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Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century
One of jazz's leading critics gives us an invigorating, richly detailed portrait of the artists and events that have shaped the music of our time. Grounded in authority and brimming with style, Playing Changes is the first book to take the measure of this exhilarating moment: it is a compelling argument for the resiliency of the art form and a rejoinder to any claims about its calcification or demise.
"Playing changes," in jazz parlance, has long referred to an improviser's resourceful path through a chord progression. Playing Changes boldly expands on the idea, highlighting a host of significant changes--ideological, technological, theoretical, and practical--that jazz musicians have learned to navigate since the turn of the century. Nate Chinen, who has chronicled this evolution firsthand throughout his journalistic career, vividly sets the backdrop, charting the origins of jazz historicism and the rise of an institutional framework for the music. He traces the influence of commercialized jazz education and reflects on the implications of a globalized jazz ecology. He unpacks the synergies between jazz and postmillennial hip-hop and R&B, illuminating an emergent rhythm signature for the music. And he shows how a new generation of shape-shifting elders, including Wayne Shorter and Henry Threadgill, have moved the aesthetic center of the music.
Woven throughout the book is a vibrant cast of characters--from the saxophonists Steve Coleman and Kamasi Washington to the pianists Jason Moran and Vijay Iyer to the bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding--who have exerted an important influence on the scene. This is an adaptive new music for a complex new reality, and Playing Changes is the definitive guide.
"Playing changes," in jazz parlance, has long referred to an improviser's resourceful path through a chord progression. Playing Changes boldly expands on the idea, highlighting a host of significant changes--ideological, technological, theoretical, and practical--that jazz musicians have learned to navigate since the turn of the century. Nate Chinen, who has chronicled this evolution firsthand throughout his journalistic career, vividly sets the backdrop, charting the origins of jazz historicism and the rise of an institutional framework for the music. He traces the influence of commercialized jazz education and reflects on the implications of a globalized jazz ecology. He unpacks the synergies between jazz and postmillennial hip-hop and R&B, illuminating an emergent rhythm signature for the music. And he shows how a new generation of shape-shifting elders, including Wayne Shorter and Henry Threadgill, have moved the aesthetic center of the music.
Woven throughout the book is a vibrant cast of characters--from the saxophonists Steve Coleman and Kamasi Washington to the pianists Jason Moran and Vijay Iyer to the bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding--who have exerted an important influence on the scene. This is an adaptive new music for a complex new reality, and Playing Changes is the definitive guide.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published August 14, 2018
179 people are currently reading
1623 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
October 29, 2019
Learn what’s new in jazz and why it’s worthy. People love to say ‘Rock is dead, Jazz is dead’. Chinen disagrees and makes a case for the vitality and excitement of the current jazz scene (written in 2018). He has a great ear, his opinions are formed from extensive listening to recordings and, crucially, being at countless live gigs. As a NY Times reporter he also gets interviews with all the primary players. His affection for the music is evident in every chapter and it’s contagious.
This was exactly the book I’d hoped for. I’m listening to great new music everyday since picking this up!
“There is no way of prognosticating jazz’s future, or even its precise trajectory, because the art form doesn’t adhere to a linear axis.”
“What most recent jazz surveys and histories tend to ignore is an explosion of new techniques, accents, and protocols that define the state of the art in our time.”
“The machinery of culture and commerce is far better primed to highlight historical achievements.”
Nate Chinen cites the insightful Ben Ratliff as a mentor, with this book and his reviews in the NYT, Chinen joins the pantheon of critics who celebrate jazz and turn on the listeners of the world.
This was exactly the book I’d hoped for. I’m listening to great new music everyday since picking this up!
“There is no way of prognosticating jazz’s future, or even its precise trajectory, because the art form doesn’t adhere to a linear axis.”
“What most recent jazz surveys and histories tend to ignore is an explosion of new techniques, accents, and protocols that define the state of the art in our time.”
“The machinery of culture and commerce is far better primed to highlight historical achievements.”
Nate Chinen cites the insightful Ben Ratliff as a mentor, with this book and his reviews in the NYT, Chinen joins the pantheon of critics who celebrate jazz and turn on the listeners of the world.
September 25, 2018
I read roughly 40 books a year, I have a degree in jazz from University of Miami, I make my living as a professional session and touring musician, this is one of the best books I have read in the last 3 years. Not even close, I loved this book!
I can't tell you how many times I smiled while reading this book. I was nodding my head like 'yeah man, so great to see someone vocalize these truths in such an elegant and straight forward way.’
This book is about as inside baseball as you can get with modern jazz. If you don’t have a solid foundational understanding of jazz, I am not talking about what hip re-harm you can do on a ii-V-I, I am talking about knowing all the players, and what they do, and how they do, and how certain hangs are in the jazz world, if you don’t have at least a modicum of insight into how all of that stuff goes down, you will not like this book.
If you are of the school of mind that bop is where it is at, and anything else is nonsense, you will HATE this book. And that's fine, there are plenty of books out there for you.
if you are just a casual listener of jazz, and like jazz, and think, ohh this will be a nice book to read, you will probably not get this book. No offensive, I was thinking about an analogy and I remember after the 2008 financial crisis I wanted to learn more about global finance, and so I read a bunch of books recommend by these economic professors, and while I was reading them about 80% of it went over my head because I did not have the requisite foundational knowledge to understand the theories, and processes being explained.
And that is fine, I never attempted to get a PHD in economics, and if you are a casual listener to jazz, you are not gonna get most of this book, and again, there are mountains of books out there for you.
This book should be a must read for any serious jazz musician out there though. This book is worth the time (and money).
I can't tell you how many times I smiled while reading this book. I was nodding my head like 'yeah man, so great to see someone vocalize these truths in such an elegant and straight forward way.’
This book is about as inside baseball as you can get with modern jazz. If you don’t have a solid foundational understanding of jazz, I am not talking about what hip re-harm you can do on a ii-V-I, I am talking about knowing all the players, and what they do, and how they do, and how certain hangs are in the jazz world, if you don’t have at least a modicum of insight into how all of that stuff goes down, you will not like this book.
If you are of the school of mind that bop is where it is at, and anything else is nonsense, you will HATE this book. And that's fine, there are plenty of books out there for you.
if you are just a casual listener of jazz, and like jazz, and think, ohh this will be a nice book to read, you will probably not get this book. No offensive, I was thinking about an analogy and I remember after the 2008 financial crisis I wanted to learn more about global finance, and so I read a bunch of books recommend by these economic professors, and while I was reading them about 80% of it went over my head because I did not have the requisite foundational knowledge to understand the theories, and processes being explained.
And that is fine, I never attempted to get a PHD in economics, and if you are a casual listener to jazz, you are not gonna get most of this book, and again, there are mountains of books out there for you.
