A pioneer of jazz poetry readings, Meltzer also formed a psychedelic folk-rock group. He continues to perform with the music and poetry review, Rockpile. He has edited many anthologies, including SAN FRANCISCO BEAT: TALKING WITH THE POETS (City Lights Publishers, 2001), and has published 11 erotic novels. He also taught for many years in the poetics program at New College of California. In 2005, Penguin Books published David's Copy: The Selected Poems of David Meltzer. His recent work includes WHEN I WAS A POET (City Lights Publishers, 2011).