How to Listen to Jazz

by Jerry Coker, David Baker (Foreword by), Jamey Aebersold (Foreword by)

Since 1900, when jazz---a uniquely American music form---began to evolve, much of its allure and artistic growth has depended on the creative freedom and expressive force that improvisation allows its performers. Jerry Coker (a teacher, composer/arranger, and noted saxophonist) has written How to Listen to Jazz to fill the need for a layman's guide to understanding improvisation and its importance in the development of this artistically rich yet complex music form. Without relying on overly technical language or terms, Jerry Coker shows how you can become a knowledgeable jazz listener---whether you are an aspiring musician, student, jazz aficionado, or new listener.

In addition to looking at the structure of jazz and explaining what qualities to look for in a piece, the author provides a complete chronology of the growth of jazz, from its beginnings in the rags of Scott Joplin; the New Orleans style of the 1920s made famous by Bessie Smith, Bix Beiderbecke, and Louis Armstrong; the Swing Era with Benny Goodman, and Art Tatum; Be-Bop, post Be-Bop; to the greats of Modern Jazz, including Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, and Wes Montgomery.

Also includes a list of suggested recordings, a section on the improvised solo, and a complete glossary of jazz terms, How to Listen to Jazz offers you a complete introduction to the entire jazz experience . . . the music and those who make it.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Jazz

999 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jerry Coker is an accomplished jazz teacher whose book Jazz Keyboard for Jazz Pianists and Non-Pianists has been extremely useful and helpful to me, so when I saw this title I couldn't resist: nobody had ever offered to explain such a thing to me before, and I assumed it was not something that could be explained.

This turned out to be a book that I think is aimed primarily at the young adult or college age reader, as it lays down the groundwork with discussions of basic concepts like what roles the different instruments play, the definition of solo, chorus, standard, etc. but then proceeds quickly to more in-depth material. Coker explains how "vehicles" or jazz "songs" have evolved through the 20th century, from show tunes to modal abstractions and beyond, and explains the roles of cliches, quotes, side-slipping, and other musical techniques.

Most importantly, there are many suggestions for listening, and in the section on great soloists Coker has pages of annotated measure-by-measure notes for what's going on in great recordings by Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and several others. This is really useful for bridging the gap between enjoying jazz as a sort of undifferentiated mass of variously enjoyable and annoying sounds, and having some understanding of what the musicians involved are actually doing.

Coker has a remarkable way of writing in a way that is perfectly clear to the reader with no context on the subject, while also containing significant new insights for people who think they already know the story. For example this bit on the subject of why Miles Davis sounds so unearthly and weird:

Another distinction, with regard to Davis' note choices, is that he doesn't bother to harmonically justify a note that is already known to be richly effective, even if it is remote from the basic sound of the given chord. To explain, suppose a player decides to play a raised-9 against a certain chord. Most players would precede or embellish such a remote, colorful note with a few other tones (like 3 and 7, for example) that would clarify, aurally, the relationship of the raised-9 to the more fundamental notes of the chord. But Miles is likely, under the same circumstances, simply to play the raised-9 by itself or juxtapose it with a fundamental note that is perhaps a semi-tone away (like the 3rd of the chord, which when placed in the same octave as the raised-9th, would be a semi-tone higher), or even introduce one or two other remote, colorful notes along with the raised-9, not bothering to justify those, either! In other words, Miles will play it, but he won't explain it. That's the listener's problem.

If this sort of thing makes your eyes widen in interest rather than glaze over, then this is potentially the kind of book you might enjoy.

[CJR · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overview of Jazz history, with plenty of listening recommendations. The recordings are so much easier to access nowadays with the help of the internet.

[Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid brief history of jazz, including discussion of the music's various elements and characteristics. Much of the book is devoted to key contributors to jazz, including in-depth analyses of their playing one particular piece of music. A good place to start listening intently.

[gekko100 · Rating 3 out of 5]

very readable, though fairly staid, overview of jazz music for a general audience.