This book should be a must read for any serious jazz musician out there though. This book is worth the time (and money).
December 30, 2018
A rangy, meticulously researched, well-organized book—more of a look into the people who are variously playing, resuscitating, preserving, and evolving jazz into the 21st century than an analysis of the music itself. The bio sketch format is neither linear nor chronological as one might expect, but works well; later chapters focusing on Jason Moran, the Soulquarians, Esperanza Spalding, and the guitarist Mary Halvorson—whose music I intensely dislike, not that it matters—are standouts.
Chinen's precious (when not pretentious) writing style often does the book no favors—every other sentence seems to groan under the weight of adjectives and descriptors. Some subjects and scenes get fairly undue weight to the detriment of others, although this may be more a product of the book's gestation period than a conscious decision. (The booming UK jazz scene, arguably the most fervent hotbed of jazz and "near-jazz" musics in 2018, gets little more than a couple of paragraphs, while half of a dense chapter is devoted to the at-best nascent Beijing scene.) And, for the work of a critic, Playing Changes is positively fawning. Very little of the prodigious output covered in the book is presented in any negative light; weak, critically panned, or peer-derided albums are described as having "fallen short" or "suffered backlash".
That sounds like a barrage of complaints for a four-star review—maybe it is. Maybe 3.5 would be more accurate. But stars don't quite cover that Playing Changes was a thoroughly enjoyable, readable, and authoritative look at my favorite art form, and one I am happy to recommend.
Chinen's precious (when not pretentious) writing style often does the book no favors—every other sentence seems to groan under the weight of adjectives and descriptors. Some subjects and scenes get fairly undue weight to the detriment of others, although this may be more a product of the book's gestation period than a conscious decision. (The booming UK jazz scene, arguably the most fervent hotbed of jazz and "near-jazz" musics in 2018, gets little more than a couple of paragraphs, while half of a dense chapter is devoted to the at-best nascent Beijing scene.) And, for the work of a critic, Playing Changes is positively fawning. Very little of the prodigious output covered in the book is presented in any negative light; weak, critically panned, or peer-derided albums are described as having "fallen short" or "suffered backlash".
That sounds like a barrage of complaints for a four-star review—maybe it is. Maybe 3.5 would be more accurate. But stars don't quite cover that Playing Changes was a thoroughly enjoyable, readable, and authoritative look at my favorite art form, and one I am happy to recommend.
November 23, 2018
Nate Chinen é o profesor Hawaiano de 2° de Bacharelato que nunca tiveche. Para un ignorante do jazz coma min Chinen deixa o cebo ao comezo do libro; mira o que te estás perdendo moderna, o Kamasi Washington, mira o jazz que está facendo o Jeff Parker dos teus adorados Tortoise, sabes o que foi a vangarda do M-Base? pilotas a escena panameña? Na primeira hora lendo o libro xa tes creada a lista en Spotify Cazajazz (... en referencia á aldea de Melide)
Neste movemento o autor do mellor libro para introducirse no Jazz a 2018 aproveita para captar a túa atención, unha vez que o consigue ao 200% nas primeiras 40 páxinas comeza cunha necesaria retrospectiva. O conservadurismo dos 70, o post-’60s avant-garde, as 101 veces que o Jazz foi declarado morto e como todo iso deriva no saxofonista portoriqueño Miguel Zenon, ou de como hai escalas do trash metal en John Zorn.
Este señor non só oe música e non só che conta o que queres oir, o que se está facendo hoxe en día que máis che interesa, tamén entende a relación entre todos os elementos do jazz musicais e extramusicais e ensínate as putas bases históricas do jazz por se acaso andabas despistado coma min.
E é que cando quixemos facer un festival de Jazz en Lalín en 2° de Bacharelato para o grande grupo local Telegraph Vadis fumos onde Pepe Crespo, o alcalde, tralo cal este nos dixo a frase que me sentenciou a morte: "Iso que é o do negro coa trompeta?" Grasias Nate Chinen por esta catarse.
Neste movemento o autor do mellor libro para introducirse no Jazz a 2018 aproveita para captar a túa atención, unha vez que o consigue ao 200% nas primeiras 40 páxinas comeza cunha necesaria retrospectiva. O conservadurismo dos 70, o post-’60s avant-garde, as 101 veces que o Jazz foi declarado morto e como todo iso deriva no saxofonista portoriqueño Miguel Zenon, ou de como hai escalas do trash metal en John Zorn.
Este señor non só oe música e non só che conta o que queres oir, o que se está facendo hoxe en día que máis che interesa, tamén entende a relación entre todos os elementos do jazz musicais e extramusicais e ensínate as putas bases históricas do jazz por se acaso andabas despistado coma min.
E é que cando quixemos facer un festival de Jazz en Lalín en 2° de Bacharelato para o grande grupo local Telegraph Vadis fumos onde Pepe Crespo, o alcalde, tralo cal este nos dixo a frase que me sentenciou a morte: "Iso que é o do negro coa trompeta?" Grasias Nate Chinen por esta catarse.
November 11, 2018
One of the byproducts of great long-form music criticism is that you walk away from it with a list of records to explore (or revisit). Chinen brings up tantalizing titles throughout the book, and concludes with an invaluable list of 129 essential albums— enough to keep ravenous listeners busy for weeks. The book itself is wonderfully broad-minded, showing real knowledge and affection for jazz history without ever being stodgy or nostalgic. Likewise, his jazz excavations uphold broader aesthetic arguments, ultimately about being rooted in a lineage but not being beholden to it. Chinen’s prose is always admirably clear, precise, and readable. An excellent jazz book, and immediately a landmark.
October 13, 2018
This book is perfect for people like myself who are fans of jazz, but not so dedicated they’re on top of new trends and artists. I had heard of some, like Kamasi Washington, Joshua Redman, the Bad Plus etc, but discovered and learned about many more through this book. Chinen, a notable jazz writer and critic, traces the evolution of the genre through the late 20th century and the 21st century to date. His book shows that the genre remains dynamic, contrary to popular opinion. Particularly valuable are his album recommendations at the end of each chapter, and his list of essential albums of the 21st century so far.
October 7, 2020
A must-read for anyone with even a modicum of interest in jazz. An excellent book chronicling the different paths the music has taken over the past 30 years and an inspiring source for imagining (and in my case as a musician, shaping!) where the music is headed.
April 17, 2021
Best book I've read on jazz in the 20th century. It's more a compilation of essays than a through read but the essays are uniformly solid, some, such as the one on jazz cosm0politanism, truly outsanding. I wanted more, but what Chinen delivered was excellent. A very good place to start listening your way into the new century in an aesthetic grounded in change.
