From its beginning, jazz has presented a contradictory social world: jazz musicians have worked diligently to erase old boundaries, but they have just as resolu

As a musician who grew up in New Orleans, and later worked in New York with the major swing orchestras of Lucky Millinder and Cab Calloway, Barker is uniquely p

Definitive history traces the genre's growth and diversification from its 19th-century origins through its heyday and modern revival. Discusses 48 major compose