December 23, 2021
Jazz today is alive and well, even vibrant. Playing Changes is an excellent overview of jazz from the 1970s to the present. Although I’ve been listening to and following jazz since the 1970s, how jazz had developed and evolved since those years of fusion, ECM, CTI, and Pablo records had eluded me. Chinen’s book filled in many gaps and gave me a new appreciation for the current vitality of the jazz idiom. He introduced me to many new names, gave new info on old names, provided innumerable albums to listen to, and wove together a story of how it’s all continuing to unfold. I truly have a new appreciation of where jazz is today and a better idea of how contemporary jazz connects with classic jazz.
Chinen’s writing is outstanding in one way but in another, monotonous. Each chapter describes people, groups, their work, collaborations, associations, their music, styles, etc., with beautiful descriptive vocabulary and phrasing, writing that parallels what you’d hear in a great jazz solo (writing way better than I could ever produce). But, the longer I read, the more monotonous the book got because it is just one chapter after another of profiles centered around a chapter theme. Halfway through the book it started feeling like an endless series of who-did-what-with-whom. I wished for more reflection, analysis, cultural history or context.
One section in chapter 10 was a bit annoying, especially after having got through profile after profile for over 200 pages: it was a section of yet more profiles of jazz artists but this time from China. Really? What could Chinese jazz possibly be? Chinen attempted to give a glimpse of the jazz scene in one of the world’s most repressive cultures and introduced us to some of the artists who are shaping Chinese jazz to be acceptable within such artistic repression. I’m a huge fan and longtime student of Chinese culture but there’s nothing less interesting to me than Chinese jazz. I can't think of anything sadder. Artistic freedom in China is non-existent. I would have loved if Chinen had introduced us instead to the jazz scene in Brazil which would be a thousand times more interesting.
There’s a lot about contemporary jazz to argue about – lots to love and some to loathe. I still have plenty of questions about it all and continue to listen with an open mind. My taste goes from classic straight-ahead swing (Basie, Ellington, Brubeck) to the avant-garde edge (Ornette Coleman, Pharoah Sanders, John Zorn). If your interest is creative art in music, Chinen’s book is packed with new discoveries.
Chinen’s writing is outstanding in one way but in another, monotonous. Each chapter describes people, groups, their work, collaborations, associations, their music, styles, etc., with beautiful descriptive vocabulary and phrasing, writing that parallels what you’d hear in a great jazz solo (writing way better than I could ever produce). But, the longer I read, the more monotonous the book got because it is just one chapter after another of profiles centered around a chapter theme. Halfway through the book it started feeling like an endless series of who-did-what-with-whom. I wished for more reflection, analysis, cultural history or context.
One section in chapter 10 was a bit annoying, especially after having got through profile after profile for over 200 pages: it was a section of yet more profiles of jazz artists but this time from China. Really? What could Chinese jazz possibly be? Chinen attempted to give a glimpse of the jazz scene in one of the world’s most repressive cultures and introduced us to some of the artists who are shaping Chinese jazz to be acceptable within such artistic repression. I’m a huge fan and longtime student of Chinese culture but there’s nothing less interesting to me than Chinese jazz. I can't think of anything sadder. Artistic freedom in China is non-existent. I would have loved if Chinen had introduced us instead to the jazz scene in Brazil which would be a thousand times more interesting.
There’s a lot about contemporary jazz to argue about – lots to love and some to loathe. I still have plenty of questions about it all and continue to listen with an open mind. My taste goes from classic straight-ahead swing (Basie, Ellington, Brubeck) to the avant-garde edge (Ornette Coleman, Pharoah Sanders, John Zorn). If your interest is creative art in music, Chinen’s book is packed with new discoveries.
March 5, 2019
This book does for contemporary jazz what David Azerrad's This Band Could Be Your Life did for the alternative 80s underground. In prose that is brisk, lucid, and contagious in its enthusiasm, Chinen walks the reader through the various nooks & crannies of the current jazz scene (visiting stages both big and small) and makes a compelling case for the genre's continued vitality. If you're a music fan curious about the state of jazz today, I can think of no better place to start your journey. Playing Changes is essential for the listening suggestions alone. You won't make it to the end without finding plenty to love.
January 2, 2019
I love books about jazz: biographies, auto-bios, memoirs, essays, general non-fiction and even jazz-themed fiction. Nate Chinen in Playing Changes clearly loves jazz, too. It more than seeps through from these pages. Nate here makes a case for the “new” jazz that incorporates other musical styles. Other styles would include, hip-hop, r&b, electronic dance, ethno-jazz, electro swing etc. He peppers these chapters with an array of jazz artists both familiar and many (or most) not so familiar.
The Foreword and first chapter are devoted to two of the most phenomenal jazz artists of any era: vocalist-extraordinaire, Cécile McLorin Salvant and tenor saxophonist, Kamasi Washington. Further on we hear from Brad Mehldau, Steve Coleman, Esperanza Spaulding, Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Robert Glasper and many, many others. What I enjoyed about this book is Chinen does an incredible job of breaking down and explaining what these artists do so well. I will use this book as a resource later when I’m searching for a different type of jazz to fill my musical palate. I’m of the traditional jazz set and my musical taste run to Miles, Monk, Billie, Trane and the like.
Each chapter ends with five significant albums by artists mentioned previously in the chapter. The back of the book includes The 129 Essential Albums Of The Twenty-First Century (so far). 2000-2018. A very nice touch.
I’ll find myself referring back to this book for sure and certain I’ll enjoy it even more once I get a chance to listen to some of this music I’m unfamiliar with.
3.5 stars
The Foreword and first chapter are devoted to two of the most phenomenal jazz artists of any era: vocalist-extraordinaire, Cécile McLorin Salvant and tenor saxophonist, Kamasi Washington. Further on we hear from Brad Mehldau, Steve Coleman, Esperanza Spaulding, Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Robert Glasper and many, many others. What I enjoyed about this book is Chinen does an incredible job of breaking down and explaining what these artists do so well. I will use this book as a resource later when I’m searching for a different type of jazz to fill my musical palate. I’m of the traditional jazz set and my musical taste run to Miles, Monk, Billie, Trane and the like.
Each chapter ends with five significant albums by artists mentioned previously in the chapter. The back of the book includes The 129 Essential Albums Of The Twenty-First Century (so far). 2000-2018. A very nice touch.
I’ll find myself referring back to this book for sure and certain I’ll enjoy it even more once I get a chance to listen to some of this music I’m unfamiliar with.
3.5 stars
September 4, 2020
Chinen's book was two years old at the time I read it, but it's still a good survey of the current jazz scene. It's wide-ranging, examining all facets of jazz-related music and musicians. I was grateful for that inclusiveness, but ironically, it actually diminished my enjoyment of the book. Some of the musicians he discusses just don't interest me, and I found myself skimming some chapters. On the other hand, I found the sections dealing with musicians I admire (like Jason Moran, Mary Halvorson, Vijay Iyer) to be extremely interesting and enjoyable.
Which is all to say that my mixed feelings about Chinen's book are more about my own tastes than about the quality of the book itself. My four-star rating is on the generous side in terms of my actual reading enjoyment, but considering what the author has achieved, I'm more than willing to give Jazz Changes the benefit of the doubt.
Which is all to say that my mixed feelings about Chinen's book are more about my own tastes than about the quality of the book itself. My four-star rating is on the generous side in terms of my actual reading enjoyment, but considering what the author has achieved, I'm more than willing to give Jazz Changes the benefit of the doubt.
January 5, 2019
This is for jazz lovers and aficionados or students who want to learn what's going on today in jazz, always placed in an historical perspective. It was heartening to read what's happening on an international level too which he dedicates a chapter on towards the end. Chinen even lists a suggested library that he calls the 129 Essential Albums of the 21st Century, so far!
It's clear he has immersed his life in jazz - I needed my laptop next to me to decipher some of his musical descriptions plus it's a convenient way to listen to some of the mentioned artists' music (You Tube). The book is best bought and kept on a shelf rather than a loan from the library if you love jazz.
It's clear he has immersed his life in jazz - I needed my laptop next to me to decipher some of his musical descriptions plus it's a convenient way to listen to some of the mentioned artists' music (You Tube). The book is best bought and kept on a shelf rather than a loan from the library if you love jazz.
November 23, 2018
While at times the writing can be obtuse (Chinen compares the playing of a jazz guitarist to a sea urchin), this book reignited my love for jazz. Chinen's writing for majority of the book is brimming with the same amount of vivacity and intricacy of the music that he describes. Each chapter provides multiple albums of reference, summarized into a list of five at the end of each chapter. Chinen also provides an appendix of his favorite jazz albums released in or after the year 2000.
As a jazz educator, my favorite chapter focused on the evolution of jazz education.
Overall, Chinen addresses many essential conflicts within jazz (traditionalists vs modernists, technique vs expression) in lively and comprehensive ways without being dismissive of any point of view. His implementation of artist interviews provided inspiration for me as a musician, a listener, and an educator - in particular his chapter on Esperanza Spalding. His ability to add depth to my cursory understanding of some of my favorite modern jazz artists was, quite simply, fun. Finally, Chinen focuses on scenes and musicians that I would not have heard of without this book. I would highly recommend this book to any jazz fan that would like a sampling of what the current state of the jazz scene has to offer.
As a jazz educator, my favorite chapter focused on the evolution of jazz education.
Overall, Chinen addresses many essential conflicts within jazz (traditionalists vs modernists, technique vs expression) in lively and comprehensive ways without being dismissive of any point of view. His implementation of artist interviews provided inspiration for me as a musician, a listener, and an educator - in particular his chapter on Esperanza Spalding. His ability to add depth to my cursory understanding of some of my favorite modern jazz artists was, quite simply, fun. Finally, Chinen focuses on scenes and musicians that I would not have heard of without this book. I would highly recommend this book to any jazz fan that would like a sampling of what the current state of the jazz scene has to offer.
February 20, 2019
I got this book as a secret Santa gift last year - it's been a few months at least since I read anything about jazz, but this book is absolutely fantastic if you have any interest in modern jazz. If you're not up on modern conversations about jazz music, you might find this book a bit hard to follow, and if you don't have any familiarity or interest in jazz period, this book will certainly not change your mind, but I don't think it's written with audiences like that in mind. For people interested in not only the modern musicians that have influenced jazz but the movements and debates that have surrounded them, this book is essential. Its chapters feature both biographies of modern influential musicians like Brad Mehldau and Esperanza Spaulding, but also more detailed looks at whole movements in music - there's a chapter on the sometimes shaky truce between tradition-focused artists and institutions like Jazz At Lincoln Center and the avant-garde and pop-oriented camps, there's a chapter on developing jazz scenes in countries around the world and the melding of jazz with many other cultural styles and identities... I love it! Lots and lots to think about.
August 31, 2019
As jazz is no longer much of a part, if any, of the most easily distributed record labels, has very little space on radio, and is generally restricted to a small but devoted audience, it's become increasingly difficult to keep up with all the developments within the music. Whenever I have found a new artist or important work by an older player, I've been delighted, and it's been obvious to me that things are happening I've barely been able to discern. Chinen's book helps me focus my attentions on an incredible number of records I will be hoping to hear, and helps me realize how lucky I've been to find many of the most interesting players of our time. He writes lovingly of Mary Halvorson, Esperanza Spalding, Jason Moran, Robert Glasper, and Brad Mehldau, among others. This is a music book full of insights and descriptions, and one which has me hungry to hear all the things I've yet to encounter.
December 6, 2018
Chinen Clearly knows jazz as a very historical, diverse, and growing art form. It is also clear that he is a remarkable musical critic. This is an enjoyable book and did turn me on to some new artists who I feel carry the torch further in the jazz genre. I do feel like there are moments where he is loose as to what he regards as jazz, but a very enjoyable text nonetheless.
October 29, 2018
This is a great look at recent jazz from a really terrific writer and thinker. I was only familiar with a handful of musicians Chinen discussed, but I walked away with a whole new list of folks to check out. I do really like how he treated the whole Marsalis issue - not disregarding him nor praising him, but rather accepting his role, for better or worse, in how modern jazz has been shaped.
April 24, 2019
Authoritative, far-seeing, and fun, even on a sentence-by-sentence basis. So many colorful, resonant descriptions without being overly florid or showy. Really well grounded in history and style. Supremely informative, especially for readers with an interest in new/experimental music but who aren't avid followers of the scene.
January 16, 2021
Always interesting to hear the music you like described. I learned about a lot of new artists as well!
June 30, 2023
Playing Changes by Nate Chinen is a brilliant overview of jazz in the 21st century. Chinen does a bit of exploration of the history of the genre and centers his writing from approximately the 80s forward. Throughout, he calls up artists from the history of jazz when need be for context but generally sticks to artists from the tail end of the 20th century and into the 21st.
Chinen pretty much sticks to a format of utilizing one artist’s work as a jumping off point to explore what that work reflects about the general state of jazz. He includes such modern luminaries as Kamasi Washington, Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer, Brad Mehldau, among several others.
Chinen is a fantastic writer. Not only does he rope in and concisely explore relevant developments in jazz, but the actual writing itself is extremely high quality. I don’t often find myself marveling at the writing in non-fiction but Chinen did that for me. Another startling aspect of the book was that even when I was not terribly interested in the music he was describing, I was compelled by the narrative that he spun around the music.
Full disclosure: I’m not a huge fan of modern jazz. Part of that is likely due to the fact that there are about ten million albums from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and–to a lesser extent–80s that are foundational recordings and far more worth it than anything coming out now. Another part has to do with recording technique. Many modern jazz albums are produced in such a way that is too clear, shimmering, and sterile that totally loses a lot of the magic of jazz. Third, there is inevitably going to be something less compelling about music that isn’t as adventurous as the early innovators of a genre (this goes for every genre in music, to my ears).
Chinen tries to argue me out of my opinion that newer jazz isn’t as compelling as the classics from back in the day. Although he didn’t convince me of that, he did make me want to revisit some modern artists that I have written off. I’ve tried guys like Brad Mehldau and Vijay Iver before and found them pretty lacking, but knowing the context of their development and more of their musical philosophy made me want to revisit their music with fresh ears. Even though a lot of the music he talks about doesn’t interest me a ton, like I said, reading about the conditions that gave rise to all the various strains of jazz was extremely illuminating and interesting. Further, although to my ears mixing hip hop and electronica with jazz isn’t very pleasant, Chinen made a compelling case that jazz is still growing and changing in exciting ways for some.
One section I was very happy he included was on the brilliant Mary Halvorson, an Anthony Braxton disciple who has charted an exciting and idiosyncratic path through modern jazz. In this section he also briefly mentions Peter Evans, another great modern innovator, and some other more avante-garde jazz experimentalists.
I was also pretty interested in the more mainstream chapter focusing on artists like Esperanza Spalding, Jon Batiste, and Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah. When I saw La La Land, the Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone vehicle, I was really pissed off. The movie paints a picture like the only way to innovate in modern jazz is basically to become a pop artist and go full mainstream (enter John Legend’s character). While I still disagree that this is the best road to innovation (or even a road to innovation at all), Chinen shows that several of the most popular jazz artists did functionally embrace pop music as a vehicle to gain success while ostensibly playing jazz. While I don’t like their music, their stories were very interesting, and they do form an important part of the modern jazz landscape.
One thing I found myself missing in the book was a check-in on the old lions of the genre. Chinen includes a list of the essential 21st century jazz albums at the end of the book. In it, he includes several legendary jazz artists, including Cecil Taylor, Keith Jarrett, and Sonny Rollins. He also gives passing mention to them throughout the book. However, he didn’t present a full overview of what well-established jazz musicians were doing in the 21st century. I think it could have been a cool opportunity to show how legends from the 50s, 60s, and 70s grew into the new millennium.
Chinen has created a wonderful, engaging, and informative resource into the new history of jazz. Excellent stuff and I am sure I will return to it.
Chinen pretty much sticks to a format of utilizing one artist’s work as a jumping off point to explore what that work reflects about the general state of jazz. He includes such modern luminaries as Kamasi Washington, Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer, Brad Mehldau, among several others.
Chinen is a fantastic writer. Not only does he rope in and concisely explore relevant developments in jazz, but the actual writing itself is extremely high quality. I don’t often find myself marveling at the writing in non-fiction but Chinen did that for me. Another startling aspect of the book was that even when I was not terribly interested in the music he was describing, I was compelled by the narrative that he spun around the music.
Full disclosure: I’m not a huge fan of modern jazz. Part of that is likely due to the fact that there are about ten million albums from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and–to a lesser extent–80s that are foundational recordings and far more worth it than anything coming out now. Another part has to do with recording technique. Many modern jazz albums are produced in such a way that is too clear, shimmering, and sterile that totally loses a lot of the magic of jazz. Third, there is inevitably going to be something less compelling about music that isn’t as adventurous as the early innovators of a genre (this goes for every genre in music, to my ears).
Chinen tries to argue me out of my opinion that newer jazz isn’t as compelling as the classics from back in the day. Although he didn’t convince me of that, he did make me want to revisit some modern artists that I have written off. I’ve tried guys like Brad Mehldau and Vijay Iver before and found them pretty lacking, but knowing the context of their development and more of their musical philosophy made me want to revisit their music with fresh ears. Even though a lot of the music he talks about doesn’t interest me a ton, like I said, reading about the conditions that gave rise to all the various strains of jazz was extremely illuminating and interesting. Further, although to my ears mixing hip hop and electronica with jazz isn’t very pleasant, Chinen made a compelling case that jazz is still growing and changing in exciting ways for some.
One section I was very happy he included was on the brilliant Mary Halvorson, an Anthony Braxton disciple who has charted an exciting and idiosyncratic path through modern jazz. In this section he also briefly mentions Peter Evans, another great modern innovator, and some other more avante-garde jazz experimentalists.
I was also pretty interested in the more mainstream chapter focusing on artists like Esperanza Spalding, Jon Batiste, and Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah. When I saw La La Land, the Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone vehicle, I was really pissed off. The movie paints a picture like the only way to innovate in modern jazz is basically to become a pop artist and go full mainstream (enter John Legend’s character). While I still disagree that this is the best road to innovation (or even a road to innovation at all), Chinen shows that several of the most popular jazz artists did functionally embrace pop music as a vehicle to gain success while ostensibly playing jazz. While I don’t like their music, their stories were very interesting, and they do form an important part of the modern jazz landscape.
One thing I found myself missing in the book was a check-in on the old lions of the genre. Chinen includes a list of the essential 21st century jazz albums at the end of the book. In it, he includes several legendary jazz artists, including Cecil Taylor, Keith Jarrett, and Sonny Rollins. He also gives passing mention to them throughout the book. However, he didn’t present a full overview of what well-established jazz musicians were doing in the 21st century. I think it could have been a cool opportunity to show how legends from the 50s, 60s, and 70s grew into the new millennium.
Chinen has created a wonderful, engaging, and informative resource into the new history of jazz. Excellent stuff and I am sure I will return to it.
July 22, 2019
“A well-meaning interviewer once asked Thelonious Monk where he thought jazz was going and the pianist replied: ‘I can’t know where it’s going. Maybe to hell. You can’t make anything go anywhere. It just happens.’”
This book does not try to tell us where jazz is going, but it does an outstanding job of documenting where it has been in the last 25 years.
For anyone who enjoys jazz but believes it has gone nowhere since maybe Coltrane or Miles and Weather Report – this book provides a true education. For those like me who love digging into jazz’s diamond mine past, it is truly exciting to gain appreciation what is happening now.
I especially enjoyed experiencing this book because, via my friend Spotify, I listened to many of the musicians that were mentioned as I was reading it. What a trip! As jazz education and communications improves, the virtuosity and creativity of jazz musicians continues to sky-rocket. So many different strains, directions, masters and strivers.
If there was a challenge with this book, it was in its detail. Nate Chinen really knows his stuff and he regularly will dissect a record or concert, in very great detail describing the intricacies of the music and the choices the musicians made. Whereas that may work for me with the Beatle’s “White Album” or Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme”, such an exercise on the Village Vanguard concert of the amazingly creative Mary Halvorson was a bit hard to keep up with.
I learned more about musicians who I had heard but had never given them the respect they deserve, musicians and jazz advancers such as Jason Moran and Wayne Shorter (yes, I learned to respect Wayne Shorter even more). I learned about amazing masters who I had never heard of such as Brad Mehldau, Dave Douglas, Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer and Mary Halcvorson.
It is not just that these ground breakers are amazing musicians. They have individual vision, drive, intelligence, daring and a desire to expand music.
Some of the work in this book may be seen as more avant garde than jazz and some touches on hip-hop, which influences many current musicians.
The book comes with a discography of “The Essential 129 Essential Albums of the Twenty-First Century (So Far).” I have listened to portions of about a dozen of these and have enjoyed about 70% of what I listened to. I am excited to jump into this new exciting collection. By the time I finish, I’m sure the list will have grown considerably.
Nate Chinen states in his Afterword, “There is no way of prognosticating jazz’s future, or even its precise trajectory, because the art form doesn’t adhere to a linear axis. The evolutionary thrust in the music is real, but it shouldn’t be construed as a motive. Jazz has no inherent locomotive agenda, as some factions would have you believe, nor is it the monolith that some other factions take pains to preserve. The music’s ongoing story might best be understood in terms of a climate: volatile, variable, subject to unseen forces outside anyone’s direct control.”
You go Nate! You go jazz!
This book does not try to tell us where jazz is going, but it does an outstanding job of documenting where it has been in the last 25 years.
For anyone who enjoys jazz but believes it has gone nowhere since maybe Coltrane or Miles and Weather Report – this book provides a true education. For those like me who love digging into jazz’s diamond mine past, it is truly exciting to gain appreciation what is happening now.
I especially enjoyed experiencing this book because, via my friend Spotify, I listened to many of the musicians that were mentioned as I was reading it. What a trip! As jazz education and communications improves, the virtuosity and creativity of jazz musicians continues to sky-rocket. So many different strains, directions, masters and strivers.
If there was a challenge with this book, it was in its detail. Nate Chinen really knows his stuff and he regularly will dissect a record or concert, in very great detail describing the intricacies of the music and the choices the musicians made. Whereas that may work for me with the Beatle’s “White Album” or Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme”, such an exercise on the Village Vanguard concert of the amazingly creative Mary Halvorson was a bit hard to keep up with.
I learned more about musicians who I had heard but had never given them the respect they deserve, musicians and jazz advancers such as Jason Moran and Wayne Shorter (yes, I learned to respect Wayne Shorter even more). I learned about amazing masters who I had never heard of such as Brad Mehldau, Dave Douglas, Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer and Mary Halcvorson.
It is not just that these ground breakers are amazing musicians. They have individual vision, drive, intelligence, daring and a desire to expand music.
Some of the work in this book may be seen as more avant garde than jazz and some touches on hip-hop, which influences many current musicians.
The book comes with a discography of “The Essential 129 Essential Albums of the Twenty-First Century (So Far).” I have listened to portions of about a dozen of these and have enjoyed about 70% of what I listened to. I am excited to jump into this new exciting collection. By the time I finish, I’m sure the list will have grown considerably.
Nate Chinen states in his Afterword, “There is no way of prognosticating jazz’s future, or even its precise trajectory, because the art form doesn’t adhere to a linear axis. The evolutionary thrust in the music is real, but it shouldn’t be construed as a motive. Jazz has no inherent locomotive agenda, as some factions would have you believe, nor is it the monolith that some other factions take pains to preserve. The music’s ongoing story might best be understood in terms of a climate: volatile, variable, subject to unseen forces outside anyone’s direct control.”
You go Nate! You go jazz!
February 4, 2025
Nate Chinen is undoubtedly a fantastic writer, and one of the great chroniclers of jazz in our times. His prose bops and fizzes, capturing moments and nuances in its forceful web of words, and his roles reporting for New York Times and Jazz Times gifted him a front row seat to many of the seismic spasms and epic evolutions America’s greatest (only?) homegrown art form experienced in the early 21st century. Page for page, it's nigh impossible to imagine a volume of any size – let alone a similarly slender 240-page paperback – as bursting with sheer information and insight. It trounces any cost/benefit analysis, even for the most casual observer of the genre.
But make no mistake – this is not the considered treatise you may be hoping for. It’s essentially a modern mixtape, a compilation of previously published features, reviews and missives, strung together and guided by the least unifying (but simplest) theme of all: temporality. That’s the only explanation for the book’s indifference to balance, anyway – for why almost complete chapters are devoted to (admittedly fascinating figures) Brad Mehldau, Jason Moran, Vijay Iyer, Esperanza Spalding and May Halverson, while the entire UK scene is summed up in around two pages, and Robert Glasper’s influence, while repeatedly inferred, is summed up in barely four. Spurious chapter tangents on the state of jazz education and the Beijing scene certainly don’t lack value, but their inclusion appears to underline the book’s (and its writer’s) NYC-centric perspective, rather than further furnishing the “glocalized” perspective it seeks to speak of. It may be no coincidence that this book came out in 2018, a) shortly after he ended his 12-year run at the NYT, and b) primarily covers the period he was on the ground on the paper’s dollar.
None of this should undermine your enjoyment, or the knowledge or perspective you’ll take away. Ultimately, where and whenever these vignettes were assembled from – however haphazardly they have been strung together – they remain powerful and perceptive when held up to the microscope years later. The way Chinen describes sound is singularly compelling, and only occasionally causes one to scoff – neither caught up in emotions and narratives; nor hung up on technicalities and terminologies. Indeed, this thin sprinkling of theoretical terms, and an apparent knowledge of guitar effects pedals, suggests something of the bedroom amateur. Whatever, we all know any critic would be playing if they could.
The book closes with a 131-strong list of the century’s “essential albums”, which makes no concessions or apologies for impartiality. However hubristic the presentation, it’s hard to imagine any reader not gaining something from the sprawl, which some kind soul has republished here: https://www.organissimo.org/forum/top...
But make no mistake – this is not the considered treatise you may be hoping for. It’s essentially a modern mixtape, a compilation of previously published features, reviews and missives, strung together and guided by the least unifying (but simplest) theme of all: temporality. That’s the only explanation for the book’s indifference to balance, anyway – for why almost complete chapters are devoted to (admittedly fascinating figures) Brad Mehldau, Jason Moran, Vijay Iyer, Esperanza Spalding and May Halverson, while the entire UK scene is summed up in around two pages, and Robert Glasper’s influence, while repeatedly inferred, is summed up in barely four. Spurious chapter tangents on the state of jazz education and the Beijing scene certainly don’t lack value, but their inclusion appears to underline the book’s (and its writer’s) NYC-centric perspective, rather than further furnishing the “glocalized” perspective it seeks to speak of. It may be no coincidence that this book came out in 2018, a) shortly after he ended his 12-year run at the NYT, and b) primarily covers the period he was on the ground on the paper’s dollar.
None of this should undermine your enjoyment, or the knowledge or perspective you’ll take away. Ultimately, where and whenever these vignettes were assembled from – however haphazardly they have been strung together – they remain powerful and perceptive when held up to the microscope years later. The way Chinen describes sound is singularly compelling, and only occasionally causes one to scoff – neither caught up in emotions and narratives; nor hung up on technicalities and terminologies. Indeed, this thin sprinkling of theoretical terms, and an apparent knowledge of guitar effects pedals, suggests something of the bedroom amateur. Whatever, we all know any critic would be playing if they could.
The book closes with a 131-strong list of the century’s “essential albums”, which makes no concessions or apologies for impartiality. However hubristic the presentation, it’s hard to imagine any reader not gaining something from the sprawl, which some kind soul has republished here: https://www.organissimo.org/forum/top...
November 2, 2018
A book I'm currently reading, "Playing Changes" by Nate Chinen, is a fascinating argument that we are currently in an age of amazing new jazz artists and an equal amount of amazing innovation and new ways for jazz composers and soloists to further this resilient art of musical improvisation. The premise is not one I'd bicker with--ours is a time when the "jazz is dead" club needs to just be silent for a very long time and listen to the creativity that abounds. But, as the review points out, author Chinen, a critic with a forward-thinking preference for new and temperamentally sounds, writes in a such a way that he makes you think of the guy who must have been the least interesting student in a seminar on post-modernism. He does not, as the reviewer suggests, at times sound like Derrida; rather, he seems more like a person who thinks he sounds like Derrida. Which is a shame, because although Chinen writes about important artists and at times makes crucial distinctions in what is happening in the ever-evolving jazz timeline, it seems that the premise of the book is that the music exists only to be co-opted and made to dance between inscrutable phrases and descriptions that don't really intrigue a reader to actually go out and purchase some of this fine new music. Tellingly, Nate Chinen chides the older critical establishment, those who would have jazz become a formalized canon, set in place, with boundaries and inflexible boundaries, yet he seems to be working to construct his own fiefdom of critical imperative. Meet the new boss... In any case, all this begs the question to be asked, which is why can't there be a working idea of jazz that doesn't require anyone going to war against other schools of thoughts on the music, or specific ways of playing. A jazz fan can enjoy both and not be betraying whatever "true spirit" of jazz the critical camps think. Seriously, one occasionally feels that some critics, whether Leonard Feather , Amiri Baraka or Nate Chinen, despite his protest to the contrary, wish they could be in the studio, instructing the musicians in what their note selections and points of creating tension and release should be.
March 25, 2024
In "Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century," Nate Chinen, former jazz critic for the New York Times offers a fresh perspective on the contemporary jazz landscape. Departing from the notion that jazz had exhausted its creative potential by the end of the 20th century, Chinen explores how the genre continues to evolve and thrive in the 21st century.
Rather than dwelling on nostalgic reenactments of past glories, Chinen highlights innovative artists who are pushing the boundaries of jazz in new and exciting directions. From saxophonist Kamasi Washington, whose debut album "The Epic" became a powerful symbol of new black pride, to pianist Brad Mehldau, whose mesmerizing solos captivate listeners and fellow musicians alike, the book introduces readers to a diverse array of contemporary jazz visionaries.
One of the book's strengths lies in its ability to capture the essence of each artist's unique voice and contribution to the genre. Through insightful analysis and vivid storytelling, Chinen illuminates the creative processes and cultural contexts that shape modern jazz. Whether discussing drummer Tyshawn Sorey's genre-defying compositions or bassist Esperanza Spalding's boundary-pushing experimentation, the author's passion for the music shines through on every page.
While the book occasionally gets bogged down with repetitive references to awards and accolades, Chinen's engaging writing style and keen observations make it a compelling read for jazz enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Each chapter concludes with recommended recordings, providing readers with a roadmap for further exploration of the genre.
"Playing Changes" is an illuminating and thought-provoking exploration of jazz in the 21st century. Through Chinen's masterful critique, readers gain a deeper appreciation for the genre's enduring relevance and the diverse voices shaping its evolution.
L.A.Review
Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century
Rather than dwelling on nostalgic reenactments of past glories, Chinen highlights innovative artists who are pushing the boundaries of jazz in new and exciting directions. From saxophonist Kamasi Washington, whose debut album "The Epic" became a powerful symbol of new black pride, to pianist Brad Mehldau, whose mesmerizing solos captivate listeners and fellow musicians alike, the book introduces readers to a diverse array of contemporary jazz visionaries.
One of the book's strengths lies in its ability to capture the essence of each artist's unique voice and contribution to the genre. Through insightful analysis and vivid storytelling, Chinen illuminates the creative processes and cultural contexts that shape modern jazz. Whether discussing drummer Tyshawn Sorey's genre-defying compositions or bassist Esperanza Spalding's boundary-pushing experimentation, the author's passion for the music shines through on every page.
While the book occasionally gets bogged down with repetitive references to awards and accolades, Chinen's engaging writing style and keen observations make it a compelling read for jazz enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Each chapter concludes with recommended recordings, providing readers with a roadmap for further exploration of the genre.
"Playing Changes" is an illuminating and thought-provoking exploration of jazz in the 21st century. Through Chinen's masterful critique, readers gain a deeper appreciation for the genre's enduring relevance and the diverse voices shaping its evolution.
L.A.Review
Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century
October 10, 2020
All the backstories on today's big name jazz musicians. A great resource if you go to see any jazz acts these days. (Online only I suppose for now).
The book is not encyclopedic, but rather a chain of interlinked stories and anecdotes. There is not much criticism; it is basically about musicians going from strength to strength, and at times there is a numbing sameness to the narration. Any history of jazz is bound to be a sea of names and a challenge to read. So I think the best way to use this book is to pick a musician you like and read about him/her and their collaborators and come up with a sense of their creative arc.
Each chapter ends with a list of recommended albums, and there is an (incomplete) Spotify list he has created as well, so both of these are useful resources.
The initial chapter on Wynton Marsalis and his impact on the history of jazz, and the chapter on the Real Book are particularly strong and stand alone and could be newspaper essays.
He gives plenty of space to my favorite jazz artist: Steve Coleman. But then he praises Vijay Iyer who I find rather dull. And only 2 pages on Chris Potter?!?!? But the author's taste is surely more educated than mine.
Speaking of taste, as I listen to the Spotify playlist that he has created I see that Chinen's taste often veer towards artists who do abstract noodling on their instruments, so again our tastes diverge. But he is a taste maker so what he likes matters in the jazz world.
There is an appendix called: "the 129 Essential Albums of the 21st Century". What only 129? And that's only the essential ones. Overwhelming!
So if you're a fan of jazz but want to learn more about contemporary acts in an easy-to-digest manner, this book is a good choice.
The book is not encyclopedic, but rather a chain of interlinked stories and anecdotes. There is not much criticism; it is basically about musicians going from strength to strength, and at times there is a numbing sameness to the narration. Any history of jazz is bound to be a sea of names and a challenge to read. So I think the best way to use this book is to pick a musician you like and read about him/her and their collaborators and come up with a sense of their creative arc.
Each chapter ends with a list of recommended albums, and there is an (incomplete) Spotify list he has created as well, so both of these are useful resources.
The initial chapter on Wynton Marsalis and his impact on the history of jazz, and the chapter on the Real Book are particularly strong and stand alone and could be newspaper essays.
He gives plenty of space to my favorite jazz artist: Steve Coleman. But then he praises Vijay Iyer who I find rather dull. And only 2 pages on Chris Potter?!?!? But the author's taste is surely more educated than mine.
Speaking of taste, as I listen to the Spotify playlist that he has created I see that Chinen's taste often veer towards artists who do abstract noodling on their instruments, so again our tastes diverge. But he is a taste maker so what he likes matters in the jazz world.
There is an appendix called: "the 129 Essential Albums of the 21st Century". What only 129? And that's only the essential ones. Overwhelming!
So if you're a fan of jazz but want to learn more about contemporary acts in an easy-to-digest manner, this book is a good choice.
August 19, 2018
The first half of this book is incredibly strong with tons of observations that cut through the fray. I found the chapter on jazz education to be puzzling and didn't really get as clear a sense of the point as, say, the chapters on jazz heroism and the uptown/downtown divide. The second half of the book is less clearly conceived as the first half. The features on Jason Moran and Esperanza Spaulding were welcome, but I was pretty irritated that Chinen didn't wade into the massive debates that have bubbled to the surface in the wake of Robert Glasper's comments about women in jazz. Additionally, the last chapter on global fusions was fascinating, but it also felt unfinished in comparison to the rigor of the rest of the book. Chinen tries to engage with some recent jazz scholarship here, especially Stuart Nicholson and some of the recent books on the Routledge Transatlantic Jazz series, but I mostly mourned the absence of scholarly and critical voices from Latin America. In contrast to the earlier chapters in this book, the second half of the book seems to be written exclusively for jazz insiders. That's a shame. I am a huge fan, and I tired of the constant naming of musicians and the assumption that the reader would be fluent in jazz history. It's a shame because I think the overall argument of the book is very strong.
As an aside, some of the other reviews on this website complain about Chinen's critical tone. I really like it and see it as more celebratory. It's a deep dive into sonorous description rather than merely celebratory.
As an aside, some of the other reviews on this website complain about Chinen's critical tone. I really like it and see it as more celebratory. It's a deep dive into sonorous description rather than merely celebratory.
February 5, 2019
As a rather casual jazz fan, I was feeling as if I'd been missing out on more recent jazz and went looking for recommendations. As part of that search, someone recommended this book. I was pleased to discover that I was familiar with many of the artists discussed in this book. It reminded me of Alex Ross's excellent "The Rest is Noise" - only for jazz instead of classical music and covering a much shorter time frame.
Along the way, Chinen discusses Kamasi Washington, Brad Mehldau, John Zorn, Steve Coleman, Jason Moran, Vijay Iyer, D'Angelo, Esperanza Spalding, Mary Halvorson and many more. I'm always frustrated when a book about music doesn't contain links to the music being discussed. In this case, Chinen has created a Spotify playlist named after the book with samples of work by many of those whose music is discussed.
I found the book to be not only comprehensive, but insightful. He writes about some of the controversies in modern jazz like the uptown versus downtown NYC dichotomy along with the criticisms endured by Vijay Iyer early on. Much of this music is challenging to listen to, but if you do so with an open mind, you will be rewarded. Chinen has done a great service to those of us hoping to broaden our horizons.
Along the way, Chinen discusses Kamasi Washington, Brad Mehldau, John Zorn, Steve Coleman, Jason Moran, Vijay Iyer, D'Angelo, Esperanza Spalding, Mary Halvorson and many more. I'm always frustrated when a book about music doesn't contain links to the music being discussed. In this case, Chinen has created a Spotify playlist named after the book with samples of work by many of those whose music is discussed.
I found the book to be not only comprehensive, but insightful. He writes about some of the controversies in modern jazz like the uptown versus downtown NYC dichotomy along with the criticisms endured by Vijay Iyer early on. Much of this music is challenging to listen to, but if you do so with an open mind, you will be rewarded. Chinen has done a great service to those of us hoping to broaden our horizons.
May 12, 2023
The book does a fair job at its primary purpose: Exposing the reader to some important musicians in the contemporary jazz scene. However, the recommended album list at the back probably does a better job at that than the actual book. Each chapter reads like a dry, lengthy obituary of the relevant musician: "He was born here. He did this. He did this. He believed this. People said this about him." No effort seems to have been put into the construction of the sketches to make them anything more than a series of facts. Also, dedicating the book's longest chapter primarily to the Soulquarians seems like a tacit admission that jazz is not what it used to be. Don't get me wrong, I like the Soulquarians. But if you're writing a book to prove that jazz is alive and well ... and you dedicate a lengthy chapter to an early 2000s neo-soul/hip-hop group that was occasionally jazz-adjacent ... then maybe jazz isn't quite as alive and well as you purport it to be.
Now that I've aired my griefs, I think the book's title is 10/10. Would never have come up with it, and it's clever and memorable. So I award this book one star for the album list in the back and an additional star for the book's title.
Now that I've aired my griefs, I think the book's title is 10/10. Would never have come up with it, and it's clever and memorable. So I award this book one star for the album list in the back and an additional star for the book's title.
August 27, 2020
A wonderful survey of jazz from Coltrane's death to now. Playing Changes smartly rejects a linear approach and instead starts from a historical turning point - the ascendency of Wynton Marsalis and the canonization of institutional jazz - and goes from there, tracking the various offshoots of jazz and the ways in which they intersect with each other and the genre at large. At times the information can be overwhelming, but Chinen ends every chapter with a simple list of 5 albums that represent the concepts therein, and eventually ends the book with a list of ~120 albums that have shaped jazz in the 21st century. While I wish more space was given to jazz outside of the States - jazz developments in China, India, and Europe are clumsily shoved into one chapter when this topic really deserves an entire book - it still manages to work as a broad examination of what this genre means now, not just when it was dominant, and the ways in which it's been pushed and pulled by individual musicians and movements over the past 50 or so years. I wish more jazz musicians and pedagogists would read it.
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